Mainsail

On Monday I began by clearing some more rubbish from the boat it's amazing how much stuff collects during a refit. I then gave the fitting on the end of the boom a good dose of WD40 and after some gentle attention from a hammer the boom began to turn  and after a further application of WD40 it turns freely. I then got the mainsail out and bent it on, there was a collection of battens some of which appear to be the correct length but there are some longer ones which must have be used in a previous sail one of the long ones will be cut down to fit the lowest pocket. After giving the sail cover a bit of a scrub I put it on the bungee cord could do with replacing in due course.

After receiving the CSM and polyester resin from East Coast Fibreglass Supplies I set to on Wednesday and glassed in the repair to the starboard rudder stop I used three layers of CSM starting with a narrow one first and although the crack only extended for about half the length of the stop I laid up the glass all the way round the stop.

Repair to starboard rudder stop

I then moved on to the forward cabin sole which requires some remedial work although the tabbing to the bulkhead is secure it does not extend the full width of the sole which makes the whole after end a bit flexible and it has cracked in the aft corners of the access opening the crack on the left hand corner can just be seen in the photograph below, also the original layup would appear to a bit on the lightweight side. The after cabin sole layup also appears to be somewhat lightweight as some additional support has been installed sometime in the past the sole in the heads seems to be a little more robust although there is some evidence of flexing especially around the access opening.

Forward cabin sole

It would appear from the holes that have been drilled in the sole that at sometime it had been reinforced probably with timber but this has obviously been removed at some time. As the tabbing is secure I have cut a piece if hardwood which I intend to screw and epoxy to the bulkhead to support the left and right ends of the sole. The edge of the tabbing has been rolled possibly to make it a bit more rigid so I have cut a recess to clear it. There is a bit of a gap between the after end of the cabin sole and the bulkhead which can just be seen in the above photograph which I will fill a timber trim piece I am not quite sure what has happened here but the moulding for the port side of the berth moulding displays no evidence that it has ever been attached to the adjacent bulkhead there is a good half inch gap between them which can be made out in the above photograph.

Timber support for forward cabin sole

Once the epoxy has cured I will attempt to lay up several layers of CSM under the sole to reinforce it this may not be so easy as the bilge is quite shallow in this area if it is possible I would like to perhaps put in some wooden ribs which would then be glassed over we shall see next week. Finally the new NASA Clipper echo sounder arrived today which will be another job for next week.