To Support , or Not Support?
The engine covering on my boat provided essentialy ZERO supppoort for the cockpit. The lower edge was screwed into the unseeen vertical face of the bunk. The upper was screwed into the LINER, which is separated from the cockpit layup by about 3/8 ". If any support is provided at all it is from the wall of the head on the other side of the companionway, and that would be minimal. The strength of the cockpit is in it's design, that is the way it forms it's own bulkheads, creating support much like a girder bridge. Brain fade has caused the technical term to escape me. My panels do not attach to anything. The first, "L" shaped one sort of wedges into place and gets one screw to keep it there. The other two simply drop into the groove I set up and just sit there, providing nothing more than a visual block for the engine and tank to hide behind and a convenient place to hang the polyurethane, and a very minimal amount of sound dampening. The upright piece you see in the picture just aft of the "L" shaped first piece is just a piece of plywood that acts as protection and conduit for all of the wiring going back and forth to the electrical panel which I moved from the bunk face by the floor to the face of the aft bulkhead above the quarter berth. There's about 30 or 40 wires secured to that post, but it provides no support whatsoever for the cockpit. I'll be posting pictures of the electrical panel move real soon. I've sailed my 33 this way for three seasons now and have had no indication of structural weakness. Feels identical to the way it was before. I think I have a measured sketch. If you want I can try to find it and post it.
