| Circe
| Friday, February 5, 2010 The overhead would require one more coat of paint, so I lightly sanded yesterday's efforts, after which I did the usual cleanup. I also sanded the ongoing varnish projects: hatch frames and engine box components. The rigger was here for most of the morning working on installing the new headstay within the existing furler (we moved it indoors to make the work more pleasant), and measuring for the new lifelines. In between discussing various aspects of those projects with him, I worked on the rudder tube. When I extended the rudder tube earlier in the project, I'd left the tube extra long where it exited the deck. Now, armed with the original cap, I determined where to cut the rudder tube, marked it carefully, and sawed off the excess. |
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The outside diameter of the new tube was slightly larger than the inside diameter of the cap assembly, so I spent some time shaving down the tube as needed to get the cap to slip over the top. Eventually, I got it where it needed to be. |
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That done, I could measure for the new rudder shaft, which was ultimately the purpose of this exercise. The new shaft would obviously need to be quite a bit longer than the existing one. To measure for the shaft, I inserted a wooden extension handle it the rudder tube and marked it at the top end (where it exited the metal cap) and at the lower end (where it exited the hull, a location I could match up with the existing rudder shaft). I added in an appropriate length for the shaft to extend above the cap, where the tiller head itself would attach, and thereby determined the length of the new shaft. In the near future, I'd take the old shaft and the measurements to a local machine shop to have the new shaft fabricated. |
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After tacking off, I applied the third coat of semi-gloss white enamel to the interior overhead, completing the job. |
 
 
 
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I next applied another coat of varnish to the various pieces underway, wrapping up the day. |
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