Having taken the 4th of July for some catch-up jobs around the property and time with family, I was back on Biscuit after church services Sunday afternoon. I picked back up with work on the mast support collar - the plate located at the cabin floor and through which the mast support post passes. The job today was to secure 2 blocks to starboard and two to port on the bifurcated plate. The collar plate keeps the mast post from moving in any direction, and the small blocks of wood keep the two plate halves from moving as well. I installed the mast support post, checked for plumb, and then placed the two halves into what would be their final position. I then removed the starboard half, and hot-glued a small block onto the forward underside of the plate, securely resting against the cored cabin sole. I repeated this for the small aft block. I placed the mast post back into position, removed the port plate this time and repeated the gluing technique for the starboard plate. With both halves of the collar plate having the small blocks securely glued in place, I removed them and headed back to the shop where I pre-drilled and countersunk for bronze fasteners. With the plate built, I removed the screws, sanded through to 220-grit paper and applied a coat of varnish.

Next up, the battery tray. I debated on this build, but in the end, I didn't want Biscuit's owner to have to deal with a battery installation in the planned for area I that I chose. So, I purchase a small lithium-ion battery (12V DC @ 100 AH), and set out to build a support for its eventual installation. I started by reviewing the dimensions of the battery, and then reviewing the space for its installation (just forward of the cabin sole and inside a locker, set about building its tray, or shelf. I grabbed a piece of scrap black walnut for the primary stringer. I would locate the stringer roughly 1" below the cabin sole, and so measure the athwartship dimension between the port and starboard hull, cut the stringer to length and set it in place to then scribe the curvature of the hull onto the outboard edges. After a small amount of iterative shaping, I ground away the paint from the hull, mixed some thickened epoxy and. set it into position for permanent installation - wetting the surfaces out with neat epoxy just prior. I checked for level and then transitioned to dimensioning the tray itself - a mahogany board in this case. The tray ended up being roughly 6" x 9.75", 5/8" thick. This will be secured to the stringer with screws, and the forward edges shaped to take the curvature of the hull. On the forward side of the battery tray I fabricated a fiddle to help "lock" the battery in place. This was made from purple heart scrap that I had in the shop. This fiddle would be secured to the forward face of the battery tray with bronze wood screws. More to come in the next week.

Total Hrs: 3.5