April 9, 2020

Adeline 7

Thursday

I began with some sanding work to prepare the new core and environs for the next work.  Because of the way the top section of the mast beam was shaped, the core ended up just a bit high near the centerline and aft of the hatch, so I had to remove a little bit of the core’s height to bring it flush as needed.  Otherwise, the sanding was routine, just removing excess epoxy squeezeout from the areas as needed, and sanding the remaining portion of the old mast platform flush with the new section, removing the gelcoat in the process.

After cleanup, I made a pattern of the deck for the top skin laminate.

I’d left two small areas uncored:  forward of the mast platform, where I wanted solid fiberglass; and at the forward end of the starboard side, where the shape was odd and the depth quickly tapered, so during core patterning I’d decided to avoid core in that area and fill it with fiberglass instead.  Now, I cut small pieces of fiberglass to fit within these areas, and installed the solid glass in epoxy resin.  After allowing the new work to gel slightly, I finished off these areas–and filled a few other small areas requiring attention–with thickened epoxy to bring them flush with their surrounds.

While that initial work began to cure, I cut two layers of new fiberglass for the top laminate.

Just before lunch break, I used more thickened epoxy to build fillets along the sides of the new mast platform, creating angles that matched and faired into the existing shape of the small after section.  Not only did this start to recreate the shape required, but also prepared the raised mast platform for the top laminate, which would go right over the whole assembly.  While I was at it, I wet out the whole area and top of the core with more epoxy to prepare for the new laminate.

I gave this new epoxy work just enough time to begin to gel while I took lunch break, so the fillets weren’t too soft but were far from cured, then went ahead and installed the two layers of fiberglass in epoxy resin over the whole area, bringing me to the end of the day’s work.

Total time billed on this job today:  4.75 hours 

0600 Weather Observation:  35°, cloudy. Forecast for the day:  Rain and snow, possibly accumulating a few inches overnight, 44°