Saturday

In a short work session, I finished up the sanding on the port decks, and also the four loose hatches currently underway.

Later, I removed the bolts securing the spreader base hardware to the mast–two upper bolts, plus a large bolt below that also secured the tangs for the lower shrouds.  The base featured one of those confining designs where every bolt interfered with an adjacent one, or the hardware itself, to prevent easy use of tools that might actually be able to grip the nuts and bolt heads, so by removing the base I eliminated most of the impediments.  Astute readers may recall that the port spreader had been repaired at some point in the past, but the stub was galvanically welded to the base and unremovable during the rigger’s visit earlier.  I’d been soaking these bolts and environs with penetrating solvent for a week or two, and with the unit now clamped in a vise and the bolts accessible with sockets, I could break them free and remove them with difficulty, fighting for every thread.  I planned to send the little insert to the rigger to go along with the main part of the spreader so the butt end could be properly repaired to match the original spreader on the opposite side.

Total time billed on this job today:  2.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  32°, clear.   Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 49°

Friday

With the staging still down at hull height, I began sanding the fresh primer in the cockpit (I like to start with the “worst” areas), sanding all surfaces smooth with 320 grit paper by machine and hand as needed, then moved up to the expansive coachroof to continue the work.

Next, I moved down to ground level and began sanding the hull at the counter and transom, eventually working my way up the port side then back down the starboard to complete the hull sanding.

Now, I moved the staging back to deck height, and, starting at the stem, sanded the starboard foredeck, sidedeck, cabin trunk, coaming, and poop deck, including the port side as far forward as the winch island.  It would have been nice to finish up the sanding on the port deck, but alas, that would have to wait for next time.

Total time billed on this job today:  8.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  68° (!), windy, cloudy, and showery.  Forecast for the day:  Showers, drizzle, fog, then clearing and windy, dropping through the day to 49°

Thursday

Before I could start the hull primer, I had to reset the staging to hull height, and once the planks were reconfigured I added a strip of masking paper just below the waterline (which was still masked off from the high-build primer) to protect the bottom against overspray.  Then, I tacked off the hull.

With preparations complete, I spent the remainder of the day applying four coats of the Alexseal epoxy finish primer, sticking with white since the hull would be painted a light color.  I went with four coats to provide good coverage over parts of the hull/deck joint, which was fairly dark even beneath the high-build.

Total time billed on this job today:  4.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  58°, cloudy and fog/drizzle . Forecast for the day:  Rain and patchy fog, 64°

Wednesday

Over the course of several elapsed hours, I applied three coats of epoxy-based finish primer to all deck areas, beginning with the inboard areas of the coachroof, cockpit, and companionway.  Once I had three coats on those sections, I removed the paper I’d had in place to walk upon, then sprayed the three coats on the remaining areas to complete the job.

Total time billed on this job today:  6 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  51°, cloudy and fog/drizzle . Forecast for the day:  Drizzle and patchy fog, cloudy, 60°

Tuesday

I began once more with the winch islands, where I sanded the fresh high-build primer I’d applied the day before, completing the construction and bringing the winch islands to a state of readiness matching the adjacent decks.

I spent the remainder of the day working on all the final steps required before primer, starting with a thorough vacuum and then an initial solvent wash of the decks and hull.

Next, I rewashed all surfaces with the paint system’s proprietary solvent, then covered various areas of the deck with masking paper to allow me to stand, kneel, or lean on these sections to reach the innermost portions of the deck, such as the coachroof and companionway and cockpit well, which sections I’d spray first before moving outboard to the remaining deck areas.  I also masked along the top of the hull to protect against overspray from the deck, choosing an arbitrary starting point for the masking that would allow the hull primer to overlap the deck primer when I applied it a day after.

Meanwhile, I prepared paint and paint equipment and the sundry chores left on my final list.

Total time billed on this job today:  6.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  46°, mainly cloudy . Forecast for the day:  Drizzle and patchy fog, 53°

Monday

Over the weekend, I completed two additional rounds of minor fairing and shaping for the winch islands.  This significantly advanced the progress so I could keep to my self-imposed schedule for primer.

First round (sanding then filler):

Second round (sanding then filler, concentrating on the edge fillets and low spots):

Now, I sanded the final round of filler, this time with finish-sanding equipment and by hand to complete the shaping of the various fillets and ending up with 120 grit, the final grit required before high-build primer.  At this stage, the new islands were looking pretty good, but I’d reassess after I’d spot-primed the new assemblies and take care of any minor fairing required at that time.

First, though, with the major work on the winch islands complete, I worked on cleaning up the shop and the boat, blowing down all surfaces and rinsing the floor and staging to settle the remaining dust.  Then, I masked over the final openings on deck, including the companionway and the cockpit lockers, to prepare these areas for finish primer later in the week.  There’d be one final round of cleaning and prep required between now and then, but that would wait till I’d primed and sanded the winch islands.

Towards the end of the day, I masked off around the winch islands to prevent unwanted overspray and, after final preparations, applied several coats of high-build primer with a small sprayer.  In between coats and afterwards, while staying out of the main shop as much as possible to avoid paint fumes, I moved forward with additional preparations for the paint sessions to come.

Total time billed on this job today:  9 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  45°, drizzle . Forecast for the day:  Clouds and drizzle with a chance of rain, 51°

Friday

I began with a light sanding for the winch islands, which prepared them for the next steps.

The initial layer of fairing compound left sundry voids in the surface, and to fill and smooth these and provide the best substrate for the fiberglass cloth, I applied  a skim coat of silica-thickened epoxy over the surface, which I left for just a little while to begin to cure before proceeding.

I wet out and applied a layer of biaxial fiberglass over the outer edge of the rebuild islands, less as a structural matter than as a means of ensuring better final cosmetics immediately and in years to come, though the fiberglass did tie together the original base with the new extension.

Leaving the new fiberglass to cure to a green state during the rest of the day, I continued picking away at the final deck preparation tasks, starting with some basic cleanup in the cockpit area and nearby.  During interior construction, I’d covered the cockpit areas with some paper to protect the areas I was constantly trodding upon as I climbed in and out of the boat 37 times a day, but now this paper and masking tape had to go, and even with it, there were inevitably little drips of varnish, or epoxy, or what have you here and there that I cleaned up with sandpaper as needed, leaving behind a clean surface ready for the final-final cleanup that would occur as soon as I completed construction work on the winch islands.  I also sanded smooth some filler that I’d apparently applied in one of the cockpit locker gutters long before, but had forgotten about.

By early afternoon, the new fiberglass had cured sufficiently that I could, with care and using a plastic squeegee to avoid snagging the cloth with a firm metal edge, apply a layer of fairing compound over the new cloth, to start filling the weave and to clean up the boundaries of the cloth top and bottom and at the forward and after corners of the winch islands.

Striving to make progress elsewhere while the islands kept me at a staid pace on the deck work, I removed the hardware from the original bow platform, much of which hardware would be reused when I built a new platform sometime in the relatively foreseeable future.

The new propeller shaft, which I’d ordered a little while ago using measurements I’d made at the end of the last phase of work, arrived now, and as always I was relieved to find that it matched my notes and required measurements:  that is, that the overall length of the shaft itself was 31-3/4″, otherwise known as 2″ longer than my prototype fiberglass tube that I’d used to make the original measurements.

Total time billed on this job today:  5.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  40°, cloudy. Forecast for the day:  Partly sunny, 57°

Thursday

I had a short day in the shop since I needed the morning to pick up one of the winter’s upcoming boats, but upon my return I got back to work on the winch islands.

The additions created a sort of wasp-waisted appearance at the moment, but the top edge was in line with the base of the original island, so once the construction and fairing work was complete, the islands would be essentially straight and more or less plumb (whatever plumb might be on a dynamic object like a sailboat).  The size of the top surface was dictated by the size of the winch base, and continuing the slightly-angled line of the original molded bases would have resulted in a top substantially too small.

After a light sanding to smooth the first round of epoxy filler, and ease the top edge of the platform, I took advantage of the clean, dry surface to cut some fiberglass (not shown) that I’d eventually wrap around the outside of the assembly to tie the whole thing together and help provide a consistent surface.

I applied another layer of fairing compound to the outer portion of the islands, using a broad trowel to bring the surface closer to its final shape.

I had hoped to use some of the work lamps I use for illumination to speed up the curing of this layer of compound so I could apply the fiberglass before the end of the day, but alas, I’d long ago switched to CFL bulbs everywhere and had no normal incandescent or specific heat bulbs on hand, and the cool-running CFLs couldn’t generate enough heat to be helpful, so I resigned myself to waiting till the ‘morrow once the epoxy was cured.

In the meantime, I continued work on the deck prep, focusing mainly on the forward hatch, which was a bit more complicated to mask off than I’d expected.  Normally, I’d have awaited installation till after finish paint, but the schedule of the project and interior progress requirements dictated that I install it during the last phase of work.  To effectively and safely mask off the hatch, I had to first mask off the flange and hinge area while the hatch was open, and then mask the remainder once I’d closed the hatch.  The only remaining areas to be masked were the cockpit hatches and companionway, but I was holding off on those till the work on the winch islands was complete, lest I damage the new masking in the process or should I decide I just had to get into the cabin for something.

Throughout the afternoon, I finalized the order for the plastic fake-wood material that the owner requested for the exterior trim work (toerails, coaming caps, winch islands, and handrails).  After various communications and final details the order was paid for and should be on its way for next week.

Total time billed on this job today:  3.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  33°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 61°

Wednesday

The laminated winch island blanks required some final shaping before I could move on with installation.  This shaping not only cleaned up excess epoxy, but more importantly evened up the three layers; the way the layers had ended up dry-stacked, as required to make them fit properly with the top level on the boat, had meant that the top layers in particular had overhung a bit, and were oversized.  There’d be more shaping to do once the blocks were permanently in place.  While I had the grinder out, I removed the gelcoat from the tops of the existing winch islands.

Now I test-fit the two assemblies to finalize their positions and check the overall fit now that they were single units.

To help secure these in place while installing them with epoxy adhesive, I used hot glue to attach some blocks of wood on the downhill side, which kept the angled blocks from sliding.

After final preparations, I installed the new blocks in a heavy bed of thickened epoxy adhesive, tapping them firmly into the adhesive like a mason with a brick and smoothing the excess around the edges.  I left the void between the temporary glue blocks to fill and finish in a later step.

While the epoxy set up, I continued work on masking over the various deck openings, finishing up in the cabin and the engine room and after spaces.

In the midst of all this, my rigging contractor was on site to remove all the standing and running rigging from the mast for replacement.  The spar was in good condition overall, but its original painted finish was starting to fail, and I’d be prepping and painting the spar later in the project, along with other work as needed.   I’d had the spar in storage since the boat arrived at the shop a couple years earlier (detailed photos of the spar in its “as-arrived” are available here).

During the removal, we found that the original aluminum masthead sheaves were in need (or at least desirous) of replacement, so I had Jay remove them to be replicated in Delrin.  Jay also discovered that the two spreader bases were different:  one had clearly been modified at some point, almost certainly because of some accident.  One one side, the original welded, forked aluminum butt, once incorporated in the spreader itself, was instead modified with an internal block as seen in the photos below (original setup on the left, modified side on the right).  We decided to have this put right and the spreader repaired, but the bolts securing the base left on the spar were immobile, apparently “welded” in place thanks to the typical reaction between stainless and aluminum, so for now that part of the spreader remained in place.  I applied penetrating oil and hoped to soon remove the base so we could get the spreader properly rebuilt.

At the very end of the day, the initial epoxy application had cured sufficiently to allow me to remove the glue blocks.

With full access, now I could fill the remaining space with epoxy, and used more of the compound to perform an initial fairing of the new blocks with the existing bases.  There’d be additional fairing and shaping to be done once this layer cured overnight.

The overall dimension of the top surface was essentially plumb up from the deck below, but slightly overhanging the top edge of the original platform, which featured a slight angle on its outer edge.  Additional fairing would even out this disparity, along with judicious additional shaping of the top to reduce its size, but I was bound by the requirement for the platform to support the sheet winches, so to prepare I made a cardboard template of the base of the existing winches (older Lewmar 42s with a 6-1/2″ base diameter), and looked up the base dimensions of a couple possible (and generously-sized) replacement winches (no more than 6″ base diameter for Lewmar 40s or Andersen 40s) to ensure that I left ample clearance for the installation later.

Total time billed on this job today:  8 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  53°, partly cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  Rain and showers, 60°

Tuesday

Preparing for the painting work ahead, I spent some time at the start of the day to assess and order the various materials and paints needed to complete the work in the immediate future.  I also finalized a list of material needed for the exterior trim work and sought information and pricing from the vendor (reply pending).  More on this in the near future.

Meanwhile, I continued with the winch island work.  Starting again with a cardboard pattern of the island, which I’d marked at the lower extent of the second layer of 1″ fiberglass, I cut and shaped the third and final laminations in the same way, ultimately creating a dense wedge-shaped assembly of solid fiberglass to fill in and level the tops of the islands.  I also trimmed the top layers on each assembly, which I’d earlier determined were larger than need be, and this brought them roughly into alignment with the other sections.  In any event, final shaping would occur later, after installation.

Next, I test-fit each assembly, juggling the pieces to achieve a level top on each winch island while arranging the laminations appropriately to fill the space.  Happy with each side, I carefully removed the pieces as is, holding them in position so I could make some reference marks for alignment between each of the three sections. The top layer (and, to a lesser extent, the middle layer) on each side was still too large, since the original patterns were made off the angled tops of the islands, and the outer shape of the islands featured a slight taper, meaning the overall size grew smaller as the level rose.  These pieces would require additional shaping to reduce their size, but for the moment I moved on.

As much as I wanted to glue up and install the three layers to the boat all at once to save time, it was already clear that any attempt to juggle all these pieces on an angled surface while coated in slippery epoxy would result in failure, so instead I decided to glue up the assemblies on the bench first.  This was a straightforward process using thickened epoxy adhesive and aligning the pieces according to the marks I’d made earlier.  I left the wedges to cure overnight.  I’d do some final shaping once the assemblies were cured and before installing them on the winch islands.

The poor condition of the original steering system had, long ago, forced its complete removal and elimination of all traces, and discussions at the time had centered around moving forward with tiller steering.  However, the owner requested that I look into the feasibility of installing a rack and pinion steering system, one of those types that places the helm at the after end of the cockpit, much as seen on various traditional boats.  To this end, I spent the rest of the morning on this project, generating a report that I sent to the owner, but is also available here for posterity.  The net result of this exercise was that the owner decided to stay with the tiller steering.

The backstay chainplate had been stored separately from the other sets of chainplates, so when I’d redrilled their holes earlier I’d forgotten about the backstay.  Now, having located the chainplate, I took the minute or two required to locate and drill the bolt holes through the transom.

Overall, there was certainly no shortage of work to do on the boat, with dozens of jobs ahead, but with my immediate focus on final exterior preparations leading to priming and painting, and not having the materials on hand for the upcoming systems work, I found myself at a bit of a loss while waiting (impatiently) till I could continue work on the winch islands, which was the last job to be completed on deck before primer (other than basic preparations).  Since I wanted to reshape the fiberglass assemblies before final installation, mainly to ease the process and reduce the mess on the boat herself, I couldn’t continue work there till the assemblies had cured overnight, so I filled the rest of the day by beginning some of the masking required before paint.  Starting in the forward cabin, I masked up the port openings from inside.  The round forward-facing ports didn’t have a trim ring on the outside–the spigots were a tight fit to the openings–so here I added some additional tape on the liner to protect against the off chance that the tape within the openings was compromised during paint spraying.  The elliptical ports would receive additional masking from outside and would be essentially impenetrable.

I removed the topmost and aftermost sections of the ceiling in the forward cabin–designed for this purpose–to access the chainplate bolt holes, which I masked over now.

Moving aft, I masked over the additional two pairs of chainplate holes located within the cherry lockers on each side of the saloon.  This brought me to the end of the day; I’d continue the masking next time.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  35°, partly cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  Mostly cloudy, 58°