Before I take the centercase apart, I'm cutting the slot in the keelson (the main backbone) and checking to make sure the centercase fits into it. A lot of sailboats have the problem of water leaking in around the centercase, including Hartley sailboats. I decided to modify the centercase design, like a few other Hartley builders have done. The standard centercase sits on top of the keelson (with a 3/4" wide slot through the keelson). I widened the slot to 1-1/4" and extended the centercase sides through the keelson. (Well, actually only one layer of 1/4" plywood extends through the keelson on each side, so the slot in the keelson doesn't have to be 1-3/4", which would leave too little of the 3-1/4" wide keelson.) And I'm going to permanently epoxy and screw the centercase into the keelson, instead of just using mastic and screws. This should keep the centercase from wiggling back and forth and leaking, however I won't be able to remove the centercase. (The original centercase design seems very difficult to remove also ... and why would I ever want to do that anyway?)
Here are some pics after I cut the slot. I used a circular saw and then a file to get it just right. The centercase is dry fit in place just to see how it looks. If you notice, I also had to cut one of the frames in half to make room for the centercase. The plans don't say anything about that. Luckily, I figured this out a long time ago and didn't screw the keelson to that frame.
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