Commander 147

[ebb]

Sounds good!
Those are crispy epoxy/Xmatt tacos. 5 or six layers of Xmatt. Under 1/4"
They are that dark because I was using some very old dark amber hardner.

Easy to make on Mylar sheet*.
Build up the panel with same size Xmatt material wetting out each layer as you stack.
You can jigsaw the 'bulkheads' to fit out of this custom sheet.
Then fill the corners with generous curved fillets, then tab with Xmatt strips to keep it all amalgamated - and also to spread the point load out on the contact surface - because we're not supposed to put hard panels in at 90 degrees to the hull.


Been avoiding the end of the keel issue. If we are getting water in there, and there is no IF, there's water entering there - then the argument might be to let the water out. And let it out easy - on A338 that end of the encapsulated ballast was OPEN.
SO, leave it open!
A338 had no added foam, so the bilge was free to collect water. There was no attempt by Everett to close off the end of the ballast in A338. In reality A338's ballast keel should have been free of water since it runs out to the keel bilge. This was not the case. (Another thread.)

I decided to fill the ballast keel void by injecting epoxy thru holes drilled from outside. I was lucky to remember to close off the open end before I'd gone too far in the epoxy filling. Later the nice straight blkhd was added once the height was established. And that became the end of the cabin sole.


You can buy fiberglass sheet in various thicknesses from McMasterCarr. It's polyester and seems after sanding to glue like a champ. I'm using 1/8". Could make the argument that something this thin would work for these small blkhds if they are filleted and tabbed and - as they do - are incorporated into a horizontal panel.
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*After stacking the 5 or 6 or 7 wet Xmatt pieces, top with mylar film and a very flat panel of some sort. You'll be making a beautiful flat consistent sheet - try to pull the air bubbles out once the second sheet is on top using the green spreader thingy - on TOP of the mylar.
The sheet peels right off once the epoxy is set.
If you build up some weight /pressure on that MDO(?) panel, you'll squeeze more of that expensive epoxy out BUT you'll make an even stronger more dense sheet.
Left overs can be used as backing 'blocks'.
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Somebody, maybe the factory, since they seem to have done (and didn't do) so many different things back there in the keel on Commanders and Ariels... somebody filled the very back narrow deep end and the bottom in A338 making a sort of ramp, actually a ramp, so that water collecting in the bilge ends up forward at the back of the ballast keel. In the Ariel it's just about perfect as the sump is under the bridge but accessible. If an inboard was there the bilge water would still be accessible, sort of, and in the lowest part of the vessel. Way to go.
This shows you can create a collecting point whereever you want. The filler seemed rock hard to me so I assumed the mass was made of mat and roving left-overs and resin. It also had the effect of adding some beef to the bottom of the keel and the rudder shoe area.