110 Cookson Lane | Whitefield, ME 04353 | 207-232-7600 | tim@lackeysailing.com
Snow Lily | Thursday, October 25, 2012
Continuing where we left off, my helper and I completed the dry-fit of the starboard toerail over a couple hours. The tap broke off in the very first hole of the day, but I had a spare long tap on hand and I completed the drilling and tapping operations without further incident. I marked the location of the broken tap for future reference when removing the rail later.
As soon as we completed the dry-fit, I removed all the screws, and removed the rail to prepare for final installation. I removed all the screws from both ends towards where the tap was stuck--I didn't know how much tap might be protruding into the rail itself--but found that we could then easily lift the rail off the stump of the broken tap.
There was an ample amount of the tap to grip for removal, after which I retapped the hole.
After milling countersinks at each screw location, and cleaning off the debris and solvent-washing both the rail and the deck edge, we applied sealant and installed the rail permanently, cleaning off the excess sealant afterwards.
Later, working alone once more, I installed teak bungs in all the screw holes.
Several toerail-related tasks remained ahead. First, I realized that I needed to create some drain holes through the rail to allow deck drainage. The original toerails had a pair of these on each side. I'd mill these drains in the near future, once I decided where best to put them. Studying photos of the original toerail, it seemed the drains were located on either side of the lowest part of the sheer, rather than actually at the low point, which didn't seem like it'd be that effective, but I'd deal more with the placement later.
Also still ahead were the final details at the stem and taffrail. The original stem casting had sat atop a thick, laminated chunk of wood that had been appropriately shaped, and to which the original toerails had been secured. I figured to do something similar, with whatever differences were required for the new toerails' shape, size, and position. This would finish off the raw ends of the toerails where they met at the stem.
At the transom, I planned to build a solid taffrail from laminated stock, as required to match the deck camber. The original taffrail had been of similar shape and construction, and I'd tie in the height and ends with the toerails on each side.
In other news, I received and stored a new shipment of plywood and hardwood lumber for the project (and another project), including some additional cherry stock for miscellaneous use, panels for portions of the main cabin overhead, materials for the head construction (the last major area yet to be addressed), and Khaya for the cabin sole.
Total Time on This Job Today: 9.75 man-hours
