Anyone know where I could find construction documents and blueprints for the Northstar /
Hughes 26? I've searched and searched and can't find anything...
The floor under the
fiberglass sole of the
hull liner which supports the
compression post is composed of
wood about 4cm wide. It is laminated
wood like a lam-beam or maybe several
sheets of
plywood next to each other. It is completely delaminated and offers very little support to the
compression post. This is evident by the broken
fiberglass above the tabbing on the forward face of the floor. There is a small opening with removable floor boards in the sole near the floor that needs to be replaced. I'm hoping there will be enough access to replace the floor without removing the sole in the area.
I have a couple of questions relating to this issue and a question about another issue...
1. can I replace the floor with a similarly sized piece of hardwood like oak or maple? Or could I use pressure-treated
lumber? Anything would be better than what's there now.
2. If I completely encase the new floor in fiberglass and
epoxy prior to
installation, will it last? The floor will be above the
bilge water if I am diligent about draining the
bilge.
The other issue.
The
mast base was not original
equipment when I bought WINDFALL.
The
mast base was attached to the
deck with (4) 3/8 bolts and it appears that the bolts thread into a 6-7 cm thick raised wooden
core with no "nuts" or metal threads at all, from what I can tell. The wooden support structure is built into the
deck (core?) and sits atop the compression post. Is this a typical design, holding the mast base to the deck with only wood to hold the bolts?
I built a hinged mast base to facilitate raising the mast without the use of a crane. I'm concerned that the mast base should be thru-bolted so it cannot pull free of the deck whilst stepping the mast. Thru-bolts would look a little ugly because they would be visible inside the
cabin. That said, ugly doesn't bother me very much. I prefer ugly and strong to pretty and weak, at least when it concerns structural components.
Construction plans and the like would be very helpful in deciding how to best solve these small issues. Any input would be welcome, I'm hoping to launch WINDFALL in a month or two, maybe the end of April if the ice melts on
Lake Superior...
Don Salo
AKA Matti
Linear Mode
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