110 Cookson Lane | Whitefield, ME 04353 | 207-232-7600 | tim@lackeysailing.com
With the start of a new week after the holiday weekend came a new direction of sorts for Snow Lily. For the immediate future, I'd be focusing again on the interior, this time preparing for and completing various structural improvements. To begin down that road, I protected with heavy paper the new primer in the cockpit area where I'd be frequently getting on and off the boat, and restrung electric cords and lighting in the interior.
The owner didn't want or need any sweeping changes to the interior layout, and with this in mind I planned to reuse the existing interior structures and bulkheads. However, earlier rounds of dismantling and other prep had revealed how poorly most of the structures were secured. Most of the bulkheads had been treated at the factory as simple furniture only, with down-and-dirty, production-oriented fitting (i.e. only roughly approximating the contours of the hull and deck, resulting large gaps, and minimal (or no) tabbing barely tacking them in place. Thin, intact tabbing remained in some areas, but I'd reinforce that during this process.
Not only had this tabbing failed in a widespread manner, but this approach, in my opinion, had led to many of the larger structural issues on this boat since the hull and deck were able to "work" too much, as bulkheads and supports that I considered important to the structural stability of the boat were too loosely attached to be of any real service.
The series of photos below highlight the basic condition of the bulkheads where they met hull and deck as of this writing. I'd already removed the loose and damaged tabbing and made other preparations during earlier steps, so at this point the bulkheads and other structures were ready for new material.
Port Main Bulkhead (both sides)
Starboard Bulkhead/Locker
Galley Bulkhead and Liner Structures
Forward Bulkheads (both sides)
V-Berth Platform and Chainlocker
Throughout the morning, I applied several coats of paste wax to the simple cockpit locker lid mold that I built last time. The paste wax, once buffed out, would provide the necessary release agent to the mold, preventing the new fiberglass from sticking.
After a mid-day appointment, I prepared to begin the new cockpit lid construction. For each of the three lids, I cut three pieces of biaxial fiberglass to begin. The original thickness of the lids where they rested on the gutter flanges was something under 1/4", but to be sure I didn't overbuild I wanted to start with fewer layers, and add additional material as required to the necessary thickness for a flush fit. I cut the fiberglass for all three hatches comfortably oversize to allow for final trimming to the actual size later.
Then, I wet out and laminated the three layers for each hatch with epoxy resin, installing the layers on the waxed mold to create the 90° angled shape required. To give me a test piece for determining the final thickness, I used scrap material to make a small section that I could cut and test with, as I didn't want to remove the main structures from the mold till I had enough material built up on their outer, main, skins.
Total Time on This Job Today: 5.25 hours
