Project Log: Sunday,
November 15, 2009
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A new day, and fresh invigoration.
I'd basically decided overnight to cut out the
cockpit--pretty much a foregone conclusion all along, but
well worth stepping back from just a little before diving
in.
Before beginning, I looked things over once more,
and confirmed my decision. I spent several minutes
making some reference measurements of various seat widths,
heights, cockpit well depth and width, and so forth, all of
which might come in handy during later reconstruction.
Then, I made some layout marks for my cuts, choosing
a more or less arbitrary distance from the deck edge (an
inch or so inboard of the end of the flange), and about 4"
in from the ends of the cockpit, since I planned--at least
for now--to leave small tabs of the old structure in case I
wanted them to tie back into later.
I made the rough
cuts with a reciprocating saw equipped with a carbide blade,
which made short work of the removal. Beginning with
the cockpit sole, I cut out the cockpit in manageably-sized
pieces, bit by bit.
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Once the major structure was out of the way, I
switched to a jig saw--also equipped with a carbide
blade--and trimmed the cockpit back to my layout lines,
leaving even borders all the way around. I also cut
away the forward face of the cockpit well; I'd left this in
place at first, considering whether I might reuse it, but
soon decided it was better for it to go. The aft end
might go later, but for now I left it in place, since it was
bonded to a bulkhead and mizzen mast compression post
behind. Meantime, I removed two scupper fittings from
the after end that I wanted to save. |
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I also cut out the bulk of the charred aft bulkhead,
the one separating the lazarette from the cockpit lockers.
Later, I'd remove the remains, and replace the entire thing,
but for now I removed enough only to allow for me to
eventually crawl back there to do the final grinding
required--something I was not looking forward to and wasn't
going to face on this day in any event. |
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Next, I removed a longitudinal stiffener from the
starboard hull (the port side had apparently been removed
years earlier under previous ownership), and sanded the
area, and also cleaned up the cut edges around the cockpit
opening, as well as any other areas that required additional
grinding after the weekend's work.
It was very
spacious without the cockpit in the way, and I didn't miss
the deathly black hole that had been there; now it was
bright and open. Having the badly damaged cockpit out
of the way would streamline many of the upcoming projects,
from remaining demolition to the eventual structural
repairs.
(I'm not sure why the photo taken from the
port side turned out so dark--sorry.) |
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After cleaning up, I decided to remove the steering
quadrant. I'd noticed earlier that the wooden blocking
to which the bracket was secured was burned and loose, and
this would require replacement. Removing the quadrant
looked like it ought to be easy--and this time, it actually
was. I removed the four bolts that secured the
quadrant sections to the rudder shaft, and then removed the
packing nuts and packing. Finally, I unlagged the
bronze base piece from the wood and removed the bronze
pieces for safekeeping and possible reuse.
The wooden
blocks came away from the hull with only a slight kick. |
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How easily these boats come apart. Don't be
deceived, though: as quick as the demolition has been,
it will take far, far longer to rebuild these things that I
cut out in only a few hours. |
Total Time Today: 4.5 hours |
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