May 26, 2019
The whole tribe was recently hit with what appeared to be a 24-hr bug...and we literally spent the entire Saturday in pajamas, nursing one another. Well, by this morning everyone was back in the land of the living, and so I made it out to the Allied 24 by mid-day. My goal today was to get the new v-berth tops glued to the existing molded fiberglass v-berth, as this would allow be to tab the outboard edge of the tops to the hull's surface (to port and to starboard), and would also allow me to begin constructing the chain locker bulkhead (just forward of the v-berth itself.
I began by placing a sheet of plastic over the top of the port side v-berth, covering the fiberglass. I carefully ran the edge of the plastic along the existing intersection of the fiberglass v-berth and the hull, and taped it in place. I then secured the inboard edge of the plastic to ensure it would not move during the process of "mapping" the areas in which I ground the gelcoat down to bare fiberglass. As implied, I traced the areas that I had removed the gelcoat, replicating them onto the plastic sheeting. I then removed the plastic sheeting, placed it on the underside of the new port v-berth top, and transferred those areas to the bottom of the v-berth top.
My goal here was to not coat the entirety of the bottom surface of the v-berth top, but rather just those areas that would come into contact with the thickened epoxy to be placed onto the molded fiberglass surface. The epoxy resin has a greater hold capacity with fiberglass, rather than gelcoat, and the application of resin to the wood surface would ensure that there was sufficient epoxy to adhere the new wood v-berth top to the molded fiberglass surface - wood has a tendency to absorb the resin, leaving an insufficiently epoxy-rich bonding surface.
I repeated the process of transferring the bonding locations to the new v-berth top on the starboard side as well. With surfaces prepped, I returned to the shop and mixed a small pot of resin. I applied the neat resin (no thickening agents) to both the underside of the new v-berth tops and the original molded fiberglass v-berth - in those strategic glue locations. Next, I returned to the shop and mixed a larger pot of resin, and this time added 406 colloidal silica and 407 low-density filler to created a thickened epoxy mixture. Back on the boat, I placed this thickened resin mixture in the areas that would enable the bond between the fiberglass and the new v-berth tops.
I placed the v-berth tops in their final resting positions, and sufficiently weighted them for their curing stage. Tabbing the outboard to the hull will complete the install, and the edges will be finished with teak fiddles.
I moved aft, into the cabin, and prepared the cabin's aft bulkhead for a skim coat of thickened epoxy in order to fill the weave of the 1708 biaxial cloth. Awhile ago, I added balsa core material and a top skin of 1708 biaxial fiberglass to "beaf-up" the cabin's aft bulkhead. The original construction was a rough 1/4" thick laminate, appearing a bit under built, I wanted to create some bulk here to prepare for eventual companionway trim.
Through the curing of the 1708 biaxial I had placed peel ply over the surface, so sanding was not required. Instead, I solvent-washed the surface to remove any lingering contaminates.
With the surface prepped, I returned to the shop and mixed a batch of thickened epoxy. Using a squeegee, I applied the thickened resin to the surface of the fiberglass, filling the weave of the glass itself.
I repeated for the port side, and also was able to hit various spots on the overhead.
Total Time Today (in 100 degree heat): 3 hrs
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