Chain Locker Work and Bird's Nest

The last few days have been devoted to slow-but-steady progress on the fiberglass work of the anchor well. As I've noted before, the bulkhead between the chain locker and the interior of the boat is composed of two sheets of 10mm thick ply. Over a year ago I had replaced the forward sheet of ply because it had gone rotten and soft largely because the builder had used exterior-grade ply rather than marine ply. I replaced that sheet with marine ply and fiberglassed it in. The work I did was good but let's say not complete. There were a few small gaps in the vertical edges between the bulkhead and the hull, causing some of the leaking problems. Let's attribute the deficiencies to inexperience, though let's bear in mind that it was extremely difficult to cut the ply to the correct shape from cardboard patterns and even more difficult to do the fiberglass work alone, hanging upside down through the hatch. Fortunately the work was strong and provided a solid base for finishing the job.

Now the work is nearing completion. Wally showed me how to make a thick epoxy paste for fairing corners so that the fiberglass could be laid with no air gaps - a technique that I did not know before. I was also working with 6-inch (150mm) wide fiberglass "tape" which made the job of reinforcing the corners much easier. And the technique of fitting plastic pumps to the resin and hardener cans for the duration of the job has been invaluable in allowing me to get a perfect mix very quickly every time.

At this point the bulkhead and vertical and lower edges has the original layer of fiberglass. On top of that the there are now two more layers of fiberglass tape on the vertical edges and lower edge. The bottom of the chain locker now has one layer of fiberglass tape on its three edges, and another layer of fiberglass over the entire surface. Near the top are two foam-filled C-section longitudinal stringers running along the entire length of the boat. (There are another two stringers that are lower and do not reach the anchor well.) These stringers are designed to stiffen the hull of the boat. However, they have proven to be ideal conduits for passing sea water from one end of the boat to the other, principally along the top edge of the stringers. To eliminate any possibility of water getting through the fiberglass shell of the stringer into the hollow foam-filled section I also put a layer of fiberglass tape covering the entire top of these stringers in the anchor well.

It was easier to ignore the lower drain holes and simply fiberglass over them. Yesterday I launched the Zodiac and removed the outer plates of the drain holes and re-bored the drain holes from the outside in. It was tricky business, with my much-loved Bosch portable drill only inches from the water. I then lined the holes with epoxy using a small round brush.

Today Wally will come by with his jig saw. We will put the pieces of ply over the opening left after I removed the inspection hatch, trace the outlines with a pencil, then cut the pieces. After that I'll epoxy the pieces in and start thinking about fiberglassing the entire bulkhead, which by my reckoning will yield a total of two layers of fiberglass on the bulkhead and four layers along the edges.

... I'm still looking for that bird to see where its nest is. A few days ago I saw a bird pick up a strand of fiberglass and fly off with it, undoubtedly for building a nest. This is an astute bird who knows his building materials. (Yep, I figure that it must be a male.) If I can see where his nest is my plan is to put a couple of dabs of epoxy on the nest to make him and his mate the proud owners of what would probably be the strongest bird nest on the planet.