February 8, 2018
Jasmine 47
Thursday
After cleaning up from the latest snowfall, I got back to work with the hardware on the coachroof, starting with the plastic deck plates for the solar vents. I’d already pre-filled and marked the fastener locations for these fittings, so installation was straightforward.
Next, I installed the forward hatch with its two after hinges. There was no access to this area from beneath–it was in way of the mast beam and bulkhead–so I installed the hinges with screws alone. This section of the deck was solid fiberglass now that I’d rebuilt the mast step area earlier.
I waited on the mast step for now, as I’d need to build it up taller than original. One of the upcoming projects for the riggers was to shorten the mast by a couple inches to remove some corrosion at the base, and accordingly we planned to raise the step to make up the difference. Meanwhile, I installed two little bronze eyelets that had come off the deck near the vent fittings; I’d prepared these holes during an earlier stage of deck preparation as well.
Other than the sea hood, this completed the hardware installation for the coachroof, so now I moved down to the port sidedeck and worked on the new waste fill deckplate and reinstalled the waste tank vent fitting in the cabin side. The deck was solid fiberglass around the waste fitting, so all I had to do was drill, tap, and install.
On the foredeck, I installed the round anchor line hawse in its original position to port, where I’d also filled the surrounding area with solid fiberglass and epoxy to prepare for a simple installation now.
To wrap up work on the foredeck, I reinstalled the two mooring cleats. I reused the original aluminum backing plate belowdecks. I also installed the bow chocks which were mounted on the raised overhanging bulwark/toerail and hadn’t really needed to be removed for the deck work, but at dismantling time I’d just been going through my habitual motions and only afterwards realized my mistake.
Back in the cockpit, I installed the hinges for the starboard cockpit locker.
To round out the day, I decided to unpack and inventory the Norvane windvane assembly and begin to acquaint myself with the installation, as I planned to move forward with this soon and wanted to see how this particular vane would hang from the boat. Plus, I needed to determine what sorts of fasteners and drill bits I’d need for the installation. I inventoried the included parts, noted any fasteners I’d need to order, and acquainted myself with the installation directions.
Total time billed on this job today: 6.75 hours
0600 Weather Observation: 12°, clear, 8″ snow and sleet overnight. Forecast for the day: Sunny, 25°