Repairs and Reflection

A few days after my disastrous mast versus overhead cable event I started to review the damage and formulate my approach to making it right again.

 

 

My brother generously offered to store Bluster at his farm that is conveniently located between my work and my home. 

The first step was to remove all the hardware and bow plank from the damaged area.
   

Next was to 'clean up the wound' as it were by trimming the ripped plywood in to a straight sided hole to facilitate the patch.  Two things were definitely in my favour - the hull was undamaged (foredeck and front bit of the cabin took the brunt of the damage) and the fact that I was intimately familiar with Bluster's construction details even though it had been over ten years since finishing the build. 

A cardboard template was then taken for the deck piece and the radius bit for the cabin front.

The templates were then used to cut the shapes from marine plywood - even had a big enough scrap piece left over from the original build! 

These pieces were then fitted and attached used epoxy and screws.

  Flush cut and 1/2" round over router bits plus some coarse sand paper tidied up the edges. 

Epoxy and fibreglass cloth (also a left over from original build) followed by several sessions of filling and sanding that preceded the final epoxy sealing.

Brushed the entire repair with Intra Lux Topside white (because that was what I had) and ...

 

...then spray painted a beige  that was as close to the original colour as I could find off the shelf.

 

 

 Epoxyed and clamped the split in the mast that occurred when the it was forced back against the locking bolt in the tabernacle.

 

Final steps remaining are to re-attach the bow plank and hardware.

 

Overall I am pleased with the repairs although the quality of the finish does not match the original due to this being an outdoors 'rush' job whereas the original build was indoors with controlled conditions, access to air tools, etc.  The mismatched paint is strictly cosmetic and my thinking is that the whole boat could use a complete paint job in the couple of years anyways.

 

It was a bummer to miss out on the late summer and fall sailing season but the stretch of awesome weather we experience on the BC coast was very conducive to working outdoors.   Who knows, still have fresh fuel and valid trailer licence I have been sailing in November and February in past years...we are back in business!