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..........................................................--- Lazarette Floor ---
We love the huge lazarette on the 26 S, but not the sloping sides of the floor. What follows fixes that.
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A piece of plywood (right arrow) was screwed onto the bottom of the gas tank platform with 3 screws (left arrow).
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The left end of this short platform rests on the top of the plywood and is screwed to it with a single screw for easy removal if needed. The right arrow points to a stop....
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... and the bottom of the redwood 2 X 4 is shaped to fit the bottom of the laz at the very stern.
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The arrow points to some bolts for the rudder assembly that keeps the platform from going all the way to the stern at the top. The back board wedges the platform between the stern and the gas tank platform.
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3 cedar boards make up the floor. Here is the first and the arrows point to 'locator' boards that center this board on the small platform described above. Each floor board has these.
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The floor boards rest in the middle on the platform and on the starboard side on boards that follow the slope of the bottom of the laz.
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Much like what I did on the gas tank platform, the boards are slid underneath the floor board until they touch the bottom of it and the laz bottom at the same time. Then they are screwed in place. They don't contact the bottom of the floor board across their width, but do along their length across the bottom of the floor board.
Due to the outboard well you can't put much on these boards on the port side, so they are only supported in the middle and on the starboard end.
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A second board was cut like the first and then this final board was cut to wedge against the stern.
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Here the boards are all in place. The last one rests on a board under it on the starboard side that spans the distance under the 2nd and 3rd boards, thus you don't see screws on the starboard side of the last board.
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Here all of the boards are in place. They all just lift out, so if there is water under them for any reason or you need to get under them just lift them out.
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Here you can see how the ends don't rest on the bottom of the laz/hull, but on the flat boards which distribute the weight over a larger area. The hull isn't thick back here, but has quite a bit of strength due to the curved shape and the stern. I can stand on one foot with my 165 lb. and there is no deflection. I'm not worried about storing normal weight items back here and most of what we put back here is bulky (lines, PFD's and such), but doesn't weigh that much.
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A final view after staining and clearing with some indoor/outdoor polyurethane. This makes it much....
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....easier to store things, such as the slats for the cockpit bed platform.
