Before starting on the prep work at the hull-deck joint/rubrail, I removed a tank vent fitting from the port quarter, as the fitting would soon be in the way.  The fitting was only hand-tight and easy to remove, and I stuck the vent back in the hose inside the locker for safekeeping.

The black sheer strake was molded so as to be slightly proud of the rest of the hull, approximately 1/8″, but at the ends the protrusion tapered off to nothing a bit below the old rubrail location.  To aid in recreating the shape later on, I took the time to make patterns of both the stern and bow on the port side; I could flip these for the starboard side so saw no need to make specific patterns for each corner.  I also made a rubbing of the Ericson logo on the quarter in case it needed to be recreated later.

Before continuing, I closed up the companionway and other hatches to keep dust out of the boat as much as possible.

I spent the remainder of the day grinding the out-turned hull and deck flanges flush (or as nearly so as possible) to their adjacent surfaces.  At the deck side, I also removed the gelcoat up as far as a molded “character line” in the toerail/deck edge, which logic and practicality dictated would probably be the end point for new tabbing in this instance.  More on this later.  I brought the flanges as flush as possible with the hull and deck moldings on either side, but had to balance this with removing too much material from the center, where the wooden strip had been and where other structural material, including interior tabbing and some kind of adhesive filler material, needed to remain in place.

Hull and deck moldings rarely, if ever, are perfectly fit and symmetrical all around, so some misalignment is standard; this is one reason manufacturers use external rubrails or trim to cover the seam.  I’d make up the differences, where needed, with epoxy filler to bring things flush all over before tabbing over the seam, but essentially and practically speaking I ground the old flanges flush all around.  I didn’t use the grinder for anything beyond the minimum required to remove the bulk of the material, and would finish up sanding and surface preparation with less aggressive tools to avoid excess fiberglass removal and maintain the existing contours of the moldings to minimize future fairing work.  This all made a bit of a mess, but with more sanding in the immediate future I just gave the hull a quick blow down, leaving the rest of the shop for cleaning later in the week.

 

Easing into the project, my first order of business was to measure and record the existing positions of the waterline (i.e. the top edge of the bottom paint) and boottop at stem and stern.  These references would give me the starting point for restriking these lines later on.

At the stern, I hooked my tape measure on the corner of the transom where it met the counter, and led it down centerline to measure the positions of the top and bottom edges of the boottop, and the waterline.  I also noted the position of the visible scum line on the bottom paint and rudder for future reference.  The molded boottop lines and bottom paint line drooped as they approached the stern cutwater (Robert Perry calls this the “buttwater”), which positioning I’d correct later on, but nevertheless these were crucial references for later.  I noted them all on a meticulously-crafted drawing.

I repeated the process at the stem, using the bottom edge of the headstay chainplate as my reference point.

Amidships, I measured the visual height of the boottop (3″) and, on the port side, the exposed portion of the antifouling paint above the scum line (2″).  I did note that the boat appeared to list to starboard, as the scum lines on that side showed the boottop may have been partially at or closer to the actual waterline there.

With these measurements noted, I documented the existing condition of the hull from various positions.  The original gelcoat was oxidized and generally affected by wetsanding and years of polish, but mostly sound, with some pinholes, pockmarks, and other minor damage–nothing unusual or unexpected.

Next, I set up staging around the hull to give me access to the topsides and rubrail.  Because the owner was still removing deck hardware, and also because in this instance it made sense to me to start from the bottom and work up, I chose to focus first on the hull prep before moving on to the larger project on the decks.

The owners requested that I remove the plastic rubrail assembly, which covered the hull-deck joint and was original in appearance.  The rail was missing one of its endcaps, and the insert, which slipped into the hard PVC outer shell, was sun-damaged, cracked, crazed, and broken in some areas.  The owners’ plan for me to put into effect was to glass over the exterior of the hull-deck joint, ultimately creating a flush and unadorned surface to replace the original rubrail.

The first step was to remove the insert to gain access to the fixing screws beneath.  From the general appearance of the insert, I feared it might have to be removed piecemeal, as it looked hard and brittle, so I was prepared to chip it out as needed with a chisel.  To my pleasure and surprise, though, the insert was rubbery and supple and, once I got it started at one end, easy to remove by hand.  Once I removed the insert, and the end trim at the bow (the end cap was missing from the port after side), I removed all the screws fixing the rubrail housing to the hull, roughly every 6-8″ on center.  Beneath the rail itself was the actual hull-deck joint, which featured slightly outward flanges from hull and deck moldings with a 1″ tall wooden insert between.  The owner had prepared me for this possibility during an initial meeting, and I’d done some online research, so I was prepared for the finding.  My first glimpses of the wood beneath showed significant water damage and rot, but fortunately I found that the wood was a thin strip only about 1/4″ thick, and wasn’t adhered to the surrounding fiberglass, so it was easy to remove; beneath the wood was solid glass of the tabbing that actually secured the joint from the inside of the boat.

I repeated the removal on the starboard side, which exhibited similar overall conditions except there was a 6′ or so section of the wooden insert that required an extra minute or two to remove, which was only notable since most of the rest of the boat just sort of fell out almost on its own.

With the wooden insert removed, there remained roughly 1/4″ protruding flanges, with a box-shaped recess between and solid fiberglass behind.  Grinding the flanges flush with the hull and deck moldings would basically bring the whole seam flush and ready for external tabbing to cover the whole area, with the exception of the last few inches of the port side near the transom, where the deck appeared to be just slightly wider than the hull and might require a bit more work to bring flush.

The next step would be to grind the flanges flush and otherwise prepare the adjacent areas for the new work ahead.

From the inception of the project the owners had agreed to undertake the deck hardware removal and installation themselves, and true to form, they worked over the weekend to remove nearly all of the deck hardware.  This series of photos shows the results, and also documents the condition of the decks at the onset of the project.

Further arrived at the shop in the late morning.  I’d cleared out the shop in advance, so it was ready for her to go right in.  The project would begin in earnest soon.