It’s taken the best part of the day but the frame for the new hatch is now curing to the deck, cutting the hole was a little nerve-racking but learnt that it’s much better to trim with the router and a flush cut bit, then it’s a good soaking of penetrating epoxy to seal the wood and fair it to the deck. The final finish won’t happen until I’m ready to fair the entire deck but this is one step closer!

Now it may seem a little bit bonkers getting this done now so I’ll briefly explain the train of thought that got us here, the current task is to finish the chain locker, so to do that we need to install the stuff I won’t be able to get to easily once the bulkhead is in, cleats, bow fittings and associated stuff, to install those I at the very least need to get the foredeck faired, to fair the foredeck I need all of the structural parts installed and the plan for the windlass nailed down and here we are… Big hole in the foredeck!