Patterning Primary Bulkhead (Port)

March 2, 2019

With plans made for later in the day, I go to work in the morning on the port side primary bulkhead.  I wanted to prepare, and possibly install, the new primary bulkheads for the Allied 24 in the coming week.  I began on the port side of the boat using bits of cardboard, and with a hot-glue gun made a rough pattern of the shape.  I then used a compass to mark the unique surface contours onto the cardboard template.

I removed the cardboard from the boat, and back in the shop, I then transferred the pattern to a piece of 1/4" door skin.  I cut out the port primary bulkhead with a jigsaw.

Back in the boat, I continued to trim and shape the door skin template of the port primary bulkhead until I was satisfied with the fit.  I made a few notes on the template that would allow me to more accurate fit the actual new bulkhead.  For example, I had a couple areas where the space between the boat and the fiberglass needed to be reduced (the overhead and hull), and these areas would be corrected while transferring the pattern from door skin material to the 3/4" meranti marine plywood.

While I was working on the port side of the boat, I prepared a template for the aft of the v-berth locker.  I would enclose this area with a small meranti bulkhead.  

Total Time Today: 2 hrs