Back on Biscuit, my focus for the day's work was to bring the mainsheet traveler T-track base to a point of being able to mount it, or more precisely, to be able to lay out the location of the fasteners on the aft deck. What comes from the location of the fasteners will be over-drill - fill - and drill work to then tap the fasteners holes. The over-drilling (forstener bit) will be done to isolate the surrounding new balsa core from any potential future water intrusion, resulting in softening of the deck, over a period of time, if not properly repaired. Before the base would be ready to....well, I'm getting ahead of myself, so back to the order of work.

My first job was to retrieve Biscuit's motor mount - a hefty piece of bronze that locks into and pivots off of a deck plate and hangs over the taff rail, resting on this rail. The existing block of wood - secured to the bronze frame with 1/4" bronze machine screws - was looking worse for the wear, so needed a bit of updating to not stand out against the balance of newly fabricated brightwork. I selected a piece of teak in my inventory, a roughly 3' long x 6" 6/4 board, and proceeded to dimension the wood slab by plaining to fresh wood, cutting to length with the table saw, and then running over the jointer to take out some slight twist on the board. I then cut three options from the teak length based upon measurements that I took from the existing block, and choose the best of the three.

I laid out the fastener locations and drilled to accept the 1/4" machine screws, countersinking for the heads. At this point I used a small cabinet router to round over the top and bottom edges, and then completed the "softening" of the balance of hard edges by hand with 60 through 240-grit paper. I dry-fitted the new block prior to varnish.

Next up, I transitioned to the mainsheet traveler's track base, wanting to locate the 10 fasteners and apply varnish prior to using the base to locate and work on the fastener holes on the aft deck. I retrieved the base and reviewed it prior to doing a bit more hand-sanding on the edges to get it ready for varnish. On the bench, I laid the T-track on the base, finding center and defining the outboard edges with tape on the base itself. Reviewing the pulleys to be mounted on the outboard edges, I determined the installation process and order, and then marked the 10 fastener locations that ultimately mount the T-track through its base and onto Biscuit's aft deck. By taping a small level to the top of the base and using a wedge between the base of the drill press and the T-track base plus a small 2" square (I needed an extra two hands here), I was able to plum drill the 10 pre-drill holes for #10 machine screws. I will be looking at the potential of #12 machine screws as well, depending on the aluminum T-track's machine screw counter bore size - this machining work in the T-track allows for the screw heads to sit flush and not interfere with the car that runs athwartship depending on the angle of sail.

At a stopping point, I cleaned up the T-track base with a final pass with 240-grit paper, cleaned up the piece with acetone, as well as the motor mount block, and set them up in the varnish room. I sanded the companionway exterior trim with 320-grit, cleaned it with acetone and then also set it up in the varnish room. I finished by applying the 4th coat of varnish to the companionway trim and the first coats to the T-track base and the motor mount. More to come as May will be the final month in bringing Biscuit back to the water.

Total Hrs: 4