| Bolero
Project |
Tuesday, March 18, 2008 I was sidetracked for several hours today with some requirements for another boat in the shop, but in the time that remained available during the day I prepared and permanently installed the two cabin trunk/coaming assemblies. To begin, I collected various clamps, adhesive, fasteners, tools, and so forth, and then applied masking tape to the inside lower edges of the coamings, over and around the fastener holes, to protect the coamings from clamps and, more importantly, from excess adhesive squeezeout. The final installation was relatively straightforward. To secure the assemblies in place, I chose 5200 adhesive, mainly for its incredible strength coupled with flexibility (versus epoxy, my other considered choice). In addition to the 5200, I secured each side with 22 bronze bolts, spaced 6" on center. I applied three beads of 5200 to the fiberglass coaming edge in the boat (I applied a final bead at the bottom after I took these photos), keeping the top bead just slightly above a line demarking the bolt locations. I didn't want the adhesive to squeeze out at the top of the coamings, so I kept the beads to the lower half of the area. In later construction steps, I'd address and seal the remaining seam between the wood and the decks with additional sealant and/or wooden moldings. TBD. With the 5200 in place, I pressed and clamped the coaming tightly into position, and then, using the pre-drilled holes in the coamings as guides, drilled the remainders of the through holes for the bolts. Then, I secured the bolts with nuts and washers from the back side, removing the clamps as I went. I applied a bit of 5200 to each bolt as I inserted it to help seal it in its hole. |
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With the starboard side complete, I repeated the process on the port side. |
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Afterwards, I straightened up the boat, removing some of the clutter, and cleaned up the tape and any 5200 squeezeout from the bottoms of the coamings, and also from inside the bung holes. I had hoped to make some progress on the forward (transverse) section of the trunk today, but ran out of time because of the morning's other distractions. You can see the cardboard mockup in a few of these photos. Nonetheless, I was pleased to finally have the beginnings of the new structure in place, forever transforming the appearance of the boat. (I need to change my shop clock to daylight time, but can't easily get a ladder to it at the moment.) |
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