Some shots of what I've done so far w/the bulkhead and strongback removal, and the "starting in" on the semi-temporary interior modification. Everything here is done rough, done just well enough that I can live with it for a while, see how it works, and then change it easily should I decide to do so when doing it up proper after I am sure that the design is right.
Side note: I think I've mentioned here before that I would like to make the boat have positive flotation so that I won't need to carry a liferaft. Based on what James Baldwin has written up on his website in regards to "Atom", I'm ballparking 10 cu/ft of flotation per 1000 lbs of displacement. He calculated 86.5 cu/ft of float needed for his gross displacement of 9000 lbs. With that figure, he said erred on the side of caution. I am doing the same to *his* figures, figuring on a gross displacement of 6500 lbs for "Katie", needing 65 cu/ft of flotation when done. This is some 1400 lbs over the "factory" figure, which should give me a comfortable margin when she is loaded for a long trip.
The compartmentalization I am building in will be a number of smaller, individual chambers which will serve dual purposes. Should the hull be breached, the chambers affected will be sealable in order to limit water ingress, while the other chambers will serve as watertight air pockets to provide flotation until in-water repairs can be done. There will also be a lot of foam used in the finished construction. So far, with what I've measured up based on what I have now, I shouldn't have any problem reaching my goal. Cool!
OK, enough of that, on to the pics...
I've cut away a lot of the bulkhead, enough to approximate what I'd like the final form to look like. Again, this is all very rough right now, with wires hanging out, and a coat of white latex painted not too carefully on some surfaces just to make them look a little better until they get ripped all the way out...
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