Chainplates done - Tacktrack repairs & bedding

The Chainplate woodwork is complete and we have successfully drilled the 6mm holes for the bolts. I have to patch-paint the outside of the hull were the old holes were then we are ready to bolt them up. I'm very happy with the result - although it looks a bit messy on the inside.

The top of the elongated holes on the chainplate extensions lines up with the hole in the existing chainplates. The top drilled holes line up with existing and new pieces.

Starboard - I was able to brace across the hull on this one so I could keep it pretty clean of epoxy.

Port - I had to use masking tape and plastic sheet so couldn't see the result until next day. I'll clean it up a bit but it's very solid.

The chainplates are on an angle on the insides of the hulls so the bolts would be under bending strain if bolted up as they are. So I'm also making 12 degree washers so that the nuts can bolt up flush.
I'm using large Stainless Steel washers on a chunk of wood temporarily set on a 12 degree angle with epoxy dribbled into a "mould" made from masking tape. We'll see how that goes.

I'll check them tomorrow.

MAIN TRAVELLER
The main traveller has been re-mounted on a bed of Sika 291 with 10 of 75mm screws, 2 of 89mm screws and 6 of the original 50mm screws (the outside 3 on each side). I didn't epoxy any screws in but they are quite tight and with mostly 50mm penetration into the transom I can't see them letting go.
Sorry no pictures as yet.

TACKTRACK
I deliberated leaving the tacktrack in place and just removing each screw and epoxying them in but finally decided to removed it entirely.
Part of the top of the tacktrack support was slightly cracked and peeled away a chunk when the track was removed. That was bad and good. Bad because I have to repair it, good because it showed that the builder had used at least SOME fibreglass when the upper deck was built.

The tacktrack support with the track removed.

Close up of the worst damage.

The chunk that came off. You can see the woven pattern.

I'll be bedding the tacktrack with Sika 291 and screwing it almost down, then next day I'll remove the screws one at a time and inject epoxy into the hole and quickly re-insert the screw. Quickly because they are not blind holes so the epoxy will dribble through.

I'll have to be quick with this process because the screws have to be nipped down pretty much bit by bit so as to not strip any one screw hole trying to take all the strain. (This wait-until-next-day to tighten is recommended by Sika to prevent the bedding compound being completely squeezed out).

Rudder and Transom Progress

To level the transom height I bought an 8mm x 30mm x 2400mm piece of hardwood from Bunnings (hardware store) and carefully planed it down to 7mm. I was surprised how successful it was. It's more even than the transom that it'll mount on anyway.

I epoxied it on than gave it two coats of thinned epoxy, then painted it. It looked a bit ordinary where the epoxy had dribbled out so I trimmed away the excess epoxy and levelled each side with Sikaflex 291 - that may have been a mistake as I have to paint it again... Does Aquacote go over Sikaflex 291? I'll report back.

Almost ready for the main traveller.

While we are looking at the picture above, I'll be adding another tiller pivot support above the tiller slot. What is there at the moment seems a bit fragile. I have already bought longer bolts (see previous post).

The rudder pintles have had all the inner holes filled. I used hardwood dowel that were about 6mm too short, epoxied in then filled via a syringe with masking tape over to get a smooth finish to the transom.

I also moved the lower starboard pintle up about 9mm.

The rudder boxes have had all the gudgeon holes filled and the boxes have been painted but need a final coat.

I set myself back a bit when after test mounting the rudders to get the height correct. I found the port rudder fouled the right side of the port hull. I have ground away some timber to make it foul a bit less. It is now similar to the starboard rudder box which already had been tapered at the lower edge.

It originally had two 3mm aluminium (unpainted) spacers but when I tried that it caused the pivots to bind. I'll probably get away with one 3mm spacer.

The starboard rudder box and rudder. You can see the taper top left of the box (as it is viewed).

The rudders are too narrow for the rudder boxes (or the other way round). I made up four 180mm spacers from 1mm thick flexible PVC. It still isn't enough so I'll cut another four. I originally bought some storage containers to cut up but they shattered rather than cut when I tried cutting them with tin snips.

I have also made up two "curtains" from the same PVC sheet for the cockpit storage areas. I couldn't use the sliding hatch trick Don showed me as I have access portals in the way. This should keep out the rain (and leaves).

These will be held on with 20mm x 6mm mouldings at the top edge - just above the openings.

I have also been crawling around inside the hulls and cleaned out all the dust and rubbish.

Stainless Steel Screws for Christmas

To keep the transom reinforcing project going over Christmas I have ordered (from Bolts Nuts Screws Online):

Product	Price	Qty	Subtotal
316 STS CSK PHIL: #10 X 3.1/2	0.85	10	8.50
316 STS CSK PHIL: #10 X 3	0.73	10	7.30
316 STS PAN PHIL: #10 X 1/2	0.14	10	1.40
316 STS CSK PHIL: #12 X 1/2	0.22	10	2.20
316 STS PAN PHIL: #12 X 5/8	0.20	10	2.00

Essentially it's enough stainless steel screws to hold the rear traveller down into every layer of timber on the transom - regardless.

The 'I' section traveller (for the main sheet) on the transom is Ronstan I-Beam 19 and is 24mm high.
There is a 7mm gap to the  top piece of timber of the transom.
The top piece of timber is anywhere from 35mm to 25mm high (35mm in the middle - the highest load point).
The lower section of the transom is about 40mm high.

So 24+7+35 = 66mm
To make the screw "bite" all the way to the lower part of the transom my 3 1/2" (or 88mm) screws will give around 22mm of penetration.
I'll use the 76mm screws as the top timber gets thinner.
All screws will be epoxied in. If I ever have to remove it - well I'll cross that bridge...

By the way. The existing screws are 50mm long - losing 30mm before they hit timber. The two I tried this morning are modestly thumb and forefinger tight with traces of silicone on the threads -  and NO NYLON INSERTS. It's stainless steel on aluminium. (There are nylon inserts on the Jib sheets travellers - I have found several sources of them online.)

My next challenge is where to get 7mm deep hardwood about 35-30mm wide.
Hopefully I'll get to that over the Christmas new year break. I've found a couple of timber machinists and custom molding places reasonably nearby. (I only have a manual power plane and I'd have to take 10mm down to 7mm evenly for a couple of meters - not likely - but possible.)

The #12 screws are for the rudder box lower gudgeons where you can't use bolts. (They were 6g countersunk with flat washers and were almost useless).
12g screws are 5.5mm to the outer part of the thread so should hold a lot better.
I got Countersunk (CSK) and Panhead (PAN) just in case one works better than the other. The 5/8" might just fit with a flat washer under them. The rudder box timber is 12mm, the gudgeon 2mm so I'd have to take up another 1.9mm to stop the screw poking through. If if doesn't look right I'll use the 1/2" (I'll check before screwing the 5/8" in).

Rear Traveller support

The main traveller is not supported for the entire transom width. It's screwed down hard at each end for about 150mm but has a 6mm gap to the top of the transom for most of its length.
You can see the gap in this picture.

The traveller is pulled down to reduce the gap to about 4mm in the middle. The gap near the ends is about 7mm.
There has been some attempt to use plastic spacers on the screws but at least one doesn't have anything.

My plan is to get some 6mm thick hardwood, seal it, then epoxy it to the top of the transom. The existing screws appear to be long enough and they will be epoxied in and will be the main strength for holding the traveller down.

Should I just use a bedding compound or epoxy the "filler" to the transom?
I doubt the screws will hold into the hardwood filler very well anyway.

Alternatively I have spotted a 6mm thick PVC section that I could use instead of timber but since epoxy won't hold it hardly at all it would indeed be just a filler piece.

What is also a little disturbing (what isn't about this boat?) is that the transom appears to have been made incorrectly then repaired. Note the 40mm deep top of the transom where it has been attached to the transom below it. How well is it secured? I don't know! If that 40mm (odd) deep section was 7mm thicker there would not have been an issue!

I'm tempted at at least add two full length m5 bolts and nuts (if they'll fit, else m4 or 5/32") through the traveller and top-of-transom down to either side of (inside) the motor well. Maybe I can even add more than that.

I have also just found that I can buy 8g Stainless Steel screws up to 3 inches in length. Those sunk into epoxied holes would hold the whole lot together.

As always - comments welcome.