Day 271

The aft visability ( we realised ) was nil. Origionally we were going to put in a portlight on the aft bulkhead of the pilothouse but the height of the coaming would block all but the very top of the portlights view! So my little dream of having a portlight aft has been realized out of necessity. Yay!

Used plate to line up bolt holes.

Below, a stainless rivot nut

But before showing how that was done, I must mention the pedestal. To the left is the plate where the pedestal is to be welded on. We chose something removable for two reasons:

1) It is rather large and if permanently attached in the required position, large things like the welder would not be able to be put into or taken out of the boat. We are not confident enough to say "for sure" that the welder will never be used inside again!
2) We probably won't have it finished in time for the foam insulation and/or interior. The nice sunny days must be used prudently here, there are so few of them. It can be put together inside, then bolted on after.

The hole is for the chain drive to go inside to the pump, and a few wires for any displays etc.

The photo to the right shows the bolts lined up for the upper genoa track. The nuts hold the bolts at just the right height. This allows a nut and an old bolt to be screwed into it underneath to protect the threads from welding.

Gena had to use a couple of rivot nuts ( above left ) because of the holes lining up with a frame. These nuts are nice but are a little weaker and very expensive!

The rivot nuts will be used in the bulwark rail tracks as there is no other "easy" solution. These won't have as much strain on them so hopefully it won't be a problem.

We thought of other ways to mount those tracks from little squares welded on tapped for the bolts to welding a solid bar on. All of the solutions created problems with time, warpage, and corrosion. We just don't know how strong it needs to be and there's very little info on the subject.

The rivots should work fine, and if they don't, we'll have 40 little holes in the bulwark hehe. Returning to the aforementioned portlights, the doughnuts welded on to the ring of thick pipe passed Genas certification of approval and were prompty welded in! They aren't very large. Just big enough to look through with both eyes, or maybe one binocular lens. They do break up an otherwise boring looking transom area but don't get in the way of other stuff that will be added soon. Being a little nosey I need to be able to see aft, especially if I'm in the berth. I'm a happy camper! To the right can be seen the mounts for the swim ladder. It can flip up on to the swim deck when not in use, and telescopes down about 3 feet blow the waterline for easy climbing aboard. This is important to us because out little boats boarding ladder is terrible. Getting on to that first rung after having swam around for an hours without rest can be a real chore! This one will be a piece of cake. It's a windline and has a lifetime warranty. Of course welding on the brackets may have voided that hehe.
Continuing with the course of the day, and us jostling for position on the crowded swimdeck, Gena made the mounting plate reinforcements for the self steering rudder. ( below )
It looks awful strong, I'm sure it'll hold out ok. Using gussets off of this structure is undesirable because of the angle the hull is at underneath. Steel is really great for this sorta thing.
Ahhh! Aliens attack!	At the end of the day, the long awaited red oxide priming ritual occured. I of course ran for the lawn mower when I saw the spraying equipment coming out. Gena has always been a redhead since I've known her but now she's taking it too far! Haha! Poor Gena!
A nice even coat of primer will offer great protection, and can get into every nook and cranny so uncertainty is erased from the equation.

Day 271:
10 hours - Made pedestal plate, aft portlights, self steering rudder plates, welded nuts for poop deck genoa tracks, welded on ladder mounts, primed the aft stateroom.