110 Cookson Lane | Whitefield, ME 04353 | 207-232-7600 | tim@lackeysailing.com
Ensign #1212 | Monday, June 23, 2014
I wanted to focus on the cockpit sole and complete the structural repairs. This had proved to be a time-consuming job so far, and I needed the sole stable enough so that I could temporarily reinstall it in the boat and mock up and finalize the aft ends of the new starboard cockpit seat slats. So my immediate goal was to complete the structure at the aft end (where it'd been most severely damaged) to the point that I could get the sole back into the boat, though I hoped to complete all the new support beams by the end of the day.
To this end, I struggled through the removal of the remaining screws securing the last-but-one beam at the aft end, which I'd started during a work session on another day. By this time, I'd started to do a little better on these screws' removal, with some experience from the first beam, but several of the screws still fought tenaciously. Eventually, I removed the old beam, and replaced it with the new one that I'd already cut. The new installation was quick.
Next, I installed the new epoxy-coated plywood supports at the aftermost end of the sole, which I'd prepared earlier. I'd do the next set of these plywood supports later, but for now the old ones further forward could stay for the moment.
At this point, the sole was sturdy enough to test-fit back in the boat. I did this now for two reasons: first, I needed the sole in place in order to temporarily reinstall the starboard bench supports so I could finish up the new seat slats; and second, with the forward end of the sole support system still more or less intact, and consistent with its original position, I thought it would be easier to adjust the after two supports (which I'd knowingly left long and overly deep at the cut ends to allow for fine-tuning) so the whole sole fit correctly.
At first, the new after beams were clearly holding the sole too high, and not conforming to the shape of the hull as needed.
Not wanting to heft the awkward sole in and out of the boat more than necessary, I used a grinder to pare away excess beam ends as needed with the sole in the boat, working slowly to remove material till the whole sole fit better.
I'd clean up and further fine-tune the beam ends later, once I had the sole back down on the bench, but for now it was resting where it needed to.
Now I assembled the bare bones needed in order to simulate the starboard cockpit seat: the two legs and their attached supports, the plywood outer shelf, and the original outboardmost seat slat.
From here, I laid out the four new seat slats that I'd cut. Here, I discovered I'd made a mistake: the ends weren't long enough. This was disappointing since I thought I'd left extra material at the after ends for just this reason, but apparently the old, rotted boards had been more severely deteriorated at the aft ends than I'd thought, and had made poor patterns. However, I found that the first (inboard) plank was OK as is, and I could repurpose one of the boards (the third) and use next door, in the second position instead. (repositioning not shown in these photos)
I reshaped the ends of these two boards as needed to fit properly in their recess--mainly curving the bottom, after corners of both boards, and also the inboard edge of the first board to fit next to the molded rise. Then, I marked the remaining, short boards as needed to give me reference for their replacements, which I'd build in the near future as soon as I could get new wood.
For now, I was done with the mockup, so I disassembled and removed everything from the boat once more.
Back at the bench, I spent the remainder of the day working on the final sets of cockpit sole support beams, replacing them all in the same way. These beams extended beyond the edges of the existing sole because there was one additional (wide and hull-shaped) plank that fit outboard of the main section, and the new support beams allowed for its width.
Finally, I prepared new marine plywood supports for the after end of the sole (the second set), plus vertical plywood supports to replace an old pair from the forward end of the sole near the inboard edges of the larger hatch. As before, I coated the plywood with epoxy resin on all sides and left it to cure overnight.
Total Time Billed on This Job Today: 6.5
Hours
