Multiple projects continued

As I've recently stated, I remain in the midst of several simultaneous projects. Some of them have started to wrap up, but others will linger until warmer painting weather in the Spring. Here are a few update photos:

New backing plate and bolts for port forward shroud

 Photo 1: In order to repair the fiberglass damage to the port side hull, I had to fully dismantle the locker and remove all the teak facing. This allowed me to fully expose the backing plate for the port forward shroud, and I discovered that it was a bit undersized and had slightly compressed the fiberglass sandwich in that area. At least it wasn't aluminum, as others I'd found on Aeolus had been. I decided to reinforce the whole area with a sheet of 1/4" fiberglass I get from McMaster Carr. It is hard to see, but I rounded the edges off nicely to avoid hard spots. I then backed the sheet with a good helping of Epoxy thickened with Colloidal Silica to help it bond and conform to the irregular surface, and put it all back together with slightly longer bolts to account for the increased depth. Now, that shroud is so bomber that it is absolutely not a weak link in the mast system, and that is the goal for all hardware associated with the mast now isn't it?

New portlight windows from Mark Plastics in Corona, CA

Photo 2: I was delighted to discover that there is a company in SoCal called Mark Plastics that still makes the exact portlight windows for the Gulf 32 and other Capital Yachts. I ordered two fixed windows in light gray with 1/4 plexiglass with a heavily scratch resistant surface. Mark uses the highest grade plexi available. I went with fixed to replace the old ragged sliders because these areas already have ample ventilation (Gulf 32's are the most well ventilated boats around) and no need to introduce leaking and humidity into these areas.  This locker is the same one as above after I put it all back together. Always a good excuse to do some deep cleaning.

The repair of the fiberglass damage near the port portlight.

Photo 3: I've finished the fiberglass repair of the damage caused by the hit and run. I ground it all out but didn't need to go all the way through. I beveled the edges out to about a 12:1, and then laid on new glass with epoxy. After this had set up for a couple days, I went back and sanded it all out. Then, I mixed up some epoxy with microballoons for a fairing compound and that is what you see here after being sanded. The darker color is fairing. Now it was truly smooth, and I coated (not shown here) this with the Epoxy Primekote 2 part polyurethane since I will be painting the entire hull stripe next spring. The base coat will protect the epoxy from UV this winter, and will be largely sanded away as part of my prep for the painting next year.