March 8, 2018
The finish line is clearly within sight! Excited to maintain pace for completion within the coming couple of days, I decided to tackle the toe rail jib tracks this afternoon. In previous work on the toe rail I spaced out the fasteners for the rail as well as the jib track - making sure that the fasteners did not overlap. As I laid out the jib track on the installed toe rail I notice that my location for the first of the jib track fasteners needed to be adjusted to aft just slightly. With the new location set, I marked the fasteners' locations on 3" centers. I then pre-drilled and tapped for the #10 machine screws.
I backed the machine screws with nuts from below. As the fasteners exited the underside of the hull-to-deck flange, I wasn't left with a lot of room to place the backing nut into position. This lack of room required me to remove a bit of the laminate from inside, and I did so with a spiral saw. At each of the locations where the jib track fasteners existed the flange, I ground away a bit of the inboard hull laminate....just enough to get a nut on the machine screw. The starboard jib track was completed with those minor alterations.
On the port side, I decided against driving the machine screw completely through the deck and the hull-to-deck flange. Instead, I up-sized the fasteners to a #12 machine screw at 1.5" in length. I drilled and tapped for the machine screws, applied polysulfide (as I did for the starboard jib track), and then secured the track by tightening down on the machine screws. The slightly larger head of the #12 machine screws required me to open up the tapered fastener holes in the jib track itself, to allow the stand-up block to slide back and forth free from impingement. I finished the jib tracks by installing the block stops fore and aft, and then wiping up the polysulfide squeeze out.
Next, I turned to the coaming board cleats. I set the port side cleat a comfortable distance aft of the winch, allowing for working room for the lines. I drilled 1/4" holes into the coaming board, using a scrap piece of wood for backing to prevent tear out, and then tapered the inboard side of the holes to allow the machine screw head to sit flush with the coaming board.
The port coaming cleat installed, pictured below.
I repeated the process for the starboard coaming cleat.
To end the work session, I applied the final coat of nonskid for the cockpit sole. I will remove the painting tape tomorrow...hopefully revealing a clean line :)
Items that remain:
- Install tiller plate, bung, trim bungs and oil
- Trim bungs and oil on companionway hatch, aft cockpit trim, and coaming return
Total Time today: 4 hrs
I need the hardware for the t track to accomodate jib sheets for the new roller furling jib which is larger. Is the 3/4 " t track standard? Will all slider and blocks fit? My t track is the original. Thanks. My boat is a "driver". Just fix what is needed which is mostly nothing.
ReplyDeleteT tracks vary in size, but you should not have a problem upgrading the cars. Just grab a measure of the track width/Debra, and compare to what is available at your local marine store. Purchase there or order online.
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