Windward relaunched
Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 2:57 am
Got her back in the drink and motored to her slip just before sundown on Monday. As it turns out, I asserted "no carnage" too soon:
Several of the welds cracked on the rudder reinforcements from 2008 -- no impact while coastal, and I suspect the forces of aggressive surfing are responsible. I had them repaired prior to launching. This makes three strikes for the rudder, so much as I hate to I probably need to bump having a new one fabricated up in the queue.
The aft mini-bulkhead where the port settee meets the hull has some cracking. I already had to rebuild the starboard side, as well as the one in the v-berth, so no major surprise there.
I also noticed that the forward outboard edge of the mini-bulkhead I built to make the galley locker separated from the hull. Obviously my prep was not up to snuff when I epoxied that into place. When I look closely I can see that the trailer bunks actually compress the hull a bit, causing the area just below the chines to bulge outward. I'm pretty sure it was this force that caused the bulkhead separation. The other side of the joint is intact, and 2/3 of the afflicted side is still attached, so since that's additional reinforcement I added I probably won't sweat repair until later, unless I develop a strong urge to stick my head in the bilge and use the power sander to make fiberglass dust.
Beyond that, I did have problems with the stove's forward (right-hand) burner venting unburned alcohol. I'm pretty confident I did the rebuild correctly -- it ain't hard, and the other burner works great -- but after discussing it with Kenyon I'll need to remove and inspect the burner body itself for cracks.
Several of the welds cracked on the rudder reinforcements from 2008 -- no impact while coastal, and I suspect the forces of aggressive surfing are responsible. I had them repaired prior to launching. This makes three strikes for the rudder, so much as I hate to I probably need to bump having a new one fabricated up in the queue.
The aft mini-bulkhead where the port settee meets the hull has some cracking. I already had to rebuild the starboard side, as well as the one in the v-berth, so no major surprise there.
I also noticed that the forward outboard edge of the mini-bulkhead I built to make the galley locker separated from the hull. Obviously my prep was not up to snuff when I epoxied that into place. When I look closely I can see that the trailer bunks actually compress the hull a bit, causing the area just below the chines to bulge outward. I'm pretty sure it was this force that caused the bulkhead separation. The other side of the joint is intact, and 2/3 of the afflicted side is still attached, so since that's additional reinforcement I added I probably won't sweat repair until later, unless I develop a strong urge to stick my head in the bilge and use the power sander to make fiberglass dust.
Beyond that, I did have problems with the stove's forward (right-hand) burner venting unburned alcohol. I'm pretty confident I did the rebuild correctly -- it ain't hard, and the other burner works great -- but after discussing it with Kenyon I'll need to remove and inspect the burner body itself for cracks.
