Over a couple evening sessions in the prior week, I managed to make forward progress on the installation of Biscuit's final trim components and additional hardware. With the newly fabricated and varnished exterior companionway slide rail, I grabbed varnished underside rail and all required tools and materials for their final install. In order to achieve proper contact with the arc of the slide hatch itself, I placed a dimensioned chunk of walnut onto a towel placed on the cabin sole. I used a small bottle jack and a length of wood to "press" the slide hatch underside trim into position. I then arranged the newly fabricated exterior trim into position and secured a dry fit with #10 silicone bronze wood screws, running 2" in length. The old fasteners were a bit undersized and consisted of mis-matched stainless steel...so an upgrade. Satisfied with the fit, I set the trim pieces in Sitkaflex 291-lot and finalized the install. I would come back later in the work session to complete the locking hasp.

At this point I moved onto the continued prep work for installing the cabin top cam cleats. I removed the peel ply from the first overdrive fill, water-washed to ensure all amine blush was removed, sanded, and then applied a skim coat to bring the slight convex surface into fair with the cabin top. This final epoxy skim coat would need to cure prior to additional work.

I pivoted to the poop deck to begin the work on the final three pieces of hardware: aft cleat, mainsheet cam cleat, and the motor mount bracket. I quickly decided that the motor mount bracket would be the last of the hardware to be worked for the aft deck, so I grabbed the roll of tape, measuring tape, and the cleats to work on final location and alignment. I placed the aft Herreshoff bronze cleat just inboard of the chock mounted to the taff rail, applied a protective layer of tape, and then marked for the four #12 bronze machine screws. With the forstner bit, I over-drilled for the four fasteners (removing the outer skin of fiberglass and the balsa coring, retaining the inner fiberglass skin). I cleaned up the loose balsa core and fiberglass shavings, followed by a careful extraction of any residual balsa core using a fine pointed awl. A quick clean later, I then applied "neat" epoxy to the core followed by a thickened epoxy fill consisting of 404 high-density filler. I covered with a peel ply patch.

I repeated this same process of prep for the three #10 stainless steel machine screws that would secure the mainsheet cam cleat to the aft deck: application of protective tape, marking location of the fasteners, over-drilling, cleaning the penetrations, and applying thickened epoxy to protect the surrounding balsa core from any future water ingress. After applying the peel ply patch I moved back to the companionway slide hatch trim to complete the installation of the locking hasp, or tang that passes through the top washboard and allows the captain to close and lock the cabin closed. Again, a #10 bronze wood screw, a couple washers and a rubber grommet would help to align and secure good rotation on the hasp. I finished the day by inserting the washboards, sliding the companionway hatch closed and inserting the locking hasp through the top washboard.

A couple days later, I came back to Biscuit in order to finish up the install of the cabin top cam cleats. I removed the protect tape from the cabin top and grabbed the cam cleats, #10 machine screws, drill bits and the tapping tool, along with some additional materials. After ensuring good alignment of the two fasteners through the freshly epoxy-cored areas, I progressed through several size bits until reaching the point of tapping the fastener holes to receive their machine screw threads. I cleaned up the work surface from work detritus, applied some white Sitkaflex 291-lot and drove the machine screws home, securing the cam cleats to the cabin top. A quick clean of the work area would bring me to a close for the day, and ready for additional work over the three-day weekend.

Total Hrs: 3.25