Coaming

[richvi]

How do you construct and install coaming in an open bow aluminum boat? I want to attach a dodger/spray hood to the coaming. Photos of the construction process would help.

[santone]

I'd be interested in how to install a coaming on a dyer 9' dinghy. It's in bad shape so I'll need to remove it completely and start from scratch.
I want to avoid steaming oak if possible to get the job done. Will cedar work, installeed using gorilla glue. How about epoxie laminating strips of cedar or treated wood together? Regards,
Woodie

[rbgarr]

Richvi-

Send me your mailing address via private message function or e-mail and I will mail you a xerox copy of an article which shows how two guys modified an 18' open aluminum skiff for a trip in Labrador. There are pictures and a description of a forward deck, coaming and spray hood they built.

[John Blazy]

One of the easiest, and easiest to bend in tight radii, methods of making coaming is to remove the backer veneer off of 3 ply Luaun or any plywood of choice that has a thick core ply with thin skins, and use that as glue lam layers over a form.

I took 7" rips of luaun and ran them through my tablesaw on edge, (against the fence securely) cutting bites of 1-1/2" and raising the blade more each pass, and flipping end-for-end, running through til all the backer veneer was removed except the middle 1/2" (blade height limit) and removed that with chisel, then hand planed the sheet real well. Presto, you now have bending plywood without buying a full sheet of it.

Glue three or four layers of this with polyurethane glue or epoxy, around a simple form with ratchet-tiedowns as band clamps, and you got yer coaming. Bends real easy, and strong like bull when cured.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid139/pfbcc9bc73468518a7ee5d9f984b6796a/f700a25d.jpg

[richvi]

rbgarr, I have that book by David R. Getchell, Sr. That is where I got the idea.

Richvi

[Jack Heinlen]

How big is the boat and what's the intended use? Getchell's solution was pretty slick, I think. Foredeck, and a simple dodger, made the boat pretty able. The deck was removeable. What do have in mind that's different?

A coaming is a raised vertical edge set inside a decking or a rail. It doesn't quite fit my image of what you are about. Say some more.

[richvi]

In Getchell's book, Outboard Boater's Handbook, page 70, he talks about making his Lund SSV 18' aluminum boat (open bow) seaworthy by constructing a forward shelter. His partner Geof was a professional boat builder: "Geof first built a self-draining shelf securely bolted to the hull about 4 " below the gunwale." He has photos of the self-draining shelf on page 69 and 82. But I need more details. I do not know to make a self-draining shelf. I wanted to install a forward shelter (dodger/spray hood) such as made by Mills Canvas Co. for Boston Whalers.

I am thinking of purchasing exactly the same type of Lund boat and used it as a runabout in the San Juan Islands (North of Seattle). I would need a forward shelter to protect against spray while crossing Rosario Strait. I live in Anacortes, WA, at the gate way to the San Juan Islands and Gulf Islands of Canada.

[richvi]

Any ideas on how to construct and install a "self-draining shelf" on a 19' aluminum open bow boat? I want to attach a forward shelter/dodger/spray hood.