Kaimusailing

The phenolic microballoons were running out and I had missed a chance to order more of them along with my colloidal silica order. Raka epoxy was closed for the weekend, so it would be about a week before a new order could arrive.
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This meant that the work had to shift from fairing the rudders and skegs to other jobs. There were still big items on the list, a couple of crossbeams, for instance. Another problem was indications of the port stempost deteriorating around the U-bolt that mounts the port end of the bow crosstube.
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The crosstube is an aluminum tube of about 6 inches diameter that has padeyes at each end. The padeyes are bolted through a stanchion that mounts against the aft face of the stempost at its tip. The stanchion has two bolt holes for mounting to the stempost and a large U-bolt passes through the stempost from forward and below, up and through the stanchion base, where the ends of the U-bolt are secured with large nylock nuts.
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The problem with the design, which is similar to the aft crosstube, is that the stanchions tend to pool rainwater which gathers around the upper U-bolt nut. Eventually the water makes its way down the bolt into the stem post and the wood then rots. This happened at the stern crosstube and the stern post had to be repaired. Now it looks like the port stem post has the same problem and will need a similar repair. Fortunately the stem post is more accessible.
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The starboard stem post seems to be intact with no signs of deterioration, but will have to be looked at closely while in the boatyard.
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The first task was to disassemble the port side of the bow crosstube, which merely required the removal of the two nuts that held the stanchion to the stem post, then prying the stanchion away, and finally driving the U-bolt out of the stem post.
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The problem areas were attacked with the angle grinder, first with the chain saw toothed wheel, then with the 7 inch coarse flap disk. The wood was exposed and prodded. It was indeed punky in places. Not too bad, but it’s good practice to remove much more than the obvious deterioration, the fungus spreads far into the wood. Glue lines will stop it and borate solutions will inhibit it.
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The picture is of the starboard bow tube stanchion, shot overhead in line with the pad eye that sticks out from the bow tube on the left. The mounting bolt that runs through the pad eye and stanchion can be seen at the top middle of the stanchion. Below it is the upper end of the U-bolt coming through the stempost and the base of the stanchion. You can see how a pool of water here can build up, the stanchion is at an angle.
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The problem areas in the port stem post were attacked again with the 1/2 inch drill and the 1“ Speedbore bit. This has proven to be a very useful tool. The bolt holes for the U-bolt were drilled out with the 1“ bit about halfway through the stem post. The post looks like it is made out of 8 laminations or so of 1“ stock. The wood way down deep was damp. I kept drilling a line of holes, following the dampness, and it looked like the repair could be made with a dutchman, which is a piece of wood to fill the space gouged out. I used a chisel to square up the sides of the hole, continued with the drill to make all the depths of the drill holes even, and then covered it all up with a garbage bag to prevent any moisture from getting in later in the evening.