With the deck repairs finished its time to start reconstructing the forward area.

The first thing to do is remove the forward hatch.  There is nothing actually wrong with it except where it is located.  We want to move the anchor winch back so that the weight of the anchor chain is further back.  This will help keep the bow of the boat up and should improve trim and handling.

The best place for the winch is right where the hatch is.  We also want to fit a cutter stay which must be positioned directly above the first bulkhead in the bow, and again the deck hatch is to far forward to allow us to fit that easily.

Finally, we want to construct a wave breaker on the bow of the boat with scuppers to remove water from the foredeck so that it does not flow right along the length of the boat to the existing scuppers amidships and at the stern.

The main reason for this might sound silly, but when we bring up the anchor it is usually covered in a variety of marine life, which always ends up scattered along the length of the deck.

The old hatch was removed and two new deck beams constructed out of laminations of 12mm x 40mm spotted gum.  Three laminations were used bonded with epoxy.  The result is a nice strong frame for the new foredeck section.