Continued Hardware Installs

I finished up installing the port side Lazarette hatch and other Cowl vent. I had to wait to install together, because of the 3M Silicone Sealant drying up quickly. On the label, it mentions you must use within 24 hours once the seal is broken, so I didn't want to waste any. I didn't take any pictures, but the starboard side looks the same.

The small pieces below are wooden washers or what I am calling them. They will go on the inside of the boat to what I guess is protect the hull from being damaged when I tighten up the nuts and washers. I cut out some extra and will need to coat them with epoxy.

The longer pieces are to hold the companion way drop boards in place. I need to coat them with epoxy and then will most likely varnish.

I spent a while locating the halyard cleats ( 2 on both sides of the companion way hood) and the blocks by the cowl vents. I find it difficult to drill holes in the boat after spending all the time to make things look nice.  I will need to put some epoxy in the holes before installing the stainless steel fasteners.

Halyard cleat holes, 2 per side. 

Holes drilled for the 2 blocks. 2 on the other side drilled as well. 

I did have to spend some time with the fasteners. I took a trip to the local hardware store and took some of the cleats and blocks with me. I tried to estimate the size and some of the them had the instructions on installing online, but some didn't. So I thought the safest thing was to take them with me and try out. The ACE Hardware has fasteners by the piece vs. the big box stores having packages of them. I could just pick one up and try it. I only purchased a portion, but the store is just up the road 10 minutes away.

Painting and some Hardware Install

Rudder Sanding and Painting

I had built the rudder a while back and did a rough sanding. I finally finished the sanding and put a couple of coats of Interlux Bottom Paint on the bottom portion. I didn't have enough for the 3rd coat, so I will have to buy another quart.  I did decide to finish the upper part of the rudder with varnish, so I have the rudder marked for a blue strip and the part right below white as well. Will take a few sessions to get that completed. 

Installing Hardware

I started to install some of the hardware. 1st up was to mark the holes for the lazarette hatches, cowl vents and cleats in the front bay. I marked the holes and then drilled them out. I then marked around the holes and applied epoxy in the holes a couple of times. I used some pipe cleaners and that worked pretty good. 

Cowl vent taped out to install epoxy in the holes. 

Cleat holes on the dorade boxes. 

I then applied 3M Silicone Sealant around the entire edges and then use stainless steel hardware with locking nuts. So hopefully I will have a good seal! 

Lazarette Hatch all installed. 

Port side Cowl Vent installed. Starboard is completed as well. 

Another picture of hatch installed. 

Tabernacle

I am still working on the tabernacle mistake I made with putting the pieces together wrong. I have finished filling in the old holes and have drilled and filled the new correct holes. 

Below is a picture of the epoxy filling the holes. I have since then sanded everything. I also plan on applying some fiberglass on the outside to help strengthen things. 

Finishing up Painting and Other Tasks!

I managed to finish up the 3 final coats with dealing with my back. Still having to go very slow, but I was able to get it done. I still have a few places I will need to touch up, but will wait until I get the boat on the trailer.

Below are a few pictures.

I did use some Total Boat faring compound from Jamestown Distributors in a few place in the bow section, but for the most part, my fillets looked pretty good! 

Tabernacle

Below is a picture of the tabernacle. If you recall, I messed up the location of the holes. Since I have been reading a lot about the tabernacle splitting and some of the fixes I have seen, I decided to add a piece of 1/4 inch plywood to each side. This will bring my thickness to 1", so should help to strengthen. It will also help me cover up the miss drilled holes. I am still thinking about finishing natural and this will give me the option. Most likely I will paint though. 

Boom Gallow

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours rigging up the drill press and measuring, more measuring and then finally drilling. when I was done and I went to put the boom gallow on the poles, I figured out I drilled the holes too big! A while back, I created a boom gallow to use as a test piece for drilling the holes in the seat back. I got a drill bit and put it in my test piece and it was the same size, so I went ahead and drilled the final piece. Should have checked!!!! But like most things there is a fix. I just filled up the holes with thickened epoxy and will do the drill-fill-drill thing. I will stick with the story that that was my plan all along! LOL.  Nobody will know any better. 

Yesterday I also worked on the Rudder and sanding it. I sanded through in a couple places, so I will be applying epoxy to those areas before sanding.

Starting to look at all the fitting out and will be going to get screws for some things shortly.

Painting!

Been laying low a little. Been fighting some back issues, which means I haven't been working on the boat as much as I like. I did manage to prime the boat, sand and put one final coat on.

Below is a picture of the Interlux Pre-Kote Primer. After letting it dry for a week, I sanded the entire boat again with 220 grit.  This took off most of it.

Today I just finished putting the 1st coat of Interlux Brightside. Below are a few pictures. 

I had vacuumed the boat thoroughly and wiped it down with denatured alcohol. 

I will be letting this dry and hopefully do a quick 320 sanding of this coat and put the 2nd coat on next weekend.  Things are slowly coming along. 

Tabernacle, Companionway and Bowsprit

Tabernacle 
A few weeks ago during a hot streak of about 103 degree days I was working in the garage. I was doing other tasks and decided the last thing I would do for the day was to glue up the tabernacle.
Below are a couple pictures of things clamped up.

Since it was so hot I was in some what of a hurry. I noticed the holes didn't look like they were in the right place, but decided the templates couldn't be wrong. I should have stopped, but I went ahead and glued things up. So my mistake. I had the outside boards turned around. The middle piece should have been on the other side. So now my tabernacle has the holes in the wrong place! :-(  

But not a big deal, I have already fixed the bevel so the tabernacle sits correctly and I plan on refilling the holes and then drilling where they should go. Just some wasted time to have to redo things.


Toerails
I cut the toerail angles on my bandsaw. I noted the angle on the plans and adjusted the table on the badsaw and ran them through.

I predrilled the holes. I think I used about 7 and cut little pieces of wood, so screwing it down would not damage the wood. I screwed everything down doing a dry fit and then lathered everything up with some thickened epoxy. I have been using the pre-mixed epoxy Total Boat Thixo from Jamestown distributors. Sort of expensive, but quick and easy.

Since I lathered the epoxy on, I had good squeeze out and used a fillet tool to make a mini fillet along both edges. This will help with any water standing and help with run off.

Companion Way

I also installed the companion way to the top of the cabin. I used epoxy to attach and used a combination of clamps and weights to hold it down while the epoxy cured.  This turned out good.
The portion that slides back and forth works well. Below are a few pictures of the work.

Bowsprit Hole 

As with any hole I have to cut in the boat, I am always nervous. The other night I cut a piece of wood to equal the end of the bowsprit.  I used a 4X4' post and cut it on the band saw. I then took an angle finder and measure the angle of the bow. I then marked that angle on the piece of wood.

I then held the piece up to the bow and marked it on all sides. I then took a couple of my small saws and took my time cutting. I had to use a keyhole saw to get the corners and then had to use a rasp to fine tune the hole so the bowsprit wood fit. I would estimate that I took another 1/8" off, for the bowsprit to fit properly. As the manual said, I could not resist putting the bowsprit in and taking some pictures.

Things are coming together! I am hoping to work on things tomorrow. Probably finish up the sanding, so I can start the painting.

Tabernacle, Sanding, Rub Rail and Other

Tabernacle

I cut out the tabernacle pieces and have covered them with fiberglass. I finished putting the 3 coats on the pieces this afternoon and will be working on putting the pieces together next. For the holes that go in for the mast and bowsprit, I marked and drilled them larger. I filled them in with epoxy and will be drilling out the final holes with my drill press.  I coated the inside parts with fiberglass and will be applying glass to the outside facing. 

Below are a couple pictures. 

Sanding
Next up was sanding the entire top of the boat. I didn't do much sanding before flipping over the first time, so I had my work cut out for me. I have already done a few 3-4 hour sanding sessions. I had to quit, because my back started to hurt, but will get back to it soon. I have plenty of other tasks to do. I have to finish up sanding the bow section and then I need to do the footwell in the cockpit area. I got a pair of bluetooth headphones to listen to music and that has really helped to cure the monotonous task.

Below is a picture of the hull now. I will finish up the above mentioned work and will quickly go over with 120 grit again. I should be ready to primer coat soon.

Rub Rail
I had to sand the top of the rub rail once I turned the boat back over. I used a block plane to take the high stuff off first and then used my sander to get it ready using 80 and then 120 grit. I applied 2 coats of epoxy over the rails over the last couple of days and will wait until later to lightly sand then start to apply varnish.

I also applied a small fillet along the entire length of the rail. I noticed a couple slight cracks where I was unable to get the rails epoxied close to the hull and didn't want any water working its way behind the rails and causing damage. I did the same small fillet underneath when I had the boat flipped over.

Below shows the rails after sanding.

The couple of pictures below show the small fillets. I will need to sand them some.

On the rub rails I also had to fill some small crack between the 3 pieces. Again, I saw some small cracks and didn't want water to get down them. I applied thickened epoxy and then sanded smooth. The picture above shows one of the spots.

Port Holes
I also cut out the port hole openings.  If you look at the pictures above, you will see that. I used my dremel tool with a cutting bit. It has an adapter to make it work like a mini router. Worked pretty good. It's nice to see the final look of the boat coming out.  I am looking at different port holes other than the standard ones, but haven't made up my mind yet.

Flipped back over!

With the help of a few friends and family ( 7 including me) we flipped the boat back over. I modified the cradle to put carpet where it would touch the boat and used some heavy duty straps to hold it in place while we flipped it. Actually pushing it back over was easier than the first time. Using 2 tires, I just rolled it over gradually and it was down. We put it back on the furniture dollies so I can move it around. 20 minutes work and then beer and pizza! Well 20 minutes work with the friends. Still a fair amount of prep work to make sure everything was in place. I had to test the beer to make sure it was good!

Below is the picture of the cradle with carpet and extra 2X4 supports. 

And here she is back right side up and pushed back into the Garage.

Now for 300 hours more sanding and painting!  LOL.  Hopefully it is not that bad, but time will tell.
Its a good feeling to see back up!