January 6, 2018
I made good progress today, despite not being able to get to some much needed painting. There are still quite a few small items that require attention, and many of those must be carried out in a systematic way - first A, then B, and so on. But despite the colder temps slightly hampering efforts, I made good use of time and checked off many to-dos throughout the day.
I mounted the coaming boards using a small bottle jack, and a length of 2"x2" lumber spanning the cockpit. I placed protective scrap material in contact with the face of the coaming boards, first rounding off the edges of the scrap material. I fastened 4 short-length blocks at one end of the 2"x2" spanner to act as a skirt to retain the head of the bottle jack...and slowly applied pressure to the coaming boards.
With the boards in what will be their final position, I took note of how the aft ends were resting on the poop deck in order to fine tune the fit.
After repeating the process a few times of taking the coaming boards off, sanding the high spots, and placing them back in the cockpit, I was able to achieve a good fit. The aft end of the port coaming, below.
The aft end of the starboard coaming, below.
With the ends of the coaming resting nicely on the poop deck, I turned my attention to fitting the coaming return blocks. I began with the port block, and placed it in position. Because the coaming board was now pressed tightly into what will become its final position, their was a more narrow gap between the inboard surface the coaming board and the cabin sides. Over a period of time, I shaped the coaming return blocks until I was satisfied with its fit.
Knowing that I would still need to shape the forward end of the coaming board and return block assembly, as well as trim the top portion of the coaming block, I went ahead and drilled through the coaming and into the return block to identify the location of three fasteners to assist in securing the two pieces together.
Having taken the port side coaming board and return block assembly as far as I could for the moment, I switch over to the starboard and repeated the shaping process. The shaping process required several trips up and down the ladder, as well as some fine-tuning on the table saw. I drilled the location of the fasteners to finish this stage of the coaming board and return block assembly.
While the coaming boards were still in place, I made two important reference notes: marking for coaming board fasteners and establishing the deck pad thickness for the winch stand. The winch stand needed to come off the deck by just under 1" so that the base of the winch drum could easily receive and payout the jib sheets when tacking and jibing. With those two notes made, I returned the coaming boards to the shop and switched gears.
I marked the deck for the toe rail fasteners. I measure 2" aft from the stem fitting, and then all subsequent fasteners measured 8" on center. The total number of fasteners for the toe rails were 28 to starboard and 28 to port.
With the scarfed and glued joints of the to and rub rails having ample time to cure, I stripped the protective tape from the joints and sanded the epoxy squeeze-out fair to the teak surface. In the picture below, the scarfed joint is just visible.
I placed the small drill press on a stable footing to prep for drilling out the fastener holes, but before doing so, I marked the same pattern onto the toe rails that I applied to Joule's deck.
With the fastener locations noted on the toe rails, I placed a 3/8" forstner bit into the press and adjusted my max drill depth to a point that could accept a bung of sufficient length. Having all measurements and marks in place, I drilled out each hole in a methodical way: line up the bit to the mark on the rail, turn the drill on, plunge the forstner bit into the rail, rail the drill bit and turn off the press, adjust the toe rail for the next hole, repeat 27 more times. Well, I actually repeated that process 111 more times since I completed both toe rails and both rub rails.
I set the rails aside. My intention is to dry-fit the rails tomorrow. At least with the rub rails in a dry-fit state, I will then be ready for topsides painting - given good weather conditions.
I returned to the wood shop and continued work on the coaming boards. The reference mark I made on the outboard side of the coaming boards was to tell me where the edge of the deck engaged this side the coaming, along its entire length. In the shop, I measured the length the coaming board inside the cockpit - 72" - and placed evenly spaced marks denoting the location of eventual fasteners. I ended up coming in 4" on both the forward and aft end, and then 8" on center for the fasteners on the field. With the marks for the fasteners made along the reference line, I then used a square to draw a short line connecting the reference line to the bottom of the coaming board, and at 90 degrees to those two parallel "lines." I then placed a mark along that "90 degree line" to locate the fastener.
With the fastener locations determined, I then used a small bit to drill through the coaming boards in order to transfer that fastener location to the inboard side of the coaming. In days to come, I will drill and tap, with the coaming boards pressed into position, for the 1/4" - 20 fasteners (backed with washers and nuts from Joule's interior.
Having addressed the location of the coaming board fasteners, I then moved on to assembling the coaming boards and return blocks. I didn't manage to snap and pictures of the process and assembly prior to placing tape on the boards and coaming return blocks, but I think you get the picture. I did place the coaming boards in the drill press and used the 3/8" forstner bit to create the bung hole. I knew I had a number of fasteners already on hand that would work nicely for this application, and now pulled them from inventory. The bit I used while on the boat was small and just to mark the location of the future fastener on both the coaming board and return block. I now upsized the drill bit to match the correct size fastener, and drilled pilot holes. I tested fit by assembling the coaming boards and return blocks. Happy with the progress, I disassembled and prepped for epoxy work.
The following picture shows the starboard coaming board and return block assembled and with protecting tape applied to catch any epoxy squeeze out.
Satisfied with the taping application, I disassembled the parts and wiped the mating surfaces down with acetone to remove the teak oils - considered a contaminant for the epoxy work which could prevent a good bond.
I applied neat epoxy to the mating surfaces in order to prevent any glue joints from being starved of epoxy. I then mixed up a batch of epoxy thickened to a lower viscosity than I normally would work with. I applied an adequate amount to each of the return blocks, and then clamped and screwed them onto their respective coaming board. Indeed, there was sufficient squeeze out of the epoxy, so I dampened a rag with solvent and cleaned the taped surfaces up neatly. Finally, I set the boards to the side to fully cure before final shaping and installation.
With the coaming boards handled as far as possible today, I switched over to a couple last minute hardware items: deck pads for the winch stands, and backing plates for both the winch stands and the foredeck cleat. I shaped an attractive trapezoid for the winch stand deck pads, and then rounded the edges for a softer appearance. The deck pads for the winch stands would serve to both eliminate the unforgiving bronze surface with a freshly painted deck, but also to raise the winch to a height so as to easily slip jib lines on and off the drum.
Next, I fabricated two simple backing plates for the winch stands. I used more of the G-10 fiberglass board for this application.
Finally, I fabricated a backing plate for the foredeck cleat to conclude all hardware deck pads and backing plates. I closed the shop for the day.
Total Time Today: 9 hrs
