Finished fairing starboard float

Weekend went a little quicker than I thought it would, but not quite quick enough to get where I was hoping to… it does mean next weekend should be a short one though.

First thing was to finish fairing the outside face near the bow – the only remaining portion from last weekend – and to clean up the keel lines, deck radii and smooth the bow over.

We then lifted the float up to position right-side-up on different cradles to go to work on cutting the slot in the chainplate

Measured many times and took a Dremel to it for the fine grinding and rounding of the edges

Then covered all the areas around it with tape so as not to get epoxy and cab-o-sil everywhere

This shot looks messy but really isn’t that bad.  Took a scrap of 19mm foam and sanded it down to 17mm.  Put a layer of tape around it and then used a 3/8″ drill bit shank to hold into place.  Made sure the actual cutting portion of the bit was still well inside the chainplate so epoxy wouldn’t stick to it.

After drying we popped the jig out to look at the results

Wasn’t quite ready for sanding, but that will get done right before shooting primer.

Went ahead and rigged up the system to hoist the float up for access to shoot it with primer and then made sure everything would hold.  Used a 2×4 inside the fore and aft access hatches with a strap wrapped around it.

Forward was held up by the scaffold

Aft held up by a hook in the ceiling

Also took a picture (copying Jay’s site) of the inside to show the 2×4 and the strap

All that’s left now is a float that’s ready to be primed (and then maybe a few spots touched up after primer is on and can better see/feel)

… and the casualties of a war lost to sanding…

Time spent: 12 hours