Fiberglass - 2024 i.e. time to finally update the cockpit....

Like the other projects associated with the 2024 refit, this one was interupted by the Hurricane

Not many pictures for this part of the refit as it was mostly filling and patching holes.

The list of projects incudes:

• Reseal the Hard Dodger

• Fill all the holes associated with the original RayMarine instruments

• Remove the old Man Overboard System (long since non-functional/ not repairable) and fill the mounting hole

• Fill the holes assocated with the old speakers

• Fill the holes associated with the original swim platform

I engaged with the recommended Fiberglass guy on the island and he was in the process of doing a great job and teaching me some tricks of the trade along the way.

So it was all going great and then the yard laborers finished the paint removal on the hull and keel and we realized that their work had left the hull badly scratched (gauged) and we would have to refair it so we could get a proper application of Coppercoat. There were also small osmosis blisters around all of the thru-holes that required remediation. This set us behind as it was several days of work and several hundred dollars in additional materials.

This picture shows the hull after being stripped and remediation underway for the over aggressive sanding

This picture shows the rudder bearing hole and several nearby thruholes - the small dark spots around the holes are osmotic blisters

At this point, the Rudder finally was out of the boat and we discovered that the rudder stock also needed fiberglass work to properly fit the replacement rudder bearing. All of these delays - all caused by lack of experience on the part of the marina labor staff (skilled and unskilled) led to the rudder still laying on the ground when Hurricane Beryl arrived.

I want to emphasize that the fiberglass sub contractor did everything in his power to get us done, but the lack of timely process on the part of his co-workers did us in. He was actually finished with his work and was ready to start painting.