Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Pit stop

More work on the cockpit before primer, since I want to get some of this stuff sorted while filler is still easy to apply (already mis-drilled some holes)...


I spent some time "dry sailing" the boat, trying to figure out the ergonomics of tacking, gybing, hoisting, dropping, and where I want the strings that make things happen. I had a look at a couple of the other blogs to see what others have done, and basically tried to come up with something that I hope will work well. While I'm trying to figure out almost all the strings, I'm starting to assemble the stuff that I'll need for rig measurement day: forestay adjuster, mast tip shroud and adjuster, jib cunningham and floating tack, gnav stay, and jib sheeting hardware. I've ordered a forestay and i-point shrouds from Colligo, so that should be here in the next week or so.



Some detail work around the cockpit: companionway trim being fitted; cleat boxes let into the forward bulkhead will be for pole out and tack lines, jockey strut out lines, and jib car out lines; little G10 pads (with bigger backing pads on the other side) are for lifting eyes and hiking strap attachment; the cockpit side recesses are for spin blocks; and the slots and holes in the forward benson or console are for various double ended lines that lead from various forward places to here. The holes up top will be drill/fill/drilled and will be for cheek block and cam cleat mounting underneath using barrel nuts on the top, and the lines will spit out of the little slots- tug downward to release, pull up to cleat. Just aft of the console is a trough for the main traveller- I drilled/filled those holes ages ago and also glued little discs of G10 under the deck so I could just tap threads into them instead of messing with nuts under the deck back there.

I'm going to go ahead and drill and fill for the rest of the hardware wherever I'm pretty sure I know where it goes, so I have a couple days of epoxy curing cycles yet to go before the elusive primer goes on.

Still fabricating rigging pieces as well, so several fronts on the move here. I suppose I should get back to the boom, as well...

2 comments:

  1. Looking good!!

    I did the same thing where I overdrilled and filled many of my hardware locations before painting. What really helped me to find them after painting was to drill a small pilot hole before painting. Many of these holes were backed with G10 like you've done so I just had to drill and tap the hold on hardware installation day. And that was easy when I could find the right spot. I had tried the measure to find it later method on a few holes and found that to be a pain. Thus my suggestion.

    Good luck on getting that primer on. And let me know when you set a flipping date. If I'm available I will definitely make the trip.

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  2. My drill-fill-drill procedure is to mark the holes with a Fuller taper-point bit with a 3/8" countersink, so I know the hole starts off right on the marks, then chase it with a 3/8" drill bit all the way through. Put some blue tape underneath, wet out the hole with neat epoxy and a little acid brush, then squeeze in some non-sag thickened mixture from a ziploc baggy, pastry-style. Then I use one of those little black epoxy spreader/spatulas and tool the mixture into the hole, then finally use the convex side to dish the hole a little. So I have nice 3/8" dimples after the epoxy kicks, and these are generally big enough to be visible after several fill, sand, and paint sequences, unless I swipe a bunch of filler right across one.

    Later, the dimples act as sealant reservoirs around the fastener.

    Flipping day is coming very soon!

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