Installation of Jib Tracks and Coaming Cleats, Final Coat of Cockpit Nonskid-

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

Cockpit Nonskid, Companionway Hatch Trim, and Hardware

March 7, 2018

Getting home and straight to work, I begun by sanding the area within the cockpit sole to be painted with nonskid paint.  I used 150-grit paper over the surface, and then vacuumed and solvent washed the surface to clean and prep it for painting.

Painting on the nonskid was a simple matter of rolling it on, being careful to not let the roller get too quick in the hand and splattering the fresh paint and trim elsewhere.  A second coat will go on tomorrow evening and bring the painting to a close.

I placed the newly fabricated cockpit hatches in place.

Next, I mounted the companionway hatch and its trim - both the top and bottom slide handles.

To complete the work this evening on the companionway slide hatch, I glued in the five bungs with varnish.  One of the last items to complete will be the trimming of bungs on the companionway slide hatch, the aft cockpit trim, and the starboard coaming block...followed by additional coats of teak oil.

The last two items for the evening would be the taff rail chock and the base for the flag pole.  I selected the mounting location, marked for fasteners, pre-drilled for those fasteners, tapered the top of the taff rail for each fastener hole, and then mounted the hardware with polysulfide sealant.  The bronze chock was secured with bronze fasteners and the 316 stainless base for the flag pole was secured with 316 stainless fasteners.

Total Time Today:   1 hr

Brightwork, Interior and Hatch Painting

March 5, 2018

Not able to get to Joule over the weekend due to a scheduled trip that took me to the northeast, I was eager to get back at the last of the "punch list" items.  Today was the day for the drain holes to be cut into the toe rails.  These drain holes would allow water egress.  I began by finding the low spot on the deck, and then fine-tuned my decision based upon where the toe rail fasteners were located, as well as the potential of the jib track fasteners yet to be installed.  Once I was happy with the location of the toe rail/deck drain, I applied some tape to protect the surface of the toe rail from clamps.  The clamps were used to hold a scrap piece of wood on the backside of the rail to prevent tear-out when drilling through the rail.  The width the drain hole is just shy of one inch.

I removed the tape and began to remove the material between the two holes with a chisel.

I would come back later in this session to oil the interior surfaces of the toe rail/deck drain; I also repeated these tasks for the port rail - locating the drain at the same point, just aft of the winch base.

I then turned my attention to oiling the teak.  With the drain holes cut and the bungs trimmed, it was time to reapply oil to the brightwork - especially the toe rails since I was needing to install the jib tracks in the coming days.  

I applied several coats of the oil to the brightwork.  I do have three bungs to trim on the starboard coaming block (just installed the bungs this evening), as well as the aft cockpit trim board.  These areas will get teak oil applications as the balance of the brightwork received today.

I applied another coat of interior paint, and was generally satisfied with the coverage at this point.  There may yet be another application of interior paint prior to Joule leaving the yard, but this is also a great owner project and will likely be one of their annual maintenance items.

To finish the evening's work, I sanded the hatches and reapplied the Interlux Perfection topcoat - bringing the cockpit hatches to 3 coats.  The plan is to get one more in before all is said and done.

Total Time Today:   3 hrs