With rain forecasted Saturday to upset a Milbs mobile project, I pivoted to the shop and the pole barn to continue work on Biscuit having applied the final fairing to the fastener prep Friday afternoon. The day's goal is to mount the mainsheet and cabin top jib T-tracks, having stopped by the local chandlery for a few fastener length I lacked in inventory. To that end, I began with the mainsheet T-track, pulled it from the shop along with the mainsheet T-track teak base. I quickly water-washed the final firing to remove the amine blush, sanded the faring smooth, and wiped clean with acetone. I laid the teak base into position, and with a long shank awl transferred the fastener center point to the epoxy plugs freshly created in the aft deck. I used a 6" 5/32 drill bit to pre-drill the fastener holes in order to tap for #10-24 stainless machine screws. After pre-drilling, I tapped the holes for the machine screws and cleaned out the resulting detritus. At this point, I mounted the T-track onto the teak base and inserted the machine screws to a point of showing ~1/8" of each machine screw exiting the underside of the teak base - the length of screw gradually increased from Biscuit's centerline to the outboard end of the base. I wiped the underside of the teak base with acetone and applied Sitkaflex 291-LOT (mahogany) generously to encourage good squeeze out.

Flipping the T-track and base into position, I placed it onto the aft deck, carefully moving the assembly so that the short length of machine screw exiting the base registered to their individual fastener location. I started driving the machine screws by hand into the epoxy plugs' tapped threaded, and once all were started, then drove the machine screws tight with a light impact driver. The squeeze out was ample around the entire perimeter of the mainsheet T-track assembly, and so I cleaned this up, first with a modified tongue depressor and then with acetone and a couple rags. With the Mainsheet T-track mounted, I completed the installation with large diameter washers and unlock locking nuts, gaining access through the small aft cockpit plate hatch as well as inching myself back with the starboard and port quarter berths. The mainsheet T-track hardware will be installed in the coming week.

At this point I moved to the installation of the cabin top jib T-tracks. I repeated the process of prepping the final fairing of the epoxy plugs and then gathered tools and materials along with the T-tracks. I used a prepared jig for pre-drilling the fastener holes as prep for tapping them for #12-24 stainless steel machine screws. The jig was prepared on the tabletop drill press and included three holes drilled at a perfect 90-degree angle for three drill bits, progressing to the largest 11/64" bit. Pushing the drill bit through the jig and placing the point of the bit onto the center point within the epoxy plug, I then pressed the block firmly onto the cabin top to begin drilling - this ensured a 90-degree approach to the surface. I progressed through the small-to-large drill bit contingent in order to eliminate any tear-out on the underside of the cabin top (the cabin overhead within Biscuit's small cabin). With the pre-drilling complete, I used a #12-24 tap and cut threads into the individual epoxy plugs, and completed this part of the install by cleaning up the drill and tap mess. I applied StikaFlex 291-LOT (white) to the underside of the T-tracks, placed the fasteners (5 per T-track) and placed the tracks into position. I started the threads by hand and then completed most of the way with the small impact driver. I finished by hand-tightening the fasteners, and then assembled the washers and nylon locking nuts from down below. I finished the installation by cleaning up the polysulfide squeeze out.

Before knocking off, I located where the bilge hose would pass through the molded cabin sole beneath the cockpit floor in order to install a protective grommet from the hard edge of the fiberglass plan, or cabin sole. I applied tape and selected the appropriate diameter hole saw and cut the opening. After cleaning up the fiberglass bits and dust, I test fitted the rubber grommet. Satisfied, I prepped the grommet to glue it in with thickened epoxy. I mixed a small cup of epoxy, thickened it with West System filler, applied to the grommet's groove and set it into place. I used the bilge hose to apply even pressure around the grommet until the epoxy cures - more to come. My final task would be to apply another coat of varnish to the motor mount block recently fabricated from a chunk of teak, and so I quickly sanded with 320-grit , cleaned it with acetone, and then applied the varnish.

Total Hrs: 5.5