May 9, 2022

Holby 23

Monday

Continuing the work on the combined transom and bottom repair, I started the day with a round of sanding to prepare the fresh fiberglass on the transom portion of the jet tunnel for the next stages of work, as well as to sand and lightly shape the forward part of the bottom vee, forward of the jet tunnel where the boat had originally had the flat area to transition to the tunnel.

I sanded smooth and flush the extra layers of fiberglass I’d added to the new transom cutout to raise its height a bit, bringing it now to about 23-3/4″ from the center of the bottom vee; the final height was to be 24″, and the extra 1/4″ would be made up by the final tabbing to wrap over the cutout and tie it in with the surrounding surfaces.  Meanwhile, I also sanded smooth the first round of fairing filler I’d applied to portions of the transom on each side; there’d be more to come.

After cleaning up, I prepared a pattern of the remaining fiberglass patch required on the bottom, which would extend from the transom (where I’d set up the fiberglass with a series of 3″ steps between layers to allow for overlap) forward to a point just ahead of the area formerly known as the flat, and which new layers would extend out onto the hull several inches on each side to complete the tying in of the repair work with the existing hull.

Because I’d never be able to handle such large pieces overhead, I divided the fiberglass into two manageable sections:  The first extended from the new transom glasswork to a point 9″ forward of the old tunnel location; the second section finished off the laminate from there.  In each case, subsequent layers were staggered and overlapped by 3″.

After final preparations, I installed the six new pieces on the bottom, completing the major fiberglass laminates of this repair.

To complete the day, I applied a first round of epoxy fairing filler over the vertical part of the transom repair, filling the cloth weave and low areas, and filled a small void beneath the new fiberglass on the transom cutout, bringing it flush since the cut had been rounded over before I applied the new layers.

Total time billed on this job today: 4.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 32°, frost, clear. Forecast for the day: Sunny, 65°