20. Fixing the Decks & Shroud Blocks

Again, if you are installing a hatch in the foredeck, it is a good idea to do this before fixing the deck to the hull. If you install the hatch later, you must measure to make sure you cut out the circle between the battens. If you do it earlier, you can see the battens directly.

This picture shows the fore deck now installed to the hull. The side and aft deck pieces are sitting loose, ready to be installed. All decking should be sealed with epoxy (both sides) at this point. Again, when I pre-fitting my fore deck, I did NOT pre-trim the decking edge that overhangs to the cockpit area.

Once installed, but before the side decking was installed, I used a straight-bit router and trimmed the deck flush with the face of the storage bulkhead. Made for a nice clean edge.

Another picture, again showing the deck edge already trimmed.

The rear deck is then installed. Also shown in this picture is a “barney bag,” which fits inside the hatch, and is used to keep food, cell-phones, and beer safe and dry.

The barney bag is portable. It slides into the hatch hole, and then the cover is tightly sealed.

This picture shows the aft & side decks, each with hatches installed.

We thought the side tank’s were a bit thin so we added a ring of wood so the hatches would have something to screw into.

The shroud blocks are installed on each side of the boat. Use a liberal amount of epoxy. I also used screws.

Pre-fit your decking sides. If the pre-cut opening for the shroud block does not quite fit, use a rotary tool (or file) to carefully grind the hole out, and make the fit snug. Be careful not to grind out too much wood at a time because you can’t put it back!

Once you have sealed all surfaces with epoxy, install the side decks. Again, I left the edges that overhung the cockpit area untrimmed, and finished them with a router afterwards. On my Mirror I installed only a single pair of shroud blocks, as I do not intend to sail “cat-rigged” with just the main sail. Real men sail with a main and jib. ;-)

We put filler on the battens, and squeezed out excess to get a good seal, then put weights on the decks overnight to lock it in.