November 5, 2019
With the boat now level, the plane of the motor mount aperture was not level to the waterline. In fact, the propeller would have promoted an upward push of water - I wanted the opposite. I wanted the angle of the propeller to be ever so slightly oriented downward. So to that end, I fabricated a piece of 3/8" thick G-10 fiberglass board in the teardrop shape of the motor mounting pad. I would glue this board into the aperture at a downward angle, fore to aft, and then fiberglass it to the counter of the boat.
My first step was to sand away the primer that I had just applied. It was tenacious in its grip - a good thing, and happy to have strained through it. I cleaned up the sanding debris with a bit of acetone to prep for the installation of the G-10 board.
Back in the shop, I laid out the materials that I would need for this project: the G-10 board, two cuts of 1708 biaxial cloth and 2 cuts of 10oz cloth. I mixed a cup of West System resin and wet out the fiberglass, as well as the bottom surface and edges of the G-10 board. I then went over to the boat to wet out the surfaces to be worked.
Next, I thickened the remaining resin with a combination of 406 colloidal silica and 407 low-density filler, and knowing it would not be enough, I mixed another small cup of thickened epoxy. I applied this thickened epoxy to the backside of the G-10 board, and then inserted it into the motor mount aperture. With a small level, I ensure that my fore-to-aft angle was appropriately sloping downward, and I also ensured that the G-10 board was level in an athwartship orientation.
I then wrapped the epoxy assembly in the 1708 and 10oz fabrics. Later, I will come back and knock off the excess glass and sand all to smooth and fair. I will no doubt apply a skim coat of fairing compound to bring the surface into a state that it is ready for primer and paint.
I then turned my attention to the required frames, or spacers, for the deadlights - the two non-opening ports within the main cabin space. I wanted to improve the look a bit, and so decided to utilize a bot of teak to create the frames. The exterior and interior deadlight assembly was too thick for the ~3/16" thick cabin sides, thus the need to fill some space.
I selected a few boards from the cull bin, and devised a plan to utilize them. I decide on a ~1/2" thick deadlight spacer/frame, and cut it thusly on the table saw.
** A note to caution: operating power tools is a serious endeavor, take your time, use the safety tools prescribed (i.e. pusher sticks, etc.). On this occasion, I nearly ripped into the pad of my thumb!
With all boards cut, I began the layout for gluing them up.
I protected the work table with plastic, and then laid out the frame boards. I wet out the edges to be glued together, and then came back with thickened epoxy, applying a bit to each glue edge. With clamps, and then creative weights, I assembled the frames. Later, I will cut out the frames/spacers to be used in the deadlight assembly.
Total Time Today: 3.5 hrs
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