Friday
Over the course of a couple hours, I applied three coats of gloss white topcoat to the areas I’d prepared earlier, including the new instrument backs, using a small portable sprayer.
Total time billed on this job today: 2.5 hours
0600 Weather Report:
35°, partly cloudy. Forecast for the day: growing colder and windy through the day
Thursday
After corresponding with Beta Marine to get their recommendations for the propeller pitch required for this boat, prop, and engine combination (the recommendation: 10″ pitch), I followed the simple instructions to set the pitch on the prop hub. After removing the prop zinc and two other rings from the aft end of the prop hub, it was easy to pull out the hub itself (they call it the ogival nose) and twist it to the required setting. Stan at Beta indicated that notch 9 (10.52″) or notch 8 (9.23″) would be appropriate settings. I went with notch 9. Now, when the propeller spun, the blades ended up at the appropriate angle, rather than basically flat the way they’d been when the prop was shipped at the 0 setting. I reassembled the pitch locking ring and other hub components, completing the job.
Next, I turned to the cockpit paint preparations, beginning with a light sanding for the newly-primed patch at the forward end and the new instrument cover plates. Then, I went around the cockpit edges, sanding the damaged paint areas as needed to feather the paint edges and prepare the substrate primer beneath. This was all detail sanding by hand. I brought the sanded area down a little bit into relatively solid paint to give the new coating a place to blend into the existing. During the morning, I went over the cockpit, sanding these edges on both sides of the varnished coaming tops and at the aft end as well.
In addition, there were some failed paint areas along the edge of the cabin trunk where the eyebrow had been taped off, so I similarly sanded and prepped these areas as well.
With the sanding work complete, I vacuumed and solvent-washed, then spent the remainder of the day masking off. I used my normal green masking tape on all the varnish and nonskid deck areas, but anywhere I had to mask over the white gloss paint, I used a special low-adhesion masking tape that I hoped wouldn’t create its own issues when I removed it later.
In any field areas where the new paint would be required to blend into the existing coating, rather than a hard line at some brightwork trim or nonskid, I started with a strip of foam masking tape, set just beneath the sanded area, which would help avoid a hard transition between old and new. Then, I masked below and around the edges as required to protect from overspray, covering the adjacent surfaces with masking paper.
Total time billed on this job today: 7 hours
0600 Weather Observation:
28°, clear. Forecast for the day: sun and clouds, high 40s
Wednesday
Now that the engine installation and testing was essentially complete, it was time to turn to some of the other tasks that had recently been added to my work list for the boat. Transitioning from the engine phase, the first thing I did was prepare to reassemble the engine room, which would be nice since I’d have steps to get into the boat for the first time since the day the boat arrived.
Earlier, I’d effected a minor glue repair on the removable front panel from the engine room, and since this piece was still down on the bench I chose to sand it now, preparing it for the next refinishing steps. The owner asked me to paint out various areas of the old plywood cabinetry, which task I’d be getting to soon, including this engine room panel. I’d also earlier cut away more of the panel, making additional access room to accommodate the new engine specifics. Afterwards, I reinstalled the panel with various screws from the back side, as before, and reassembled the engine room countertop and ladderway. The adjacent panels below counter and settee level would soon receive similar preparations and, eventually, primer and paint, but more on that later when the time comes.
For the immediate moment, I chose to focus on a few deck tasks before shifting my focus to the interior refinishing, and the first step was to reassemble some panels in the starboard sail locker and reinstall the CNG bottle and its support system, clearing these items off the foredeck where they’d been stored for the past weeks. While I was in there, I discovered this handheld radio sticking out from beneath the bulkhead just aft of the pedestal.
My chosen first task on deck was to deal with the paint failure problem and patching thereof in the cockpit and a few other areas of the deck. Part of this process included dealing with one obsolete instrument in the port cockpit bulkhead, and an old weathered backing block beneath two modern instruments on the other side.
I removed the instruments and the wooden block, then cleaned up the sealant from around the openings. Fortunately, the paint beneath held up well on both sides. We’d talked about teak backings for the instruments, since the holes in the bulkhead were larger than the current instruments, but my belief is that these small bits of wooden trim are a hassle to maintain, so instead I made up some plates from 1/8″ fiberglass sheet, sizing them to accommodate the square instruments while still covering the large holes beneath. I cut 3-3/8″ holes in two of the plates to accept the starboard instruments; for the port side, I left the plate blank, simply as a cover for the old hole but ready to accept another instrument like those to starboard.
After some finish sanding to smooth the corners and edges and otherwise prepare the fiberglass, I applied several coats of epoxy primer to the new pieces.
The edges of the cockpit near the teak coamings and some other areas had been damaged by masking tape at some earlier date; the reasons for this catastrophic paint failure in this professionally-painted boat were unclear and unknown and, frankly, unimportant at this stage, but the failure disturbed the otherwise nice appearance of the boat. These photos show a few of the areas in question.
Knowing full well that any attempt to patch in these spots would be imperfect, both in final appearance (though I hoped to do well towards that end) and in the potential longevity of the new coatings, not to mention the already-failed older coating, my plan of attack was to sand the transitional areas as needed–but no more than needed–and spray in some new topcoat, hopefully blending it with the original, hopefully taking care of the problem long enough until someday when the owner wanted to redo the decks completely. With an acceptable compatibility test result a few days earlier, I’d be using Alexseal paint on hand for the repair rather than attempting to locate and use Imron; I already had the closest match for the color and all the other components on hand.
I’d planned to spend what remained of my afternoon (it was to be an early day thanks to an outside commitment) beginning the sanding and prep process for the paint, but as I got set up and began sanding in the cockpit, I realized that this would be the ideal time to get some primer on the large patch area at the forward end of the cockpit, where I’d removed the old engine gauges. I already had a small batch of primer underway for the instrument covers, and with ample product mixed and already in use, it made sense to get the primer on the patch so I could then move forward with the topcoat all at once when I was ready. So I adjusted my plans and quickly prepared the area for spraying with some masking tape and paper, then applied a few coats of the primer over the raw patch over the next hour or so before I had to depart.
Total time billed on this job today: 5.5 hours
0600 Weather Report:
32°, partly clear. Forecast for the day: mostly cloudy, chance of showers.
Tuesday
I got started in the morning with some final preparations for the engine’s first test run. I filled the coolant reservoir, checking it several times and topping off as needed as the coolant found its way into the deeper engine passages and the hoses leading to the potable water heater. I’d continue checking this level once we started the engine later. The reservoir took about a full gallon of antifreeze at this point (and more later on).
Next, I filled the oil pan. This required approximately 3.75 quarts of 15W40 oil. I’d recheck this later as well.
I bled the fuel system at the engine-mounted secondary filter, a quick and easy process with the primer bulb in the fuel line. This photo shows the bleed screw on the filter.
To fill the transmission with fluid (ATF), I first removed a drain plug on the side of the transmission (as directed), then added fluid through the large fill hole on the aft side of the transmission. After three full quarts, oil finally seeped out of the drain hole, at which point I rethreaded the plug and checked the level on the dipstick.
After completing setup of a temporary intake hose, fresh water source, and bucket. we were ready to fire the engine the first time. The owner was on hand for the event. The initial firing was slightly delayed when we found there was inexplicably no power to the engine panel in the cockpit, but I quickly traced that to the wire harness plug at the engine, which had come undone, perhaps when I was leaning over it while filling the transmission or doing some other job earlier. With the plug reconnected, the engine fired almost without touching the key, and never hiccuped. I noticed a water leak in the exhaust hose behind the engine, which is shown briefly at the end of this video and in the photo below.
I’m not much on video editing, so you get several separate and raw videos showing different parts of the process. After the initial running of about 5 minutes, we shut down so I could check the fluids. As expected, I topped off the oil level and coolant a bit. Then, it was time for a more extended test run, allowing the engine to come up to temperature.
During the final stage of the test run, we checked the prop rotation when the gear lever was moved one way or another. With no documentation as to which way was which on the transmission lever itself, and no simple way of reversing it, I’d simply hooked up the cable and hoped that pulling up on the pedestal control would be reverse and down would be forward. Inevitably, the lever was backwards, so to correct the problem the only solution in this case was to reverse the control lever and cable support bracket on the transmission–fortunately not a terrible process in this case.
Afterwards, pushing the pedestal control lever down produced righthand (forward) rotation on the prop, and vise-versa, as intended and required.
Later, with the excitement of the engine out of the way, the owner finished up work in the lazarette (work he’d requested to do), securing the blower and vent hoses and making their final connections as required, and painting out the other half of the locker. There he is, hard at work sanding in the first photo.
Meanwhile, I worked on removing two of the four cabin top winches, which the owner wanted to replace with self-tailers. Removing two teak cover plates from the cabin, I exposed the nuts and washers, which I removed easily, then, from on deck, I removed the fasteners and the two winches, quickly scraping off excess sealant from the deck as I went. The first set of new winches the owner had purchased were not what he wanted–single speed only–so installation of new winches would come a little further down the road.
Afterwards, I cleaned up the boat and shop from the engine test, dismantling the hoses, exhaust piping, and removing the excess fluid containers and so forth from the boat.
Total time billed on this job today: 6.75 hours
0600 Weather Observation:
25°, clear. Forecast for the day: sunny, high 50s
Monday
Preparing ahead for an engine test-run in the shop, I set up some hose and piping to route the engine exhaust out of the shop–as much to avoid the mess as the fumes. I clamped a length of 1-1/2″ hose to the outside of the exhaust outlet, which allowed me to lead the exhaust forward, where I connected the hose to a series of plastic pipes and flexible connectors I had on hand, leading forward towards the shop door.
The boat–decks and hull–had been painted elsewhere several years earlier, and in some areas of the deck (mainly the cockpit), the paint had not adhered properly, and when someone masked off the brightwork, the tape pulled away the paint. This was a pity since the decks looked good otherwise. These photos show a few of the worst areas in the cockpit.
The owner wanted to improve the appearance while stopping short of what the cockpit (and perhaps other areas of the deck) really needed, which was to start over to ensure proper preparation and adhesion of the topcoat. But accepting the existing conditions for what they were, I thought we could patch in some new paint to hide the ragged edge and primer beneath, though the repairs would be necessarily imperfect.
The cockpit was painted with Imron paint, which I thought would be a compatible base beneath the Alexseal I normally used, and which I preferred to use for the repair since I had it on hand and was used to using it. To check for compatibility, I soaked small rags in some of the topcoat solvent and taped these rags to the existing paint in a few areas. After 15 minutes, I removed the solvent-soaked rags and checked the paint beneath. There was no sign of failure, or anything beyond an almost imperceptible softening of the Imron coating, so the existing coating, for all its known shortcomings in this particular cockpit, would be compatible as a base beneath the new paint where they blended together. I’d move forward with this touch-up job in the near future. This also meant I could more easily prime and paint the large patch at the forward end of the cockpit where I’d repaired the old gauge holes.
Total time billed on this job today: 1 hour
0600 Weather Observation:
24°, clear. Forecast for the day: sun, high in the 40s
Friday
Next on my agenda was to install the new propeller, a 3-blade feathering J-prop. Unpacking the components from the box, and looking through the instructions, I dismantled what I needed to and prepared all the parts for installation. The first pieces were a spacer–clearly marked in the box (there was another type of spacer in the box also) and a sacrificial anode.
Next, I installed the hub center and Morse taper. This process took a little while, as the center was grooved to match the grooves on the Saildrive shaft, and there were two small keys that needed to line up after the threaded Morse taper was installed and tightened–a trial and error process requiring a few repositionings of the grooved center piece.
With the center hub in place, and the little keys secured, I installed the propeller itself, slipping it over the shaft and aligning it with the holes in the center hub. Then, I used the supplied wrench to tighten the internal prop nut, located within the prop hub itself.
Afterwards, I finished up the installation with a smaller Allen bolt inside the hub, followed by the external zinc at the end of the prop. For now, I did not make any adjustments to the propeller pitch, so the blades were basically flat when opened all the way.
Later, I applied two coats of bottom paint to the area around the leg, including the rubber boot. I did not apply any bottom paint to the leg, which came from the factory with a white paint.
Back inside the boat, I continued work on the starboard water tank. I build a new plywood cleat for the aft end of the space, and modified an existing cleat from the forward end, to accept longitudinal braces, as I’d done on the port side earlier. Here, the amount of available room was less, so the new braces had to be smaller in their height dimension. The smaller, outboard brace required two screws into the plywood top to hold it in the center of the field, as it tended to bow upwards slightly.
The locker spaces forward of each water tank were worn and dirty, and after some sanding and cleannup, I applied Bilgekote in these areas to brighten them and make them easier to keep clean in the future.
Total time billed on this job today: 5 hours
0600 Weather Observation:
36°, clear. Forecast for the day: Sunny, 49°
Wednesday
I began once again with some sanding at the Saildrive leg opening, sanding smooth and fair the epoxy compound I’d applied earlier. This completed the prep work for the area. Afterwards, I thoroughly cleaned the inside of the opening and the surrounding area.
It didn’t feel right not to coat the inside of the opening with something, so I used some bottom paint to paint out the new work within.
There was now nothing standing in the way of installing the rubber drive boot, supplied with this engine package. The instructions called for using a “suitable glue” to secure the boot, but otherwise was non-specific. Searching online for clues and others’ experiences, and wading through the usual fluff , I eventually determined to use polyurethane adhesive (4200) to secure the rubber. Not only was this product compatible with both materials in question, but it was strong and flexible and durable, with the added benefit of quick tack time, and a stiff-enough consistency to ensure that the boot would stick in place immediately and on its own without a need for substantial clamping means.
The boot was a cosmetic/hydrodynamic thing only, and was not designed for–nor would it provide–watertightness. In fact, cooling of the leg internals required that the entire length of the leg be submerged in water, including within the large foundation/hull opening. There was a small drain/air release hole in the boot as well.
To begin, I used sandpaper to scuff up the bonding surface of the rubber, then cleaned it and the hull’s bonding area with solvent. With the boot held in place dry, I marked its outline on the hull as a guide for placing the adhesive, then applied an even coat of the 4200 to the hull and boot before pressing the boot into its final position. I used a J-roller to press out the boot and excess adhesive and ensure a good bond, and smoothed out any excess from around the edges.
A little later, the initial adhesive had tacked up to the point that I could use additional material to create a sort of fillet at the edges of the boot, further smoothing the transition and adding (I hoped) additional strength and resistance to the edges lifting off with time.
Earlier, attempting to test the potable water pump after reconfiguring the hose situation, I’d tried powering up the ship’s electrical system, only to find that the main panel was dead with no power. Investigating, I found that someone, in an overenthusiastic attempt to clean up unnecessary wiring during the engine room reconfiguration earlier, had clipped off the main wires leading to the panel and negative distribution. (I’m not sure who it was, but with such a small shop surely I’d soon locate the culprit.) So I led new positive and negative wires from the battery switch and new negative distribution buss in the battery locker, and reconnected the main DC panel, after which various components tested operational.
Now I test-fit the forward panel of the engine room, initially thinking of reassembling it (it would be nice to have companionway steps again), but it impeded the engine access a bit more than I wanted at this stage, at least until we’d done the test-firing of the engine in the near future. The panel was semi-permanent, secured with screws, so I didn’t want to jump the gun. While I had it in place I noted that I could remove some additional material on the starboard side to ease future access to the secondary fuel filter, so I marked the extent and took the panel down to the bench for cutting and surface prep that would lead into the next phase of the project.
In the icebox drain line, I plumbed in a shutoff valve, located within easy reach of an engine room access door, to control the drainage from the icebox for collection and disposal.
To complete the water heater installation, I installed a new plastic outlet box in the compartment, then wired up a GFCI outlet using the wiring that already existed in the space, leftover from an older water heater. For now, I left the water heater cord unplugged to ensure that the element wasn’t fired electrically until the tank was full of water.
Turning to the starboard water tank, I found that it was installed similarly to the port tank, but at least here the metal stiffener on the top panel hadn’t yet been bent out of shape. As before, I removed the cleats securing the plywood top, and then unbolted the stiffener for disposal. Later, I’d build new support members like those on the opposite side, but for the moment I was out of time.
Total time billed on this job today: 6.25 hours
0600 Weather Observation:
48°, cloudy. Forecast for the day: clouds, 58°
Tuesday
I continued work on the saildrive opening. As needed, I sanded the latest round of fiberglass and, after cleaning up, applied a coat of fairing filler around the opening.
The owner wanted to reroute the icebox drain, which had led to a small hand pump that he said had failed to work satisfactorily. To this end, I removed the pump and prepared new lengths of hose for the drain, and removed the old discharge hose that had led all the way to the galley sink drain, where I installed a plug in the old line since there was no way to completely eliminate the original fitting.
This opened up additional space in the engine room near the water pump, and this turned into the ideal location to remount the water tank selector valve that I’d removed from near the port water tank earlier. I mounted the valve on a block and led the hoses as required, marking the handle and bulkhead accordingly.
I installed the hose fittings on the new water heater, then installed the heater in the quarterberth locker, securing it to the locker’s floor with screws. I made up the final hose connections to the tank. For the electrical connection, I ordered an outlet and box to install, since the heater was equipped with a normal plug and I thought it best to keep it as is rather than reconfigure it otherwise. I’d complete that hookup as soon as the parts arrived.
Next, I turned to the port water tank, and a means of better securing it in place. The old system, with a cleat against the settee bulkhead and a metal stiffener bar across the top of the plywood, had failed to properly constrain the tank. To better secure it, I cut a plywood cleat to fit across the aft end of the space, and notched the cleat to accept two longitudinal beams that would hold the plywood tank top in place. I secured the cleat to the bulkhead with screws.
At the forward end, I repurposed an original plywood cleat, notching it as well to secure the beams. I installed new, larger screws in the cleat against the settee front, and secured the forward cleat with four bolts through an intermediate bulkhead at the forward end of the tank, securing the beams in place yet making removal easy should it be required.
With a new fuel primer bulb now on hand, I finished up the fuel system by installing the bulb on the suction side of the filter. This worked well to easily fill the filter with fuel, once I opened the fuel valve for the test.
Total time billed on this job today: 6.75 hours
0600 Weather Report:
24°, clear. Forecast for the day: sunny, 48
Side Project: Companionway Sea Hood. Total Project Time: 24.5 hours
9/26/16 (1 hour)
Working on a referral from my canvas subcontractor, I visited a local day charter schooner to look at the possibility of building a wooden sea hood over an existing companionway slide, and to facilitate effective attachment of a canvas spray dodger used when at sea. In the past, there’d been a canvas hood fitted, but with canvas upgrades in process, the owner had decided to look into a fixed sea hood instead. These photos show the original sliding hatch.
The design called for a simple structure, lightly cambered on top for strength and appearance, and to be secured to the wooden companionway rails in a removable way, There were some severe space restrictions at the outboard forward end, which limited the overall width of the new sea hood, and once we’d discussed the specifics, I took many detailed measurements of the hatch and rails so I could later convert them to a new structure back at the shop. The sea hood would be utilitarian in nature, fiberglassed and painted to match the appearance of the cabin top. My understanding was the dodger and sea hood were installations used mainly during deliveries offshore, and not on a regular basis.
10/5/16 (4 hours)
Later, back at the shop, I began construction by building the top. I prepared two oversize blanks of 12mm marine plywood, then, using epoxy adhesive, laminated them together over a simple formwork that I prepared from scrap lumber and secured directly to my bench. I cut the supporting frames with a 1/2″ camber over their width; the sliding hatch itself featured about 1/4″ camber. Because the whole arrangement would be fiberglassed and painted, I used screws to clamp the two plywood layers onto the formwork and to themselves while the epoxy cured.
Carefully consulting my measurements and determining the final dimensions of the sea hood frame (i.e. sides and front), I prepared three pieces of mahogany and milled them to 3/4″ thickness. On the port side, I created an opening to clear an obstruction on the deck (which I”d measured for earlier), and angled the top edges slightly to approximate the shape of the cambered top. Then, I glued the sides together with epoxy adhesive, clamping the arrangement securely while the epoxy cured.
10/6/16 (3 hours)
The epoxy had cured for both the framework and laminated top, so to continue construction I began by resizing the top to its final dimensions. I’d left two edges of the lamination flat and square during construction–keeping protruding edges or excess epoxy from interfering–so that now I had these edges against which to work and trim the top square and to size. In several steps, I eventually trimmed the top to fit the way I wanted it, at which point I secured it to the side frames with epoxy and temporary screws to hold it in place.
Once the top was secured, I flipped the assembly over and formed epoxy fillets on the inside, along all the seams, for extra strength and improved appearance.
To hold the bulk of the frame just slightly off the companionway rails (as required for sliding top clearance), I installed narrow 1/4″ thick by 1″ wide strips of mahogany along the bottom edges of the side frames, secured with epoxy adhesive and clamps.
10/7/16 (3 hours)
Now that all the epoxy was cured, I removed the clamps and screws and shaped the top, routing a large radius on the top corners as well as on the four corners of the frame. Then, I sanded the assembly smooth to prepare for fiberglass.
After cleaning the surfaces thoroughly, I began by filling the screw holes left over from assembly with a thickened epoxy mixture. Then, I installed a layer of 10 oz. cloth set in epoxy resin. I let the cloth run wild over the bottom edges of the frame, but later, when the epoxy was green and semi-solid, I trimmed off the excess with a sharp knife.
10/8/16 (0.75 hours)
After a light water wash, I lightly sanded the fiberglassed piece to remove vestiges of rough edges and otherwise prepare the surface for additional epoxy treatment.
To fill the weave of the cloth, and smooth out any imperfections between sections of cloth, I applied a skim coat of epoxy fairing compound over the entire piece.
10/9/16 (0.75 hours)
With the first round of fairing compound cured, I water-washed and sanded the piece, smoothing the surface and removing any excess fairing compound. The first round of filler had done a good job, but as anticipated, there were various low spots requiring minor additional attention.
After cleanup, I applied a second round of fairing compound as needed: a very light coat to fill any remaining cloth weave or shallow lows.
10/10/16 (2 hours)
Once more, I lightly sanded the piece, smoothing the final layer of fairing compound and preparing the surface for primer. Afterwards, I vacuumed and solvent-washed to clean the piece.
Later, I spray-applied three coats of white epoxy-based primer, which highlighted a few areas requiring minor additional attention, but otherwise the finished hood looked pretty good.
10/11/16 ( 2.5 hours)
Before departing to perform a test-fitting on the boat, I lightly sanded the fresh primer, and cleaned up the hood.
Once at the boat, I placed the hood over the companionway, and checked its fit all around. The cutout for the nearby traveler support worked out well, and I scribed the deck camber on the forward end of the new hood so I could make that cut back at the shop. To my dismay, I found that the companionway was taller at the aft end than at the forward end, which required that I add some height to the sides of the sea hood for clearance at the aft end. Despite my measurements all over during the initial viewing, I’d apparently failed to notice this. I shimmed up the hatch accordingly and noted the extra (5/8″).
Back at the shop later, I removed the little add-on internal extensions from the inside of the hatch sides, then prepared and epoxied in place pieces of mahogany to add the height required all around, plus a little. I kept the outboard edge flush with the sides, but extended the new piece 1/4″ or so inwards, obviating the add-on extension. I clamped the extensions securely while the epoxy cured.
10/18/16 (1.75 hours)
Over the course of a few separate days, working with the cure time of epoxy, I completed final shaping of the piece as needed, including marking and cutting the curve on the forward end to match the deck camber that I’d marked on the boat during the test-fit. Then, after final preparations, I epoxy-coated the inside of the box, as well as the new work on the sides. Later, when the epoxy had cured, I completed the final sanding to prepare the piece for new primer.
10/19/16 – 10/27/16 (2.5 hours)
With all preparations complete, I sprayed on three additional coats of epoxy primer.
The next day, once the primer had cured sufficiently, I sanded the whole piece to prepare for finish paint.
The boatowner had provided me with a can of brushable 2-part paint, which I used for the finish coats–three total, since the second coat didn’t turn out as I’d hoped. Whether from the age of the paint–it was of indeterminate age, though the cans were unopened–or from other factors, I found that each coat of paint required more cure time than I’d expected, which drew out the whole finishing process longer than it should have. But the third coat was satisfactory, and completed just in time too, as it turned out.
10/29/16 (2 hours)
With a weather window at hand, the boat’s departure schedule for her sail south was advanced unexpectedly, but fortunately the sea hood was ready enough–it was only the second day after I’d finished the third coat of paint) . Unfortunately, the excess time it’d taken to complete the topcoats, along with the quickened schedule, meant that I’d not had any time to paint the interior side of the sea hood as I’d hoped, though I’d primed it earlier.
To prepare for installation, I marked and drilled screw holes through the three sides, countersinking the holes to accept bronze flathead screws. The long sides would screw directly to the teak companionway hatch frames on the boat; the forward end required a small cleat, which I cut and shaped as needed, and which I’d install on the deck once at the boat.
Installation was quick. I started with the support cleat at the forward end, which I fastened to the deck with bronze screws and sealant.
Then, I installed the hood, predrilling the holes into the support cleat and side rails as needed and fastening it down with bronze screws all around. With the boat in the throes of last-minute departure preparations, the sliding companionway hatch was not on the boat at the time of installation, but since the sea hood was designed for easy removal that would pose no problem later as there was no sealant used in its installation (other than the forward support cleat). With the main purpose of the sea hood being to help support a spray dodger over the hatch (as well as provide its own protection), the installation was now ready for the canvas contractor to finish his template and construction.
Here it is the next day with the new dodger complete and installed.
Total project time: 24.5 hours
Monday
With a grinder and cutting wheel, I removed the excess cured fiberglass draping beneath the saildrive leg opening, then sanded the remnants flush with the hull and cleaned up the inside of the opening as needed. I sanded a radius on the opening’s edge to help fiberglass lay over this area later.
After cutting fiberglass tabbing for the next step, I prepared the surfaces with an epoxy coating, which I spread over the inside of the opening, the edge, and the hull. I allowed this to slightly tack before wetting out and installing tabbing spanning from the inside of the opening to the adjacent hull on all sides.
The owner arrived for a meeting about some additional work he wanted to do on the boat, and afterwards we worked on resecuring the bilge pump and ventilation hoses in the lazarette (the blower hose required an adapter flange to secure it to the bottom of the clamshell vent, which I ordered later), then he cleaned up and began painting the lazarette, completing half of it now; the other half could be done later, once the first side was dry. He also painted the hull inside the locker where I eventually planned to install the water heater.
Meanwhile, I got started on one of the newer tasks on the list: a reconfiguration of portions of the fresh water system. The way it was originally (and now) set up, the supply from the starboard tank, located beneath the settee, ran all the way around to the port tank location on the opposite side, where there was a valve to select between one tank or the other. The owner requested that this valve be relocated to the engine room for easier selection of the tank supply. Also, he reported that the original system for securing the tanks in place–a plywood top with a metal brace secured to it as a stiffener–had failed, and the tank was free to expand when being filled, forcing this plywood top up. Over time, this expansion had bent the T-shaped metal stiffener. I planned to reconfigure the system to better hold the tanks in place.
Removing the top, I removed the metal stiffener, and left the plywood aside for the moment. I removed the selector valve from the interim bulkhead and, after tracing the hoses as needed, I removed back to the engine room the line leading around to the starboard tank, and reconnected the main supply line to the port tank supply. At the engine room, I pulled free the starboard supply hose from its circuitous route around the aft end of the engine room, leaving the excess free on the starboard side near the water pump, where I’d soon reconnect it to a selector valve along with the port supply hose. I’d take care of that, and some other related water system tasks, next time.
Total time billed on this job today: 7 hours
0600 Weather Observation:
40°, clouds and a shower. Forecast for the day: Becoming sunny, near 50°