Kingfisher Driftboat Build - Dry Box Frame

Well, I've been doing my favorite thing. Epoxying and sanding. Sound familiar. I've got all the parts cut out and fit for the dry boxes and the four deck parts. I'll recap the process here.

It basically goes like this.

• Cut and fit the rod beams
• Cut and fit the deck support beams
• Temporarily attach the deck beams and the deck support beams in place with screws.
• Rough Cut, Scribe and final fit the deck parts
• Fit the sides of the dry box to the sides
• Fit the face of the dry box to the bottom and the bottom of the rod beam
• Take it all apart and coat all sides with clear epoxy

Sounds easy, right, all except the last, Epoxy, sand, more epoxy, more sanding.

Deck Support Beams

• The rod beam is temporarily held in place with 4 - 1" screws that are driven from the outside of the hull into the ends of the rod beam
• I clamped an 8 foot long straight edge to the beam to keep it straight as I fit the support beams.
• You can also attach a string line to assure the rod beam stays straight.
• There are three main deck support beams and one at the junction of the side deck to the front deck
• The deck support beams are temporarily installed with screws. 

This is the middle support beam. It is the same width and height as the rod beam.

13/16" x 2 1/2".

Here are three of the deck beams installed. The one at the front supports where the side deck meets the front deck. This support is laid flat.  I eventually added another support to reinforce the rear of the deck.

Side Deck Parts

• The two side decks and the front decks are made from 1/4" Okoume plywood. 
• They are rough cut to size and then scribed to fit the sides.
• The interior straight edge of the side decks line up with the edge of the rod support shelf

Here is one of the side decks that has been scribed to the sides. The two openings for the dry boxes have been cut out. The top inside edge of the side deck aligns with the rod shelf. This is some tricky scribing. Take your time and get it right.

Front Deck Parts

• The front deck is made from two pieces and glued together along the centerline of the boat.
• It is made from two pieces so the grain of the front deck flows toward the rear of the boat.
• The front deck has a half circle that is the same diameter as the distance between the two side decks once they are scribed in. (See photo below)
• The front deck is raised about 2" high than the side decks at the stem (bow). This allows water to drain towards the rear of the boat.
• It is important to make sure that the distance from the front of the pedestal to the apex of the circle is at least 16". Preferably 18". I had to make this about sixteen inches as my pedestal is larger than typical because it houses a cooler.

The front deck is temporarily clamped in place after it has been scribed in. The bow is two pieces.

Dry Box 

The dry boxes sit underneath the rod beams and are approximately 5 foot long centered on the rod beam length. (Approximate center of the boat)

•  There are 4 pieces of 1/2" Okoume Plywood that are scribed into the sides that form the ends of the dry boxes (2 on each side)
• The face of the dry box is made from 1/4" Okoume Plywood. The bottom of this piece is scribed to the bottom and fit under the rod beam.
• This dry box face is set 1/4" back from the lip of the rod holder 1/4" plywood to allow a dadoed trim piece to be installed later.

Here the 1/2" Okoume Plywood is in the process of being scribed to the sides.

You can see the face of the dry box fit under the rod beam on te left. The face is held back 1/4".

Sealing the Parts

Now that everything is cut and fit, everything has to be disassembled and sealed with epoxy. The rod beam and deck support beams get flow coated with clear epoxy and finish sanded. The 1/4" Okoume plywood also gets flow coated and sanded. All of these parts are flow coated only and are not glassed. Oh boy!