May 22, 2019

Scupper 148

Tuesday

As per usual, I began work by sanding and varnishing the forward cabin doors (#3).

At the companionway, I cleaned up the new walkway and epoxy fillets as needed, preparing for the final trim to finish off the opening.  The edge of the trim where it met the inboard side of the companionway, which area would later be painted, required a little fillet for better appearance, and on the opposite, outboard side, there was still a gap between the molded liners and the other trim that required attention in one way or another.

I decided to fill in the large gap to starboard with a piece of cherry, which I cut to fit and epoxied in place.  Once the epoxy cured, I could sand this a little to incorporate it smoothly with the adjacent areas (again, this area to be painted), then finally complete the little bit of trim along the outboard edge of the companionway.  While I was working with epoxy, I installed a nice fillet on the inboard edge.

To trim out the opening beneath the threshold, and to starboard of the door, I made up a small piece of cherry trim as needed, and glued it in place.  I’d finish this, and the rest of the door trim, with varnish later.

The last piece of trim required was inside the door opening itself, beneath the threshold and to cover the seam between previously-installed pieces.  I patterned and cut a piece of cherry to fill the space, leaving a small reveal on the main cabin side.  Once I was satisfied with the fit, I installed the trim with glue and brads.

Other than finishing, and the small pieces of (easy) trim on the starboard (outboard) side of the companionway opening and to finish off the still-exposed top edge of the plywood on the laddor [sic] itself, this completed at last the companionway area.

With some relief, I turned to the port trim rings, the trio on which I’d performed minor fiberglass repairs earlier.  Now, I marked a cutline on the starboard forward ring so I could trim the repaired area to shape, then I sanded all three remaining trim rings to match the others.  All would now require some minor cosmetic fairing repairs before primer and paint.

Total time billed on this job today:  5.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  49°, partly clear.   Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 65°