Fiddlehead

Coamings are intended to reduce the amount of water that splashes into a boat. Done right, they also add a bit of aesthetic detail. Fitting the coamings is a fussy job. They’re such a point of visual interest that they need to be done carefully.

The first step was planing the carlins with a bevel that causes the coaming to flare outward just a bit.

The next step was preparing the stock. These boards are just a bit thin of 3/16 inch, having been resawn from a very clear piece of white ash.

A double ended boat offers an additional fitting challenge. In many cases, the point where each coaming piece meets can be a simple miter joint. However fitting two precise miters, each meeting perfectly at each end of the cockpit, could be an exercise in frustration.

The answer is simple, uses a few more steps, but is far less tedious than getting two compound miters, and the precise length between them, right.

Start off by getting the boards to fit nicely in the cockpit. They get screwed, but not glued, in place.  There’s no glue here to enable future repairs. The boards are be a bit short of full length, as shown in the first picture (click to enlarge). That’s OK.

Then shape a filler block that fills the last inch of the join. The bevels were fun! Wood moves. Resawing and thicknessing was done over several days. Each day found the boards in a different state of cupping and warping. After screwing in place, the were mostly flat, but held just enough cupping to make beveling the filler blocks “interesting.”

Next, whack off the end of the combined boards and filler block.

Carefully!

Don’t scar the decks.

Yep, tedious.

Really sharp chisels and careful paring help at the bottom of the cut.

The last bit is a piece to cover the blunt cut. Some mahogany does the job and adds a tiny bit of accent.

Fair the edges, screw and glue the bits to each other (and not to the deck – repairability), stand back and admire.

Then do it all over again at the other end.

It’s looking more and more like a boat.

The covering boards, or long decks, cover the spaces between the sheer clamps and the long carlins. They are made from book matched resawn cedar slices finished to 3/16 inch thickness. Their undersides are sealed with a coat of epoxy. They are attached with epoxy and brass escutcheon pins.

After attaching the covering boards, four knees are added as additional framing for the short decks. They are spruce. Epoxied and screwed to the bulkheads and long carlins.

The upper short decks complete the closing of the watertight compartments. They too are made from book matched resawn cedar slices finished to 3/16 inch thickness. Their undersides are sealed with epoxy. They are attached with simple household caulk and screws. No epoxy here because they might need to be removed occasionally.

Being a slow and deliberate builder is paying off. All of the recent work has moved along well with no time spent in the moaning chair. Most pleasing was avoiding inadvertent damage to the very thin very pointy ends of the upper deck boards.

Next come:

• Coamings
• False stems
• Backrest (The seat is the bottom of the boat, no raised seat in this canoe.)
• Footrest
• Finishing (outside painted, inside and decks “bright”)

All of that will wait a few weeks while we do something else.

The first round of deck framing consists of several carlins made of 5/8″ by 3/4″ spruce. These will support covering boards along the outside edges of the boat. A  little fussy fitting, some careful positioning through the bulkheads, screws set at angles to avoid collisions, a little epoxy and it’s easily done.

Those areas at the ends of the boats become watertight flotation compartments. They are going to get closed up soon. So, while I can still get a brush in there, they’re getting painted with a couple of coats of Cetol.

One of the fussier parts of the construction are the oval hatch covers for the watertight compartments. One could handily purchase round, plastic, readily available, easily installed covers, but that would be far too easy. Instead, I followed Harry’s drawings for a semi-diabolical device that ends up looking a lot nicer than a round slab-o-plastic. All is in place except the gasket which the last part of the hatches.

In case you’re wondering how it operates, the small knob is free to turn and is used to pull the bar toward the knob. The bronze screws are not tightened down all the way because they allow the bar to move in and out as needed. Two small wood stops help with positioning. Insert the cover so the bar fits through the opening. Turn the whole cover clockwise until the bar registers against the stops. Then tighten the knob until the gasket seals the opening.