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Portapottie platform   Total Page Hits: 1823

Post Type: Technical/Project

Boat Part: Not Specified

Date Modified: 07/23/2017 10:33 PM

Details

The previous owner of the boat never used the portapottie while it was in the locker. On our last M17 we did a few times. The two small kids would be game enough to go over the side during the daylight hours, but not at night, so building a platform for the portapottie to sit on was important.

It wasn't easy. The area is a compound angle of zig zags. The front right corner of the platform sits right on the hull, while the rear left corner is elevated. The whole thing needed to end up placing the portapottie right at the same plane as the board that closes up that locker. There was some measurement, but also some guesswork.

The whole thing is made from 3/8" baltic birch plywood I had laying around. The platform is simply square with some wood cleats to hold the portapottie from shifting around. The two sides that run laterally had to be cut to fit the lapstrake.

I did this with the "tick board" method. http://www.shortypen.com/projects/tick-stick-curve-matching-tool-technique/
That page gives a very general idea, but on a curve. I did it by laying a piece of 1/8" ply across the hull, then used a pencil-sized piece of wood to "tick off" the contours of the lapstraking. I connected the dots, then cut that out and used it as a form for cutting the 3/8". It isn't perfect by any means, but it's definitely good enough.

The portapottie sits aft against the bulkhead and is below the level of the berth. It slides a few inches forward, though, bringing it into the middle of the access hole and up just a bit. It's not pretty, but it works.

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