Side Deck Sealed

"foam" core from below

"R" the genial assistant working away

Topside

Below, fiberglassed

Topside

Topside, patched and fiberglassed

Underside finished with 4 layers of fiberglass

Topside finished.  No More Tripping or Leaking!!!!

"USB" type electrical connection

New insulated connectors

Brackets for light placed anywhere along light strip

Result not pretty, but BRILLIANT

Titus and his assistant (who told me his name and it starts with “R” but it is an unusual one that I can't recall) did a brilliant job of removing the galley exhaust vent and fiberglassing the hole through the side deck.  They started yesterday morning and finished today at about noon.

I had been worried about the rough and irregular hole that had been cut for the exhaust fan but they finessed the problem by cutting a rectangle through the deck before they began their work.  The deck is made like a sandwich, with “foam” filler in the middle and a rather thin layer of fiberglass above and below.  They started by epoxying in a rectangular piece of foam into the hole that they had cut. Then they ground out the surrounding fibreglass on the topside and put a layer of fiberlgass covering the foam patch and extending into the surrounding deck.  Down below they put 4 layers of fibreglass to support the patch. 

Toward the end Titus approached me with the blue non-skid paint that they were going to apply over the patch, stating that it was darker than the surrounding deck and did I wanted it toned down a bit.  I responded that the blue paint was fine because I planned to repaint the deck back in Australia.  Besides, why bother to try to match a badly faded deck paint?  When he finished the told me that he had considered applying the blue paint to some patches that I had painted white but figured that he'd leave well enough alone.  I agreed and thanked him for thinking about it.

While the two were working inside of the boat they had teased me about my stash of wine bottles.  I was so pleased with the job that they had done that I gave Titus a bottle of Argentinian red and his assistant a bottle of Argentinian white because that is what he preferred.  I shook their hands and thanked them for a job wonderfully well done.

Later I visited David, the manager of Action Yachting and told him that Titus and his assistant had done a brilliant job on the boat.  David didn't seem surprised and told me that he would prepare the bill later in the afternoon.  I wasn't surprised either because the shipwright working on the boat next door had told me that Titus is a top fibreglass man with many years of experience.

At one point in the process I was told that I could put the ceiling panel back up so I began working on that as well as installing the new LED strip to replace the twin-tube neon light that had been servicing the galley.  The light is sensitive to polarity but once I sorted that out the installation went well, though the actual fixing of the light and cabling took a bit of time  In the accompanying photo you will see a USB-like electrical connection to the light strip.  There is a purpose to this.  At the other end of the strip is a “female” “USB” connector.  This means that one strip can be plugged directly into another.  In my case I have only a second strip, which will act as a backup or, if needs by, can be added to the strip over the galley to yield more light.

The result is not aesthetically pretty, but when night fell that tiny strip provided much more illumination than the neon tubes, and should serve me well during my passage to Australia.  When I renovate the galley I will replace the ceiling panel above – no more need for that round opening for the vent – and will install a more attractive light.  But in the meantime functionality rules and the new LED light is excellent.

After a late lunch and nap I pushed on and reinstalled the 9 kg cylinder that had just been filled.  I spent plenty of time securing both the large cylinder and the smaller 2.5 kg cylinder with shock cords around their waist.  The shock cord is fixed to a thick marine plywood housing for the cylinders, but because the housing is accommodating cylinders of sizes that it was not designed for and because the joints had been only nailed and not glued, it is coming apart, but it's OK, because I'm sure that the frame will support me until I reach Australia.  During the rough passage to Tristan da Cunha the small cylinder had jumped out and over its restraints and wound upon the port side of the lazarette.  Fortunately the hose held and there was no damage.  Today I passed heavy shock cord over the tops of both of the cylinders and I expect them to stay in place even in – heaven forbid – a rollover.  (Note that this problem did not occur in rounding the Horn, another testament to the rough passage from Brazil to Tristan da Cunha.)

While securing the cylinders I kept thinking over the problem of gas supply.  If I started using the newly filled gas cylinder it it might or might not last until I got to Australia, depending on how much in-house cooking Brenda and I did in the coming month.  I thought of continuing to use the smaller cylinder and refilling it before I departed for Australia but I had spent so much time securing both cylinders that I really didn't want to tamper with them in the future. My solution was to release the spare 9 kg cylinder that Rick had given me off the stern rail, place it free standing on the lazarette floor, and connect it up.  Before I leave for Australia I'll mount Rick's cylinder back on the stern rail and begin using the other 9 kg cylinder which I know will be full.  This should ensure a passage to Australia without the need to swap large cylinders in a rolling sea.

I still had a bit of time so I hosed the boat down from one end to the other.  Three railroad cars had caught fire a few days earlier which had deposited quite a bit of soot on the boat.  Besides that there were the remnants of the work of my resealing the windows and the fiberglass work.  While I was at it I filled up the internal water tanks.  After that, somewhat damp and soggy, I went for my hot shower, shave, and a tall beer followed by a glass of house red.  The wind was calm and I enjoyed very much the vista of the marina.