110 Cookson Lane | Whitefield, ME 04353 | 207-232-7600 | tim@lackeysailing.com
After the usual water wash of any new epoxy, I sanded the various cockpit core and laminate repairs as needed to prepare for the next steps in the process.
After sanding and cleanup, I filled, as necessary, any small voids around the core, or in the kerfs of the balsa, and allowed these areas a little while to partially cure. Meanwhile, I prepared some other areas of the boat for additional work, including the foredeck, starboard bridgedeck, and some small low spots in the coachroof repair that I'd been meaning to fill for a few weeks. With these areas suitably prepared, I applied epoxy fairing compound.
To repair the old instrument holes in the cockpit bulkhead, I cleaned the area and masked over from behind, then filled the open centers flush with the adjacent laminate, using some thickened epoxy mixture. Sometime later, I installed two layers of fiberglass over the top.
Following an early afternoon meeting, I installed fiberglass patches over all the newly-cored areas in the cockpit area, taking most of the rest of the afternoon.
As a first step towards the eventual job of glassing over the entire hull-deck joint--an action deemed desirable by the general condition of the joint itself and by the damage to this area on the port side amidships--I prepared and installed a narrow strip of fiberglass at the top edge of the hull on the port side, in an area where I'd previously ground away some damaged laminate. This strip of glass was intended only to build thickness and replace some of the material I'd removed at that stage, and bring the surface roughly even with the areas on each side; later, I'd install two additional layers of material over this area, as well as the entire joint. I still had much additional preparatory work ahead before I could attack that job, but even so, installing the single layer improved not only the appearance of the area in question, but also morale.
Total Time on This Job Today: 6.25 hours
