Back of the chart plotter

I have spent this week making up the enclosure for the rear of the chart plotter, I cut out the ply and epoxied the whole thing together again I have been using materials that I have to hand the ply is some 4mm WBP that I had left from the headlining project but as it will be covered with laminate which is 4mm thick it should be sufficiently rigid, the framing is left over merenti hardwood from the heads door frames.

Reverse side of enclosure

Laminate applied

Final piece of laminate applied

The laminate still needs to be faired round the edges so that the enclosure is a snug fit, also the opening for the access door needs to be cut out this will be this weekends homework job along with finishing off the door, I have cut out the hockey stick section edge trim it just needs staining and varnishing and the door hardware fitted.

This has been a bit of a short post which doesn't reflect the work done on the enclosure cutting and fitting to the structure of the boat which is neither straight nor square which can be somewhat time consuming

Enclosing the back of the plotter

The first job on Monday morning was to fit the last piece of corner trim in the forward cabin I had roughed it out over the weekend so it just took a little bit of final fitting.

The final piece on the starboard side

After the final piece of trim was fitted there was time to potter off down the creek for a couple of hours, there was not a lot of wind but I managed to drift down as far as the entrance to Milton Creek, unfortunately the County Council built a new road bridge across the entrance with a fixed bridge so the only access is for motor boats these days.

The next project is to tidy up the back of the cockpit bulkhead in way of the chart plotter etc. It has been one of those jobs I have been meaning to get stuck into for some time as one of my pet hates is yards of exposed cabling.

Back of the cockpit bulkhead

The plan is to build an enclosure around the area with a hinged access door, the door will be the same pattern as the other recently completed locker doors. The enclosure will be built in ply lined with some of the laminate used on the rest of the bulkheads etc. Over the last weekend I sorted through my stock of ply and laminate etc and found sufficient for the job, so for the remainder of this week I have been putting some of the pieces together.

First piece of the enclosure

The original reason for the chamfer at the bottom of the enclosure was that I didn't have a large enough piece of laminate to line the whole front, this was one of the reasons I hadn't done anything with this job I was still thinking of a way round the shortage of material, it finally came to me over the weekend. The chamfer also has the advantage that it will make the enclosure much less obtrusive. I have cut and shaped the piece of ply for the bottom edge of the enclosure and over the weekend the homework job will be to get some of the pieces assembled

Bum straps and corner trim

I started this week by finishing the lower corner trim for the port side aft in the forward cabin and then cutting and fitting the piece for the starboard side.

Starboard side

Port side

I went to the chandlers on Monday to pick up some Y10 cleaner, which is effectively oxalic acid mixed with a jelly like substance to return it in place while it does its stuff. I have two bum straps for the chart table and the galley, these provide some support at the chart table and the galley especially when on port tack, unfortunately they were both heavily rust stained and the plan was to use the Y10 to remove the stains unfortunately the local chandler was fresh out of Y10 but he had an alternative which is probably very similar.

Alternative to Y10

Rust staining

I applied the stain remover as instructed and left for an hour, while working on the corner pieces, the first application removed the lighter staining but the heavier staining required several applications to remove it all but on the whole the straps came up pretty well and after a good wash off they look quite presentable

Rust stains removed

To finish off this week I started on the trim pieces for the forward end of the forward cabin, the bulkhead here is not a pretty sight.

Port side forward bulkhead

I managed to cut out and fit the trim piece for the port side which now much improves this area, which just leaves the starboard side I have marked out the laminate for this area and will cut out over the weekend ready for fitting next week.

Port side forward

Unfortunately the forward bulkhead is painted as I had run out of laminate, I have made the trim from odd offcuts of laminate as in other areas hence the difference in colour.

Corner trim again

I did intend to have a brief trip out into the Swale on Monday however when I started the engine the oil pressure gauge went full scale I had previously experienced this problem the oil pressure is fine it is an electrical fault due to a high resistance in the circuit. the resistance of the oil pressure transmitter increases as the oil pressure increases. The wiring harness is split and then reconnected with a chocolate block connector adjacent to the engine and this is where the faulty connection is, the metal parts of the terminal block are rusted and the screws are rusted solid. In order to effect a temporary repair I bypassed the connector and voila the gauge is reading correctly again. The replacement of the chocolate block is on the list of jobs for the winter possibly with a proper connector strip with ring terminals or a multi pin plug and socket.

The rest of this week has been spent trimming the corners in the forward cabin, I have completed the after end where the bulkhead joins with the coach roof and replaced the reading lights and then moved on to the aft corners under the lockers I have cut the port side fairing piece and it just needs to be cleaned up and screwed in place.

Port and starboard fairing pieces complete

Port aft corner below locker

Fairing piece cut to shape

Below is a photograph of the fairing piece for the starboard side of the heads which I omitted from last weeks post.

Not a lot has been achieved this week the rest of the time has been spent chatting and drinking tea boatyards can be quite sociable places at times I am not sure if this is good or bad, I would like to think it is generally a good thing.