As I did for the starboard rail jib track, I located the forward installation location for the port rail jib track and applied protective tape to the rail. A fastener at a time, I drilled through increasingly larger diameter drill bits, using a wood block to ensure I replicated the angle of the rail. With all nine fasteners pre-drilled, I removed the protective tape and cleaned with acetone. After applying a bit of Sitkaflex 291-lot to each of the fastener holes, I inserted the fasteners beginning with the forward most one. I hand-tightened them the balance of the way in, cleaned up the squeeze out bedding compound and exchanged tools and materials in order to secure them from below. I was thrown a curve ball on the port side, as it relates to the backing washers and nuts. The laminate took a fold, or bulge, inboard, and prevented me from being able to mount the backing hardware. Not to be sidelined, I chose to apply epoxy fill that would essentially created a tapped hole for the fasteners to be secured with. To that end, I used a finger belt sander to rough up the surface, getting down to clean fiberglass, vacuumed the sanding detritus and wiped clean with acetone. I mixed a cup of epoxy, thickened it with West System 404 high-density filler and applied it to the ends of the machine screws - ensuring that the fasteners were encapsulated in the thickened epoxy. I'll come back later and clean up the install, and finish with paint on these areas.

At this point I moved on to the aft deck cleat. The locations of the four #12 silicon bronze machine screws had been over-drilled and filled, so for the next task in the installation process, I then grabbed drill bits and a tap for the #12 screws. I laid the cleat itself on a small sheet of plastic, marked the fastener locations, and then transferred these points to the epoxy fill using a punch to locate the start of the first smaller drill bit. I used the alignment block again to start the first small hole, and then drilled through to the largest diameter drill bit to prep for tapping. After tapping each fastener hole, I vacuumed the spoils and applied a bit of white Sitkaflex to the holes. I mounted the aft cleat and sunk the machine screws in. After wiping up the squeeze out, I mounted washer and nuts onto the ends of the machine screws through the aft cockpit access plate. I tightened them down and called it an evening. More to come Sunday...

Total Hrs: 2.25