110 Cookson Lane | Whitefield, ME 04353 | 207-232-7600 | tim@lackeysailing.com
Southerly | Monday, November 24, 2014
I started the day by lightly sanding the first coat of paint on the overhead and bulkheads, after which I vacuumed and solvent washed. Though I knew that turning immediately to the second coat would limit what I could do later in the day, I felt it was the priority job, and was anxious to complete the interior work, so I pressed on with the paint.
Later, I took care of the first step towards repairing the liferaft bolt holes in the coachroof. After cleaning the area and removing any further loose material, I masked around the holes and filled them with a thickened epoxy mixture.
I spent some time contemplating the starboard toerail, which featured a couple older scarf joints that needed some attention. I couldn't determine if they were both original of if there had been a previous repair there; the port side had only a single scarf of different configuration, which led me to think that these were repairs done sometime over the boat's life. At issue was partially their cosmetic appearance, but also the possibility that the forward seam was somehow contributing to the leakage previously noted in the starboard lockers. Most of the toerail, though original, was still in decent condition with no reported nor observed leaks, and one shouldn't search for solutions to problems that don't exist.
How to proceed with repairs here--whether cosmetic or otherwise--was the challenge, given the two scarfs' locations. To install a whole new section and obviate both old joints would require moving both joints further away from each other, which would complicate things, particularly at the after end, where the existing joint stopped just short of the long genoa track, and recreating the joint elsewhere would require dismantling of the track and whatever interior components might stand in the way of its bolts. Plus, the dimensions of the toerail (a substantial 1-3/4" wide at the base by 2" height) meant that getting a fair (or, for that matter, almost any) curve in a short length would be impossible, at least within the existing limitations of time, budget, shop, and, most importantly, the proprietor. The rail had a dynamic shape and dimensional profile over this section as well, so even forming a new section would be inordinately time-consuming.
My initial thoughts were leaning towards removing and waterproofing the bolts as needed, and performing cosmetic-based repairs to the two joints, rather than attempting to remove and replace a much larger section of the rail to dubious end result, but for the moment I couldn't proceed further with any plan, as the underside of these areas was hidden behind paper and tape in the cabin for the moment, and I didn't want to risk raising dust on deck that might contaminate the fresh interior paint. More to come.
Total Time Billed on This Job Today: 6
Hours
