Building the Glen-L Yukon, Part 2
by Wayne Milner
Over the past year or so, many readers have written to ask how Milner's Yukon was coming along. The answer is: exceptionally well, thank you.
 She is in the water, and yes, she floats. |
Well, folks, it's in the water and it floats! I still have the same wife, and am still physically and financially afloat as well-although the financial part is a little shaky at the moment and I did nip a bit off a couple of fingers in the jointer. It was worth it and it was fun (except for the fingers part).
At the end of Part 1, which appeared in the January/February 1999 issue of Boatbuilder, I had just righted the hull, blocked it up, and was ready to start the superstructure and interior. The next step was to fit bulkheads at the various locations. There is an easy way to fit bulkheads, and it works perfectly. The method is outlined in Reuel Parker's book, The New Cold Molded Boatbuilding. I thought he was kidding when he wrote that after using his method to get the bulkhead shape, all that would be required would be a little sanding on the edges to make a perfect fit. He wasn't.
I installed three bulkheads: one at the aft end of the forward cabin, one at the aft end of the main cabin, and one at the aft end of the aft cabin. These were installed watertight to the hull, and an effort was made throughout to maintain watertight integrity as high up as possible. This, of course, becomes increasingly difficult as you start running pipes and wires fore and aft.
I am not aware of a watertight fitting suitable for passing an exhaust hose through a bulkhead without cutting the hose, so I fabricated one out of thin stainless-steel plate. I had planned to put the exhaust out through the side of the hull using the method outlined by Dave Gerr in a past issue of Boatbuilder to avoid having to go through bulkheads, but my commercial-fisherman neighbor thought I would spend the rest of my days cleaning soot off the hull if I did that. So I opted for a transom exit.
The best way to pass the shaft through a bulkhead is, of course, to install a packing gland. Wires can usually be run just under the main deck, so they are not as much of a problem insofar as watertight integrity of the bulkheads to that level is concerned.
Tanks were a problem for me. I eliminated the cockpit area shown on the Glen-L plan to the rear of the aft cabin by bringing the deck up to the same level as the side decks and putting two water tanks, the water pump, and the steering gear in the space created.