Monday

Over the weekend, I finished up the final painting prep, spending a couple hours setting up paint and spray equipment and doing a final solvent-wash of the decks.

Now, after tacking off and mixing paint, I applied three coats of epoxy-based high-build primer to the decks and sea hood.

Total time billed on this job today:   4.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  27°, light snow.  Forecast for the day:  Gradual clearing, 35°

Tuesday

Inside the boat, I got to work removing the solid teak fiddles defining the edges of the settee berths.  For each of the dozen or so fasteners on each side, I had to remove the teak bungs, then back out the fasteners, after which the fiddles came right off.

Next, I located the four screws securing the existing plywood to the fiberglass liner–three along the bottom edge, and one at the aft edge–along with the screws through the settee top into the hardwood cleats secured behind the settee fronts.  Removing these screws released the fronts for removal, after which I removed them to the bench for inspection and removal of a couple teak cleats located on the exposed sides of the fronts.  I’d use the existing pieces as templates for their replacements as time allowed during off times during the extended painting process ahead.  The hardwood support cleats on the inside of the plywood fronts were glued in place, so I’d have to mill new ones for the replacement fronts.

Afterwards, I cleaned up the mess and drill spoils in the boat.

That was the last thing I wanted to accomplish inside the boat now, as my focus in the next couple weeks would be on priming and painting the decks.  So with no further need to go below, I could finish up the masking at the cockpit bulkhead, companionway, and cockpit.  Leaving out the top swashboard allowed me to hyperextend aft the companionway hatch, exposing the maximum amount of the deck at the leading edge.

With masking complete, I washed down the shop, staging, and trailer thoroughly to get rid of and settle any remaining dust.  I had a few more hours of paint and equipment preparation and some final deck cleaning before I’d be completely ready, which I planned to take care of throughout the upcoming holiday break so I could apply high build during the first of the week.

Total time billed on this job today:  3.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  29°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Mostly sunny, 38°

Monday

The new scupper backing pads, as well as the liner cosmetic patch, were well-cured after the weekend, and following a light sanding I touched up the fairing compound where needed to fill pinholes and fine-tune the liner repair and fillets around the through hulls.  I used a quick-curing acrylic fine filler that allowed me to sand once more later in the day, leaving this area ready for the next steps, including primer, paint, and the seacocks’ reinstallation.

For now, though, my focus was on preparing the main decks for high build primer.  I removed the masking tape–now somewhat worn and scuffed–from the toerails and other areas where I’d applied it to protect during surface prep, then vacuumed and solvent-washed all areas to prepare for final masking.

Next, I masked as necessary for the high build primer to come, starting with the forward hatch and companionway, then the toerails, ports, cockpit coamings, and poop deck.  For now, I left the cockpit bulkhead and companionway open, so that I could continue next time with getting started on a couple projects in the cabin, but I set up and partially masked plastic sheeting that would eventually cover the cockpit, keeping it folded back at the forward end for access for the moment.

To integrate the new deck paint with the areas I’d painted during phase 1, particularly at the aft end of the sidedecks outboard of the coamings, I planned to apply the high build up to the paint line I’d left before,  then, before finish primer, extend the new work further aft, sanding and fairing in the transition at that time, so that ultimately the topcoats would blend more easily.

Total time billed on this job today:  6.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  51°, rain.  Forecast for the day:  Rain and showers, 52°

Friday

During the morning, I sanded all the deck areas once more, all finish sanding by machine and hand with 120 grit, to bring the decks to their pre-primer state of readiness.

After a fairly thorough cleaning of boat and shop, now that the heaviest sanding was complete, I relocated the four stanchion bases as requested by the owner.  The bases had originally been installed flush against the inside of the toerail, which didn’t leave sufficient room for proper drainage or for adequate maintenance of the wood.  Belowdecks, I checked each of the four locations to determine how far I could move the bases inboard; the way the bases landed over the hull/deck flange, and the amount of room available inside the molded liner, affected the position of all four bases, and using the least-good situation as my baseline, I determined I could move the bases in about 1/4″, a  reasonable compromise between the hoped-for effects and the various practical considerations forced by the boat’s construction.

For the forward pair of bases, this was the only position adjustment required, so using a pencil as an easy guide (it was 1/4″ in diameter), I repositioned the bases and drilled small pilot holes through each mounting hole.  These holes did not penetrate all the way through the deck, and would serve to mark the bases’ locations through the two primer applications so that I could easily locate the bases later.

For the after pair of bases, the owner also requested that I move them forward, to help make up for a slightly overlong lifeline gate section that had maxed out its adjustment.  From examining the turnbuckles at the fixed, forward end of the lifelines, I determined that I could safely move the bases forward 1/2″, so after marking the original position with tape, I made the forward adjustment and, along with the new 1/4″ space at the toerails, marked and drilled the pilot holes for the two after bases in their new positions.

From belowdecks, using the pilotholes I drilled during the jib track layout, I drilled back up through the deck to redetermine the track position now that I’d filled and faired the deck above.  For these purposes, I chose only to mark the forwardmost and aftermost holes on each side, which would be enough for me to recreate the tracks’ location later.

Similarly, I marked the holes for the cabintop handrails and, at the bow, the foredeck cleat.

In the cabin, I  sanded and prepared the damaged liner between the two scupper seacock locations, and also sanded clean the areas in way of each through hull for the new installations to come, and reamed out the existing hull holes to remove old sealant.  For repainting purposes, I sanded clean the entire area aft of an existing wooden cleat to give me a defined and logical stopping point.  Afterwards, I applied some epoxy filling compound to the liner.

From a sheet of 3/4″ G10, I made up new backing blocks for the seacocks.  I like to drill the large holes first, before cutting the sheet, to give me more clamping surface to hold the piece conveniently.

After a test-fit and final preparations, I installed the new blocks in a heavy bed of thickened and strengthened epoxy.

Total time billed on this job today:   6.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  38°, clearing.  Forecast for the day:  Clearing, 46°

Thursday

Continuing with the deck surface prep, I spent the morning on another round of sanding and cleaning the decks once more.  Things were close to their final contours.

I also completed some standard hole prep at the handrail bolt locations (4 per side) and the bow cleat, using a 5/8″ bit to remove the core from these locations.  The existing core was in good condition–balsa in the coachroof at the handrail locations, and plywood in the center of the foredeck beneath the bow cleat.

I filled the reamed-out bolt holes with a structural epoxy mixture using high-density filler, then, as needed, applied another round of fairing filler to the decks, mainly to a few obviously low areas in the patchwork.

One of the jobs on the extended “if time allows” list for this season was to replace the plywood settee fronts, two short sections of plywood at the forward ends of the settees that were delaminating from water damage.  I spent some time examining the situation.  Replacing these panels would require removing the teak fiddles from the edges of the berths (held in place with bunged fasteners), and removing various other screws securing the fronts to the berth tops (a hardwood cleat screwed into both pieces), and additional screws securing the bottom edges of the fronts to the molded flange in the fiberglass liner.

There was a clear, straight line visible on both sides of the plywood in these lockers, suggesting that the lockers (or perhaps the whole interior) had once been filled with water to this level for some period of time.  This line was also visible on the outside faces of the settees, though I only truly noticed it once I’d spent the time inspecting the insides of the lockers (seen in the series of photos above).

None of this made much difference to the plan ahead–I just thought it was interesting.  Other than the tedium and care required to remove all the bungs covering the screws securing the fiddles, I thought the settee replacement would be rather straightforward, and I could proceed once we chose the materials.  I had hoped to use an offcut of teak plywood that I had in the shop, but alas, it was too short by about an inch.  The owner indicated he would also consider white-painted plywood, which I thought would be the best and right answer, but we’d soon decide that.

I also had a look at the last through  hull and seacock in the boat, servicing the galley sink.  This had been a question mark on the to-do list, depending on the condition of its backing plate, but the original plywood looked to be sound and in good condition, with no signs of imminent deterioration, and given this, I saw no reason to go through the rigamarole of replacing it just as a matter of course.

Along with preparing the area for the new backing blocks and seacock installation beneath the cockpit, I planned to repair a section of damaged gelcoat in the liner between the through hulls, another request on my project list.  I planned to prepare this area, and the through hull holes, next time I had the sanding gear out.

Total time billed on this job today:   6.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  48°, overcast.  Forecast for the day:  Mostly cloudy, 58°

Wednesday

I began the day with a round of sanding to smooth the first application of epoxy on the deck areas.

After vacuuming and solvent-washing all deck areas, I applied a second coat of epoxy fairing filler, focusing on the repaired areas but also skimming over the existing gelcoat where needed to fill remnants of the old pattern.

During what remained of the day, I worked on the two scupper seacocks that I’d removed earlier.  Over the past week or so since I got the seacocks out of the boat, I’d made a few minor attempts to remove the remaining through hull studs from the valves, and had been soaking them in penetrating oil repeatedly throughout.  So far, I’d not been able to budge the old threads, partly because of vice problems and figuring how best to secure the valves during the removal, and partly because of age and sealant probably holding the threads tightly.  Now, however, it was pretty much do-or-die time, as I didn’t want to waste time on a lost cause.

Trial and error finally led to a clamping situation that held the valves securely enough against the force required to break free the threads, and some judicious heating of the pipes probably didn’t hurt either, though it took about as much force as I could muster to finally get the old studs to move.  But finally the job was done.  The valves were in generally good condition overall.

One of the valves had been frozen in the open position when it was still in the boat, so I decided to disassemble and service both seacocks to prepare them for reinstallation.  The stuck valve was really quite stuck, and after clamping the base to the bench I had to remove the bronze handle so I could use something larger to break free the tapered plug within.  Fortunately, the components of the valve were in good shape otherwise.  After cleaning out the old grease and other residue from the plug and body, I lightly lapped the parts just to clean up the bronze, after which I applied new Spartan grease and reassembled the valve.

I repeated the process with the second valve, which wasn’t as difficult to disassemble and was in similar condition to the first one.  New backing plate material was on the way, I had the new through hull fittings on hand, and soon I could think about reinstalling the valves to wrap up this item on my list.

Total time billed on this job today:   6 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  36°, mainly clear.  Forecast for the day:  Increasing clouds, 41°

Tuesday

With a marker, I went around the deck and highlighted all the small deck cracks I wanted to grind out and repair.  Most of these were small enough that they were hard to see, particularly once the gelcoat dust started flying, so by tracing them I hoped to make it easier to keep track.  While the sheer number of these cracks seemed overwhelming, they were mostly of a tight and minor nature in the heavy layers of gelcoat atop the deck, but for cosmetics if nothing else they required repair.

I’d planned to get right into grinding these out, but I was called away unexpectedly when my dentist appointment was moved up several weeks thanks to a cancellation, so to use up the time before the appointment, I chose instead to work on the bow pulpit.

When Arietta was here last time, the owner had asked if I could straighten a bent bow light bracket on the bow pulpit, but I was unable to do so with the pulpit on the boat–I tried, but the little bracket was amazingly strong, strong enough that I wondered how it ever got bent in the first place without also causing damage to the pulpit itself, and nothing I could try on the boat itself budged it even a little, so we postponed the project till now, when I knew the pulpit would be off the boat and easier to work on or, if needed, to take somewhere.

Some days  earlier, I’d prepared for this by removing the bow light assembly to expose the bracket, and tried unsuccessfully then some various clamping positions and pressure to straighten out the bracket.

Now, I eventually straightened it out with a few different positions and machinations in the vice.

Afterwards, I took the opportunity to replace the wiring through the pulpit, then reinstalled the light fixture to complete the project.

Later, back from my appointment, I ground out all the cracks on deck, creating wide-ish bevels around all the cracks and through the gelcoat layers as needed to eliminate the cracks.  I also reamed out the screw holes from the old eyebrow trim–the new trim might use different spacing–and created wider, gentle bevels around the new jib track hole locations and at the stanchion base fasteners to prepare for additional filling.

After cleaning up, I applied the first round of epoxy filling compound to all these areas.

Total time billed on this job today:   5.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  34°, mainly clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 43°

Monday

When the owner first delivered the boat this fall, he showed me how the setscrew on the outboard bracket had seized during the summer (stainless steel screw in an aluminum bracket), rendering it unremovable.  Over the weeks since, in short sessions here and there as time allowed (the latest over the weekend), I extensively soaked the frozen fastener in penetrating solvent and made various attempts at removal, eventually succeeding by drilling out the fastener from the back side, leaving a slightly misshapen hole since the bit wandered a bit.

To repair the hole and hopefully to better avoid the seizing problem in the future, I installed a stainless steel threaded insert, drilling and tapping the aluminum to accept the insert with its coating of permanent red Loctite, which, once fully set, would (at least theoretically) hold the insert from turning when the setscrew was used.  I’d source a new thumbscrew to complete this small task.

Before beginning the bulk surface prep on the main decks, I masked off the toerails and a few other areas for added protection during the initial rounds of sanding, mainly for the areas adjacent to where I’d be sanding.  I expected to need to replace some of this tape later, before the painting steps.

With a sharp scraper, I removed the excess sealant from the ports from the areas beneath the trim rings, removing as much of the residue as possible.

I spent the remainder of the day sanding the decks, including the cabin trunk, companionway hatch, sea hood, and all main deck areas.  In all areas, I sanded smooth the original molded (gelcoat) nonskid pattern, particularly easing the edges where the nonskid met the smooth areas.  This initial pass, in addition to removing the old nonskid, was the first of several rounds of sanding to smooth, clean, and otherwise abrade all areas to be painted.  I used 80 grit paper on a 5″ DA for this round, as the original gelcoat nonskid was soft enough not to require more aggressive grits to start.

With this complete, I switched to a 4″ palm sander and hand work to sand the entire area again, focusing now on the edges and corners where the more powerful tool couldn’t safely reach.  By the end of this round, the decks were fully prepared for the next steps, which would include grinding out and filling various cracks, dings, and other areas, along with additional work on the hole filling I’d begun earlier.

Total time billed on this job today:   7.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  40°, light rain.  Forecast for the day:  Showers, gradual clearing, 45°

Thursday

Among the options under consideration for leading some of the mast and other wiring through the deck was an elongated version of the round deck seals I’d used in the past.  I ordered one to get a sense of its size and possible suitability.  It was a bit smaller than I expected, which was probably a good thing since too much bulk might have been an issue, but otherwise appeared to offer the right amount of space through the rubber gasket for the leads we anticipated:  A pair of wires for a new solar panel, and the mast wiring harness.  The owner requested a through-deck connector for the VHF antenna leading to the mast, which I didn’t have on hand but would factor into the equation at some point.

The position of the gland as I mocked it up was fairly well preordained by various construction factors, including the change in elevation of the mast step molding (the mast step was on a flat section, but the deck angled off to each side right where I placed the gland), and, in the fore and aft orientation, by the location of a pair of built-in mast step stiffeners below deck.

The solar panel the owner selected for mounting on the sea hood above the companionway featured a built-in wire harness with a pair of short leads, which would ultimately be connected to coordinating leads led through the deck from below.  This whole arrangement seemed to work well naturally with the ordained position of the deck seal, whether we ultimately went with the one shown above, or some other type.  I held the solar panel position just a bit aft on the sea hood since the owner reported that during the mast lowering process (with the hinged mast step), the mast could contact the leading edge of the sea hood, so keeping the panel aft a bit would help protect it from damage.  The wire leads off to the port side would be out of the way and could be routed and secured roughly as shown.

Moving on, I worked through various chores around the deck related to the deck surface prep and sanding coming up in the immediate future, beginning with the final layout of the new jib tracks.  Starting to port, where I’d been mocking this up for a while, I double-checked the measurements above and below decks, satisfying myself that there were no obstructions other than the known one at the galley bulkhead (and the third forward bolt in the track), then drilled pilot holes at each fastener location, starting with a self-centering bit to mark the holes accurately, then switching to a regular bit and passing all the way through the deck with smallish pilot holes.  I started with the forwardmost hole to confirm that I’d held the whole track assembly far enough aft to miss the main bulkhead.

Moving to the starboard side, I repeated the process, first laying the track out according to the measurements I’d taken from the port side, then confirming the position above and below, and finally marking and drilling the pilot holes at the fastener locations.

I used a 1″ Forstner bit to ream out the deck core at each fastener location.  This also gave good insight into the deck condition, which was excellent at all such locations, with the core dry and clean and fully bonded all around.

Port side:

Starboard side:

Several of the minor deck cracks running hither and yon around the decks passed through some of these new holes, giving sound insight into the nature of the cracks without conjecture.  The cracks passed only through the heavy layers of gelcoat, ending at the top of the laminate below.  Gelcoat is simply pigmented, unreinforced resin, and as such, if applied too heavily, tends to crack over time and with normal sailing stresses.  During the upcoming surface prep, I’d work to grind out and stabilize these cosmetic nuisances, but in this instance they were not indicative of any underlying issues and are quite simply the nature of things.

Continuing with some of the hole preparations, I scraped away most of the old sealant and other residue and marked the existing locations of the four stanchion bases, for ongoing reference and to help with repositioning a little later.

Next, I reamed out these fastener holes to enlarge them and provide a decent bonding area for filling and patching, since all four stanchion bases would be relocated slightly inboard, and the after two slightly forward as well, during this refit.  Similarly, I reamed out any other fastener holes that would be abandoned or relocated, including the old mast wiring holes and those left from a small fairlead on the foredeck that the owner reported was no longer used.  The stanchion bases and mast wiring holes were all in solid fiberglass portions of the deck; the core beneath the two small fairlead holes in the cored foredeck was observed to be in good condition without need for further attention.

Similarly, I cleaned out the remaining fastener holes about the deck, including the pulpit bases, chainplates, winch bases, and cleat locations, just to remove old sealant for the work ahead; I planned to reuse these holes, so they would not be filled.

I masked over most of these holes from belowdecks to keep  epoxy fill (where applicable) from ending up where it shouldn’t.

After final preparations and pre-treating all the holes and exposed core with unthickened epoxy, I filled the prepared holes with an epoxy mixture made with high-density filler, giving me a head start on the deck repairs and patching before I dug into the sanding and surface prep next time.  My epoxy is red in color because the hardener reacts with the weld material of the splice in the storage container of the gear pump I use, and the coloring is exacerbated when the hardener has sat for some period time without use.  It has no effect on performance, and I actually like this trait since it makes it easy to know the two parts are well-mixed.

Total time billed on this job today:  4 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  44°, cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  Rain, 58°

Wednesday

I spent the first part of the day largely on semi-extended planning and related discussions with the owner, starting with details about how best to reroute (or not) the mast wiring through the deck.  I sent off various detailed photos showing the exact situation between the deck and cabin liner, where the old wires had run, and we batted around various ideas for an improved setup when the time came.  I won’t go into great detail again here, as the owner and I covered all this in detail during the day, but these photos show the existing mast wiring access hole (too small) and existing wiring located within the narrow channel beneath the deck formed by two glassed-in transverse “beams” that reinforce the deck beneath the mast step.

Regarding the new jib track location, we decided on the inboard, parallel-with-the-cabin-trunk location, as anticipated.  Before finalizing the position and preparing mounting holes, I made some measurements belowdecks to see how the tracks related to any obstructions like bulkheads.  Naturally there were a couple impediments to the placement of the track exactly where we wanted:  the small bulkhead at the aft end of the galley, and the main bulkhead forward.  By transferring measurements taken below to the sidedecks, I determined that the fastener hole spacing on the track required me to move the track somewhat in order for the fasteners to miss these bulkheads.   Moving the track aft about an inch and a half cleared the galley bulkhead and kept the forward end well clear of the main bulkhead, but extended the track further aft than the owner wanted, since adjustment room forward of the old fairlead was much more important since he’d identified through use that the sail required a more forward lead position.  Moving the track forward about 2″ also cleared the galley bulkhead, but then the forward end interfered with the main bulkhead.  Clearing that particular bulkhead would have required a substantial move further forward, if this even worked–but that was a non-starter anyway.

After discussing a few options, we decided to effectively move the track aft about 1/2″ from its “ideal” position (i.e. the aft end of the track aligned with the original fairlead position), which ensured that all the fasteners but one would clear the bulkheads below in a pleasing and effective way; one fastener in the center part of the track would land over the galley bulkhead, and for this I planned to use a shorter machine screw tapped into the deck structure, counting on all the other fasteners in the short track to take the load of the sheet.  After all, the working jib had been sheeted to a plastic bullseye secured with two #10 bolts for 40 years, so this seemed a reasonable compromise.

I’d confirm the measurements on the starboard side before fully committing, but it was good to have this placement figured out.  These photos simply show some of the initial layout, with the obstructions marked with x-marks.  All this black marker would be soon sanded off as I began the surface prep for the deck refinishing.

I also investigated for the owner the condition of the chainplate backing plates, which fortunately on this boat appeared to be stainless steel bar (CDs are notorious for using mild steel backing plates for the chainplates).  What I could see of the metal was in good condition, through the various bolt holes (with camera only–no direct visual access) and at one place at the port forward end.

Similarly, I took a closer look at the stanchion base locations, as the owner wanted to move them all inboard just a bit to allow more clearance with the toerails and free passage of water, debris, etc.  This would be possible, though the inward movement would be slightly limited by the desire/need to keep the outer pair of fastener holes in the inward molded deck flange.  We also discussed moving forward slightly the after pair of bases, to help tighten a maxed-out thread on the opening gates on each side.  This also seemed possible, as the lifeline turnbuckles at the forward end had enough remaining adjustment room to take up a small (perhaps 1/2″) move forward.

I really wanted the scupper seacocks and through hulls out of the boat before I started work on the decks, as this was hanging over my head and to date I’d had only frustration in my removal attempts.  Hoping to save and reuse all the hardware, I’d been taking it slow and (for me) patiently.  Now, armed with a length of pipe that I picked up for leverage, I made a minor modification to my old step tool that did fit the tabs inside these through hulls, but which so far I’d not been able to use effectively as there was not enough moment arm.  Normally, a screwdriver inserted through the holes in the bottom of the tool was more than sufficient for new fittings’ installation, but it wasn’t enough to break free these old threads and whatever sealant.  To help with this, I drilled a new, larger hole above to accept a 1/2″ diameter socket extension-type thing that I had on hand, and which looked strong enough to do the job.  It also happened to fit inside the 3′ pipe I’d picked up.

With the rig set up in one of the fittings, I applied some heat to hopefully loosen things up.  At first, this seemed to work, as I saw the mushroom head move when I applied pressure.  But then it stopped, and further pressure only bent the 1/2″ rod I’d put through the tool.  Inside the boat, I discovered that my turning had bent the fixing bolts securing the seacock flange, and that the whole seacock had turned in the process.  Not helpful.  And this now seemed increasingly stupid, and the time spent was starting to seem inefficient.

I figured if I could get the valves out of the boat, I’d be able to remove the threaded through hulls more easily, and given the modest cost of new mushroom fittings versus the cost of labor, I made the decision to stop wasting my time and quickly ground off the mushroom heads so I could pull out the valves (and remaining stems) from the inside.  Easy peasy.  Afterwards, I removed the remains of the plywood backing blocks, the replacement of which was the point of this exercise.  The original plywood was essentially sound, though did easily fall apart into its various laminations with little effort.  Now I could focus on making the new backing plates and removing the old through hull stems from the valves, and things would be ready for new installation soon.

Total time billed on this job today:  5.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  44°, light rain.  Forecast for the day:  Showers, then clearing late, 54°