July 3, 2015
I began with removing the companionway sliding hatch, which required me first to remove a couple pieces of trim holding the hatch into its sliding channel. With those two pieces removed, I lifted the hatch off of the top of the coach roof. I gathered the fasteners which were in great shape in order to reuse in the installation of the newly milled brightwork.
I turned my attention to the hardware atop the coach roof on either side of the companionway sliding hatch. On either side of the hatch was a working jib track and a cam cleat. In addition, on the starboard side of the coach roof was a jam cleat. It appeared that the deck hardware was oversized for the diameter lines typically used on this small boat, so further investigation and contemplation will be required prior to reinstalling this hardware.
The starboard side prior to and after removal, above and below. The removal was straightforward: clamp a vise grip on the bolt securing to the underside of the coach roof and then back out the fastener with an impact driver. I originally set out to back the fasteners out by hand, but actually destroyed one of my favorite antique screwdrivers attempting this. I then quickly turned to the impact driver and removed the fasteners without issue.
The port side, sans jam cleat, prior to removal...
...and after removal. Again, the vice grips and impact driver made quick work of the hardware.
Out on the foredeck, I used the vice grips and a large flathead screwdriver to remove the cleat shown below. Reinstallation will include drilling out oversized holes, filling with epoxy, and then tapping for bronze machine screws.
A shot of the foredeck after removing the cleat.
The mast step was next, and showed a bit of resistance to removal. There was significant corrosion between the stainless fasteners and the aluminum mast step. Overall, I think the mast step is in good enough shape to reuse; however, since I have it off of the boat, I will investigate replacing this piece of hardware.
The mast step base showed some cracking of the gelcoat, but from what I could tell, appeared dry and without water damage to the coring below.
Before closing the shop for the day, I wanted to finish up filling the old toe rail fastener holes and applying a round of fairing filler to the recently filled fastener holes (cockpit, poop deck, stern, rub rails). The first order of business when working with epoxy is to make sure the surface area is clean and prepped for work. Whether it is reapplication of epoxy over recent work or new application onto existing structure, the surface must be "clean." In my case, for this day's work, I had a bit of both scenarios - reapplication and new.
Reapplication may involve subsequent fairing rounds in which a small amount of epoxy thickened with a fairing filler is squeegeed onto the surface and then sanded off until a fair surface is achieved. Prior to any subsequent application of epoxy, the prior application must be water washed and sanded. Water washing consists of using a Scotch-brite pad and water to remove the amine blush that forms on the surface of the epoxy as it cures. Water washing is a quick rinse, scrub and drying of the surface so as to not contaminate the next application of epoxy. I had a helper today for the water washing, and so Maggie made her way around the boat water washing the previous application of epoxy.
I did have some new work as well. I had yet to fill the old fastener holes which held the toe rails in place. My first order of business was to over drill the old holes to allow more surface area for the epoxy to bond with - producing a structurally superior result. After I had over drilled the old holes, I moved on to cleaning the surface. The cleaning simply involves vacuuming out all of the residual debris from drilling and wiping the surface with a solvent to remove any surface contaminate that may interfere with a good mechanical epoxy bond.
With all surfaces clean, I proceeded to mix a small batch of "neat" epoxy - without any thickeners - and used it to wet out of the areas that I would be filling. I then mixed a batch of epoxy and thickened it with with colloidal silica - a thickener used for structural work, and one I like to use as the first application when filling old fastener holes. With the old toe rail fastener holes filled, I then mixed a few small batches of epoxy thickened with micro balloons - an easy-sanding fairing thickener. Due to the heat, the epoxy was kicking, or curing, rather quickly, and necessitated me working in smaller batches.
I made my way around the boat applying the first round of fairing filler to the recently filled fastener holes, as well as the just-filled toe rail holes. The parting shot is of the stern where that mangled mess of stainless steel and aluminum once resided.
Total Time: 5.5 Hrs.
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