Filling Fastener Holes, Removal Deadlights / Mast Step

August 27, 2017

Enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon on the patio, drifting in and out of napping, it was everything I had in me to will myself up and out into the heat.  Once I was out there, however, I managed to get a few things done on Joule.  Florida's summer heat requires acclimation if one is to labor in it, so in this regard the office is not my friend.  Alas, Joule and her owners are no doubt looking forward to launch day, and with that in mind I was back at it. 

I began by removing the tabernacle mast step, making quick work of three bolts and a few hammer taps.

I then removed the remaining sealant with razor and solvent; I followed with 80-grit paper on the RO sander to take the surface down o gelcoat.

I then turned my attention to the deadlights.  Each deadlight frame was fixed with 6 screws.

After removing the screws, I tapped the deadlight out of its position from the inside.  After gently taping on the interior frame, the sealant finally relented its hold and allowed the deadlight to emerge.  As I had done with the mast step, I removed the excess sealant with a razor blade and then solvent.  I sanded the area around the deadlight to remove the old layers of paint.

The Starboard deadlight did not fair as well.  Turns out the deadlights are not bronze, or stainless for that matter, but plastic!  Yes, Joule is at her core plastic (fiberglass reinforced), but well protected from the sun's damaging UV.  The deadlights suffer from severe UV degradation; the starboard trim simply separated from its interior frame and then broke clean through - the sealant having greater strength that the deadlight trim.  

With the deadlights and mast step removed, I turned my attention to the old fastener holes.  I set out to taper the holes with the drill bit shown below.

I methodically made my way across the entire boat's surface and opened up each of the old fastener holes as the first step in preparing to fill and fair them.

Next, I wanted to take care of the 2" hole in the wall of the starboard cockpit seat.  Used previously to house the plug for charging the battery, the new owners to decided to do away with it.  

I created a taper around the opening to accept the 1708 biaxial cloth, I sanded the interior surface, and then wiped both the interior and exterior down with solvent.

I cut a square piece of 1708 as backing to seal this opening, and applied it to the surface I had just previously wet out with straight epoxy.

Using a small sheet of plastic, I made patterns of two pieces of 1708 to be used to fill the tapered area.  Prior to applying the layers of cloth to the tapered section, I mixed roughly an ounce of epoxy and thickened it with 406 silica to fill the center portion of the hole.  After applying the thickened epoxy with a squeegee, I then wet out the two layers of 1708 and placed them.

With the balance of my time today, I finished preparing a portion of the old fasteners holes - cleaning them with solvent, and then wetting them out with a bit of straight epoxy.  I then mixed a couple ounces of epoxy and thickened with a mixture of 406 silica and 407 low-density filler.  Starting in the cockpit, I made my way across the aft of the cockpit and down the starboard side. 

Satisfied with this first application, I existed the cockpit for the starboard rail.

Starting at Joule's hind quarter, I made my way down her starboard rail filling the old rub rail fastener holes with this first application of thickened epoxy.

I will be back along this rail to sand, and prep for a final fill and fair as my next step in getting Joule ready for primer.

Total Time Today: 3 hrs

Coring The Poop Deck & Sanding

August 26, 2017

As parts and materials arrived through the week; specifically, the new bronze outboard bracket from Rig Rite and an order of balsa core.  Saturday morning, I was eager to begin prepping to tackle laying new core down on the poop deck.  First, however, I wanted to get the sanding of the topsides finished: waterline and bow.  

As you can see below, I had the bow portion to finish.  The Porter Cable 7335 with dust shroud could not get underneath the stem fitting, and I was cautious about using it on the point of the bow.  I opted to use the RO palm sander for a bit more finesse and control.  

Using 80-grit discs, I made quick work of this section of the topsides.

The bulk of today's sanding time was eaten up by finishing the waterline.  This portion of the topsides, unfortunately, had to be done by hand....had to be done though.  I made a slow and methodical path around the boat, sanding the topsides paint and primer down to gelcoat while preserving the demarcation between the bottom paint and the topsides.  Later, I will tape of the waterline as I prepare for primer.

Satisfied that the topsides sanding was behind me, I was excited to turn my attention to addressing the coring work on the poop deck.  I started by giving the open deck areas a good vacuum and solvent wipe down.

Next, I applied a piece of heavy mil plastic over the deck, and using a Sharpie, traced patterns to be applied to the balsa.

I went ahead and labeled everything thoroughly, careful to preserve every square inch of the "prey-cious" balsa core.  But seriously, my thinking here is that I can utilize the balance of the material across other areas on the boat that are exhibiting 'deck-flex': one portion of the cockpit sole and the cabin sole. 

I cut out the pattern and transferred them to the balsa sheet.  With a box cutter, I pulled the patterns from the sheet of balsa and inserted them for a test fit.  Each of the four portions of balsa that I cut fit nicely on the first attempt, and any gaps between the old and new core would be filled with thickened epoxy.  I was ready for the next step.

Prior to laying the new core down, I wanted to prep the deck surface to received the new fiberglass 1708 biaxial cloth.  I used an angle grinder outfitted with a 40-grit flap wheel to create a tapered edge around each of the areas of the deck that i had opened up.  The tapered areas are roughly 2" in width.

I set up an epoxy work station at Joule's stern, and prepared materials to lay the new base core down: mixing cups, stir sticks, nitrile gloves, chip brushes, and thickening agents.

With the Florida August heat, exothermic epoxy reaction, and my penchant to not waste materials, I was not able to get a pictorial play-by-play of the lay-down.  The open working time during the summer months is limited, and as all parents eventually say, "use your words."  This is how it went down:  I wet out of the bottom skin on the poop deck with epoxy mixed "neat" (no thickening agents) , as well as the bottom of the new balsa core.  Next, I mixed epoxy thickened with microballoons and laid out a layer on the bottom skin, one area at a time.  I then pressed the balsa core into place, seeing sufficient squeeze-out of the thickened epoxy.  I cleaned up the excess squeeze-out, and then placed a sheet of plastic over the poop deck.  On top of the plastic, I placed some weights to keep the core in place and under the present poop deck concave surface.  I'm looking forward to seeing the results, and prepping to lay new glass down.   

Total Time Today: 6.25 hours

Handy Work, Getting Into the Tight Spots

August 20, 2017

After catching up on various items around home and the shop, I set out to finish the deck and cockpit sanding as well as the interior.  The 5" RO sander could only get so far into some of the angles and corners - no matter how skillfully I feathered the edge in :), so the only thing left to do was to break out that go-to shop tool with unmatched capability for precision and finesse...the human hand.  On second thought, there are some hands out there that have more of a proclivity toward smashing and banging, but today my hands would require a measured approach.

I propped the fan up for a little circulation around Joule, flipped on NPR, and settled into finishing the removal of the old paint.  There would be plenty more sanding to come, between the new coats of deck, topsides and interior paint, but certainly not as grueling as this.  I worked my way around the cockpit, then into the cabin, and finished with the quarter berth and v-berth lockers.  It certainly feels good to get this arduous task behind me, and I look forward to the start of filling and fairing the numerous imperfections across Joule.

The last item for the day was to sand an area of the bottom skin on the poop deck, and then confirm the measurement for the new balsa core order - 3/8".  I will get a sheet of 3/8" balsa core on order for the poop deck this evening.   I have yet to cut open the cabin sole for similar recore work, and since I did not know if the 3/8" balsa was laid up on there as well, I decided to wait to order until I had the sole opened up. 

Total Time Today: 3.5 hrs