Saturday, February 15, 2020

Fitting the Bow Cap, Removing the Toe Rails, and Sanding the Cockpit and Deck Surfaces



February 15, 2019



I had left off previously by gluing up a couple filler strips on the bow cap, where the toe rails joined.  There was a bit of a gap that I was unhappy with.  In order to correct the situation, I epoxied two thin strips of teak to the inboard edge of the toe rail joint.  I would further shape and refine the filler pieces to ensure a tight fit.



I removed the clamps, and then removed the excess material with a small Japanese saw.  With 60-grit sandpaper, I sanded the two surfaces fair.



With the bow cap to the point of being ready for fitting, I walked it over to the boat and began the iterative process of fitting the bow cap, with her new dimensions, into position.



I slowly removed material at the intersection points, both starboard and port, where the toe rail joined the bow cap, and ultimately arrived at a good fit.  With the bow cap now fitting properly, I turned my attention to shaping the outboard edge of the bow cap, and also the transition areas from toe rail to bow cap.  This work now completed the railing brightwork: bow cap, toe rails, and taff rail.



With painting just around the corner, I removed all of the railing brightwork, stowing them either below the boat or in the shop.  There were a couple cracks on the forward ends of both starboard and port toe rail, and so I took the time to fill and stabilize them with epoxy resin.  Varnish will ultimately seal the brightwork...thus protecting the epoxy from damaging UV rays.



I had intentions of dry-fitting the coaming boards today, but realized that I needed to sand the spot fairing I had previously applied, which would necessitate me applying another coat of cockpit and deck primer.  



I spent the balance of my time sanding the entirety of the cockpit and deck surfaces, using both the 5" random orbital as well as hand-work.



The next steps will be dry-fit the coaming boards, as well as the companionway trim, and then apply the last coat of primer paint to the cockpit and deck structures.


Total Time Today: 4.5 hrs

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