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Saturday

I wanted to keep the varnish work going, so with prep already done from the day before it was a quick matter to apply another coat to the coamings.

Total time billed on this job today:   .75 hours

0600 Weather Report:
35°, mainly cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  Mostly sunny, 50

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Friday

Although I began the day as usual with the prepwork for the next coat of varnish on the coamings, as the day wore on I ultimately decided to focus on finishing up the hardware, rather than necessarily leave enough time at the end of the day for the varnish work, and along with some time spent moving another boat into the shop during the afternoon,  in the end I didn’t get to the varnish after all, but did expunge all the hardware installations from my list, leaving only the genoa winches off for now, since it would make the varnish work easier without them.

I reassembled the companionway sliding hatch with its forward stop, then slid the hatch on the tracks and installed the after stop, completing its installation,  Meanwhile, I reinstalled the varnished trim along the inside edges off the companionway.

Using some reference measurements I’d taken earlier in the project, I determined the positions of the genoa tracks, and reinstalled them.  For each track, I drilled and tapped through the toerail and deck for 1/4″ machine screws, then applied sealant before driving home the screws and installing nuts and washers from beneath.

I resecured the cockpit locker lid hinges with screws and sealant.

In the cockpit well, I installed a pair of new screens to protect the scuppers from debris.

With the correct fasteners now on hand, I could finish up the mast step installation.

Finally, at the stern, I finished up the installations with the backstay chainplate, cleat and chock, and mainsheet hardware.

Total time billed on this job today:  5.75 hours

0600 Weather Report:
Foggy, 39°.   Forecast for the day:  fog, clouds, low 50s

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Thursday

I spent the first part of the day lightly sanding the coamings, companionway, and loose pieces, then vacuuming and solvent washing the wood to prepare it for more varnish later in the day.

Next on my hardware list was the bow.  During deck work earlier in the project, I’d prepared the fastener holes for the bow cleat in the middle of the foredeck and marked the holes so they remained visible during painting, so to continue its installation I simply needed to drill and tap the holes in my habitual way, this time for 5/16″ machine screws.  Next door, I prepared the holes for the anchor chain hawsepipe as well, before installing both pieces with sealant and new fasteners.  I added a fiberglass backing plate and large washers to support and reinforce  the mooring cleat from underneath.

Next, I installed the stem fitting, which required three fasteners through the stem itself (the topmost of which was blind), plus a fastener through the top of the fitting and through the deck and stem toerail.  At the same time, I installed the bow chocks.

I reassembled the hardware on the forward hatch, including piano hinge, latch, and support arm, then installed the hatch back in place.

At the stern, I reassembled the stainless trim and hinge around the lazarette hatch, and installed the hatch in the deck.

Finally, after final preparation and tacking off, I varnished the coamings and other woodwork.

 

Total time billed on this job today:  6 hours

0600 Weather Report:
40°, cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  Possible showers, mainly cloudy, near 50

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Wednesday

I got things rolling by preparing the coamings for the beginning of their varnish sessions, which would be a daily event for the next week or so.  After paring away the final bungs from the coamings, I masked around the coamings as necessary, then lightly sanded them and cleaned to prepare for varnish, which I’d do late in the day.

The focus of the rest of the week was deck hardware.  I began on the cabin top, and installed the new handrails, which I’d pre-varnished on the bench.  I’d left the original holes in the deck, so I masked off the deck in way of the holes, then laid out the new rail to determine its position against the holes before aligning it and drilling pilotholes up from within.  With the rail temporarily in place, I traced around the bases so I could remove the tape in the bonding areas.

I installed the rails with a bed of brown sealant and #14 x 2″ screws from beneath.

I repeated the process with the port handrail.

The bulkhead compass had been devoid of fluid when I removed it early in the project, so at some point I refilled the compass (I was glad I didn’t have to do that every day for a living) and left it for a while to see if it leaked.   It didn’t seem to, so I reinstalled it in its original hole.

Continuing on the cabin top, I prepared and installed various line control hardware for the halyards, reusing existing fastener holes and original hardware, except for the plastic bullseye fairleads, which I replaced with new that I had on hand.  The cabin top was uncored fiberglass, so there was no need for additional hole-preparation work.

Next, I installed padeyes and another set of bullseye fairleads on the sidedecks, reusing existing locations and hardware.  During deck work much earlier, I’d overbored and epoxy-filled the hole locations for the little fairleads int he middle of the deck, so now all I had to do was drill pilot holes, tap for machine screw threads, and install the hardware.  The padeyes went through the outer portion of the deck where there was no core.  I did the starboard side first, then repeated the process with the port side.

To reinstall the mast step, I first drilled a small pilot hole from beneath, where the old fastener holes were still visible, to help me locate the step on the deck.  With the single locating hole, I could adjust the step properly and drill the two mounting holes, which I tapped for 5/16″ machine screws.  I prepared the area for final installation, but found that the screws I had were too short, though I thought I’d determined the length correctly, so I had to order different ones.  I’d pick up this installation as soon as the new fasteners arrived.

I wanted to leave ample time for the varnish work, but I had enough time first to install the companionway rails.

After cleaning up from the deck hardware work, I applied a coat of varnish to the new cockpit coamings.

Total time billed on this job today:  7 hours

0600 Weather Report:
25°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Mainly cloudy, 40°

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Tuesday

With only a short day on hand, I didn’t stray far from some basic tasks suited to the time available.  I started by removing the excess bungs from the coamings, but I discovered that I’d forgotten to bung  a few holes where the coamings joined the return blocks, so I added bungs there.

Later, I continued the varnish work on the companionway and the loose trim pieces.

Total time billed on this job today:  1.5 Hours

0600 Weather Report:
25°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, high around 40

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Monday

Over the weekend, I finished up the varnish work on the toerails, and removed the masking tape.  I also dismantled the staging to prepare for some boat shuffling in the near  future, as the remaining work could be completed without the boat in the center of the shop, and I needed the room for another boat.

Meanwhile, I continued work on the coamings.  To prepare for installation, I laid on a strip of masking tape to aid in marking,  and laid out the fastener holes required along the bottom edges of the coamings.  Then, I milled 1/2″ counterbores for bungs, and 1/4″ pilot holes for the screws.    With the coaming in the boat, I pressed it into place with my jack, and drilled and tapped the sides of the cockpit coaming to accept the 1/4″ machine screw fasteners.  At the winch islands and coaming return blocks, I bored bung holes and screw holes for the fasteners there.

Now I removed the coamings, and milled little countersinks at each fastener location before vacuuming up the drill spoils and preparing for final installation.  I applied a bead of brown sealant along the top edge of the cockpit, and at all the screw locations, then reinstalled the coaming and secured all the screws before cleaning up the sealant squeezeout.  I used enough sealant to prevent nuisance water from seeping into the cockpit beneath the coamings, and to seal the screw holes, but hopefully  not so much that coaming removal would be impossible in the future should be become necessary.

With the starboard coaming complete, I repeated the process on the port coaming.

At the aft end of the cockpit, I went through the same basic steps to install the two pieces of coaming trim there, and wrapped up the installation by installing the coaming caps on the molded return blocks at the forward ends.

With that work complete, I repositioned the boat to the front corner of the shop, leaving room in the back for another small boat and opening the other shop bay for my next project.  This gave me a chance to see Aventura in the open for the first time, however briefly.

With the yard move complete, I got back to work and installed teak bungs in all the coaming holes.  To wrap up the day’s work, I varnished the various loose trim pieces again, and finished up my fastener order as needed for the deck hardware installation.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.75 Hours

0600 Weather Report:
22°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, low 50s (!).

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Saturday

Hoping to wrap up the toerail work, I pressed on with another coat of varnish, bringing the total to a minimum of 7, though actually the buildup was more like 9 on most parts of the rail.

Meanwhile, I lightly sanded and applied a second coat of varnish to the back sides (the sides that would eventually rest and be bedded against the fiberglass cockpit coaming).

I finished up the interior fiddles with a coat of rubbed-effect satin varnish.

 

Total time billed on this job today:  1.5 hours

0600 Weather Report:
Mostly clear, 30°.  Forecast for the day:  Partly cloudy but clearing, high around 49.

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Friday

Before getting to work on other things, I took the opportunity to test-fit the cockpit coamings.  As expected, I was required to make minor adjustments to the coamings so they’d fit properly in their spaces.  I was able to bend the coamings in by hand for this fitting, so I didn’t set up my jacking system, and the process obviated photo-taking.  In the event, the adjustments were minor and easily effected, and I was glad I’d simply moved forward with final shaping and sanding of the pieces after building them.

In my habitual way, continued by lightly sanding the toerails and brightwork.  Then, later, after final preparations, I applied another coat of varnish.

The main coamings were complete, but now I had to replicate the two smaller pieces that spanned the after part of the cockpit, as well as a pair of caps to cover the tops of the molded coaming return blocks.  To start, I had to plane down a short piece of teak, one left over from and which excess length I’d cut off the original coaming board blanks before I’d dimensioned that stock.  I planed the short piece to the same thickness as the coamings, or about 7/8″.   With the original pieces at hand, I duplicated them as exactly as possible.  Then, I copied the coaming block caps, choosing to use thicker material here as well.  After final shaping and finish sanding, I applied a sealer coat of varnish to the coamings and all the other pieces.

Total time billed on this job today:  4 Hours

0600 Weather Report:
28°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, low 40s.