To Keel Step, To Seat Step or To Deck Step the Mast

When I bought this boat, I thought of just getting back on the water with the wind over my shoulder and the exhilaration of the bow dipping, the stern raising a bit and the feeling of "taking off". Then as I read more about Dinghy Cruising I began to see this as the perfect "Creek (slough or bayou) Crawler. Shallow draft, 2 retractable bilge keels and all open cockpit for tent camping on the water.............I could and still imagine being out there watching wildlife and leaving not a trace when I left. As I contemplated the "camping" aspect, I wanted to make available all the storage space I could. This was being hindered by the basic keel stepped mast design as it obstructed the 3 foot of bow space to any sort of real storage like a cooler. A duffel with clothes and a duffel with ropes, extra sails and maybe anchors were all that I could envision there and they would be somewhat "inconvenient" to access. So............I started thinking of extending the deck by 2 feet and deck stepping the mast to gain access to the bow space. I knew I would have to accommodate the compression of the mast (a compression post would defeat the purpose so I figured a strong bulkhead just under the mast would work just fine). I would cut the existing interior and replace with deck & bulkhead, all of oak plank and West Marine Epoxy covered glass cloth. The deck would only be 2' long, 4' wide and the bulk head would be only 2 ' high. I didn't see a problem with flexing in the 1/2" x 1' oak planks.

Saw line: 

Proposed Deck & Bulkhead:

After waking up a few times in the middle of the night trying to imagine how all this was going to work, I decided that deck stepping the mast was just too ambitious for me right now. But I still wanted to get the mast up off the keel so, 1) I would not have the initial problem that rotted out the entire floor to begin with and 2) so I didn't have to derig the shrouds and lift the mast out of the hole in the front seat every time I wanted to lower the mast (as in maybe going under a low bridge in my future intended creek crawls). So I settled for seat stepping the mast and that is my now intended build. I figured that I can always deck step at a later date if it proves to be necessary. So I bought 8 foot of 1/2" x 7 1/2" Red Oak planking. I will use that to lay flat on the new floor, laminate 4 together to make the compression post and another piece to lay flat on top of the post (and front seat) to support a tabernacle for the mast foot. This I believe is within my skill to build properly and will suffice as I will likely only be day sailing for a year or more on my local Arizona lakes. Even an overnight-er will be fine only an hour's drive from home.

And then.............While I was at Home Depot to get the planking for the mast step, I started thinking about the new floor and my intent to build it out of glass exclusively on a cardboard template and place it in the boat on top of the existing foam without the "benefit" of plywood. So I thought I had better seek some advice. I called my buddy Jorge in Mobile, Alabama (who incidentally was also in Home Depot!!!) as he is a contractor, sailor and restorer of old sailboats. He said I either needed to use plywood or more layers of fiberglass cloth/matt than I could imagine. So the next question was Marine ply or not. He said as long as I was going to epoxy the plywood anyway (floor = 2' x 12') I need not worry about marine ply. "Just get a top grade ply, epoxy it, lay it in with a glass/cloth overlay and get back on the water!" I think that was the way he put it. "After all", he said, "this is a daysailer, not a blue water boat, right? and besides, it will last longer than you will be to sail it." So I bought a top grade sheet of 3/8" Oak plywood and am planning on getting to the floor in the next few weeks. It is in the low 70s here now and very nice to be outside working on the boat. I have a bit more prep to do and then I can start with the construction.  Will keep in touch.