Compression post. It's a deal

Compression post is in place.

I shaped the oak blocks needed to support the compression post where the cabin tops meets F89. Nothing really hard to do but it takes some time and patience to get those blocks right and perfectly leveled because there is not one single flat surface for them to lay on. And yes you are right if you thought "overbuild". Oh well, I guess that is becoming a trend of my boat.

Lots of angles, therefore lots of cuttind and sanding. Then once the block were shaped, it was time to epoxi them in place. Bubble level, square ruler to the rescue ! Never used those so much. And again for a slow guy like me, pacience and time until they fitted just right. It might look a little bit slanted on the picture but that is a camera effect. The bottom of those block is really as flat as it gets. And the compression post plate wich was welded on the pole will lay just flat on them.

Then really hight tech tools came into play. Such as this old pull up bar which I found in the garage . Just what I was looking for until those babies dried !

On the exterior side of the cabin top, I also glued the mast step. Again, it is shaped out of a block of oak. Actually, for all those reinforcement blocks, I cut strips of wood grain up and epoxied them together. That makes the sanding and shaping even harder because you go against the grain but it make them bullet proof.

The set up I decided to follow for my boat is too have the mast plate bolted all the way through the compression post plate. Again it took me some time to figure out which part to drill first, or to glue last. But I ended up sorting it out and got everything aligned and ready for epoxi.

Note: the screws shown on the pictures were used just to hold everything together for the picture. They were just inerted into much larger holes which I drilled from the bottom up with a super long drill bit. (Girls dream on !) Of course they will be substituted by stainless steel bolts.

Finally, I would like to add that there is really something amazingly gratifying about building something with your hands, a few tool, and above all no previous experience.

That's when you look at that tiny little bubble...and you know you did right. A magical moment where all efforts pay off.

I have to share that with someone because if I tell my wife I get turned on by the bubble she will kick me out of the house ! Hope she does not read my blog :)