Putting it all together - Part 1: Deck Reinforcement.

Previously I wrote about Milling Ash to create a plank to use for new structural parts for my 11ft West Wight Scow, Curlew. I used the plank for three jobs over the winter lay-up. In this post I describe how I reinforced the deck beam.

Deck Beam Reinforcement

This was the simplest of my winter lay-up tasks. Curlew has a deck immediately forward of the mast which is held up by a beam that runs fore-and-aft between the bulkhead and the bow. The existing beam of 3/4" hardwood holds up the deck and houses the bow cleat which is through-bolted and backed by a steel plate. You can see the beam in the Youtube video I found of the boat being refurbished in 2020.

I upgraded the previous cleat two years ago as the original was only screwed on and wasn’t really suitable for long periods at anchor whilst cruising (the reused cleat will be making an appearance in a future post!). However, since then I’ve been a little uneasy about the force of snatch load at anchor and also aware that the deck may not take the weight of an adult should the need arise. The thought of a crack in the beam, or worse still, the deck pulling up whilst at anchor was the impetus for this work.

Since the beam is hidden by the bulkhead and access is restricted to a 5" inspection hatch I opted to simply reinforce the existing structure by gluing on an additional 3/4" of Ash fore-and-aft alongside the existing beam. Epoxy with thickener and a row of clamps was the pragmatic choice, and this piece is now well affixed between the bulkhead and the bow alongside the original. The sides without epoxy were well coated in marine gloss to keep water out.

The whole thing was stress tested this summer, lying at anchor overnight on Lindisfarne in a rather stiff breeze. That trip will be the subject of another post, but safe to say that this project brought some peace of mind, which to me at least made it worth the effort. In future posts I’ll describe how I fabricated additional pieces to strengthen the centreboard case and refurbish the downhaul.