Studly Duck

Posted by Laszlo on Mar 23, 2008

Here's a picture showing my Wood Duck 12 getting its footbrace mounting studs installed. These are the little gems which keep you from having to drill holes in your hull to mount the footbraces.

In this shot, the studs are mounted to the brace rails to assure proper postioning and alignment. The bottom of the stud braces have been roughened and dabbed with epoxy/woodflour putty. The threads under the rails have been wrapped in tape to keep them from getting clogged with putty.

The clamps press the assembly against the hull with sufficient pressure to glue the stud bases to the boat. Packing tape and polyethylene sheets keep any drips from turning into sanding problems.

Once the putty has cured for 24 hours, the clamps will be removed and the threads will be completely wrapped in tape. Then the stud bases will be completely bedded in more putty and fiberglass will be laid on top to permanently fasten them to the hull.

This method has more bearing area than through holes and absolutely no possibility of leaks. It also leaves the outside of the hull looking cleaner, with no metal bolt heads marring the sweep of the wood.

As you can see, it's being done before the deck is on. That's to avoid the contortionist act that would be necessary once the deck is attached.

Also visible is the wooden stem piece which replaces the optional endpour. The final variance from the manual is the completely glassed interior. This provides extra strength since the entire hull will be a true composite structure. It also provides abrasion resistance in the forward and aft storage areas.

There's a minor weight penalty compared to the minimal glass mentioned in the manual, but it's offset by the weight saved through the replacing the endpours with wood and by the narrow fillets. And the way I'll be using the boat I really do need the extra strength.

Hope everyone had a happy Easter.

Laszlo

Replies:

• Re: Studly Duck by Phil on Mar 24, 2008
  • Re: Studly Duck by Laszlo on Mar 24, 2008