Lifting cockpit by hand and force transfer of the engines?

[Kris]

I noticed some more serious damage on the cockpit that will likely require lifting the cockpit to access.

Has anyone tried this by hand? obviously after removing the outboard engines.

I doesn't appear that heavy by the looks of it and is only held down by a lashing on both sides.

I need to cut out a piece of rotten wood where apparently some screws corroded and got ripped out and that part is in the gap between the cockpit side and the hull, so at the very least I would need to lift the cockpit up on one side temporarily.

But this also got me thinking... it seems like this lashing is not designed for force transfer from the engines to the two hulls, but rather the entire cockpit seems to push against the beam in from of it. This seems to put considerable stress on both the cockpit and this beam, and especially the cockpit doesn't really look like it is designed to be a structural element like that.

Am I missing something how this is supposed to work?

[Robert]

I built a new cockpit box last year. I needed a second pair of hands to move it, and we used the boatyard’s telehandler to install it. Jacking up the box and blocking it should be possible. Lifting by hand would be a stretch for me, but I’m a skinny weakling.

There are no lashings in the plans—likely they are a previous owner’s addition to keep the box from shifting around or bouncing up in waves.

Indeed, engine thrust is transferred from the box to the beam through the rails. There has been no problem with that on my boat. Strong construction methods are in order here, especially thick fillets and biaxial glass tape on the plywood joints.

[Kris]

I had a closer look at it again and I think I can reach it without lifting the cockpit.

And yes the lashing seems custom made, but it is probably a good idea to tie down the cockpit anyways.

I guess without lifting the cockpit it isn't really possible to do some structural enhancements to it, but for now it doesn't seem too bad. You can definitely see it pushing into the front beam a bit though... might be because of the dual outboard engine design that I have.