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Monday

I unclamped the glued-up bow platform and sanded away any excess epoxy from the top and bottom surfaces.  Then, using the old platform as a guide, I trimmed the two long sides till they were close to the final width, then trimmed the after edge square.  The old platform was in such bad condition that I didn’t want to entirely rely on using it as a template, or even on measurements, so I erred on the side of caution and kept the new blank a bit wide for now–so wide that it didn’t yet slip into its opening between the bulwarks.

After measuring the opening and comparing the width of the platform visually, I felt comfortable trimming the blank down to size, taking another 1/8″ off each side, and now the blank fit properly on the bow.  I’d left the blank rectangular for now, but with it in place I could make some reference marks for the angled cuts that would taper the aft end down to meet the forward edge of the raised cleat platform just behind.

Back down on the bench, I made those cuts, and also used the original platform to layout the curves at the forward end so I could cut that as well.

While the platform was in place this time, I went belowdecks to the chainlocker beneath and made some marks up through the existing holes for the windlass bolts (4) as well as the larger hole for the anchor chain.   Although I had some paper templates of these locations, it never hurt to use reality as a guide instead.

On the bench once more, I drilled 1/8″ pilotholes through each of my marks on the bottom, thus locating them on the top surface of the platform, and then placed the windlass over the holes to finalize the layout and drill the bolt holes and chain hole as needed.  Meanwhile, at the forward edge of the platform, I laid out and cut the slot to accept the bronze stem fitting, which I wouldn’t permanently install till the platform was in place in order to save weight.  One more test fit on the boat, and I was ready to finish up the platform.

I rounded over various edges of the platform, both on the top surface (everywhere but the short sections where the platform lay against the bulwarks) and bottom edge (the protruding portion beyond the stem), and sanded the whole platform clean and smooth.  Meanwhile, I prepared a 3/4″ fiberglass backing plate for both the anchor windlass and the platform itself, and laid out another pair of bolt holes for securing the platform, located just forward of the windlass.  The six bolts, including four for the windlass, would be sufficient to secure the platform along with adhesive sealant.

Before installation, I marked off and epoxy-coated the faying surface of the platform for protection and to promote good bonding, leaving this to cure overnight.  I had the long bolts needed for the platform installation on order, and would complete the installation once they arrived.

While I had sanding tools going, I cleaned up the new mast step riser that I’d laminated earlier, removing excess epoxy from the joint and smoothing the whole thing as needed to prepare for primer and paint.

Preparing for the electrical installation ahead, I began by installing wire tie mounts at intervals along the known wire runs–that is, along each side of the cabin under the gunwales and through cabinetry as needed.  I used adhesive mounts that experience had taught are best left along for a day before putting them to use, despite claims of fast curing for the adhesive.  Most of the mounts landed on the gelcoated liner throughout the cabin, but even so I lightly scuffed each location and cleaned with solvent before applying the adhesive, as the fantastic bonding claims of this adhesive had long proved themselves caveat-worthy.

The owner wanted to centralize the electrical panels and other controls in the long, narrow space under the port bridgedeck, which also had convenient and direct access to the batteries and related components behind.  This space had apparently contained a panel and other installations previously, and had some large holes already in place.    Since it was a tight and difficult space to work in, and to allow convenient and attractive layout of the various new components as well as cover the existing holes to give me the freedom of layout I wanted, I chose to prepare a simple cosmetic panel over the top, which I patterned to fit the slightly tapered space and cut from some leftover 1/4″ teak plywood I had on hand.

With the new face panel cut to fit, I had some fun laying out the various installations, which included the following:

• Bilge pump switch
• Bilge alarm panel
• Bilge pump counter
• 12-volt outlet
• Toggle switch for the tricolor/anchor light combo
• 12-position circuit panel
• Battery meter (not on hand, but I had the measurements for layout)

I covered the teak with masking tape to allow me freedom in drawing in the outlines of the components, since space was tight and I wanted it to look good.  Through trial and error, and working around–while not specifically tied to–the location of the existing large opening in the bulkhead, I eventually came out with a layout that worked well in the panel, and made the cuts required to install the various devices.  I’d use the face panel to lay out the cuts needed on the bulkhead itself before installation, but for now the day was over.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:   33°, fog.  Forecast for the day:  Becoming sunny, highs in the 40s

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Friday

I removed the clamps from the two sections of the new bow platform, then ran the pieces through the planer to remove the excess epoxy and bring the thickness of the blanks to the finished dimension.

After final preparations, I laminated the two sections together with thickened epoxy adhesive, clamping them securely and removing the excess epoxy from top of the joint.

Earlier, I’d removed the old drain hoses and mismatched plumbing fittings left over from the original cockpit seat drains, and now, with new 3/4″ hose and bronze replacement parts on hand, I prepared to finish up the drain lines to the new drain fittings I’d installed.

The drains had led into a tee fitting on the starboard cockpit scupper hose.  There was a short section of older hose still attached to the tee, and although I briefly considered leaving it be, I just couldn’t.  Of course the clamp was well rusted, so it took some effort to remove it by awkwardly cutting and eventually prying it loose, but it didn’t make sense not to replace the full length of hose.

Drilling larger access holes as needed, I led the new reinforced drain hose from the two deck fittings and down into the engine room along the route the originals had followed, and eventually connected everything with the new bronze tee fitting below the cockpit sole, completing the drains’ installation.

Sticking with plumbing for the moment, I took care of the reconnections in the head for the waste tank vent and deck pumpout fitting, as I’d had to remove these hoses earlier in the project.  The vent was a cinch, but the short original section of waste hose leading from the Y-valve to the deck fitting was now too short to reach the new deck plate, which had a shorter barb length than whatever mess had been cobbled together before, so this meant I had to install a new, longer hose.  This in turn required that I remove what remained of the little shelf (I’d already cut out half of it early in the job to gain access to the nearby chainplate), and with little finesse I busted out the remains so I could access and replace the hose, which was straightforward enough when all was said and done.

Afterwards, I made up a quick shelf replacement, using the pieces of the original as a guide,  and installed it loosely for now, just in case I needed to remove it for the chainplate when I could finally reinstall it.

Standing in the cabin later, looking around and considering various aspects of the electrical system–and contemplating getting started on that–I found my attention drawn to the deadlight openings.  I’d been thinking for a while that the deadlights’ design/installation details were such that, unlike in many cases, I could install them alone, and before I knew it I’d gone off in that direction, even though I’d originally had no intention of installing them today.  But test-fitting one of the assembled outer frames, now ready for further work with all the sealant well cured, I found that, as I’d anticipated, it ought to be possible to install the frames permanently with only some simple bracing from outside, just to hold the frame as necessary while I installed the trim ring inside.  Here, the tall bulwarks were my friend, as I found I could easily brace from there and hold the frame in place during a dry fit.

Anxious as always to continue knocking projects off the punch list, I went ahead and made preparations for the frames, cleaning up the area (beginning on the port side), covering the deck with plastic, and preparing tools, fasteners, and the trim rings.  I thought I’d just take it one frame at a time, and if I ran into issues I’d stop and regroup.

Ready for the first installation, I gooped up the back side of the aluminum frame heavily with sealant, using way more than I knew was necessary since it always pays to have a ton in there in this sort of installation.  I pressed the frame into position and braced it again to hold it.  The fit was such that the bracing may not have been strictly necessary, though it certainly helped.  Inside, pleasingly, it was surprisingly straightforward to install the trim ring, and all the screws–the originals, which I’d saved in their removal order throughout the process–drew in tightly and well, swelling me with confidence.

The frame had drawn up tightly all around, and after removing the bracing I cleaned up the abundant excess and removed the protective paper from both sides of the new lens.

That didn’t take long, and happy with how the project was going, I continued with the port forward frame, which was also happily uneventful.

I moved my operation over to the starboard side, and continued with the starboard after frame.  Here, I ran into some more difficulty, as the nature of the interior liner in this particular spot was such that the outer frame actually protruded too far into the cabin in some places (the forward side) and not enough in others (the top center).  So while I didn’t have any outward issue pressing the frame in from the outside, I found that the fasteners bottomed out before holding things tightly at the forward side, and others couldn’t even reach the frame as needed.  At one point, thinking it was an issue with the outer frame, I added a longer brace to the shop wall to press in the trouble area, but this was before I understood the nature of the problem.

In the end, I prevailed, switching out the forward fasteners for some temporary (and longer) screws that I fitted with nuts on the inside, so that I could drive in the screw, then use the nut to press the trim ring in and pull the assembly together, a technique I’d used many times in the past.  This would hold things till the sealant cured, and later I’d replace these temporary bolts with new, shorter screws that wouldn’t bottom out before holding things tightly, but I didn’t have these on hand.

Fortunately, this trouble was an anomaly, and the final deadlight installation went quickly and smoothly with no issues, bringing the day–and the week–to a successful close.

Total time billed on this job today:  6.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  16°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, then increasing clouds and chance of minor snow/mixed precipitation late in the day.  High around 35°.

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Thursday

I continued where I left off on the starboard cockpit coaming, beginning with removing it from its temporary position in the boat.  Down on the bench, I aligned the old coaming over the top of the new blank so I could mark the cutout for the storage pocket in the winch island.  Prudence dictated that I start with a smaller hole and another test fit to ensure that the final hole was in the proper position before committing to the final cut.  With the coaming pressed back into position on the boat, I reached through my narrow cut and made a few reference marks on the back side of the coaming to indicate the extent of the opening in the fiberglass.

Back on the bench, I compared the maximum size of the raw opening in the winch island to the outline of my patterned cutout and, satisfied that the marks were correct, went ahead and cut out the final opening.  This was by design a bit smaller than the opening in the fiberglass, so that the wood hid the rough edge of the opening.  Afterwards, I milled 1/4″ roundovers on both edges of the cutout, as well as the applicable edges of the coaming itself, then sanded the coaming clean and smooth.  Along the bottom edge and at the top of the winch island,  I laid out for the boltholes to secure the coaming and milled the holes and countersinks for the flush, exposed fasteners.

Back in the cockpit, I dry-fit the coaming and held it securely with a clamp in the storage pocket and my coaming jack in the center.  With the coaming properly positioned, I drilled a pilot hole through each hole in the coaming and through the fiberglass behind.  With the coaming out of the way, I finished off each fastener hole with a 1/4″ tap and small countersink.

Since the coamings were to be left bare, I could proceed with installation immediately.  To allow for the coamings’ removal, should it be desired, I chose to use butyl tape sealant along the top edge of the coaming (to prevent the passage of nuisance water from the sidedecks) and in way of the bolt holes.  Then, I installed the coaming with 1/4″ flat head machine screws into the tapped holes, and added nuts and washers from behind wherever I could; the minimal clearance for the fasteners against the underside of the moldings limited room in a few places.

Now I repeated the process for the port side.  This time, when I laid out the basic coaming shape, I also marked the outline for the storage pocket and made the initial rough cut there, which saved some time.  The initial test fit was a success, and I didn’t need to make any modifications to the basic shape of the coaming.

Back on the bench, I finished up the cut for the storage pocket, then milled the rounded edges and sanded smooth the coaming before doing my final dry fit and preparing the fastener holes.

I completed the final installation in the same way, with butyl tape and machine screws.

Next, I turned to the bow platform, and got started by milling up the various teak strips I needed to glue up the platform, essentially replicating the original platform and its construction.  Note that the aft end of the platform, shown in the center photo, should be solid material through the center; the shape shown is the result of catastrophic rot that crumbled during removal.

With the blanks prepared, I separated the strips into two halves to begin the lamination.  I planned to glue up 5 pieces on each side now, then glue together the two halves in a separate operation, since doing all 10 pieces at once would be too difficult.  After cleaning all the teak with acetone, I rolled on a coat of plain epoxy to all the mating surfaces, then returned with thickened epoxy adhesive to do the glue-up and clamp the blanks securely.  By the time I took these photos, I’d already squeegeed off much of the epoxy squeezeout from the top surface.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  33°, mainly cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  Clouds and sun, around 35°

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Wednesday

To finish up the handrails, I chiseled and sanded the new bungs smooth.

The new teak stock for the bow platform and coamings was rough and unplaned, so my first task was to dimension and smooth the new lumber with a thickness planer.  I started with the 8/4 stock for the bow platform, and without much drama brought it down to just under 2″ thick from its rough thickness (2-1/8″).

The planer had trouble with the long (10′) and wide (10″) coaming boards, which started about around 1-3/16″ in thickness.  It took many, many passes through the planer and several blade changes to eventually bring this stock to a finished dimension of about 15/16″, as I had to take tiny bites with each pass.

Once I had the boards ready, I laid out the old coamings on top and used them as templates, marking the new boards accordingly.

We had an afternoon of abnormally high temperatures (60s), and I had to take advantage of the nice weather for a couple hours to take care of some outdoor projects while I could, but once I was through savoring the taste of “fool’s spring”, I got back to work in the shop.

Beginning with the starboard side, I cut out the coaming to the marks, and then worked to finalize the fit in the cockpit, trimming and paring away a bit of material at the aft corner till I could push the coaming more or less into position.  I used a little block at the forward end to help hold that end at the right height for this process.

Once I was satisfied with the basic fit, I used my old coaming jack system to press the coaming more tightly into the curve–the curve here was not extreme–so I could do a final check of the fit and also mark where the coaming met the adjacent decks to ensure I located the fasteners correctly.  I left the coaming in the clamp overnight.

Total time billed on this job today:  5.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  34°, foggy.  Forecast for the day:  Fog slowly lifting, eventually growing abnormally warm into the upper 50s or low 60s

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Tuesday

I got the day off to an early start with a visit from the riggers, who came to measure for the new lifelines and to remove the old rigging from the spars for replacement.  I consulted with them as needed to ensure that the extensive rigging work list was attended to as we expected.

Meanwhile, I continued work on the battery platform, now that the laminated plywood base had cured overnight.  In the cockpit locker, I installed a teak cleat on the bulkhead to support the forward end of the platform, using epoxy and screws to secure it against a level line I’d made earlier.

Dry-fitting the platform, I made some measurements for a support at the after inboard edge, then made up a support system from additional plywood and cleats that I secured temporarily for the moment.

Before installation, I wanted to lay out and install the padeyes from the old battery platform, since there wouldn’t be good access to reach the underside of the platform once installed.  These were sturdy padeyes and straps and worth reusing.   With an empty battery box in the boat and set up on the platform, I determined the positions required for the first set of batteries, and made reference marks as needed.  Then, down on the bench, I set up the two battery boxes and marked for, then installed, the padeyes and straps with bolts and large washers beneath.  This left ample room on the platform for a future addition of another pair of these batteries and boxes.

Now I permanently installed the support foot, epoxying and screwing the cleats in place and epoxying and screwing the support as well.  Then, I installed the platform permanently in the boat, securing it with epoxy and screws at the bulkhead cleat, and additional epoxy adhesive at the support foot and long the hull; I created fillets in both places to allow for tabbing, which I installed an hour or two later when the thickened epoxy had cured to the gel stage.

On the steering room hatch, I installed a little hatch that would keep the hatch closed when not in use.

After trimming the back edge straight and square, I too the glued-up blank for the helm seat up to the cockpit so I could mark it for final cutting.   Keeping the back edge square with the back side of the steering box, I traced the outline of the box on the bottom of the seat.

Down on the bench, I trimmed the seat to final size, allowing 1/2″ overhang on the sides and an inch at the forward edge.  I rounded the edges and sanded the part smooth before installing a short length of piano hinge at the aft side and securing it to the fiberglass steering box with bolts.  I’d purchased a hasp for the forward edge to hold the seat in place, but the one I tried didn’t work correctly in this configuration, so I’d find another one that would do what I needed.  Otherwise, this little project was complete.

Along with assorted odds and ends, including a quick trip to a nearby machine shop where I expected to pick up the new chainplates I’d asked them to make a few weeks earlier, only to find they weren’t ready as promised, I spent much of the remains of the day on the interior handrails.  To align the rails and drill the holes required, I held each section alongside the protruding bolts in the cabin, and made marks at each bolt location.  I also noted the length of the bolt so I’d know how deep to drill the 5/8″ counterbores.  Down on the bench, I drilled slightly oversized holes for the 1/4″ bolts, stopping after an inch or so of depth, then used a small bit to extend the hole up to the top of the rail so I could have a reference point to start the large counterbore.

Getting these rails installed was tricky, as even with a 5/8″ hole it was a tight fit for a 7/16″ nutdriver, the only way to insert and install the nuts.    I learned a couple things the “harder” way on the first rail that made the second side go a bit easier, but with zero tolerance inside the holes for even a slight angle on the bolts, it was an effort to secure the rails.  Eventually I completed the installations.

To wrap up the handrails’ installation, I installed 5/8″ teak bungs in all the screw holes inside and out.

Total time billed on this job today:  8 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  33°, clouds, drizzle, fog.  Forecast for the day:  Clouds, fog, into the 40s

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Monday

I got started with the deadlights, and applied a bead of sealant along the outer edge of the new lenses and into the outer groove of the frame, smoothing it out for a pleasing external appearance. The top of the bead was flush with the face of the deadlight frame, and the inner edge tapered away at the edge of the protective paper still on the lens.   I left the new beads to cure for a couple days.

On deck, I removed the now-cured excess sealant and tape from around the handrails on the coachroof.

Earlier in the project, I’d removed the existing–and rotten–battery platform from the cockpit locker, as the owner had requested not only replacement, but also enlargement to accommodate another pair of the 6-volt batteries he had.  So back then, over a couple separate days while working on other things, I’d removed the batteries and the old platforms, and cleaned up the hull and bulkhead where the old platform had been installed.  It had remained in this ready/clean state since then. and now it was time to turn to the new platform construction.

I determined the footprints (base of the battery box) and “airprints” (the overall shadow of the larger top of the box) of the existing battery boxes and used this information, along with the restrictions of the space itself, to create a cardboard template of the new platform, which I planned to make in a single level to hold all four batteries.  I trimmed the hull edge to fit as needed.

Template complete, I transferred the shape to some leftover 7mm and 9mm marine plywood that I had and laminated two layers together with epoxy to make up an appropriately thick section for the platform, aiming for at least 18mm (3/4″) thickness.  I used two thinner layers since that’s what I had available.  I set the glue-up aside for the epoxy to cure.

I was expecting new teak to arrive soon  for the coamings and anchor platform, but in the meantime I planed smooth and dimensioned a piece of leftover teak that I could use to make a cover/seat over the steering gear box in the cockpit; the original one had been lost long before.   This required changing the planer blades, which were dulled from the last time I used the planer on teak some time before, and while I was set up I took the opportunity to plane some rough cherry for another, unrelated, project in the works.

The piece was overlong but underwide, so I cut it in half to create two shorter pieces that I glued together with epoxy, setting it aside to cure.

The new teak stock for the project arrived in mid-afternoon, and I looked forward soon to getting to work on the new construction.

Earlier, looking at the mast base, I’d determined that we could cut off 1-1/2″ and be past the corrosion problem at the base, and this worked out well since I happened to have a sheet of 3/4″ prefab fiberglass on hand and–wouldn’t you know–two layers of this would perfectly match the amount needed to cut off the base, so I chose to use the material on hand to build up the mast step accordingly.  Though I strove to keep the extra height to a minimum, of course I would have goner higher or purchased other material to build it had it been necessary.

From this sheet, I cut out two circles of material just a bit larger in diameter than the original mast step, since I thought a stepped arrangement would look better than keeping the diameter consistent.  I laminated the two discs together with epoxy, clamping securely while the adhesive cured.  I’d continue work on the blank later on.

Most of the old electrical system had already been removed, either by the owner during last summer, or by me during earlier parts of the project.  But there were still a couple little rats’ nests of wiring at the aft end of the main cabin on both sides, and on the port side I needed to remove–and later rearrange–some wiring that we planned to keep and reuse for the bilge pumps, including a switch, counter, and bilge alarm panel.  The owner had installed these things temporarily for last season, but now wanted the moved to the panel above the countertop, beneath the deck overhang.  In any event, I needed to pull the existing wiring back into the cockpit locker (where the essentials of the electrical system were located) so I could work from scratch to lead the existing and new wiring as needed.

I removed obsolete wiring that led through the space, and noted for future reference the wire positions on the switch, alarm, and counter for ease of reconnection later.  I had to cut the wiring leading to both the counter and alarm, since the panels were hardwired and  the other ends of these wires led to the bilge itself, so I couldn’t otherwise remove and reposition the units.  I led the remaining wires (to be kept and reused) back into the cockpit locker, where I loosely secured them for the moment.  The existing main battery and engine wiring would remain more or less as is going forward, as it was new and in good condition, but I’d make some minor changes as needed to reposition things for the new circuit breaker panel and other installations as time went on.

On the other side of the cabin there was a similar mess of old wiring, but nothing needed to be saved, so in short order I had that cleared out as well.  I also removed the old hoses from the obsolete little cockpit seat drains, and I’d be replacing that with new 3/4″ hoses to the new fittings in due course.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:   10°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sun, then increasing clouds, mid-40s

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Friday

During the morning, I continued work with the handrails, dry-fitting the remaining three sections.  The process went more quickly now that I’d worked things out on the first section, but since I chose to mill the counterbores and bolt holes down on the bench to save the mess on deck, it required many trips up and down.  The bend in the rails was minimal enough that I could do two holes at a time.

With all four sets of handrails now attached, I traced on the masking tape around their bases, then removed the rails so I could cut away the tape in way of their bonding areas and finish preparing the holes through the deck.

I had the proper fasteners already on hand for the forward rail sections, which didn’t need to mate up with handrails belowdecks and required shorter bolts, so I got started by installing those two sections.  I’d masked off the bases of the handrails themselves to protect the bare teak from sealant stains, and although I normally preferred to clean up excess sealant immediately upon installation, here I chose to leave the squeezeout till it cured,  rather than risk getting it on the bare teak.

Since the fasteners went through tapped holes, the handrails were easy to secure from above, and at my relative leisure I went belowdecks and installed fender washers and nuts at each location as needed.

A bit later, once UPS arrived with my longer bolts for the after rail sections, I completed the installations there as well.  Here, I installed temporary nuts and washers on the long bolts belowdecks, since I didn’t plan to install the inside rails just yet; I’d originally planned to use the original rails I’d removed, but found it impossible to remove the remaining bolt studs without causing irreparable damage to the rails themselves, and with new teak rails so reasonably priced, it only made sense to start fresh.

I’d ordered the rails, but they weren’t in yet.   Later, once the sealant was cured and I was ready to install the interior rails, I could remove the nuts and slip the rails over the existing bolts.  I sized the bolts at 4-1/2″ long to leave enough extending within to properly secure, yet remain buried inside, the interior handrails.

The new handrails brought an air of completeness to the deck’s appearance, as nice wood trim is wont to do, and I looked forward to cleaning up the sealant and tape in a couple days.

Now I turned to the deadlights, which had had a couple days’ cure time and were ready for the next steps.  Removing the weights, I exposed the back (inside) of the frames and lenses, where there was excess sealant squeezeout to trim away.  This was easy to do, and the cured sealant came away in a nice intact rubbery string leaving the frames and (paper covered) lenses clean.

Before final installation, I had to complete the sealant on the outside of the frames.  While the frames could be installed as is, and the adhesion and weatherproofing of the lens installation was already accomplished during the first crucial stage of the process, it would look a lot better with a cosmetic bead along the outside of the frame–a peculiarity of this particular frame design.  To that end, I began by masking off the aluminum frame face to protect it from sealant later.

Now I had to expose some of the lens around the edges, to give a place for the cosmetic sealant bead to bond.  I marked a line around the perimeter about 1/4″ from the edge, then carefully cut to the line with a sharp knife, removing narrow strip of paper afterwards.  (This also happened to expose, through the lens, the nicely consistent and well-bonded bottom side of the lens on the frame beneath.)

I really would have liked to install the sealant beads now, which would have given ample cure time over the weekend, but it was growing late and I didn’t want to rush the process, which frankly I was unsure how it would work out, so I chose to postpone that process till another day.

Total time billed on this job today:  6.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  33°, cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  Cloudy, low 40s, slow clearing, then growing colder and windy late in the day.

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Thursday

My little fiberglass winch part had cured through the night, and now I cleaned it up, cutting the side ears to the correct shape with a saw and fine-tuning with a chisel and sandpaper till the part fit in the winch top properly.  I reassembled both winches.

I was fortunate to have a new U-shaped support bar made quickly at a local shop, with legs 6″ longer than the original.  The bend radius on the new part was larger than the old, but this frankly looked better and had no adverse affects on performance or function.

Interestingly, in browsing around online earlier I’d found my way to the website for the sistership with a similar installation, and discovered a photo that clearly showed that in their installation, the U-shaped bracket had indeed been bolted through the raised bulwark, as would have this one had I used the original tubing.  Functionally, that was fine, but less aesthetically pleasing.  And in any event, a greater angle to the transom was inherently stronger.  Fortunately, the part was simple 1″ tubing that was easy to come by and easily replicated.

I got right to work installing the new bracket, which was the final piece required to complete the windvane installation.  The extended length meant that the bracket now landed on the transom well below the gunwale, where the location would be strong and easily accessible from within.  There was no need to cut nor further modify the new brace.

 

I marked each leg for orientation so I could drill the holes for the 1/4″ bolts that would secure the tubing to the bracket insert, and did the milling down in the shop.  With the brackets bolted in place to the tubing, I aligned the brackets on the hull, made a reference mark, and drilled/tapped one hole for a temporary bolt.

I marked the remaining bolt holes, then removed the brackets and prepared all the holes with drill, 3/6″ tap, and countersink in the usual way before applying sealant and installing the brackets permanently with fiberglass backing plates and large washers within.

This completed the Norvane hardware installation.  In these photos, the servo arm is swung up 180° into its storage position, and I removed the servo rudder for storage.  To complete the installation and make the unit usable, all that remained was to make and run the control lines as needed.

Now that the vane was installed, I could wrap up the installation of the steering room hatch and its hinge.

Now that the paintwork was complete, I reassembled the anchor windlass with the (I think) 5/16″ chain gypsy commandeered from the identical parts windlass I’d discovered at the shop.

Next on my agenda was the new teak handrails for the cabin top.  To replace the original long length, I’d chosen two lengths of 5-loop rail per side, which filled the original space the best.  During deck preparations, I’d prepared and marked the bolting locations, so I had to align the new rails to the original hole locations–easy enough, but it required a somewhat longer installation approach.

The owner requested that the new teak be left natural/bare, so to protect it during installation I masked off around the bottom of each loop, and also masked the deck for protection and marking purposes.  In order to ensure that the bolt holes in the rails matched up with the locations on deck, I had to prepare each hole more or less one at a time (sometimes two at a time), marking the rail for each location, then drilling, down on the bench, a 5/8″ counterbore for the bolt head and bung and 17/64″ pilot hole for the fastener, and then, back on deck, a pilot hole and 1/4-20 tap through the deck to hold the rail.  With each fastener sequentially in place, I could bend and position the rail properly for the next mark, and so forth, till I had the first section dry-fit.

The first part of the after rail sections would be opposed in the cabin by lengths of 4-loop handrail, which would accept the ends of the bolts from above; the other locations would simply be bolted through the coachroof as needed.  I had to order bolts of the right length for the first section, so in the meantime I’d continue dry-fitting the remaining three sections next time before permanently installing them once complete.

Total time billed on this job today:  7 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  20°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Increasing clouds, about 45°

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Wednesday

When I permanently installed the “new” sheet winches, I’d discovered to my dismay that one of the winches was missing a simple–yet critical–piece, something that had clearly gone missing when the original owner of the winches removed them from the donor boat about 16 years earlier.  I’d had no idea about the missing piece since I’d had the winches in storage ever since I obtained them (as well as the original donor boat, back in the day, but that’s another story –one that I’ve told before),  and for various reasons I’d never had cause to take them apart before now.

The piece in question was a little plastic do-dad that helped hold the self tailer stripper arm in place by locking into the top of the winch shaft, as well as the little teeth on the stripper arm assembly itself.  It’s the circular piece seen inside the chrome body of the winch here.

These winches were long obsolete in that the manufacturer was long gone, but of course good winches really seem to last more or less forever, as long as one can find the occasional replacement part.  I didn’t think finding this piece (I didn’t even know what it was called) was highly likely, but looking at the original, it seemed that I could make a replacement in the shop without too much trouble.  After all, its function, while critical, was quite straightforward, and the original piece was just plastic.

I chose some 3/8″ fiberglass sheeting that I had on hand because ultimately I decided it was the easiest and most logical thing for me to work with.  With a combination of three drill bits, I formed a basic disc that approximated the shape of the original piece.

It took just a little fine-tuning with a portable drill  fitted with a drum sander to fit the new disc to the top of the winch as required, as I had to trim down one of the inside edges till the disc slipped over the winch shaft properly.

The main reason I chose fiberglass for the replacement part was because I couldn’t come up with an easy way to fabricate the part including its various little ears and nubs, all of which were critical for the part to function as needed; with fiberglass, I could easily epoxy little pieces together as needed to make the final shape.  I started with the nubs on the inside of the part, which needed to fit in a slot in the top of the winch shaft.  I cut a little strip of the fiberglass to fit across and through the slots, marking its position clearly on the top of the ring.  I’d leave the crossbar whole during glue-up, and would cut out the center portion later.

For the three nubs on the outside of the disc, which would ultimately fit into the teeth of the stripper assembly, I cut some slightly oversized bits of fiberglass that I could glue on in the correct position, then trim to the correct size and shape later.  Then, I epoxied the various pieces together and set the assembly aside for the epoxy to cure.

Now I turned to the deadlight frames and lenses.  I’d ordered new 3/8″ clear acrylic for the replacement lenses (the originals were 3/16″, and had the plastic shop cut the rectangular blanks a bit oversize so I could do the final cutting in the shop.  After confirming the overall width of the original lenses at 6-1/2″, I trimmed the new blanks to the correct width on the table saw, then used each of the old lenses as a template to cut the new pieces to fit the frames.

After cleaning the raw frames one final time, I prepared for final installation of the lenses.  For each lens, I trimmed the protective paper on the back (inside) side where the frame overlapped, exposing the plastic in the bonding area but leaving the paper in place elsewhere.

In these frames, the lenses relied on a bond between the lens and the frame only.  The original setup had rubber gaskets pressed into grooves inside the frame, but I planned to use modern flexible adhesives for the job.  For each installation, I first applied the sealant–a polyurethane–into the innermost groove of the frame, filling it with sealant.  Then, I applied sealant over the bonding flange, and pressed the new lens firmly into place.  To ensure the lens didn’t move during curing, I added some weight over the lens to hold it in place securely.  I repeated this process for each of the four lenses.  Later on, I’d finish the job by applying more sealant on the outside, filling the second groove and creating an external cosmetic-only bead for improved appearance.

Throughout the day, I applied three coats of gloss white LPU to the anchor windlass and two mast step assemblies, using a little disposable spray gun.

I spent the afternoon working on the Norvane windvane installation.  The first step in the installation was to install a horizontal pipe and support bracket, which the instructions called the “belled pipe” on account of its flared (belled) end configuration.  Reviewing the instructions, along with the anecdotal photo of a sistership’s installation and making some confirming measurements, I installed the bracket for the belled pipe right on top of the wooden block located at the taffrail centerline.  This allowed for two through bolts, which passed through the block, taffrail, and outward hull/deck flange, with two 2″ lag screws for the inner pair of holes, since there was no means of throughbolting here.    Any forces on this particular support pipe would  be sheer in any event, and this pipe mainly spaced the vane out correctly beyond the transom.  The real support for sailing forces came from other means that I’d soon get to.

Following the installation guidelines, I set up the new pipe with a level and by eye as needed, then secured it to the stern pulpit with line to help hold it in its required horizontal attitude for the next steps.

With the belled pipe secured for now, I installed the main body of the windvane, which featured an insert that slipped right into the belled socket at the end of the pipe, with a through bolt to secure it.  This held the vane securely, and now I fine-tuned the supporting lines to ensure the whole thing was plumb and level as required.  I also used this opportunity to confirm yet again that the vane was mounted at the correct height for this boat, and that the servo rudder was positioned as required in the instructions–that is, with 1-3″ of the rudder above the waterline.

With the vane secure, plumb, and level, next I installed the main diagonal vertical support, which led from the vane body down to the transom on centerline.  The length of pipe included was just a bit too long for me to install the bracket above the rudder where it entered the transom, so I made a mark and cut off the pipe accordingly.  Then, satisfied with the length and bracket position, I drilled through the support pipe for the bolt that would secure it to the insert end that fit into the bracket.

I marked, drilled, and tapped the holes through the transom for the 3/8″ bolts required, and secured the bracket with sealant and a good fiberglass backing plate inside.  Then, after checking the level/plumb once more, I tightened the bolts that secured the brace to the transom bracket and vane, firming up the whole installation and locking it in place.

The last part of the supporting structure for this windvane was a U-shaped stainless tube that fit through brackets on the top of the vane and extended towards the hull, where they’d ultimately be secured with additional brackets.  Here, however, I ran into a problem:  the legs of this brace were too short to properly secure to the hull.  At issue here was the fact that the top of the transom from the outside was actually several inches higher than the deck, thanks to the tall molded bulwarks surrounding this deck.  I could make the brace and bracket work (i.e. touch the hull) if I held the bracket right up beneath the overhanging toerail, but this would place the bracket above deck level, not where it should be secured.  Even in this too-high position, the bracket didn’t really touch the hull, as the pipe contacted the edge of the toerail above; even if I thought mounting here was an option, I’d need blocks to build up beneath the brackets.

For the brace and brackets to be positioned properly–that is, with the brackets mounted on the hull somewhere below deck level and where I could access the bolts from inside the hull–I calculated that the legs of the stainless brace needed to be about 5″ longer.   This would place the support brackets in a good position, and better triangulate the forces acting on the windvane in any event.  I couldn’t hold the pieces in this mocked-up configuration and take a picture at the same time, so I haven’t shown where the brackets would end up once I dealt with the extended U-brace.

The brace itself was a simple-enough thing and I hoped to get a new one fabricated locally and quickly.  But for now, this disappointment ended work on the vane installation, for which I’d otherwise been on track this day.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  26°, mostly clear.  Forecast for the day:  Mainly sunny, around 40°

< Back to Jasmine

Tuesday

I was out of the shop much of the morning on other business, but before lunch I installed the two “new” self-tailing winches on the winch islands.  These winches were older Barient model 24-45.

Later, I worked on a few straggling hardware tasks, including installing the two locker latches on the cockpit lockers.

At the poop deck, I marked the hole locations for the deck side of the steering room hatch hinge and prepared the holes for fasteners in the usual way, removing the core material and filling the voids with thickened epoxy.

The windlass I removed earlier, an old but reliable aluminum Simson-Lawrence Hyspeed manual model, still worked well according to the owner, but the finish on the case was worn and in poor condition.  The owner requested that I refinish it to the extent realistically possible.  I’d been walking by the windlass for weeks, ignoring it and hoping it would magically take care of itself, but alas.

It was a happenstance that I ended up working on the windlass on this day.  I’d been looking for something else, unrelated, in the shop and stumbled upon a nearly identical windlass in my parts inventory.  This windlass had some issues–part of the capstan was broken off, and the operation was stiff at best–but might still be valuable as a source of parts, beginning with the gypsy, which was a smaller size than the one off Jasmine, which was sized for 3/8″ BBB chain–a massive size when contemplating an all-chain rode, as was the owner.  The other gypsy hopefully was sized for 5/16″ chain, which would be a good choice going forward.  I used the attic windlass as a test bed, since it didn’t matter so much if I harmed anything, and soon found it was straightforward to remove the gypsy.  One thing led to another, and before I knew it I was well into the windlass painting preparations.

I had no need, desire, nor inclination to disassemble the “real” windlass nor to rebuild anything that didn’t require it, and not wanting to adversely affect the winch’s currently excellent operation, I chose to leave things pretty much as is during my preparations.  However,armed with new confidence after working on the “attic” windlass, I removed the chain gypsy to improve access.  I removed all the paint from the casing by hand, exposing the bare aluminum; it didn’t really take much to remove the old, failed coating.

With adequate preparations, I applied epoxy primer to the windlass with a small disposable sprayer.

While I had the primer going, I also sprayed the two original mast steps, which I’d prepared earlier with light sanding as needed; the original finish was gelcoat over the molded fiberglass steps.

Total time billed on this job today:  5.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  8°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 20s