Cont...Work on the Hatches + Filling the Hole in the Companionway Hatch

October 22, 2017

I've made great progress on fabricating the new cockpit seat locker hatches, and was anxious to get back on the work post-breakfast.  I began by water-washing the previous day's work - filling the weave the 1708 biaxial cloth and in general fairing the surface.  I scrubbed the surfaces of both hatches and dried them.  I outfitted myself with 80-grit pads on the ROS sander and began to knock down the high spots.

I sanded as much as I could with the ROS and then finished things off by hand - primarily the inside and outside corners.

The fairing completed with the ROS and by hand, I spot-filled some very small low spots on the top surface, probably small enough that my efforts were not called for, but I went ahead with the filling anyway.  I also filled the inside corners of both hatches - these areas did require some additional fill work.  With that completed, I went ahead and mixed up a batch of epoxy to wet out the top surfaces of both hatches in preparation for another layer of cloth.

In the picture below, the port hatch (background) has the 6oz finish cloth applied and wet out, the starboard hatch (foreground) has the 6oz finish cloth in place ready to saturate with epoxy.  In my next work session I will water-wash, sand and fill the weave with the last bit of fairing work prior to priming the surfaces for topcoat paint.

Not wanting to knock off quite yet, I turned my attention to filling the hole in the companionway slide hatch.  The hole was likely housing a mushroom vent, but now plugged with a piece of teak.  I removed the teak in the prior work session and ground a 12:1 taper to accept new fiberglass.  I used a sheet of plastic to create templates for the new fiberglass.  I choose to use 6oz cloth in this application, so I may need to come back with an additional layer or two.  

I cut out the fiberglass and then solvent-washed the surfaces to prepare for the glass installation.

I quickly worked through wetting out the top surface and applying the fiberglass cloth, so quick in fact that I failed to take a picture of this.  I covered the glass with a sheet of plastic and taped it off.  I then turned the hatch over and applied one disc of cloth in the opening.

Finally, I applied a skim coat of fairing compound across the bottom of the opening to cover the newly laid fiberglass cloth, and then covered this work with a sheet of plastic.  Next steps here would be fill to a fair surface prior to painting.

Total Time Today: 4.75 hrs