March 12, 2021

Lyra 37

Friday

The main galley bulkheads were now permanent and sturdy, so now I could prepare to install the two short longitudinal bulkheads to enclose the engine room.  First, however, I water-washed and lightly sanded the new bulkhead fillets to prepare them.

I secured the engine room bulkheads with screws against the various cleats I’d previously installed, so this was a quick process.  For now, I left the removable panels out of the starboard side, as I didn’t know yet how best to install them.

With all the pieces in place, I used my original countertop mockups to create patterns of the countertop, accurately marking the hull, aft bulkhead, and other bulkheads on the patterns for later use in creating the final countertop.  The owner and I had discussed an extension forward of the port bulkhead, which would be easy enough to accommodate, and to prepare for this I also made a template extending to the hull forward of the bulkhead there, to allow for the possibility of bringing the extension straight to the hull and to likely define the bottom of the electrical locker.  I set these patterns aside for the moment.

Continuing with the bulkheads, I cut sections of 6″ biaxial tabbing to fit both sides of both bulkheads and, after other final preparations, finished up the fillets in the areas where I’d had glue blocks during the initial installation.  Then, I installed the tabbing in epoxy resin.

To round out the day, I transferred my cardboard patterns to a sheet of plywood to use for the exposed area of the aft bulkhead, above the eventual countertop.  I had to turn to another project at the shop, so cutting out the shape would await another time.

Total time billed on this job today:  3.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  45°, clear.  Forecast for the day:   Sunny, 50°