ALMOST READY

The bottom is painted, the deck is cleaned, the teak is refinished and we're almost set for launch on Monday.  All that is absolutely needed before launch is to buff and wax the topsides, which should happen today, Saturday, and Sunday.

Other things on the list are to install handrails that I had build a couple of years ago and not installed as well as putting the instruments in place and building a new mounting bracket for the instrument on the mast.  These things will hopefully get wrapped up this weekend.

COCKPIT SEAT REPAIR - COMPLETE!

The seat repair is complete!  Once the 2000E was dried, I sanded it out using a combination of a 6" random orbit sander and hand sanding (on the edges).  After sanding, I re-taped off the area to be painted.  Lesson learned...make sure the tape is adhered well along its edges.  I had a bit of paint that seeped under the edges of the tape in a few areas.  Nothing anyone is going to notice except me, but it is a fine detail I will pay closer attention to next time.

After the sanding was complete, the surface was cleaned with Interlux 202 solvent, then washed with water, then cleaned with the recommended thinner for the paint product I was going to use.  The paint finish I decided on was Interlux Perfection with Awlgrip course grit.

The first layer of Perfection was applied and Awlgrip grit shaken onto the surface.  I worked a small area at a time, first applying Perfection then shaking on the grit, then moving onto the next section, always keeping a wet edge on the paint.  To shake the grit on, I used an old nut container with holes drilled in the top.  This served as an oversized salt shaker.  I put on as much grit as the paint would take.

Once the paint had dried, I was surprised by how much of the paint had been absorbed by the grit.  At this point, excess grit was vacuumed off.  Then another layer of Perfection was applied.  After the 2nd layer of Perfection, a third coat was needed to provide sufficient cover.

A bit about Interlux Perfection.  The paint is a two part product.  I decided to roll it on as opposed to spraying because of the relatively small surface area I was dealing with.  I used the recommended thinner and thinned it out per Perfection's recommendations.  This was done with all coats of finish.  The thinning helps reduce roller marks.  There are no noticeable roller marks on the finish product.

Because this is a non-skid surface, I didn't want a high gloss surface.  I used Perfection's recommended flattening agent, which is also a two part product, to get a semi-gloss surface.  I used a 1:1 ratio of Perfection to flattener.  Thinner was added to the paint after it was mixed with the flattener and only to the recommended ratio of paint to thinner.  i.e. I didn't adjust the thinner ratio based on the total paint and flattener quantity.

The products used are not friendly to one's health.  I wore a quality respirator and gloves whenever using the product.  This included while preparing/mixing the paint.

I'm very happy with the finished product.  The non-skid has excellent grip and the finish seems to be very durable.  We'll see how it performs this season.

All that is left now is to install the traveler.  This will include modifications from the original layout.  More to follow on that later...

SPINNAKER POLE BRIDAL

The bridal for the spinnaker pole was not in very good condition, so I decided to replace the cables with 1/8" Amsteel lines.  The old cables were cut off and new Amsteel installed in their place.  The line is braided as opposed to tied to provide a stronger attachment.

COCKPIT SEAT REPAIR - NEARING COMPLETION

Over the past week, the seat repair has gotten closer to being complete.  The repair was faired with Interlux 833.  I would have preferred to use a more fine filler, but 833 is what I had, so that's what was used.  In the large area of repair, I had to use several applications to build the area up and provide a relatively flat finish.

After the areas were filled, Interlux 2000E was used as a final filler to take care of minor surface imperfections.  There are currently two coats applied.  We'll see if another coat is needed once  it is dried.  I also did a minor amount of filling between coats with a fine filler to take care of pin-hole size voids in the finish.

One of the hatches had been chipped out along the edges over the years from lines being caught in the hatch while they were closed.  The chips were addressed prior to filling and finishing.  The chips were ground out and new fiberglass was laid up for the repair.

OUTHAUL REPAIR

So over the course of the past few seasons, there have been grumblings about the function of the outhaul.  I thought little of it until I tried to move it under a relatively light wind load last season.  That was enough to realize something needed to be done with it this winter.

With the boom in my basement, the work has been easy to complete.  I started with removing the reefing lines out of the boom.  Very easy to take out.  Then came the removal of the cast aluminum pieces at the ends of the boom.  The aft casting came out easily after remove of a couple of screws. 

The forward casting proved to be a bit more difficult.  Two of the four fasteners were completely stripped out and did not want to back out of their holes.  So, with a bit of persuasion from a grinder, the fastener heads were ground off and the screws punched into the boom so that the casting could slide out of the boom.  Prior to reassembly, the mounting holes were drilled out and tapped to a slightly larger size fastener.

With the castings off, the guts of the outhaul could be removed.  As it turns out, the blocks inside the mast were completely seized up.  Back when the outhaul operated properly, it gave a purchase of 3:1.  The setup consisted of a set of blocks, one connected to a fixed point in the boom and the other connected to a cable running to the aft end of the boom, around a pulley, and out to the sail.

The new setup includes an added block and line to double the purchase to 6:1.  Between the newer Harken blocks and the 6:1 setup, the outhaul is moving much more smoothly.  The entire outhaul assembly had to be put together outside of the boom and then fished inside.  All in all, I think I am very happy with this upgrade.  I've considered adding a short piece of track and a Harken ball bearing car to the aft end of the boom so that the operation of the outhaul would be effortless under heavy load, but that modification may wait until a later date.

BULKHEAD FINISH PANEL

The bulkhead finish panel is complete.  I used what was left of the old finish panel as a rough template for the new panel.  Then the panel was fitted in place, marked, and final trimmed to the proper size.  All the mounting hardware was also fitted.  New cleats for the engine cover to rest on were made out of leftover white ash from another project.

I had a bit of a challenge trying to find a piece of mahogany plywood to make the new panel out of.  The cost of a full sheet of plywood, plus a special order charge, was a bit ridiculous.  In lieu of the more expensive mahogany, I opted for a free piece of marine grade birch plywood and stained the panel to match the mahogany.  Obviously the grain differs, but the color match is relatively close.

Here are a few photos of the old and new panel.

The window was bedded in place with Life-Calk after the panel was installed.  A padeye tie-off point for harnesses was also re-installed with a new backing plate made of 1/4" thick fiberglass panel.

BULKHEAD REPAIR

The bulkhead over the engine has been repaired.  The old bulkhead was removed and found to have absolutely no integrity left in it.  All of its mounting locations were completely rotten and the bulkhead came out in two pieces.

A new bulkhead was constructed of marine grade plywood.  The plywood was wrapped in fiberglass and several layers of Interlux 2000E applied.

I decided to modify the mounting conditions of the bulkhead.  The old mounting consisted of four screws across the top of the bulkhead into the floor of the cockpit and another couple of screws into wood blocks at the base of the bulkhead. 

The revised mounting condition across the top of the bulkhead remained the same except a piece of fiberglass angle was installed to provide a bit of additional support between the bulkhead and cockpit floor.  At the sides of the bulkhead, a piece of fiberglass angle was attached between the bulkhead and adjacent fiberglass to take place of the blocks that had previously been installed at the base of the bulkhead.

I considered glassing this entire bulkhead in but decided it was better to use mechanical fasteners so that the bulkhead could be more easily removed in the future if needed.