September 30, 2020

Skeedeen Phase 6-5

Wednesday

With the rough, first-round cleaning complete, I turned to the adjacent spaces and detail work in the engine room, starting with the battery compartment, which was filthy; to better clean, and eventually paint, this area, I started by removing the plastic battery trays, setting them aside for their own cleaning later.  The space looked much better after cleaning with soap and water.

Meanwhile, I worked on the accessible spaces adjacent to the engine room, as well as in the engine bilge itself, using vacuum, soapy spray bottle, and rags to clean up the nearby spaces, corners, and other areas as much as possible.   Along the engine stringers, proper cleanup involved temporarily removing various clamps and supports so I could clean the hoses and wire runs of accumulated grime, as well as to better clean the stringers themselves.    Later, I planned to paint the engine room bilge, battery area, and stringers.

The owner asked me to remove a Halon fire extinguisher from the engine room for inspection and servicing, so I did, after noting the proper wiring locations.

The owner also asked that I remove two obsolete transducers from the space just forward of the engine room–and old depthsounder and knotmeter.  Both plastic locking rings came off from inside without issue, and, working from both above and below as needed, I removed the two plastic fittings without too much trouble.

I prepared the openings inside and out as needed, using a drum sander to clean up the insides of the holes through the hull.  I sanded the inside of hte hull to remove the paint and prepare for patching, and outside, ground circular areas to accept the new patches.

With the cleaning and degreasing done in the engine room, I lightly scuffed the surfaces to prepare for new paint soon.

After cleaning up as needed, I masked over the holes from beneath the boat, then, from inside, filled the holes flush with a strong, thickened epoxy mixture, the first step in the process that would eventually see layers of fiberglass on both sides.

Total time billed on this job today:  5.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  65°, cloudy, wind, rain shower.  Forecast for the day:  Rain showers and windy, then clearing, 71°