May 3rd, 2003
I actually got a couple hours to work on the Jumbo today. Mixed a little epoxy and smeared it here and there. Smelled like epoxy, stuck like epoxy and put a smile on my face.
Also got
a chance to whack out a couple pieces of wood for a sample side deck and coaming. One thing that I've been very sure of from the beginning, was that my
Jumbo was going to be a comfortable fishing boat. This means that when we're drifting over a reef and bouncing my favorite and famous jingle bell diamond jig on Mean Mister Ling Cod's head, that
we'd all be comfortable leaning against the side. Because the Jumbo's sides flare out a considerable distance, I knew that I'd be installing the wide side deck that Renn suggests as an option.
For the Jumbo, Renn specs an additional 5" wide deck to the already existing 4" (or so...mine is 4.25") for a total width of 9". Now this spec is for the side deck from station six forward and gives you a nice wide deck to walk around
on when you need to tie a line to the forward cleat or drop anchor. The option is to continue this extra wide deck from station six (cuddy/steering station bulkhead) to the transom. I figure on eventually having a downrigger mounted on each side deck around where the splash well starts. The wide decks
will give me plenty of room to do this and will allow me to strengthen this area.
I put a piece of plywood on the stringers to act as the normal deck and attached my sample piece of side decking and coaming. Also, added an inch and half to the deck height since Renn is making the deck higher on his current Jumbo project. Seems that the fellow who has the prototype was complaining that water would come in the scuppers if someone were to stand in one of the corners at the transom. I don't think it's a big deal since I'll install some sort of a mechanism to keep out large amounts of water coming in. But I figured the space was tight on my fuel tank, so I might as well raise the deck a just a little.
Testing the set up proved to me that it was a good idea to have the wider side decks aft of station six. The coaming will help make leaning against the sides a bit more comfortable. The inner edge of the side deck/coaming combo and the outer edge of the deck are almost at the same vertical plane. Closing my eyes, taking the correct jigging stance and imagining that the invisible rod in my hands was attached to a big ling cod on a head shaking run, I happily concluded that the wide deck would work oh-so-well. With my toes placed against the side panel and my thigh up against the coaming, I found that I didn't have lean forward to match the angle of the sides. This is going to be a very comfortable fishing boat.
Also messed around with some half round, inch and a half oak rub rail material. Because of the height of the sides I thought this rubrail looked to be better proportioned in comparison to the 1/2" or so UHMW that Renn suggested. Of course I haven't priced this material yet, so I may yet change my mind.
Sunday was a great day for hanging out with the family and also I got a few more hours of work done on the Jumbo. The port side chine is now filleted and it's got the three layers of required tape. Life is good. Now I can fillet and tape the stringers and get on with other pieces and parts.
Decided that the coaming sample I made up above wasn't tall enough on the section underneath the shelf cap. I figure I need to really strengthen those areas where the downriggers and cleats will mount. The longer piece underneath will allow me to back up the deck with 1 1/8" lumber like what's used for the original shelf frame. Should be very strong. Will also be even more comfortable to lean against.