| Kaholee Refit |
August 27, 2007 After applying my daily coat of varnish to the cockpit coamings up in the finishing room, my next step on the boat was to sand the cabin sole--a messy task to which I didn't particularly look forward. But it had to be done, and over the next couple hours I sanded all areas of the new sole in the boat--as well as the four separate hatches--first with 40 grit to remove the excess epoxy and even out the boards, then with 80 and 120 grits to smooth the surface appropriately for the eventual finish. As expected, the job created copious amounts of dust, though fortunately teak dust is almost "wet" in its composition, and therefore remained low in the boat without creating too much of an airborne mess. Nonetheless, I was happy to finish the job, and was also happy with how the sole turned out in general. I found a few small areas where I'd need to add some additional black epoxy, where small voids had formed during the initial cure. I vacuumed up the dust and, towards the end of the day, re-filled the areas in question. Among other tasks, I also redrilled the 1" finger holes in the cabin sole hatches. I had planked right over the existing holes, so now from the underside I drilled a pilot hole in the centers of the old holes, and then drilled the new 1" holes from the top side using a Forstner bit. Of course, there's still a need for a few small trim pieces, as well as painting out the edges and varnishing the sole. |
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With the major work on the cabin sole done, I got ready to shift my focus to the boat's systems: electrical and plumbing. I received a large order of electrical supplied required for the job, and spent some time organizing those and preparing for the work ahead. Then, I turned to the assembly of the electrical panel, the wooden portion of which I had painted over the past week or so. I found a few more items that I wanted to install in the panel--two bilge pump switches and a 12-volt outlet--and managed to find room for them. This photo shows the various components dry-fit in the panel, but not yet secured. I had some unexpected visitors to the shop late in the day, so I didn't get as much done on the electrical as I had hoped. But tomorrow, once I sand the small patches in the cabin sole, I'll be able to focus on the electrical and make some progress. |
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