Forepeak |
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| With us everything began as we
recognized some weakness of the cabin roof under the mast step ... well
known to many Shark owners. Our Shark couldn’t keep higher rig tension
especially when racing or when tuned for stronger winds.
The original (V-shaped) plywood before the main bulkhead was
reinforced by two vertical supports standing on two horizontal bars
laying on both V-berth seats.
I through bolted them (for safety reasons only) to the seats with M5
bolts.
Putting the reinforcement in place the cabin roof
was slightly lifted by means of a hydraulic jack (mast layed, no rig
tension!). Thus the entire support is under tension after removal of the
jack. |
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Material for the reinforcement: 2 x 16 mm multiplex plywood (same size
as the original V-shaped support).
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The remaining part of the fore
peak serves as sail stowage now and also hosts other bulky
equipment e.g. the gangway (which is urgently needed in most
Mediterranean marinas). |
Click for enlargement
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Because the fore peak always looks very untidy, the "boat
lady" insisted on some kind of separation to the cosy living room!
A roller blind for windows, we found at IKEA (hope this famous Swedish
company is in business in Canada as well), shortened to the appropriate
width, was an easy (and cheap) solution.
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The interior of the ship will warm up quite a bit during summer, mainly
through the Plexiglas of the fore hatch. Therefore and because we always
had difficulties with a leaking hatch we replaced the plexi by a plywood
board.
No more leakage and – amazing – a lot cooler in summer!
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