Gratings in their coamings and a deck beam in the way

After yesterday’s first grating, grating number two is now locked into its coaming as well. I still find it tricky to get those 45-degree corners right, but it is coming along reasonably well.

By the end of the afternoon the third grating was done too. That last one has two holes in it. They were there for something, only I did not yet know what. They are not in the manual, but I saw them on Piet’s model as well, so they must be right. Piet later provided the answer: the two holes are for leading the anchor cables down via the riding bitts.

The deck beam under the middle hatch

A ladder has to go into the middle grating. The top step is already in and from there the ladder goes down. The only thing is that there is a deck beam in the way. My question to the forum: can I simply snip it out with a pair of pliers, or will I wreck the whole thing?

SjorsZ recommended a small saw he bought at Kolderstok that is perfect for jobs like this. I do have a saw; the question was rather whether I can just take that beam out. They are not there for nothing. Another good look through the drawings: the ladder has to go on the other side and starts at the grating. So the beam is no longer literally in the way, but it still looks ugly, so it will probably have to go.

Hans thought the beam could well be sawn out as long as the deck is glued firmly to the beam; that is done on a number of Kolderstok models too. Piet went about it differently: he left the beam in place and hid it with a few strips of veneer. That is what I will try first. If it does not work, it can always come out later.