Lackey Sailing | jasmine

Tuesday

I set up the stern pulpit again and dry fit it, securing it temporarily with screws in the outer (solid deck) holes so I could accurately mark and drill the remaining holes in the newly epoxy-filled holes in the other areas. Once I’d drilled all the holes, I removed the pulpit once more and finished up the work on the new holes, tapping for 1/4″ machine screws and beveling the tops of the holes with a countersink.

With the area cleaned up, I applied sealant and installed the pulpit with machine screws, nuts, washers, and backing plates, reusing some more or less permanently-affixed fiberglass backing plates from the old installation that remained inside the steering room (two centermost stanchion locations).

I temporarily installed the bow pulpit, which was straightforward since its bolting locations were on the outboard side of the toerail flange. The pulpit looked ridiculous hanging out in mid air beyond the stem, as I had not yet built the new bow platform, but for the moment the installation served its purpose and would allow lifeline measurement whenever the riggers wanted to do it.

The two stanchions amidships featured built-in gate braces, and these required an additional screw. When I laid out the port side during an earlier phase of the project, for a reason that now escaped me I’d chosen not to pre-mark the hole location for the brace, so on this side I installed the stanchion (more on this in a moment) and marked the hole location, which turned out to be in a cored area of the deck, so I bored out the hole with a 5/8″ bit and filled it with thickened epoxy to prepare the hole for next time.

On the starboard side, I did have a pre-marked, pre-filled fastener location, so I could permanently install the stanchion and its gate brace now. I had gate braces for the aftermost stanchion pair as well, which formed the other end of the opening gate section, but these were separate pieces and I’d get to their installation shortly.

I had some trouble installing the stanchion tubes, which should have been a simple task, but in almost every case the fit was just a bit too tight–these stanchion bases originally came from another boat, obviously with different tubes, though the ostensible diameter was the same. In any event, fitting the stanchions required some sanding and cleanup of the tubes and especially within the base sockets before I could install the stanchions properly. This was an irritating frustration that required much more time than it should have, but eventually I prevailed, as indeed I must.

Total time billed on this job today: 6 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 12°, mainly clear/high clouds. Forecast for the day: Mainly sunny, around 30°

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Monday

Now that the paintwork was complete, my first priority going forward was to install the stanchions and pulpits so that the riggers could come and measure for the new lifelines. So to this end, I spent some time accumulating and preparing installation tools, fasteners, and equipment–including lots of soft towels and sheets to protect the decks–and getting geared up for the new round of work.

During the recore and surface prep work, I’d laid out, epoxy-filled, and marked all the stanchion base locations, so now it was a generally simple matter to install these bases. To begin, I made up six fiberglass backing plates to fit the bases, using some leftover laminate I had from something or other.

For each of the six bases, I followed the same steps outlined here. Masking off the deck around the lightly-marked holes from earlier, I placed the bases over the holes and drilled the pilot holes required for 5/16″ machine screws. With the base still in place, I used a sharp knife to cut the masking tape around the base, after which I could remove the portion beneath the base and finish preparing the fastener holes with a 5/16 tap (threading the holes for the machine screws) and countersink to bevel the very top of each hole for additional sealant retention.

After cleaning up the spoils, I applied sealant–a light polyurethane–to the holes and deck, leaving an abundant bead. I installed the base tightly with its four fasteners, then proceeded belowdecks to install the backing plate, washers, and nuts.

Back on deck afterwards, I cleaned up the excess sealant and removed the tape, completing the installation.

I repeated this process for each the remaining five bases, working my way forward on the port side, then back aft along the starboard.

This took most of the day, but by mid-afternoon all six bases were complete and I turned to the stern pulpit. In this area, I’d not pre-prepared any of the fastener locations during the recore, so I’d need to lay out and overbore for epoxy any fastener holes that fell within the cored area of the poop deck. I began by applying masking tape over the entire area in question, since I wasn’t sure where the pulpit bases would exactly land, and in any event pulpit bases tend to be brutal to deck paint if precautions aren’t taken first. Adjusting things hither and yon, I eventually ended up with the pulpit where I wanted it.

Because the outboard edges of the deck were filled with solid epoxy or were otherwise solid, un-cored fiberglass, I could drill and tap one hole at each base location (the forward starboard base on this pulpit had been replaced sometime previously with a different, separate 4-hole base style; the remaining three bases were welded rounds with three holes apiece) and install a temporary screw to hold the pulpit in its proper position and allow me to mark the remaining holes, and trace out the base profiles on the masking tape.

Removing the pulpit again, I removed the circles of masking tape I’d marked, and drilled out all the remaining holes with a 5/8″ bit, passing through the top skin and removing the core, but leaving the bottom skin intact.

After cleaning up, I filled the new holes with a strengthened and thickened epoxy mixture, leaving this overnight to cure so I could continue installation in the morning.

Total time billed on this job today: 7.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 38°, clouds and fog. Forecast for the day: Showers, clearing, temperature dropping through the afternoon

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Friday

Now that the nonskid painting was complete, I removed all the masking tape, and temporarily replaced some of the hatches I’d removed earlier.

Before continuing with deck work, I wanted to give the fresh paint additional cure time, so I spent a little time working on specifying and preparing orders for some of the items–mainly electrical–that I’d eventually need in the weeks to come, but otherwise meaningful progress on the project would wait till after the weekend.

Total time billed on this job today: 1 hour

0600 Weather Observation: 32°, light snow. Forecast for the day: Light snow, another inch or two, then ending in the morning and becoming colder.

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Thursday

To begin, I applied the second coat of nonskid paint to the deck areas.

Afterwards, looking to keep busy with the project, I continued work on the deck hardware, cleaning up the various bits and pieces I’d removed from the boat and preparing them for reinstallation, along with inventorying and ordering–as necessary–replacement fasteners and other installation supplies.

Total time billed on this job today: 4 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 25°, clouds, an inch of snow overnight. Forecast for the day: Cloudy, light snow on and off, 34°

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Wednesday

During the morning, I masked off the fresh white paint to isolate the field areas, following the paint lines I’d laid out previously; then, after final preparations, I applied the first of two coats of white nonskid paint.

Although I’d removed the old lenses, gaskets, and sealant earlier, the deadlight frames required some general cleanup to prepare the bonding surfaces and improve the appearance. Now, as needed, I cleaned out the grooves and scraped/sanded clean the various bonding surfaces (for the lenses and on the back side, where the frames would rest against the cabin trunk), and removed any final bits of old sealant (silicone) from the exterior of the frames, along with some light buffing with fine sandpaper. The corresponding inside trim rings were generally in good condition, but all benefited from some minor cleanup and light buffing.

The four opening ports from the forward cabins, also aluminum, were covered with lots of sticky butyl-type sealant from their removal. For each set, I removed all the old sealant from the surfaces to prepare them for new sealant and reinstallation, and otherwise generally cleaned up the frames and trim rings with fine sandpaper and soft wire brushing to improve appearance. Later, I removed the old screen frames to make installation of the ports easier when the time came.

Total time billed on this job today: 6.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 8°, clear. Forecast for the day: Sunny, increasing clouds, 23°

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Tuesday

I spent the good part of the day removing all the masking tape from the deck and other parts, and generally cleaning up and getting the shop back to normal after a few weeks of painting. I’d presently continue with the nonskid portion of the deck paint, but needed to give the fresh gloss a days’ cure time before masking for the next step.

With that work complete, I spent some time working on the remaining three deadlight frames, removing the old lenses and cleaning up the worst of the old sealant from the frames. I’d disassembled one of the frames a few weeks earlier, and now that I knew how the arrangement worked the process went a little more quickly.

The aluminum frames would require some additional cleanup to remove all traces of the old sealant and clean out the grooves in which the old rubber gaskets had sat, but that chore was for another time. In the meantime, I ordered the new lens material so I’d have it on hand shortly to make replacement lenses.

Total time billed on this job today: 6.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 20°, cloudy. Forecast for the day: Clouds, some light snow, 20s

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Monday

After final preparations, I applied three coats of Alexseal snow white gloss topcoat to the deck areas, working again in two separate phases: first the remote areas of the coachroof (around the companionway and forward hatch) and the cockpit well; then, three coats on the remaining areas, including the cabin trunk, channels, coamings, and bulwarks, along with the loose hatches on the shop floor.

Total time billed on this job today: 5.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 26°, mostly clear. Forecast for the day: Sunny, high around 30° but then falling in the afternoon

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Friday

Beginning with the cockpit, then moving on to the sidedecks and foredeck, I wrapped up the deck masking work. In the cockpit, I left an extra 3/4″ width at the outboard edges of the seats to accommodate the thickness of the coamings once reinstalled, and narrowed the gloss border areas to 3/4″ next to the cockpit locker openings, but in other areas I masked off 1-1/2″ borders, as with the masking I’d done earlier.

With the masking complete, I vacuumed once more, then solvent-washed the exposed areas with the special wipe-down solvent provided by the paint system and other final preparations required so I could apply the gloss topcoats next time.

Total time billed on this job today: 4 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 2°, clear. Forecast for the day: Sunny, approaching 20°

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Thursday

First thing, I rinsed off the staging and shop floor to clean them up and remove final sanding dust. I had to leave the shop for a while in the morning, but afterwards, I spent the remainder of the day working on masking off the decks for the gloss topcoats. Starting with the loose parts on the shop floor, I marked off 1-1/2″ borders in most areas, masking off the field areas within that would ultimately be nonskid. On the cockpit locker lids, where the edges would butt more or less directly against the adjacent deck surfaces, I reduced the border to 3/4″ (which would coordinate with similar width borders in the cockpit itself) to keep the overall appearance consistent.

Moving on deck, I started with the coachroof. Here, I temporarily placed the sea hood in position so I could mark off the gloss borders around its perimeter, again going with 1-1/2″ width.

The edge of the coachroof featured a wide radius transitioning down to the sides of the cabin trunk. Here, I chose a 4″ measurement, using a pair of steel rules–one held tight to the side of the cabin trunk with the other extending inwards and flat on the deck–to make a series of tick marks along the edge to guide the masking tape. This held the nonskid edge back far enough for the gloss paint to enhance the curves and appearance of the molding while keeping nonskid close enough to the edge to make stepping on and off the cabin trunk practical and safer.

I finished up the coachroof masking and papered over the field areas to protect against overspray.

On the poop deck, I temporarily positioned the steering room hatch so I could mark 1-1/2″ around its outer edges, then masked off the remainder of the area to suit, which brought me to the end of the day. I’d finish up the masking and other preparations next time.

Total time billed on this job today: 4.75 hours

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

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Wednesday

I spent one more day on sanding duty, this time with 320 grit by machine and hand as necessary to lightly sand the fresh primer. Afterwards, I performed my usual rounds of cleanup to prepare the decks for the next steps.