February 25, 2018
I began the day with final fitting and installation of the taffy rail. I left the width of the rail long purposefully at time of fabrication, as I didn't have the final measurement between the port and starboard toe rails. With the toe rails installed now, I could go ahead and remove what material I needed to and install it. I took the rail over to Joule and took some measurements from a cursory dry-fit. Back in the shop, I removed the excess material - roughly 3/16" on each side. I eased the edges, sanding by hand through a couple different grits of paper, and cleaned the rail before moving to the next step. I found the center-line of the rail and placed the aft chainplate along this line, and from here decided where and how many fasteners to account for. There are other pieces of hardware that will be installed on the taff rail, so they were all under consideration as I spaced out the fastener locations.
With the fastener locations marked with a pencil, I made a slight depression in the wooden rail with an awl. The depression would allow the forstner bit to find its intended point on the rail to create the bung / fastener holes. I set the rail on the drill press and drilled for the fasteners.
I gathered the required tools and 16 fasteners (#10 self-tapping screws) and headed over to Joule. I pre-drilled through the deck, and then tapered those holes to allow a good amount of polysulfide to help seal around the openings. For the installation, I began with the center four fastener, installed those, and then worked towards the outboard ends of the rail. Just before placing the taff rail into position, I spread a generous amount of polysulfide onto the deck. A few of the fasteners were being obstinate, but in the end, I prevailed and declared victory!
Since I found myself on the aft deck, I went ahead and drilled and tapped for the aft chainplate. The factory glassed in metal plate for the aft chain plate to be secured to, and I was successful in finding the plate during the drilling process. I attached the same #7 bit to pre-drill for the 1/4-20 tap, but in this instance I used a metal cutting bit. I made it through the metal and then went back and tapped the holes for the bronze 1/4-20 machine screws.
Aft chainplate secured.
In the process of digging through my inventory of fasteners for another piece of the hardware install, I came across the exact fasteners I had ordered yesterday - I had omitted these four 1/4-20 bronze machine screws (3.5" in length) - but here they were. I meant to get the cabin cleats mounted yesterday, when I realized I forgot to order the machine screws. In the end, I needed one of the 3.5" machine screws for the aft chainplate, so I was able to get one of the cabin cleats installed today.
I turned my attention back to the aft deck hardware install. The aft cleat was next. I applied polysulfide to the tampered holes on the deck and underneath the mounting block. The 1/4-20 bronze machine screws were driven in place, and on the underside of the deck I installed backing plates made from G-10. Bronze washers and nuts secure from below.
I repeated the process with the motor mount base plate, but chose not to use a mounting block in this installation since the hinging motor mount would then be leaning over of the taff rail at a sharp angle. G-10 backing plates were also used for the motor mount base plate.
Next came the mainsheet double-block and the mainsheet cam cleat. Both of these hardware pieces have a mounting block, and both are backed by G-10 plates from the underside of the aft deck.
Since I completed the installation of all hardware on the aft deck that required reaching into the void underneath the aft deck, I went ahead and installed the access plate, or deck plate.
I secured the plate with six #8 panhead machine screws and a locking nut from the backside.
Needing dry time and at least two coats of nonskid, I decided to take a break from the hardware and brightwork to get a coat of paint on the foredeck. The nonskid paint used for Joule is Jamestown Distributor's TotalBoat nonskid paint, TotalTread. First coat applied; the second coat will require a gentle scuffing, surface wipe down, and then paint application.
I mounted the mast step with fresh stainless steel 1/4-20 screws, secured from below with washer and nuts. I applied a liberal amount of polysulfide to the underside of the mast step, as well as the fastener holes. I will cleanup after the polysulfide cures a bit.
With the day winding down, I decided to push on a bit and get the cockpit seat trim installed. I had already drilled and tapped the fastener holes in the cockpit seats - this was during the initial dry-fit process. At this point, I needed to drill for bung holes in the boards. In the shop, I drilled out the 3/8" hole with the forstner bit. Back on Joule, I mounted the seat trim boards, and backed roughly half of the fasteners with washers and nuts. The fiberglass construction of the deck prevented me from backing some of the fasteners, and was one reason I drilled and tapped the holes for machine screws.
With the cockpit seat trim in place, I made my way back over to the shop to:
1. sand the cockpit seat hatches, and the companionway slide hatch, and
2. mix a small pot of paint for the hatches
With the hatches sanded and the paint catalyzing, I grabbed the bungs and some varnish (glue), and headed back over to Joule.
I painted each bung, installed, and tapped further into the final resting place with a couple hammer taps. I bunged the taff rail and the seat trim boards.
By the time I got back to the shop the paint was ready to be thinned. I assembled my painting tools, thinned the paint, and put another coat on the companionway hatch and the first coat on the cockpit seat hatches.
Total Time Today: 8.5 hrs
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