Joule, Cape Dory Typhoon (hull #1044): Continued Fair & Fill Work & Cabin Sole Recoring

October 8, 2017

Sunday morning, I resumed work on Joule with the goal of continuing the fairing and fill work on the recoring work done on the poop deck and cockpit sole, as well the old fastener holes. On the docket for the day as well was the opening up of the cabin sole. Given the trampoline-like action of the cabin sole, I knew there was sure to be some work to be done on the core material there.

I started the day with the perfunctory, but necessary, water washing of the previous application of epoxy fairing compound. Starting from the stern, I worked my way forward with a scouring pad, water and a towel to dry the surfaces. With the amine blush removed from the cured epoxy, I turned my attention to sanding the previous application of fairing compound. With the Florida heat still in effect in October, I wanted to take advantage of my energy level early in the day. I used the ROS and 80-grit pads to knock down the proud surfaces and prepare for the next application. The sanding (fairing) work is sometimes a mind-numbing experience, made endurable by that Steve Jobs brainchild...the iPod, and in my case the iPod Shuffle. Slap on some The Mamas & The Papas and watch the low-density fairing compound fly! :)

So I successfully fought through the mental anguish that is somehow affectionately known as 'fairing' - belying its true identity: waterboarding your wrists and fingers! ....and then turned my attention to the cabin sole. I opened up a small portion of the sole to see what I was dealing with. Uh, yeah...we've got some issues here. Not sure how long water had been trapped in the cabin sole, but long enough to turn the balsa core into a ghost of its former self.

I went ahead and marked off a cut line, which would actually expend a bit further forward. The line you see dropping into the bilge was an experiment in how to keep the cabin sole from depressing into a convex shape as I would eventually weight the new core material in the curing process. I looped the line around a piece of 18mm meranti and drew it tight around another piece of ply straddling the companionway. The experiment proved successful, and will be used while I weight the soon to be installed new core material through its curing phase. Weighting the surface of the new core material ensures that the bond is even and good across the entire mating surfaces of top of bottom skin and bottom of new core material.

With the best-laid plans laid, I cut out topskin. As mentioned previously, I expanded the topspin removal a bit further forward (not pictured).

What the heck is that!??

I placed a piece of 3/8" balsa core in place to get a sense of what the original installation called for. This test moved me toward 1/4" Divinycell - purchased today.

I moved as far as I could on the cabin sole recore work, and so it was time to switch hats: fairing and filling. I vacuumed the recently sanded surfaces and followed that by a solvent-wash to order to remove and lingering contaminates (debris). For the areas I needed to hit again with the fairing compound, I painted neat epoxy on the surfaces.

With an application of neat epoxy applied to all areas requiring additional fairing, I then mixed a small batch of epoxy with fairing compounds added (406 silica and 407 low-density).