January 31, 2019

Scupper 70

Thursday

In the cabin, I spent the morning sanding the epoxy filler on all the fastener holes, as well as in the settee lockers.

After cleaning up, I applied a second round of filler to the fastener holes as needed.  In this case, I used a white quick-dry acrylic-based fine putty for this fine round of minor filling, an excellent product but one I don’t use often because my own preference for exterior work is and remains only epoxy-based fillers, but here in the cabin and for this purpose, this filler greatly streamlined the second round.

Back down at the rudder, I sanded the first round of epoxy filler I’d applied to the bottom of the rudder, as I worked to essentially create a new rudder core from thin air.

With the first round smoothed out sufficiently and cleaned, I applied another layer, building up the rudder shape closer to the final contours I wanted.  My goal was a basically flat bottom (parallel to the line I’d drawn on the rudder earlier), with a generous curve at the forward edge and a somewhat more square–but still curved–after corner.  This general shape would match photos of sisterships I’d found here and there.

With this second round, I though I was pretty close on the forward corner and basic shape of the bottom edge, but the after corner would require additional material later.  This solid epoxy “core” would later be covered in new fiberglass and tied in with the existing rudder blade.

Total time billed on this job today:  6.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  -10°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, teens.