Several pieces of support structure have to be installed prior to installing the deck, including the cockpit carlins, fore and aft kingplanks, mast step and tube, and the gunnels. First, however, it is a good time to sand all of the epoxy inside the boat smooth -- it is far easy to reach with everything open and accessible. I only chose to sand the cockpit area as the fore and aft compartments will be sealed up tight.
The carlins are comprised of two piece of 1/4" plywood each that slot between the fore and aft bulkheads and are bowed out to also attach to the partial bulkheads. The two piece of plywood are laminated together with epoxy in place -- doing so allows them to easily bow outboard slightly to land on the partial bulkhead (I have little doubt that a single piece of 1/2" ply would work well too, though the bend would be slightly more difficult).
Next up, the gunnels are milled out. It takes a pass through the thickness planer and several runs through the tablesaw with the blade set at multiple angles to get to the specified crosssection.
The gunnels are glued onto the outside of the hull, one at a time. The plans specify additionally holding these in from the inside of the hull with bronze screws, a step that can be spared if you have enough clamps and are willing to wait of the epoxy to dry between sides. The first gunnel can run long past the bow, and then get trimmed to the correct angle along the centerline with a pull saw.
The other side will need to get fit snuggly at the bow prior to installation. You can get close with the saw, and then fine tune with a rasp. After both sides are installed, the aft end can be trimmed flush with the transom, and generous roundovers can be added to the bow and aft corner with a sander or file.
Next comes the fitting of the kingplanks, made from 1/2" plywood. The aft kingplank runs from the aft bulkhead to the transom, where it is beveled to match the angle of the transom. The aft end is supported by a small timber cleat that is glued in ahead of time. The foreward kingplank runs from the forward bulkhead, along top of the daggerboard case and deck beam, to the stem. The kingplank sweeps with the shearline and has the get clamped down the deck beam to take its proper shape. The foward end gets a bevel so that it sits firmly against the stem. Both the fore and aft deck beams get glued in with epoxy.
The mast step is made from two layers of 3/4" plywood, epoxied together. The upper layer has a hole (or in my case, a square hole) cut out of the middle, into which the lower end of the mast tube fits.
The bottom of the mast step is epoxied and screwed into the keelson, and the mast tube is slipped through the kingplank and into the step, and the glued in place. If everything is in the correct alignment, the mast step will be at a right angle to the kingplank.
The now-familiar step of drilling a hole and using a flush trim router bit to open up the daggerboard slot is again used to cut the hole in the kingplank.
With al the supporting structure in place, the boat is ready for the deck to be installed. The undersides of the deck get sealed with two coats of epoxy prior to installing the deck.
The deck halves are oversized and need to be trimmed to fit snuggly against each other on the centerline. First, one side of the deck is set in place, overhanging the gunnels and centerline, and is held in place with some temporary screws driven into the kingplank and clamps around the gunnels. The centerline of the boat is then marked on the plywood (a laser level is a helpful too in this)
The deck half is then trimmed along the line (I was out of garage space and had to do the trimming outside.
The process is repeated for the other half of the deck.
A trial fit before making everything permanent is a good idea.
When ready, thickened epoxy is applied to all the mating surfaces. This includes the tops of the bulkheads and cleats, the kingplanks, the carlinesm the hull sides, and the gunnels. I found that applying big beads of epoxy with a ziplock-turned-pastry bag, and then spreading with a disposable brush was the mode efficient approach.
The decks are then dropped into place, screwed down again with temporary screws along the kingplanks and clamped to the carlins and gunnels. This is one of those occasions where you get to use every clamp you own (no matter how many you own)!
In a familiar ritual, holes are opened up in the daggerboard opening and most step and a flush trim router is used to open things up.
There will still be substantial overhangs everywhere.
Once everything is dry, a flush-trim bit on a router is used to trim the deck back so that it is flush with the outside face of the gunnels and the transom. The decking overhanging the inside of the cockpit is similarly trimed
The deck can then be sanded smooth. The sander or a 1/4 inch roundover bit on a router can be used to ease the edges of the deck.
Per the plans, the tops of the decks should get sealed with several coats of epoxy. I went overboard and went for the added toughness and abrasion resistance of 4oz fiberglass.
After a few fill coats of epoxy, I sanded the deck smooth.
The plans specify using a 4" wide strip of 1/4" plywood as a piece of deck trim. I was feeling fancy and instead went with a 3" wide piece of padauk that I planed to 1/4", eased the edges with a router and coated with epoxy.
I had seen photos of another Clancy that had a "spray guard." I liked the looks of it and made my own out of padauk -- the result is more aesthetic than functional.
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