| Bolero
Project |
Wednesday, February 27, 2008 After collecting some tools and starting to get set up to work on this boat again, I decided to begin by addressing the keel bolts and lifting eyes in the bilge. We didn't have reason to suspect the condition of the bolts, but wanted to retorque them just the same. Additionally, with no future need anticipated for the stock lifting eyes, I de3cided to try and remove them, particularly the forward one since it would increase possible clearance between the as-yet undetermined cabin sole location and the overhead once constructed. I was able to remove the forward eye with little difficulty using a crowbar to unthread it. I did not achieve the same success with the after eye, however; I wasn't able to get a good purchase with any sort of breaker bar or tool, and the angles at which I could secure the tools tended to torque the top of the bolt. I didn't want to unnecessarily stress the keel bolt, so I decided it was not critical to remove this eye, at least at the moment, since it was in the bilge beneath the cockpit where clearance was not an issue. I found I didn't have a deep socket of the size that I needed for the keel bolt nuts, so I was unable to proceed with retorquing at that time. |
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Next, I turned my attention to constructing a new bulkhead/partition that would define the anchor locker forward. Earlier, I'd made a template of the area, and now I laid this on a sheet of 39mm marine Meranti plywood and traced the outline. I also marked the centerline of the template, since in order to fit the bulkhead into position within the confined space I needed to cut it in half. I began by trimming the plywood to the basic overall height needed, and then sawed through the centerline of the piece. Afterwards, I used a jigsaw to cut the curved edges according to the lines. |
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As usual, the actual pieces required some fine-tuning before they fit properly in the appropriate space. To help maneuver the pieces inside the anchor locker, I temporarily inserted some drywall screws in the forward sides of the panels to give me something to grab onto. Once I was satisfied with the fit, I coated the edges of the plywood with epoxy resin, let it cure partially, and then tacked the bulkhead pieces in place with hot melt glue, after cleaning the inside of the hull in way of the bulkhead with acetone. It was close to the end of the day, so rather than work on the final installation, I prepared fiberglass tabbing that I'd use to secure the bulkhead in place tomorrow. |
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