Trimmed the toe rail a bit to fit for the bow handle. The wooden Alcort bow handles have a tab that wraps the bow, and another strip attaches below and wraps the keel.
Keel strip wraps back about 16 inches.
Attached mast collar with #8 silicone bronze screws, drilled a pilot hole that matched the screw shank diameter and a countersink for the head of the screw. Attached the halyard cleat with the vintage Alcort bronze screws.
Drilled pilot holes and attached eyestraps with vintage Alcort bronze screws.
We like line bridles, the original boat would have had a 2 loop or 3 loop plastic coated wire bridle. 2 loop bridles are the standard today on new boats.
Attached the bow line and splashguard. Splashguard functions more as a handhold or foot rest.
Ready to do some work on SUGAR 2 but thought we'd check to see if she took on water at the car wash.
Grabbed a couple of carpenter trestles for SUGAR 2, she'll get worked on out at the Carriage House.
The halyard cleat backer block needs replacement, plus it is a good idea to have an inspection port to sponge out water, so we are adding a 6 inch port just ahead of the daggerboard trunk. The port cap makes a nice template to mark the hole size.
We use a jigsaw to cut the hole, and make a starter hole for the jigsaw blade with a 3/8th inch drill bit. If the gelcoat is nice, we tape over the deck with blue tape and draw the circle on the tape, to protect the gelcoat from vibration marks from shoe of the jigsaw. Another tip from one of the team was to tape the shoe.
A look inside at the guts.
The EPS foam structural and flotation blocks are in great condition as well as the expanding foam that holds them in place. There are some light spots on the mast step tube and daggerboard trunk that indicate chipped resin. The halyard cleat backer block is gone and someone siliconed in molly bolts :( But the halyard fairlead backer is still in good shape.
Wrong cleat and wrong fasteners, we cut off the cheapo molly bolts with a DeWALT multi oscillating tool. We will repair the huge holes left from the molly bolts.
SUGAR 2 hasn't even made it all the way off of the trailer and the inspection port hole is already cut and crummy cleat removed. We left her tilted so the little bit of water could drain out.
Interior is drying out, turned our attention to the bow handle. No molly bolts, yay!
We removed the weird handle and probed the holes to see if there was any remnants of the wooden backer block. What we did is poke inside the hole with an awl or paper clip to feel for solid wood. If there was still wood there, then we could have repaired the hole with thickened epoxy and a dowel or toothpicks, let it dry and redrill new holes. Or move the bow handle aft a 1/2 inch or so to drill into new wood. We also drilled a small hole and watched to see if wood shavings came out, no luck, that would have indicated that there was still a block there. S we'll split the bow to put in a new backer block.
Flipped the boat to sand off old fiberglass repairs. We used 40 grit on a DeWALT random orbital sander to take down the big blobs of resin and fiberglass and 120 grit pads to remove the old paint. Our thought was to paint the entire boat but we may be able to salvage the center section and just paint the bow and stern. Also removed the bailer and checked the cockpit/hull bailer seam for splits.
Skipper dug out the old sealant from the daggerboard trunk.
Finished up the final bits before sea trials for VIPER. Inspection ports, deck hardware, coaming, gudgeon, bailer.
Cut a larger hole for the aft inspection port with a DeWALT jigsaw, taped the deck first to reduce scratches. The hole is drawn using the port cap, flipping it over and tracing around the outside of it. Don't trace around the outside of the mounting ring, you'll have a really big hole :)
Sealed the port with a bead of TotalBoat Seal. One trick we have is to run a bead of sealant around the port outer ring, put the ring in place and give it a 1/2 turn to spread out the sealant. Drilled holes for the hardware. Secured the ports with #6 stainless steel machine screws, washers and stop nuts. I bought screws that were long enough so I can reach them to put on washers and stop nuts, plus I bought a deep socket that will hold the nut while the screw is tightened. One BIG tip is to buy a couple extra washers and nuts, because they are hard to find if they get dropped inside the hull.
Drilled pilot holes for the bow handle #8 x 1 inch stainless wood screws, oval phillips head.
Drilled piilot holes for the halyard cleat and halyard block, installed with #8 silicone bronze screws long enough to catch the 3/4 inch wooden backer blocks under the deck. It is a good thing to see dry wood shavings come out when the pilot hole is drilled.
Drilled the 3/16th inch pilot holes for the coaming rivets. It is important to buy the proper rivet, aluminum 3/16th inch closed end. They need to be closed end so water will not get into the hull. I also put a small bead of sealant in the rivet hole before installation.
Tapped the edge trim into place with a rubber hammer. Drilled 1/8th inch pilot holes for the edge trim rivets, which do not need to be closed end but they need a grip range of about 1/2 inch. Once again it is easiest to buy the rivets from a Sunfish Dealer. Be careful to only drill through the top of the trim and the deck edge, not all the way through, that is enough to hold on the trim. If the drill goes all the way through, take a file and remove any sharp burrs that are finger slicers. We also go back and file the top of the rivet to make them smooth.
Installed the gudgeon with #10 stainless machine screws. The metal backer plate inside is tapped for the screws, no need for washers and stop nuts. I add a small dab of sealant around each screw hole before installation.
Installed the swivel cam cleat and the sheet hook. The screws for the swivel cam cleat come through under the cockpit lip, they do not go inside the hull.
Added a retaining line to the daggerboard, so it doesn't float away during a capsize. Skipper prefers the simple line over a bungee, it makes it easy for her to pull the board out one handed when beaching. Otherwise she keeps it down most of the time, or if on a run the water pressure holds it where she wants it.
Installed the coaming, it screwed back in pretty easy. I was able to press 4 seized up screws with rivnuts back into original holes and seal with epoxy
Both wooden backer blocks for the eyestraps had fallen off. I had to dig through some foam on each side to find them, luckily they had not gone too far. I put some silicone on them, flipped them around, held them in place while Jack drilled a pilot hole. Then we dropped in a screw, put on the bridle and put in remaining screw. That was a satisfying sound to hear them snug up to the deck when we tightened them
Jack puts in the inspection port for the first time. We had to take it back out in order to have more room when the backer block issue arose. Plus the hardware was goofed up, I had some stop nuts that were the wrong size. I grabbed them from the bin at the hardware store without checking ALL of them. I normally do, but I was rushed because I was last customer in store. Also remember to pick up a few extra, in case something gets lost in hull
This halyard cleat has a screw sheared off in the wooden backer block. I picked a drill bit that fit inside the halyard cleat screw hole, in this case it was a 5/32 inch bit, and then drilled into the deck where the old screw was stuck. These are the tools used to drill out the old screw, and you can also see the progress of the deck repair. (Edit Tip) When working over internal wooden backer blocks, leave one screw in at all times to prevent the block from falling into the hull. Do one screw hole, reposition hardware over repaired hole, put in screw loosely into new hole, then swivel hardware aside to work on second hole.)
As I drilled I saw wood shavings coming out, a good sign that the backer block is still there. There were more shavings than what are shown, but it was windy today :)
Next I'll force some Marine Tex epoxy putty into the drilled out screw hole. Once it is dry, I'll drill a small pilot hole and install a new halyard cleat screw, either an original bronze or newer stainless screw. The deck repair will get another layer of Marine Tex, then sanded and painted.
