| Bolero
Project |
November 30, 2007 I got started by washing yesterday's new fiberglass with water and a Scotch-Brite pad, and then sanded the patch to remove high spots. I continued the deck preparations by opening up all the old fastener holes for filling. I used a large countersink bit with a wide angle to open all the holes and provide a stronger bond for epoxy filler. While I was at it, I ground out a few small areas that contained minor stress cracks. Afterwards, I swept away the debris and then vacuumed the entire boat |
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One of the additional projects we've been discussing is the construction of a dedicated, watertight anchor storage locker in the bow. There were a few logistical issues to work out in order to determine how best to proceed, including seeing how the chosen anchor--a 16.5lb. Bruce--would fit in the space. I had the anchor on hand, and since the bow compartment was clean and free of dust, I climbed in with the anchor for a test fit. These photos show the anchor in place aft of the reinforced stem area, about as far forward as it could practicably go. I made a mark on the hull to approximate where a bulkhead would have to go to allow the anchor to fit as shown; later, I planned to make a bulkhead template to see how I could make it fit through the openings that were currently available, or those that would be once I cut an appropriately-sized deck hatch for the locker. |
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While I was in tunnel rat mode, I crawled into the aft compartment to check out how the backstay was ultimately attached to the hull. Earlier, I'd managed to remove the deck fitting, but there remained a U-shaped bracket beneath the deck, and now I needed to figure out exactly how that worked. With the compartment vacuumed clean, ingress was far more enjoyable than the last time. It turned out that the bracket fit over a section of cylindrical material that was glassed to the hull, permanently trapping the U-bracket. The overall setup seemed adequate and acceptable for reuse if desired. Note that the through bolt seen in the bracket was there to secure the now-defunct copper bonding strap and serves no other purpose. The shapely aft quarters of the Shields lead to very tight quarters within. I employed Robert's "Insane-o-cam" for these shots. |
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Some of the headstay hardware that I removed a while ago was clearly trashed and of no further use, but other components appeared as if they'd be reusable. In particular, this stainless steel eye fitting looked good, other than the heavily corroded mild steel bolt protruding from its base. If I could get the corroded stud out, I thought that the fitting could be reused, so I placed it in a small container filled with PB Blaster to soak. |
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I acetone-washed the deck surfaces, and then skim-coated the foredeck with Quik-Fair epoxy fairing compound (the tan colored stuff) to fill the minor amount of the nonskid pattern that remained after sanding, and to help ease the transition between the raised patches and the surrounding deck areas. Then, I filled all the fastener holes in the remaining deck areas with traditional shop-mixed epoxy and microballoons. I should note that this boat's deck is cored with a resin/microballoons mixture; this seems to apply to Shields in general, according to some information I found somewhere but can't recall exactly at this time. I left the decks to cure for the weekend. |
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