May 14, 2019

Scupper 143

Tuesday

I eased into the day by installing the VHF in the panel using the flush-mount kit, a simple clamping arrangement that held the radio in place from behind.

Next, I washed and sanded the new epoxy on the keel.  This happily brought things nearly to their final contours, with only some minor fine-tuning still ahead, which I’d finish soon.

I unclamped the forward cabin door assemblies and sanded off any excess epoxy from the joints and smooth and clean up all surfaces of the doors, then milled rabbet details at the top and bottom edges of both doors to allow them to fit into the grooves in the door rails on board, following the basic concept of the original doors.  During an earlier stage of the interior joinerwork, I’d prepared a sample piece to fine-tune the length of the door stiles and the details of each rabbet, and using this sample I could replicate the details on the doors themselves.

Afterwards, I test-fit the doors in the boat.  I’d designed the edge details so that I could slip the doors into place with both rails fixed to the bulkhead, and I planned to add a small extra runner at the bottom to slightly raise the doors once permanently in place, to aid operation, and to prevent the doors from easily being lifted out inadvertently.

Satisfied with the fit, I performed some final finish sanding, cleaned the doors thoroughly, and applied a sealer coat of varnish to all sides.

Meanwhile, I continued the varnish work on the ongoing trim bits, applying one more base coat to the companionway hinge blocks, and a coat of satin varnish to the head trim pieces.

To finish up for the day, I applied gray bilge paint to the generator and battery platforms in the engine room, as well as a second coat of paint on the aft side of the engine room bulkhead, which had absorbed most of the first coat leaving a sort of “graywash” appearance.

Total time billed on this job today:   6.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  Cloudy, 37°.  Forecast for the day:  Rain, 42°