Capt'n Pauley's Virtual Boat Yard -- Projects Galore!!!

Strategies for Sealing Deck Hardware

 Think you don’t need a “strategy” for sealing decks? Don’t think your deck is even leaking? Well, you may be right, but your deck may well be leaking below your feet. Deck leaks can be insidious, going on for years before manifesting themselves with drips from the overhead and damp interiors.

Capt'n Pauley's Sketchbbok - Anatomy of a Trailer Hub

Building a Companionway Screen

 

It seems like there is a serpent in every paradise, bug-wise. No-seeums, black flies, deer flies or mosquitoes can ruin a great night spent aboard in that secluded cove. My first solution this problem, for the companionway, was one of those screen kits carried by most marine stores.

 

It consisted of a piece of flexible screen and some self-stick Velcro tape. You peeled the protective coating off one side of the tape and pressed around the companionway opening. Then you peeled the protective tape off the other side of the Velcro and pressed the screening in to that side. The screening was then trimmed to the outside of the Velcro.

 

The screen was supposed to stick to one side of the Velcro so you could peel the screen off the other side of the Velcro. The fly in this ointment (pun intended) was how to push that last bit of screening in place from the inside of the cabin. It could be done from outside, but that defeated the whole purpose of the insect screen.

 

I solved that problem, to some extent, by allowing a longer flap at the top that I Velcro-ed to the inside of the companionway hatch. It left a small gap at each top corner that the more industrious insects could still find their way in. The other problem was that the adhesive on the back of the Velcro eventually gave out and I ended up peeling the screening off the Velcro instead of Velcro from Velcro. Sewing the Velcro in place would have solved that problem but I suspect I would have just pulled the Velcro off the companionway opening.

 

Clearly, a better solution was needed. The existing companionway drop board was a single piece unit. I decided to use that as a pattern for a simple frame. I used some clear pine for the prototype, but it turned out so well I never made another. I wish I had used a fancier wood, such as teak or mahogany.

 

The companionway opening was a complex shape, with a flat bottom, tapered sides and a slanting top. The pine I used was clear white pine 1” x 3”. This actually measures 3/4” x 2-1/2”. My existing drop board was also 3/4” so this thickness worked out just right. If your drop boards are thicker, find thicker stock to match.

 

I laid out each of the four frame pieces directly on the drop board. I deliberately made the frame about an eighth of an inch larger than the full drop board so I could plane and sand the outside to an exact fit in the companionway opening.

 

Frames made from narrow stock, such as this one are notoriously hard to keep together at the corners. I decided to use a half-lap joint to provide plenty of gluing surfaces to keep the frame strong and resistant to twisting.

 

Half-lap joints are made by cutting away half of the thicknesses of the joining pieces. Half-lap joints on a normal square frame can easily be done on a table saw. This frame was a little more difficult since there wasn’t a square corner anywhere.

 

I did use a table saw, though, marking each joint and carefully setting the saws miter gauge. After setting the blade height to half the thickness of the stock, I nibbled away the joint, and then cleaned it up with a chisel.

 

This part of the building took the longest time but paid off with tight joints. If you don’t have access to a table saw you could use a router and a simple jig. The angles on the jig will probably change with each corner, so make the jig adjustable.

 

Once the lap joints were done, I epoxied them together. I first coated each side of the joint with unfilled epoxy and allowed it to soak in the wood. Then I used epoxy filled with high-density filler, mixed to peanut butter consistency, to finish gluing the joint together. If you don’t pre-coat the bare wood, it has a tendency to draw the epoxy out of the epoxy/filler mixture, leaving a weak, epoxy-starved joint.

 

I clamped the epoxied frame to the full drop board, with wax paper under the joint, to make sure the frame set up flat. Once the epoxy cured, I sanded off any excess epoxy. My next step was to fit the frame to the opening. I had made the frame slightly bigger than the opening so I could get a good, tight fit. I used my block plane and sandpaper to perfect the fit.

 

This point is the perfect time to finish the frame. Exterior varnish or a combination of epoxy and varnish will protect the frame. I wish I had done this. I thought I was building a prototype to be replaced later with good wood. That original is still in use, slightly stained with greasy fingerprints but still bug proof.

 

I used a small beading strip to hold the screening in place. It was about half an inch wide, a quarter of an inch thick and had nice edges and beading on the top surface. Now is a good time to varnish the whole length, prior to cutting to size.

 

I planned to miter the corners of the beading. Remember, none of the corners were 90 degrees so even this was more complicated. I found a tool that was ideal for figuring the angles required. It is a slightly complicated looking plastic protractor. Once you set the outer arms to the angle of the joint, it automatically gives you the angle for the miter. It saved me its cost in material I didn’t waste.

I cut the beading so that there was about a quarter of an inch from the inside edge of the beading to the edge of the frame opening. I used small brass nails to hold the beading in place.

 

I used fiberglass screen with small enough mesh to keep out the small no-seeums. I attached the screen across the top of the frame first. Next, I stretched the screening down to the bottom of the frame and held it in place with spring clamps so I could nail the bottom beading in place.

 

Each side was then stretched and held in place with spring clamps. Take care to get the vertical threads straight; don’t stretch it more to one side or the other. Once the side beading was in place, I trimmed the screen to size by running my X-Acto knife along the edge of the beading.

 

As mentioned in the beginning, the prototype has lasted all these years, keeping those annoying bugs on the outside of the cabin.

Capt'n Pauley's Sketchbook - Food Prep Area