Monday

In the morning, I drove to a nearby shipping terminal to pick up a pallet of 10 new 300 amp-hour, 6-volt batteries:  8 for the electric motor (48-volt system), and the remaining two for a 12-volt house system.  Once back at the shop, I broke down the pallet and unloaded the batteries piece by piece.  Each weighed somewhere around 90 lb.  In the coming days and weeks I planned to finalize the batteries’ installation in the boat.  I test-fit one in one of the battery boxes I’d purchased some time before.  As expected, the tall battery maxed out the height of the box (these were the tallest boxes I could find that otherwise fit the batteries’ general dimensions), and in order to make the lid fit properly I might need to come up with a small modification, but for now I left that problem for another day.

Meanwhile, I prepared for a meeting at the shop with my local sailmaker, who arrived to measure and discuss details, as well as assist in planning the locations of the jib and staysail tracks.  Afterwards, I turned to the day’s first real work:  installing the stern chocks and oarlock socket.  The boat had not come with stern chocks; the ghosts of their locations was still visible on the poop deck when the boat arrived here originally, but no chocks were installed, so I purchased a pair of bronze chocks to suit.  I built a riser for the port chock so lines would clear the toerail, angling the short ends for appearance.  On the starboard side, I found I had to make a new riser block to incorporate both the chock and the oarlock, as space there was at a premium and two separate risers didn’t make sense.  While I was at it, I made angled risers for the two original bow chocks as well.  Later, I discarded the double-length riser seen at the bottom of this photo in favor of a new one with a different end design that better matched the requirements of the location, as seen in later photos of the installation process.

After pre-drilling the risers with oversized holes for the fasteners, I used the blocks to mark the deck accordingly and went through the usual steps of masking off around the new fixture, and the normal drill/tap fastener hole preparation before installing the new hardware with sealant and new bronze and stainless fasteners as needed.

With the new riser blocks and bow chocks, I prepared the foredeck for the final installation, marking the block locations, masking off, and drilling and tapping the fastener holes on both sides (though I only photographed one side, apparently).  I needed fairly long 1/4″ bronze fasteners for the chocks, which I didn’t have on hand, so I ordered what I needed, along with some extra-long 5/16″ bolts for the foredeck cleats since I found the ones I had on hand weren’t long enough since that part of the foredeck also incorporated an extra layer of reinforcing plywood beneath the deck proper, plus the 3/4″ thick wooden backing blocks required for cosmetic purposes in the exposed mounting location in the forward cabin.  Now everything on the foredeck was ready for final installation as soon as I received the needed fasteners; I also planned to install the bronze fitting for the inner forestay, which installation I’d been putting off since it would mean another highly uncomfortable foray upside down into the tiny chainlocker to finish.

To properly support the stanchions and lifelines at the new gates on each side, I needed to install gate braces fore and aft, at either side of the opening, so with the braces in hand I prepared their installations.  These particular braces featured a hinged tubing connector that allowed installation despite the protruding ferules at the lifeline locations.  Starting on the starboard side, I laid out the braces, ensuring the braces stayed clear of the lower lifeline by stringing an analog line with some twine.  Maintaining my now-standard 1/4″ spacing to the toerail, I marked and prepared the deck for the eventual fasteners that would secure the small bases.  The decks here were solid fiberglass on both sides, so but for a lack of time before the end of the day I could have completed the installation; as it was, it would be quick to finish up the installations next time.

Total time billed on this job today:  8 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 23°, mainly cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  Mostly sunny, 41°

Friday

Easing into the day with a simple yet necessary task, I installed the four pulpit brackets that would support the lower lifeline attachments.

The cabin top was ready for the final installation of the new hardware, so to begin I drilled, tapped, and countersunk all the fastener holes for the winch, rope clutch, and fairlead.

Belowdecks, I marked and cut away the liner in way of the winch and rope clutch, and drilled two 1-1/2″ holes with a hole saw at the fairlead fastener locations.  This exposed the underside of the deck proper.  For the winch and rope clutch, I prepared backing plates from fiberglass sheeting to fit in the new openings.

I began the installation with the fairlead, which was furthest forward and the simplest installation overall.  I applied sealant and installed two 1/4″ bolts.  I discovered that I’d cut away the liner from the wrong hole beneath (there are many old holes in the liner), and had to cut a new opening for the inboard fastener on the fly.  These holes accepted large fender washers to secure the fairlead.

Next, I installed the winch base with sealant and six bolts, using the backing plate and fender washers beneath.  There was just enough room so that the backing plate and nuts fit  just flush with the existing liner, which was important since the new overhead panels fit closely to the old liner.

The rope clutch admonished the user not to use polysulfide or polyurethane sealant, and since my standard sealant is a light polyurethane, I used butyl tape instead  to install the rope clutch with its eight bolts, installing the new backing plate and fender washers beneath.

This completed the hardware installation for the aft-led control lines.

Next, I drilled, tapped, and countersunk all the fastener holes for the stern cleats, ladder brackets, and bow cleats.

The varnished wooden backing plates for the bow cleats weren’t yet ready for installation, but I could proceed with the stern cleats after making a pair of fiberglass backing plates to fit.

To gain access to the underside of the deck at the ladder mounts, I had to cut away more of the liner to expose the deck.  I hated to do this, but there was nothing for it, and these new openings were between the existing openings I’d cut for the lifeline stanchions, so when I built trim to cover the cutouts I could simply plan to do it in one fell swoop.

Because I didn’t want a mess of sealant to ooze into the open space of the bracket mounts required for the top of the ladder, I chose butyl tape to seal the brackets, and bolted them in place with large washers beneath.  The ladder fit well on both sides, but I’d have to later trim to length the standoff brackets on the ladder so it would be properly supported by the hull.

With that, and after a bit of boat and shop cleanup, I reached the end of the day’s work.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 11°, clear. Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 39°

Thursday

To begin the day, I finished up the new waste deck plate installation, a straightforward matter of the usual drill/tap/countersink/sealant process.  Afterwards, I secured the hose belowdecks.  All that remained to complete the waste system was the head installation, but I was in no rush to install that till I knew I was finished moving about in the tight space.

Next, I turned to the new deck hardware for leading some of the control lines aft from the mast to the cockpit.  In all, there’d be four lines coming aft:  main halyard; outhaul; reefing line; boom vang.  The new mast organizer plate had plenty of room for the four turning blocks required at the mast base, and I installed these now so I could mock up the lines leading aft.  It was a straight lead aft alongside the companionway, which greatly streamlined the overall installations ahead.

With a couple old shop lines standing in for the real things, I spent some time working out the final placement of a small 4-position fairlead, 4-position rope clutch, and a new self-tailing winch on the aft end of the cabin trunk, near the companionway opening.  I wanted to locate the fairlead in such a way as to keep all four lines as straight as possible, though with the outlying main halyard block on the port side, the line would necessarily take a bit of an angle.  But even so, the leads were straight enough to obviate any need for a fancy sheave-based deck organizer, allowing me to use the machined aluminum fairlead instead.  The first line I’d used during early layout for the main halyard (the line to port) was too large to fit through the rope clutch, so later in the process I replaced it with a smaller line seen in some of the photos.

After a while, I finalized the positions of the three pieces of hardware, and after preparing the deck in each area by cutting away the plastic deck covering and replacing it with masking tape beneath each fixture, I relocated and marked the base positions of all the hardware, and marked the fastener locations.  Then, with a 5/8″ Forstner bit, I removed the top laminate and coring from all the fastener locations, and, after cleaning up, filled the fastener holes with a thickened epoxy mixture in the usual way.

The pile of new stanchions on the aft deck was getting in the way, and with the bases all in place I could take a moment to clean out the little circle of now-cured sealant squeezeout within each base socket and install the stanchions with their setscrews.  On the starboard side, I added two furler line lead blocks to each of the forwardmost three stanchions, as these had to be in place before the stanchion was installed in the socket.  I’d already notified the riggers that the pulpits and stanchions were ready for them to come measure for new lifelines.

Continuing with hardware, I turned to the mooring cleats:  two at the stern,  two at the bow.  Starting with photos of the boat as she’d arrived, I positioned the stern cleats in generally the same areas, though I made some minor adjustments as I deemed proper.  In this case, the cleats ended up 6″ from the toerails, and 6″ aft of the forward stern pulpit bases.  This location kept the cleats out of the way and the poop deck fairly clear, while still allowing a fair lead to the eventual stern chocks at the taffrail.  As usual, I marked the holes and drilled out the deck core at each location.  I planned to return later to fill the holes, but for now I continued with related hole prep.

On the foredeck, I determined the location of the bow mooring cleats, working roughly from an old photo, and went through the usual deck preparation and hole-drilling steps for these locations as well.

After lunch, I continued some hardware prep with mounting hardware for a portable boarding ladder the owner had sent.  During earlier discussions we’d determined to place the ladder at the new lifeline gate opening amidships–with mounts on both sides of the boat–which was convenient and made sense for various reasons, including the opening gate; the relative flatness of the topsides there; and proximity to the after shrouds for a convenient handhold.

Placement of the keyhole-shaped mounts had to be precise to allow the ladder to work properly, so I installed a pair on the ladder and tightened the screws all the way so they wouldn’t move.  Then, I used a file folder as a template to draw out the placement and make it easier to lay out and install the mounting hardware.  In the photos, the ladder is a bit misaligned thanks to the challenges of holding it and photographing, but I’m sure they get the point across.

With the little template complete, I could align the file folder between the stanchion gates, then centerpoint the fastener locations to the deck to allow further marking and hole preparation–and easy to repeat on the opposite side of the boat.

With the mounting locations all prepared, I drilled out the top laminate and core from the inner holes on the port side, where I knew there to be core material.  On the starboard side, I should have remembered from my recent stanchion installations that the inner holes were also in solid fiberglass, but alas, only after I’d drilled a 1/2″ hole through the deck after expecting to find coring did I recall.  Not to worry, as I just masked over the hole from beneath and filled it with epoxy along with those on the port side.  The outboard holes on each side went through the solid fiberglass near the deck edge.

While I had the thickened epoxy going, I also filled all the new holes for the mooring cleats.

I’d been holding off on installing the compression post in the cabin because the interior was so much easier to move around without it, but inevitably the time did approach where it would need to go back in for good.    Though I still planned to await installation as long as I could, I decided to get going on the final sizing and related prepwork, since I would also have to make a modification to the overhead panels to fit around the post.

To begin, I cut off the excess bolt length from the bolts securing the mast step.  These needed to be flush with the existing overhead.  I cut these off with a grinder and a cutoff wheel, a task I really hate in a finished space; I covered the nearby settees and cabin sole with extra towels and blankets to catch (successfully) the red-hot bits of cutoff stainless.

Using the old post as a mockup, and after a few measurements, I cut the old post to the length needed to fit.  This took some trial fits and minor adjustments to get just right, as it had to be just so in order to slip into place yet come up tightly right beneath the mast step..  When I cut the bottom off the post, I was surprised to find that it was built of some other wood in the inside, with just 1/4″ teak wrapping ’round the edges.

Satisfied with the length of the mockup (i.e. original post), I transferred the measurement to my new cherry post and cut it to fit.  Then, I positioned it right below the mast step, and after levling the post in both directions made some reference marks on the overhead that I could use later to modify the plywood overhead panels to fit.

To keep the base of the post in place, I’d long ago abandoned the as-arrived idea of cleats at the very bottom of the post, where the bilge was basically inaccessible thanks to cabin sole supports and particulars of the bilge space itself, and the post simply rested on a new and strong piece of solid fiberglass I’d installed there much earlier in the project.  Instead, I planned to use trim pieces at cabin sole level to align and position the post, as well as to cover the over-large hole I’d left in the sole.  So with the post properly and plumb-ly positioned, I made up four pieces of mitered trim from 2″ wide,  7/8″ thick cherry to fit around the post, with ample overlap to screw to the cabin sole later.

Once I’d rough-cut the pieces to fit, I sanded them clean and smooth, then began the varnish process.  Meanwhile, for now I removed the post to await final installation as late as possible in the process.

Total time billed on this job today:  8 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 10°, clear. Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 28°

Wednesday

With new fasteners on hand, I finished up the anchor roller installation.

In order to install the light switch that would operate the galley and companionway lights from near the companionway itself, I needed to build a small wooden base into which the switch could fit, and which would also provide a bit of space for wiring, since the mounting location on the bulkhead had various clearance and access issues that limited the mounting options.  From a piece of cherry, I milled a small block for the job, removing material from the back side to make room for wiring, then drilling a hole that would later accept the small switch itself.  I sanded the block and rounded its edges, then began the varnish process so I could finish up that installation and small bit of wiring soon.

Over the past couple weeks, when I thought of it, I’d finished up the tiny repair to the bulkhead paneling in the galley, where I’d led the galley light wiring earlier.  So now I could reinstall the wiring trim I’d made to cover the short wire run.

I unpacked and went through the new windlass and its accessories so I could plan the installation.  The installation would include a circuit breaker, the windlass control/contactor box, a deck-mounted wired remote for operation, and a backup rocker switch to be mounted in the cabin for emergency use.  In recent days as I’d been mulling over the installation, I’d had the thought that the contactor box would work well inside the small locker at the forward end of the v-berth, which locker was adjacent to but protected from the chainlocker, and convenient from an installation and wiring perspective as well.  With that plan in mind, and a better sense of the overall installation ahead, I ordered some specific lugs I’d need to connect wiring to the contactor terminals, and moved on to other things for now.

The wiring plan for the windlass tied in with the need to finish up the wiring for the forward running lights and the new light in the chainlocker.  I’d previously run two circuits forward for these lights, leaving ample excess wire beneath the v-berth to await final wiring details, and now was the time.  I decided to run the wires up from below the berth and through the small forward locker, then into the chainlocker from there.  This wire route would also accept the cables to and from the windlass.  I used a hole saw to drill the holes required before running through the two wire pairs for the lighting circuits (adding hose in the new cutouts as chafe gear) before making up the wire connections and securing the wiring along the side of the chainlocker, and in the v-berth locker, as needed.

Now that the mounting block for the sanitation pump was finished, I could install the pump to the block with four machine screws.  Afterwards, I installed the sanitation hose to and from the pump, including a junction inside the holding tank locker to allow the waste from the tank to exit either overboard through the new pump (where legal), or to a shoreside facility through a deck fitting.  I used the length of hose leading to the deck to mark where the deck fitting should go, and drilled a pilot hole from beneath to mark the location from above.

Up on deck, I prepared the area around the new deck fill location, and drilled a 2-5/16″ hole to accept the fitting.  This went through a cored area of the deck (one of the areas I’d repaired much earlier in the project), so as usual I removed the coring from around the hole’s edges, and drilled 3/8″ holes at the fastener locations to omit the core in those areas as well.  Afterwards, I filled the voids with a thickened epoxy mixture.

On the port side, I installed the final two chainplates with the longer bolts I’d ordered for the purpose.

I finished up the chainplates with the backstay chainplate at the transom.

To round out the day, I worked on a couple small hardware installations on the poop deck, starting with a new bronze flagpole socket.  These fasteners passed through solid fiberglass, so I could complete all steps of the installation now.

The owner requested an oarlock socket on the starboard side of the transom, and I’d recently obtained the hardware.  To raise the socket above the toerail, I milled a small riser block to fit from some of the plastic lumber used on deck.  I played around with mounting locations for a minute or two, but I needed to await installation till I could also address the final location of the stern chocks, and in any event I was out of time for now, so I left the oarlock uninstalled for the moment.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 18°, clear. Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 31°

Tuesday

I now had the final three stanchion bases on hand, so I got right to the installations, all three of which went fairly smoothly.

I was still waiting for the longer bronze bolts to finish up the main chainplates on the port side, but with the bolts I had on hand I could install the port aft chainplate near the cockpit.

Now that the forwardmost chainplates on each side were in place, I could reinstall the ceiling strips to cover the insides.

I applied a coat of gray paint around the depth transducer and on the sanitation pump mounting block to complete those areas.

I had to leave the shop soon on unrelated business, but thinking ahead to the next deck hardware installations, I went through the remaining bronze hardware–mooring cleats and chocks–and prepared backing plates for the cleats.  Since the forward cleats’ required location aft of the bowsprit would bring the fasteners through into the forward part of the forward cabin, I cut some 3/4″ cherry backing blocks for appearance, and after shaping and sanding sent them off to the finish room for their first coat of varnish so they’d be ready for installation soon.  Meanwhile, I cut two backing plates from prefab fiberglass for the stern cleats.

Total time billed on this job today:  3.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 32°, mostly cloudy. Forecast for the day:  Partly sunny, 35°

Monday

I now had on hand several of the new stanchion bases (still awaiting three), so I could get going on the installations.  In the cabin, at each of the six locations (three per side), I’d purposely drilled through the liner when I’d prepared the holes on deck, and this marked the locations of the stanchions in the cabin.  I needed to cut away the liner in these areas in order to access the underside of the deck for fastening.  At each spot, I marked off the cutout with masking tape and removed the liner within; later I planned to make cosmetic covers for these new openings.  Then, I protected the finished interior with plastic beneath each cutout to catch bits of sealant that would inevitably fall.

In deck, I finished preparing the fastener holes at the four stanchion locations where I’d had to overbore and epoxy-fill the inboard holes in the deck, so I went through the usual motions of drill/tap/countersink.  Then, beginning with the first three stanchions on the port side, which I’d decreed “most likely to be difficult” because of the way the port liner interacted with the deck and the generally sloppy old repair work I kept running into throughout the work on this side of the boat, I applied sealant and bolts from above, then went below to install large washers and nuts.

Indeed, access to these three bases was tough.  The space between the liner and the deck was quite wide, but the liner extended nearly to the hull on this side, and with the stanchions close to the edge of the hull, something about this combination made it next to impossible to get a hand in there easily, so starting the washers and nuts was something of a trial.  I had to open further a couple of the cuts I’d made in the liner so I could get to the innermost bolts at the two forwardmost locations, and at the foredeck location there was a mess of crusty, sloppy old fiberglass shards and related mess that I had to chisel out of the way so I could get washers in place, but eventually and at considerable length I successfully fastened all three of the bases on the port side (the fourth one, aft of the winch island, would come later), and cleaned up the excess sealant and tape on deck to complete the job.

On the starboard side, I chose to install the last two bases currently on hand at the new gate location, leaving the other two for installation later, once the final sets of bases arrived.  Access to the underside of the deck on this side was easier and cleaner for a couple reasons:  first, the liner here was pretty much firmly attached right beneath the deck, which made accessing the holes easier; and the starboard side had thankfully been spared whatever repair shop had done the dismal work on the port side.  Work on these two bases went much more quickly then theirs counterparts across the boat.

Finished with the stanchion bases for the moment, I took care of a couple small jobs before digging in for the afternoon session.  As I’d been working around the forward part of the boat, I’d been considering how and where to install the utility light we had for the chainlocker, given the tight space and even tighter access to said space, not to mention the need to keep things clear for the windlass installation and anchor rode, so eventually I thought it would be best to simply attach the light to the hull itself.  I pre-attached the light fixture to some wooden cleats made to fit, and then, after removing the paint in way of the cleats’ locations, secured the light to the hull with some of the acrylic adhesive I use on the wire mounts, which has proven to be strong and effective as long as it can grip wood or bare fiberglass.  I used masking tape to hold the light in place while the adhesive cured, and later was able to remove the tape, leaving the light firmly affixed.  Now I could finish up the wiring in the chainlocker as soon as time allowed.

After a consultation with the rigger about that headstay toggle below the furler, I elected not to try and remove the toggle, as it appeared there would be just enough room between the anchor roller and the headstay tang to maneuver in a cotter pin once the clevis was installed from the other side.  I confirmed this with a spare toggle I had lying around.  Plus, the rigger had warned me away from the idea of removing the complicated lower bolt on the furler assembly, which had been my own concern as well.

While I’d no doubt some poor rigger during the mast installation later would have choice words for me at the tight situation, needs must, and with only so much room and a lot going on, this was how it was.  Worst-case, the anchor roller would be easy to unbolt and remove temporarily should it be necessary, but at least there was clearance for the headstay  once the initial installation throes were over with.  I thought briefly of modifying the anchor roller to remove part of the side channel, but I didn’t have the tools or know-how to do that job well and wasn’t about to try.

So with that issue behind me, I went ahead with final preparations for the roller installation, including drilling a 4th bolt hole closer to the forward end of the roller since it seemed like it would be helpful to secure both the roller and the little teak spacer beneath.  I drilled the holes through the platform, but found I didn’t have the right bolts on hand, so final installation would await their arrival soon.

Next, I turned to the chainplates, which installation I’d frankly been postponing–intentionally or subconsciously–for quite some time.  I started with my favorite port side, but found on the first chainplate that the bolts I’d ordered for the job were a bit too short for the extra-thick hull over there.  I had enough longer bolts on hand to complete the first chainplate, but had to order more for the other two sets.  Once more, access issues made the inherently basic task take a pretty long time, but at least it was easier than the stanchions.

Leaving the port side for now, I double-checked the bolt length on the starboard chainplates–OK–and then installed the three main sets, plus the after chainplate just forward of the cockpit.  I used “bo-koo” sealant on all the installations, and installed them with large washers, lock washers, and nuts.

To finish up the day, I mixed up a small batch of epoxy-based primer and applied it to the new epoxy work securing the sanitation pump mount and around the depth transducer, where it would act as a tie-coat to prevent curing problems with the one-part gray bilge paint that would be the final finish in these areas.  I also applied a couple coats of the primer to the new mainsheet riser.  The primer would cure overnight and allow me to finish up the paint work in the immediate future.

Total time billed on this job today:  8.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 30°, mostly cloudy. Forecast for the day:  Partly sunny, 45°

Friday

On hand I had two of the eight new stanchions and bases required, but this was enough for me to start the final layout and deck preparations.  Starting on the port side, where I’d done the initial new layout, I prepared the deck in way of each new stanchion base by cutting away the plastic deck cover and installing masking tape, before placing the stanchion base 1/4″ inboard of the toerails (using a wooden spacer) and, after confirming the stanchion placement and measurements, marked and drilled fastener holes, and removed masking tape beneath each footprint.  I made notations as to the stanchion’s measurements that I could refer to later when replicating the layout to starboard.

On the port side, the forward stanchion holes penetrated solid deck, with no core, so I could complete the hole preparation by tapping for machine screw threads and milling a countersink at deck level, but the inner sets of holes at the after three base locations on this side went into cored sections of the deck, so for those holes I drilled 1/2″ holes through the top skin and core to remove the core around the eventual fastener locations.

Next, I repeated the layout and prep process on the starboard side, using the measurements from the port side as a guide.  Here, with the original deck construction still in place, all three forward stanchion locations featured solid fiberglass at all four hole locations, and only the aftermost base (aft of the winch island) required overboring for the inner set of holes.

Finally, I filled all the overbored holes I’d prepared with a thickened epoxy mixture.  Now everything would be ready for final installation as soon as I received the additional new stanchions and bases.

The head setup included the ability to pump the holding tank overboard in areas where it might be legal, and to this end I’d ordered a manual sanitation pump for the purpose.  This would have to be mounted to the hull inside the starboard settee lockers, nearby the through hull designated for this purpose, so I began with a quick dry fit to see where the pump should go.  As arrived from the factory, the intake and discharge ports were cocked at an angle to the axis of the pump, which wouldn’t work effectively in this situation, so to begin I repositioned the top of the pump–which included the ports–to a different alignment that would work better, a simple matter of removing the fixing screws, rotating the housing, and reattaching.  This new alignment would better allow the hoses to run freely between the holding tank locker, pump, and through hull.

To mount the pump, I needed a base on the hull, so from some leftover 3/4″ prefab fiberglass I cut a base to fit the pump, and after smoothing the edges and predrilling/tapping for 1/4″ machine screw fasteners, and sanding away the paint in the locker, I epoxied the base in place on the hull.  Once the epoxy cured and I could paint the base, I’d install the pump with the fixing screws for which I’d prepared it, and run the hoses.

During the electrical work, one of the AC circuit breaker handles had broken off, so now I replaced the damaged breaker with a new one.  Afterwards, I installed the labels I’d ordered for the panel circuits and bilge pump switches.

The day’s courier delivery brought me the Garmin transducer cable adapter I needed, so with that I completed the GPS and associated wiring, secured the excess cabling, and reinstalled the cosmetic cover panel in the head.

I’d had it lying around for some time, but now I finally got around to installing the new bronze tiller head on the rudder post.  I’d removed the tiller strap for the purpose, and kept it in the shop for the moment till I could start designing and building the new tiller sometime later in the project.

Earlier in the week, I’d ordered the anchor roller designed to fit the owner’s choice of Delta anchor, but I worried that the space on the bow platform was more limited than I’d originally anticipated, thanks to the pulpit bases intruding.  Because of this, I’d ordered three additional types of anchor rollers as a trial, hoping one of the smaller, narrower ones might work, but unfortunately all the smaller ones simply weren’t up to the task of the anchor at hand.

At issue with the Delta roller was the fact that the space between the headstay attachment point and the pulpit mount was narrower than the roller itself, and also there was a clearance issue (potential) between the headstay attachment and the side of the anchor roller.  But now that I’d discounted any of the other rollers as a possibility, I took another hard look at the situation, and realized that with a 1/4″ spacer beneath the roller, and cut to fit around the impediments, the roller would otherwise work as intended–provided I could pre-install the lower toggle on the new roller furling headstay assembly, since access to the clevis pin and/or cotter pin would be limited or impossible with the roller in place.  Otherwise, there was room for the toggle to fit, and with the 10″ raised height of the furler drum I’d requested, there would be no other access or clearance issues.

At first glance, it looked straightforward to remove the toggle from the headstay, but it turned out that the pin securing it and the headstay turnbuckle was more complicated than that, featuring a pair of nuts, spacers, and even a cotter pin inside the assembly.  What I thought would be a simple bolt removal turned out to be more than that, and after a quick failed attempt I regrouped and thought I would ask the riggers about it before I went ahead with the removal, as it seemed there might be a trick or two needed.

Still, one way or another I planned for this to be the way forward, so from some scrap teak I made a spacer to fit beneath the roller, with cutouts as needed to clear the two impediments, and with a dry fit I was pleased with the prospects, and the roller was right where I’d always figured it would be when imagining the windless installation.  I’d await final installation till I cleared up the toggle issue, but was glad I’d found a workable and practical solution to the tight quarters at the end of the bowsprit.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  20°, partly clear. Forecast for the day:  Partly sunny, 37°

Thursday

Using the supplied template, I located the new GPS display unit in the bridgedeck next to the electric motor monitor, set about 2″ to port from the existing installation.  After double-checking the position of the template for level and to ensure the cutout would end up where I wanted it from inside the boat (as there was limited space in the access opening), I drilled the four holes to demark the corners of the cutout, then removed the rest with a saw.

I dry-fit the display to check its fit:  all OK.  So after cleaning up and removing the masking tape, I proceeded with final installation.  I applied the foam gaskets to the back side of the display, and added bits of butyl tape at the screw locations (which weren’t covered by the gaskets) before installing the display with four bolts.

Inside, I set to work on the final connections, including the plug-in power wiring harness, which I connected to the circuit I’d run in earlier for this purpose.  The network backbone cable leading from the wind instrument network box in the bow required a T-connector and drop cable to connect to the display unit (these cables had been supplied with the wind instrument), but to my dismay I found that the depth  transducer cable featured a different pin pattern from the back of the display:  8 pins vs. 12 pins.    This was rather frustrating since the in-hull transducer the owner purchased along with the GPS was specifically sold as compatible with this display, and I might have had a thing or two to say about electronics companies before I regrouped and headed for my office to look at my manuals and online for a solution.

Fortunately, I found and ordered an adapter cable to solve the problem, but it certainly seemed an unnecessary and ridiculous requirement.   For now, I awaited final cleanup and securing of the cables till the new adapter arrived and I could connect the transducer to the back of the display, but to prepare I installed a few additional wire mounts for the purpose.

I needed to leave the shop for an appointment in a few minutes, but I had enough time before departure to finish up the masthead wind instrument bracket installation.  The bracket featured three bolt holes, the after two of which were wider than the masthead, so to begin I could bolt the bracket to my fiberglass plate at these locations, and from there I drilled and tapped two additional mounting holes through the top of the masthead casting itself to secure the whole bracket assembly.  I temporarily installed the anemometer for illustrative purposes.

Back at the shop in the afternoon, I turned to the manual bilge pump installation.  This was relatively simple, but somehow several aspects of the installation just fought me at various times, mainly aligning and securing the four blind bolt holes in the pump housing while juggling the fussy plastic outer cover, but eventually I prevailed.

With the pump mounted, I installed the suction and discharge hoses, running the suction into the bilge sump aft of the engine after securing a bronze strainer to the end.  I’d need to add a wire mount to the inside of the cockpit locker to finish securing the suction hose near the pump later.  The discharge line was short and sweet to the nearby through hull, and I secured the hose to a deck structural member above.

Total time billed on this job today:  6 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  5°, clear. Forecast for the day:  Mostly sunny, 38°

Wednesday

I spent a few minutes lightly sanding the new mainsheet riser block to remove excess fairing compound and otherwise prepare it for primer and paint.  At the same time, I sanded the spreaders with 80 grit paper to remove the excess fairing compound from the small second round, and also to continue the overall sanding process eventually leading up to primer.  There’d be one more round of sanding just before primer application, whenever that might be.

To finish up the pre-installation work on the stern pulpit, I secured the new wiring leading to the stern light, then polished the rails.

Up on deck, I laid out and aligned the pulpit where it needed to go, and prepared the deck in way of the four mounts by removing the plastic covering and covering each mounting location with masking tape.  Then, I temporarily dry-installed the pulpit with one machine screw in each base.  I would have done the complete installation now, but I had run out of 1/4″ nuts, which were due later in the day, so final installation would have to wait, but I needed the pulpit in place for my next task.

The next task was stanchion layout.  During an earlier conversation with the owner, we discussed stanchion placement, and he requested a new layout that incorporated a gate opening closer to amidships and away from the cockpit, which new layout would also require a 4th stanchion on each side, so to this end I worked for a while to determine how best to lay out the new arrangement.  The new gate was to go just aft of the last set of chainplates, so this was a relatively firm location I had to work around, though there was adjustment room as long as the stanchions didn’t interfere with the rigging.  The gate opening would be a standard 24″ wide space.

My other goals were to have the spacing between the stanchions be as even as possible, so, measuring from the bow pulpit connection to the forward stanchion, and henceforth from there, I made adjustments to the placement as needed, and this, along with other considerations, eventually placed the new 4th stanchion location just aft of the winch island, rather than forward, which worked well for several reasons, not the least of which was uncluttering the narrow sidedeck at the forward end of the cockpit coaming and leaving ample room for jib sheet tracks.

During the day, I sent the owner a brief, photo-heavy report on the new layout to get his thoughts and approval before I finalized the locations.  For now, I used four of the existing stanchions and bases for layout purposes, but because of the required addition of new stanchions, and because the owner hoped for double lifelines anyway, we elected to purchase eight new stanchions and bases and retire the originals.

With the stanchion layout complete for now, I turned to the interior fan for the new forward vent.  This fan was designed to fit over the inside of the vent and provide forced circulation through the boat.  To operate the vent louver, the fan incorporated a hole through which an extended threaded rod and handle could fit and reach the inside of the louver assembly.  According to the directions, this was supposed to be ready to accept the threaded rod, but this was not the case.  I had to drill the center of the control and tap it for the M5 threads to match the rod, and it would have been easier to do this before the outer part of the vent was fully installed, but there you are.

Once I had the hole tapped properly, I had to measure for and then cut the threaded rod to the correct length, so I threaded on several nuts to help clean up the threads once I’d made the cut, which I then completed without incident.  From there, it was straightforward to make up the wiring connections and install the fan housing to the overhead  with four screws.

With my new supply of nuts on hand, I moved forward with the final installation of the stern pulpit.  At each base location I went through all the usual steps:  drill and tap for 1/4-20 machine screws; countersink; scribe and remove masking tape; apply sealant and secure with nuts, lockwashers, and fender washers.

Once I’d cleaned up the excess sealant above decks, I finished up the wiring to the new stern light.

The owner had some questions about clearance at the winch island to properly operate the winches, and while I’d taken this into consideration initially, I just happened to have just received one of the new sheet winches, and took the opportunity to display the winch and an old handle I kept around to confirm the clearances with the proposed stanchion placement.

Since I’d be waiting a day or two for the new stanchions and bases to arrive, I used up the little bit of rest of the day preparing the template and getting the GPS display ready for installation in the bridgedeck, which I planned to do next time.

Total time billed on this job today:  8.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  9°, clear. Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 31°

Tuesday

Now that the deck was ready for the final installation at the mast step, I began by carefully aligning the mast step plate, then marking the bolt holes on the deck.  Then, I drilled small pilot holes all the way through to the cabin so I could prepare the underside of the deck for the fasteners.

Faithful readers may recall that earlier, I’d prepared the underside of the deck beneath the mast step by removing a portion of the old cabin liner and previous installation iteration and filling the space with solid fiberglass and a bit of high-density filler, all the better to give the compression post a solid bearing.  Now, with the pilot holes marking the locations of the five mast step bolts, I had to mill recesses to accept the nuts and washers, which would maintain the generally flat surface for the compression post to bear beneath.  I used a 1-1/2″ Forstner drill bit to fit the 1-1/4″ fender washers I planned to use.  This process was difficult and created an unspeakable mess in the cabin and of the drill operator, but there was nothing for it to simply press on and get the job done.  Afterwards I had to clean the whole cabin to rid it of drill spoils and fine dust from the milling.

With the hole thusly prepared, I continued on deck with final preparations, including trimming the masking tape around the mast base and the wiring gland, and preparing all the fastener holes for both installations:  drilling/tapping/countersinking.

Next, I began with the installation of the wiring gland base, installing it with seven screws in a heavy bed of sealant and cleaning up the excess once complete.

I installed the mast step and its new base plate with plenty of sealant and 5/16″ machine screws, which I secured belowdecks with fender washers, lockwashers, and nuts.  Sometime later I’d return to trim the excess bolt length.

Afterwards, I cleaned up all around the area and removed the masking tape.

I finished up the wiring for the new bow light on the pulpit, and pulled through any excess wiring.  Then, I cleaned up the bases for installation, and polished the rail.

I dry-fit the rail on the bowsprit and foredeck, securing it to the bowsprit with some clamps to hold it in place since the angle made it want to slide aft.  Remembering the difficulties at the after mounting locations I’d experienced long before with access around the ends of the heavy wooden beam supporting the aft bolts on the bowsprit, I cheated the pulpit forward as far as I could, about an inch further forward than it had been, hoping to minimize clearance issues with the beam, which, in combination with the awkward access to the chainlocker, made reaching these areas exceedingly difficult.

To maintain enough room inside the pulpit for passage of anchor chain and rode, I kept the bases out towards the edges as far as possible.  Once I was satisified with the position, and also satisfied that I could work with the after mounts with the forward two sets pinned in place, I went ahead and bolted down the bases on the bowsprit.

Working from the foredeck, I positioned the after bases and drilled and tapped their fastener holes through the decks, and cut away the masking tape from beneath the bases.  I drilled a hole on the starboard side to accept the wiring from the running light.  These mounts were over solid portions of the deck, so I could proceed immediately with final installation.  Even with the pulpit moved forward, access to one of the three bolts on each side was exceedingly difficult thanks to that wooden beam in the locker.

After cleaning up the excess sealant, the bow pulpit installation was complete.

Next, I turned to the stern pulpit, and began by removing an old and decrepit outboard mount and horseshoe ring bracket.  Then, I repeated the general process for running new wires through the starboard aft pulpit base, which was straightforward in this case, and installed the new stern light nearby, bringing me to the end of the day, but I’d continue with the rail preparations and installation next time.

Total time billed on this job today:  8.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  -5°, clear. Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 20°