Birdwatcher-2 Raised Deck
Birdwatcher-2 Sailboat, designed by Phil Bolger
The raised deck runs along much of the boat. This is built of either polycarbonate windows or a plywood/foam sandwich. All of this connects to framing which determines the dimensions. As of 1 October 2005, most of the framing was complete, ready to be filled.
Viewed from the stern makes the 2-foot wide standing slot obvious. Everything to either side of the slot will be water tight once the windows and raised deck are in place. Attention was given to keeping everything square while the longitudinal members were attached to the frames. This was helped by leveling the boat in both "pitch" and "roll" early on. Then a level was used to determine alignment. There is a tendancy for the boat to become "skinny" at the top between frames B and C and too wide between frames C and D. The Spanish windlass between frames C and D removes this distortion and will be left in place until the roof is installed.
This view distorts the shape somewhat. The width of the afterdeck tapers down going aft. Also, roof is actually flat!
The forward wet locker can be seen in this view from the bow. It is also more obvious that, aft of frame B, the roof is flat in all directions. Adding this framing is fun in that it lets me see the final shape and look of the boat.
A little different shot of the bow area shows the framing around the wet-locker hatch. Also visible is the top of the 1-1/2 inch thick breast hook. Under the locker is 8-inches of flotation foam, as was used in the stern.
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This was last revised 6 October 2005. Bob Larkin, Corvallis, Oregon