Sat 28 March - warm enough to core & glass

The area under the stbd settee had a spot that was very tough to chisel out. The outer skin ended up getting punctured. A plastic sheet was taped on the outside of the hull and then the area was faired from the inside using epoxy thickened with West Systems 410 fairing filler. This will be easier to sand when the work is done on the outside of the hull. Inside was then covered with neat epoxy and 2 layers of 17 oz biaxial cloth rolled in.














While the settee was curing, the stbd quarter berth was cored. Below shows the area by the hull valve. The area around the valve was filled with epoxy thickened with colloidal silica to isolate it from the balsa core, and provide structural integrity for bonding the fiberglass inner skin.















The same area looking aft shows the balsa jigsaw puzzle.















Once the stbd quarter berth was cored, the stbd setee cured enough to bond core. The view below shows the area with core bonded. The area will be trimmed and sanded prior to applying the inner skin.














Here is a view of the transom area with new the inner skin on both the transom and the stbd side. The holes for the backstay chainplate were drilled so I could trace a template for a doubling plate in the corner. Even though what is there now is much stronger than the original balsa core with a marine plywood doubler, I plan on bonding a pice of 1/4 inch fiberglass in the corner to serve as a doubler. I'll need to sand the glass threads to get a smooth surface for bonding the doubler.















The area below is a view looking in the stbd cockpit locker by the engine control. The new inner skin can be seen tabbed to the bulkhead that seperates the engine compartment.















I bought a new fiberglass exhaust tube but don't like the wall thickness. I plan on bonding a 1-3/4" tube inside the 2" tube to strengthen it similar to the original exhaust tube. Rain is predicted for Sunday, so that's all the work for this weekend.