December 15, 2021
Arietta Phase 2-29
Wednesday
I began the day’s work with the bow pulpit, installing it with new fasteners and sealant through the existing holes.
Continuing aft, I installed the bow cleat.
I’d not been looking forward to reinstalling the chainplates, since the access (particularly for the middle ones) was so difficult, so these were next on my list, starting with the port side. Other than the expected challenges in getting the nuts started belowdecks, with the invisible access, tight quarters, and awkward hand angles required, the installations were otherwise straightforward enough. I used some tape to help hold the washers in place on a few of the fasteners, which gave me the time to get the nuts started without the washers continually falling off the stud. I also found I had to tape over the fasteners from above so that my efforts belowdecks wouldn’t push the fasteners up, as these existing holes were unthreaded.
Next, I installed the two port stanchion bases, using my little pilotholes to locate each stanchion base correctly, then drilling and tapping and countersinking the fastener holes in my habitual way. The outer pair of fasteners in each case went through the thick hull flange at the perimeter of the deck, and the inner holes were located in solid laminate outboard of the deck core.
I shifted my operations to the starboard side, and repeated the process, starting with the three chainplates.
Then I continued with the two starboard stanchion bases.
To finish up the day’s work, I reinstalled the grounding cables to the six chainplate locations.
Total time billed on this job today: 7.25 hours
0600 Weather Observation: 19°, partly clear. Forecast for the day: Mostly sunny, 33°