Completing Taping-off the Nonskid Surfaces and Over-drilling & Filling for the Bow Cleat Fasteners

May 25, 2020

With a fairly reasonable goal of having the exterior finish paint wrapped up by next weekend (fairly reasonable), I set out today to complete the taping-off of the nonskid surfaces.  So after wrapping up a few domestic items, I finally made my way over to the Allied 24 by early afternoon.  I got started immediately on the port side of the coachroof, needing to complete the tape lines around the port companionway rail for the slide hatch, and then carry things forward on the cabin top.

I repeated the dimensions for the outline of the nonskid (~1.5" from deck fittings, etc.).  I worked my way up to just shy of the leading edge of the forward hatch, then back aft around the mast step.

I also marked a foot pad on the leading edge of the coachroof itself, and with that I completed the nonskid surfacing - with the exception of the cockpit sole, which would come just before applying the nonskid paint.

Having completed the nonskid tape lines, I turned my attention to the bow cleat.  Previous owner(s) had not maintained this deck fitting, and at some point water made its way into the core, which was not sealed off from the fastener holes, and eventually rotted out a large portion of the foredeck.  An attempted fix for this, again by a previous owner(s), was to screw a piece of plywood to the underside of the damaged area and then fiberglass over the plywood, and a poor attempt at fairing the "repair" in to the surrounding surfaces.  By the time the current owner purchased her, the foredeck was beginning to fail again.  She now has a fresh section of balsa core material, with layers of 1708 biaxial fiberglass top and bottom.  To prevent future issues with the damaging effects of water ingress, and like I have done for the other deck penetrations, I needed to over-drill the holes, fill with thickened epoxy, and then drill and tap for machine screws.  First step, figuring where the cleat would be installed.

Satisfied with the location of the cleat, I applied some tape to the deck surface, and marked for the four fasteners.  I then drilled each hole with a 1/2" forstner bit, through the top skin and balsa core, stopping at the bottom skin.

I cleaned out the holes with a good acetone wash, wetted them out with epoxy resin, and then filled them to just shy of the rim with thickened epoxy.  At this point, I wanted to allow the epoxy to begin to kick and cure a bit before applying the skim coat of fairing compound.  So to that end, I began uninstalling the brightwork that I had mounted on the boat (primarily the companionway trim, rails, and hatch), including the hatches.

Once I had completed the removal of the brightwork, I mixed the two-part epoxy fairing material to form a paste, to which I then applied over the over-drilled holes.  Since I wanted to keep the tape covered from the sun's intensity, I applied a sheet of plastic over the work area to protect the tarp. 

Once again naked, but ready for paint.

Total Time Today: 2.75 hrs