On the Mend

After the fiasco last weekend pulling up the old cockpit sole, things this week have gone much more smoothly.  The 3" fiberglass tube for the new rudder tube from McMaster Carr came along with 5 yards of biaxial cloth to build up the new cockpit.  I also got started rebuilding the cockpit sole.

I cut out the new core for the forward part of the cockpit and epoxied it in on Tuesday evening and let it set overnight.   The following day I layed in and epoxied the first of several layers of biaxial fabric, again letting it set overnight.  Yesterday afternoon, I epoxied in part of the core in the aft section of the cockpit leaving a wide margin where the new rudder tube will be.  I plan on using a fiberglass plate (similar to g10 FRP) with a 3" hole in it as the mounting point for the rudder tube, but I still have to accurately measure where that will be so I left lots of room to shift the plate around.

Next up, I put down the first layer of biaxial fabric in the aft section of the cockpit and the second layer in the forward section.  I know this is all very convoluted and I would like to wait until I have the new rudder post fabricated and installed, but given that I haven't even dropped the rudder but still need to work in the cockpit to do so, I need to get this done and I need to do it before the weather turns too cold (I won't be able to glass much longer).

Finally, using a hole saw I cut the hole for the new fiberglass rudder tube and test mounted it in the cockpit to make sure I had enough room.  I probably won't glass this section in until I do have the new rudder post mounted (which may not be until next spring), but it's nice to see it start to look like a tiller steered cockpit again.  I also ordered some very expensive jewelry from Edson Marine today ($600 with shipping); I hope to have it here early next week.

Below are the pictures of progress in order