March 30, 2018
Scupper 17
Friday
After a day away on another project, the epoxy in the three bronze through hulls (cockpit scuppers and galley sink, all of which were glassed in place) had cured, and left me with the little plugs I needed so I could center a hole saw and remove the fittings.
With a 3″ hole saw that was wide enough to encompass the entire heads of these fittings (assuming they existed), I removed the three fittings, leaving clean holes that I’d patch later.
Just a bit of trim remained in the forward cabin, and now I removed it.
I’d agitated the bilge water and detergent a few times over the past couple days, loosening the accumulated grime, and now I drained the bilge. The forward bilges beneath the main cabin cleaned up fairly well, considering, and I rinsed the detritus aft so I could clean it all out from the engine room. Now the bilges could air out and dry over the weekend.
I spent a little time contemplating the bowsprit and whether to remove it or not. It was in fair, but weathered, condition, with some minor damage at the forward end on the bottom side (not visible here), but I didn’t relish the task of unnecessarily removing it, as access to the underside was tight through a small opening in the chainlocker bulkhead. For now, with no pressing need for its removal nor any obvious reasons requiring it, I decided to leave it in place pending further work and to see if something came to light later that might require the removal.
Finally, I cut apart the fiberglass fuel tank so I could dispose of it.
Total time billed on this job today: 2.75 hours
0600 Weather Observation: 40°, foggy. Forecast for the day: Light rain in the morning, then improving, temperatures in the 50s