February 4, 2016
Danusia 28
Thursday
Errands for another project and unrelated chores took up most of the day, but back at the shop I got to work again on the pedestal, sanding and preparing the new epoxy-faired areas and applying additional material to those areas required (just the base).
The new port gaskets appeared to set up well and were well-adhered after being pressed overnight.
One of the first steps required before installing the new windlass was to prepare a new deck plate to equal the height of the adjacent bow platform and support the windlass. To begin, I finalized my installation template, testing it against the gasket included with the windlass to ensure it was the right one (the manual and online offered several templates that looked similar, but were different). Then, I cut out the paper template, which I’d use during the next phases of installation prep.
With the new template and a couple pieces of scrap teak, I repaired to the foredeck to mock up the new windlass base. The two pieces I had were oddly-shaped, but together made the thickness almost perfect–just a little high, which was ideal. Satisfied, I epoxied the two pieces together to make one, thicker piece from which I’d later cut out the new windlass base as required.
Another early consideration was the eventual placement of two foot switches. Space for these was limited by several factors, first and foremost being the location of the chainlocker bulkhead (represented by the forward edge of the green tape in these photos). The switches needed to be located forward of this line to allow for wiring. The existing bronze chain pipe was also a complicating factor at the moment, as it severely limited where the new switches could go. I mocked up three different versions of the switch placement, the third of which approximated how the switches might be located if the chain pipe were removed. Though we’d earlier discussed leaving the chain pipe in place, it was no longer needed (and there was another on the port side, and I leaned towards removing it to allow for the fewest impediments to the switch placement. In small boats the options are rarely ideal (nor, come to that, are the windlasses that carry the name), but one must work with what is available.
Total time billed on this job today: 3 hours
0600 Weather Report:
45°, cloudy. Forecast for the day: foolishly warm, 50, possible showers then sun