| Bolero
Project |
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 After sanding the brightwork to prepare it for varnish at the end of the day, I got to work again on the companionway hatch. The runners I made up yesterday had cured, so I trimmed their faces flush (the UHMW stood slightly proud), and milled a 5/16" groove in the center of the plastic. Then, up on the boat, I clamped them in place to the underside of the hatch top blank and ensured that the hatch slid easily over the rails. I removed the assembly, marked the locations of the runners, and then epoxied them in place to the bottom of the hatch; I set this aside to cure. |
|
|
|
I continued with a variety of tasks, including removing the now-cured sealant squeezeout from around the cleats I'd installed a few days ago, beginning to reinstall the backstay fitting and determine how to terminate the wire (more on this later), and gluing up a blank for the cabin sole, which I thought I'd get back to later in the day, but I ran out of time. |
|
|
|
I began to lay out the jibsheet tracks and winches on the coachroof. I was relieved to find that the bolt spacing could be made to conveniently avoid the cabin top beams; I'd been concerned as I mentally considered the job during the past few days that one or more of the bolts would inexorably end up passing through a beam. Once I'd determined the appropriate position to avoid the beams and other interior obstructions, I moved forward with the tracks' installation. |
|
|
|
Next, I installed two Lewmar #7 sheet winches just aft of the tracks, in a previously-determined location that, again, just cleared the cabin beams inside. Earlier, anticipating the installation ahead, I'd made up and varnished some cherry backing plates for the winches, as much for looks as anything, and with these in hand I drilled the winch mounting holes from inside the cabin, then installed the winches as required. |
|
|
|
With little fanfare, I installed the twin deck compasses. |
|
|
|
In a long-overdue process, I prepped and primed the original elliptical fiberglass hatch for the bulkhead at the aft end of the cockpit; I'd forgotten to prepare this to be ready in concert with the cockpit painting some weeks ago. I removed the old paint, sanded the hatch smooth, and applied Alexseal primer. |
|
|
|
Finally, I finished out the day with more varnish. Today, I varnished the companionway trim and the entire main bulkhead, as well as the remaining cabin edge trim, toerail, and all the smaller bits that I began yesterday. |
|
|
|
|
|
