March 4, 2016
Salty 9
Friday
Next on the agenda was to rebed the deck hardware, which required, of course, removing it all first. Hardware fastener access across the boat varied from nonexistent to excellent, with a good dose of frustrating production shortsightedness thrown in just for fun and to make sure no one enjoyed the process too much at any given time.
I decided to start with the items along the sidedecks, since the access to these fasteners shared the wiring access panels in the cabin, and the sooner I finished up with the hardware, the sooner I could start work on new wiring runs. The fasteners for some of the stanchion bases, deck cleats, and spinnaker pole chocks were kind of accessible from these chases, but unfortunately the inner liner and the removable plywood cover panels were ill-conceived and actually still covered most of the nuts for these pieces of hardware, prohibiting access. In particular, this affected access to four stanchion bases and the breast cleats.
To allow access to the inner sets of fasteners at each location, as well as increase the access to those that were sort of exposed outboard of the liner, I used a small cutting tool to remove some of the liner in way of each piece of hardware, as far inboard as the molded lip that defined the edge of the cover panel. Unfortunately, even with this portion cut away, the innermost fasteners were only just barely reachable, and not fully exposed. While removal was possible now–and indeed I could and did now remove all this hardware–it was still far more difficult than it should have been, and reinstallation later would be similarly complicated by the liner design, which could (should) have been better designed to actually allow access rather than just tease at the idea.
All fruitless whining aside, once I’d opened up the access where I needed it, I started at the bow and worked aft, removing the pulpit, pole chocks, and stanchion bases as far aft as the cockpit. Since I’d be turning around and reinstalling/rebedding these items as soon as possible, I simply left them on the deck from whence they came.
The new engine had arrived at a nearby trucking terminal, and I headed out to pick it up, unloading it in the shop and inventorying the included accessories, which this time included a plastic water-resistant cover panel for the instrument panel, a spare parts kit, coolant reservoir and vent loop, and all the usual accessories.
Total time billed on this job today: 5.75 hours
0600 Weather Report:
10°, clear. Forecast for the day: sunny, high in the 20s