E29 Doors are cool.

So eagle-eyes toddster noticed that I was building a box instead of a head.


The astute would see the batten I added to the bottom to allow it to drop down enough to get it out of the slot in the cabintop. This was routed with a roundover bit (later on) to match the inside-curve of the ridge it sits against to starboard, so it now sits more squarely under the bulkhead. Anyone contemplating this would need to provide a similar provision. I cut the original longitudinal bulkhead (with the opening for the hanging locker in it) in half in order to get it out... this works better.



I've been writing these posts on rainy days, or super cold days, or otherwise during times it's inconvenient to work on the boat. Since I've gotten tonight's round of "oh glorious sanding" (shameless Sail Life plug) done, I'll saddle down and share what I did with the Ericson Box. while drinking a tasty rolling rock!

I'm a big fan of old naval bulkhead style doors. The shape evokes a very surrealistic feeling in me, a sense of "being there" even if you're just at the dock. And you cannot deny the structural benefits of doors shaped like this. But when I envisioned the head on this boat, I always saw that style door to it -- So I went for it.

Using a ~$50 circle cut router jig, a 1/8" carbide mortising bit, a trim router, a Kreg track saw, behold the cut!


I used the fledgling marine carpentry skills I learned building Hatch, my Micheal Storer Oz Racer RV (One of his takes on a Puddle Duck Racer, but that will plane under sail) to find the centerline of the bulkhead, pick the extremes of the curve, cut the radius, and then matched the kerf of the track saw to the kerf of the 1/8" mortising bit and cut the rest of it out. It actually was amazingly easy to make this cut with the right tools -- it took maybe 45 minutes to measure and cut, start to finish.




As a shout out to Micheal Storer and his excellent boat building plans (They read like a how-to on marine woodworking, epoxy, filleting, fiberglassing, dinghy rigging, etc...) Here's a picture of Hatch, that I built 5 years ago, and was literally the first boat I ever sailed, and what got me started down this wonderful road:



*raising my beer* Here's to you, sailing dinghy!

... and come to think of it, Thank you to Pam, my now-wonderful wife, for telling me 5.5 years ago, "You're not going to build a boat, you're just going to squirrel onto another hobby like you always do!" Thus setting in motion -- and ensuring the completion of -- the monumental effort to prove her wrong!

--Sean