| Bolero
Project |
Thursday, July 24, 2008 I sanded the toerails, cabin trunk, and coamings, vacuumed up, and then moved on to the companionway sliding hatch for its final shaping and sanding. To match the aft deck hatch, I milled a large-diameter rounded edge on the top of the hatch and sanded all the contours smooth inside and out. Finally, I milled a finger pull in the top of the hatch to aid in operation. I also milled some additional trim for the inside of the companionway opening, and, after cutting and fitting the pieces to allow the forward water/hatch stop to be removable around the side trim, brought it, along with the newly-sanded hatch, to the finishing room for the initial coat of varnish. |
|
|
|
Next, I constructed and installed a new chainplate assembly for the backstay. I bolted a strip of 1/4" thick aluminum to a section of 1/2" thick fiberglass sheet, installed a shackle at the end to accept the loop in the backstay through-deck wire, and epoxied the arrangement to the hull a couple feet forward of the backstay's deck penetration, partly to provide a suitable lead for the wire through the fitting, and partly to allow better access for installation and future service. I installed a wide fillet around the edges and let it cure to a green state, then applied three layers of 1708 biaxial material over the fiberglass plate and onto the hull in all directions. |
|
|
|
I milled a series of 3/8" thick teak strips to use in the new cockpit sole grate, and then, using the old cockpit grate as a guide, cut six cross supports from 1" thick teak. I ganged up the supports and sanded the contours smooth, then sanded all the strips smooth as needed. The new grate needed to be 14" longer than the old to fill the space, so I cut the strips to the correct length and began to assemble the grate with the two end supports and two edge strips, which I secured with bronze screws at each end. A test fit revealed a need to remove a bit of material from the aftermost cross support, because of the shape of the hull in that area. But I left that for later, as it was time to get ready for the day's varnishing: another coat on the toerails, cabin trunk/coamings, companionway hatch, and various trim and bits. |
|
|
|
|
|
