Cradles for our floats

 Now that both floats are assembled, the next steps involve finishing a few interior details like tapping the keel seam, adding a compression member in the bow, and closing the bow and stern.  These steps are easiest to do with the float in the upright orientation.  So we made two sets of cradles to support them.  The cushioning is just foam pipe insulation split around the form edge.  At about $1.25 per 6-foot section, this was a very economical solution, and seems to work well.

 We reused the old form frames to make the cradles (hopefully we won't decide that we need the forms again!)  I traced out the shape of the hull at the two beam bulkheads using the pattern for the bulkheads.  I added some margin for the hull thickness and for some cushioning.  I also made sure I left at least a couple inches at the bottom of the forms so they don't split when handling.  The difference in height of the two sides in the photo is a result of reusing the old forms which already had cutouts. It took a little thought to get the vertical placement of the aft form correct so the float deck is level.

 At times, I will want to support the floats on their side, such as when we fair and glass them.  So I kept the forms that were positioned directly under the beam bulkheads (forms 5 and 11).  I then recut the two adjacent forms (4 and 12) to match these so I have two sets, one for each float.  Most importantly, I wrote "Keep" in large letters on these  pieces so I don't accidently reuse them for some other purpose.

Here is the cradle structure without the forms installed.  Since I wanted to be able to change orientation of the floats depending on the task, but didn't want to make a dozen cradles, I made the forms interchangeable.  Note the slots (dado) cut into the two vertical supports.  The forms simply slide into the two slots.  No fasteners are needed to hold the forms in place.  In case you want to do something similar, here are a few key dimensions:
Verticals: 24" long with 3/4x25/32 dado
Horizontal: 41.5" long (dependent on width of your forms)
Legs: 24" long
Vertical support gussets: 10" x 10"
Leg support gussets: 16" x 16"