Paint, primer, and progress

Progress, progress and the project lists continues to shrink. 
Anne has repainted the floor and engine room wall in the quarter berth (a.k.a. the guest suite).

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And I continue to prime the gallows bases...

above is pictured coat #3 of primer. I also continue to fair out the generator box with filler to provide a smooth finish and neat corners.

 Before....

After...

We are awaiting Greg from Paradise Welding to make the trip down to Everglades City for the installation of the stainless steel posts for the boom gallows.  Tentatively he is scheduled to work on site either later today, Wednesday, or Friday.  Our plan is to ferry C'est la Vie over to our mainland neighbor's dock for the installation.  We will keep you all updated.

teamwork to tackle the backing plates

Anne and I worked together to create templates for the boom gallows backing plates and to install a port and starboard headsail sheet blocks.  These aft mounted blocks will replace the snatch blocks we are currently using to redirect the headsail sheets to the cockpit wenches..  This will afford us two snatch blocks for spares or for the hope of someday running twin headsails. 

Anne worked above decks to measure and install the blocks.

While I worked below decks to measure out the backing plates (we are having backing plates made for the blocks and the gallows) and to sand away the area in preparation for installation.

time to focus some attention below decks

Due to a plumbing emergency on Sunset Island my time for boat projects was reduced yesterday.  I resolved the plumbing leak late in the afternoon and decided the countdown to bug hour here on the island would not provide me with the window necessary to continue fairing the gallows bases.  Thus I choose to focus my energies below decks.
 
The gallows will require a sizable backing plate below decks.  The backing plate will need to sit flush against the underside of the deck.  This required me to cut away a section of the existing headliner below each of the bases. Fortunately these cutouts are in less visible locations - the starboard quaterberth and a port side storage area.  Based on my experience cutting away the decking during a project to re-core some of our decks, I chose to use a 4" grinder with the cut off wheel to remove the liner.  After marking off the section to be removed, I sealed off my work space using masking tape and plastic sheeting.   The image is of the starboard side quaterberth.  My goal is to reduce the amount of dust circulating below decks - cutting fiberglass is a dusty job. 

Once the area was cut away I used the orbital sander, lower center of image, to sand down the exposed surfaces in preparation for filling irregularities and voids with epoxy.  Since the area was tapped off and I had a sander in-hand.  I could not resist expanding my project to include sanding and repainting the floor of the quaterberth and the engine room wall.  No time like the present... right?

Along with concerns over dust in the boat, I certainly do not want to inhale any of the byproducts so appropriate safety equipment is necessary.  The images above are post cutting and sanding.

Sunfish Rudder

Since all my recent C'est la Vie projects have involved fiberglass and epoxy work, I included some rudder repairs for Phoenix, a 1970's era sunfish.  The wooden rudder was cracked longitunally near 3/4 of the length and the hole for mounting the pindle plate was expanduing due to rotten wood.

I drilled a stop hole a the terminus of the crack and removed all the rotten wood.  I then filled the stop hole and void left from removing the wood with thickened epoxy.  The next step was to laminated the entire rudder with a layer of fiberglass mat. The final step was to fair the entire project in with epoxy.  In a effort to retain the beauty of the wood, I did not thicken the epoxy.  This allowed the final product to retain the appearance of the original wood.

Hopefully the project list and winds will allow me to post some images of Phoenix once again rising from the ashes and back on the water.

Fairing

On both the generator box and the boom gallows bases, I continue to fair out (or should I say in?) the projects.  This means I am using thickened epoxy to smooth out rough edges and make things look aesthetically pleasing.

Well on the generator box is a bit more than just aesthetics.  I did smooth out the upper edge of the box.  Since the box must be air tight, the quality of this edge is very important as it will press against the gasket material to form the air tight seal.  I used epoxy thickened with 407 filler to create the edge.  Once the epoxy had begun the kick I used denatured alcohol, my fingers, and a razor knife to sculpt the edge.  A bit of sanding a few hours later and val la...

Meanwhile after a similar process on the gallows bases...

The next step on both of these projects will be to use 3M filler for the final fairing.

back to the bases

After spending the afternoon yesterday in Ft Lauderdale waiting on Nance and Underwood rigging shop to modify the lifelines and this morning focused on NOCBS' responsibilities, I made some progress on the bases for the new boom gallows this afternoon.

The image above is of the bases after removing the modeling clay mold and some sanding.  The cream colored base consists hardened epoxy thickened with a high density/structural thickener. This will provide a strong platform on which the base of the gallows will rest.

I then taped off the surrounding area in preparation for adding some epoxy thickened with a less dense/fairing thickener.  This will allow me to sand down the fillets and base to provide a nice cosmetic finish.

With the epoxy applied it is now a waiting game until I can begin sanding.  Since I used a slow hardener and we are nearing bug hour here in the Everglades, the sanding will happen tomorrow morning.

two epoxy project does slow going make....

Each project that involves fiberglass and epoxy work in which I engage definitely increases my skills with the medium, but I have yet to gain much ground in the efficiently arena.  I continue to make slow progress on both the generator box and the gallows bases.

Here is the box..   Since the last update I have added mat to the sides and outside edges.  I have also begun to fillet in the inside corners. The brown areas are fared in using west 407 density filler.  This will enable my to give the finished box a smooth surface.

The next steps are to cover the top edge with mat and finish the interior corner fillets.  Once these tasks are complete then I will begin work on the lid.

And here on the gallows bases... After cleaning, sanding, and filling the bolt holes left from the old stanchion bases,  I created a mold for the new bases out of modeling clay.  The template for the mold was a bowl from the kitchen (don't worry Anne approved) and a straight edge.  Once the molds were complete I then poured in thickened epoxy.  I did two separate pours to avoid excess heat generation caused by the exothermic reaction of the curing epoxy.  Heavy layups of thick epoxy can generate enough heat to damage the deck and compromise the integrity of the curing epoxy.  Two pours also provided me with greater control over the accuracy of the coverage and thickness of the layup.  The next step on this project will be to remove the mold and fair in the new bases.

good progress on both projects

Making progress on both the boom gallows and the generator box.  This morning, the inner, cardboard mold slid easily out of the generator box.  I must admit I was a bit worried that the epoxy the dripped through the joints would make this a nightmare, but my fears were unfounded.

Anne and I also removed the stanchions and bases at the site of the boom gallows on C'est la Vie.  With Anne's assistance this also went much more smoothly than anticipated.