scraper and my finger, I shaped a clean fillet around the edge, feathering it smoothly into the surrounding deck. I placed a small weight on the donut to hold it in place while the epoxy cured overnight. Next, I cut a circle of glass fiber
cloth with a diameter about 3/4” greater than the diameter of the outer edge of the fillet. I applied epoxy resin to the cloth circle except in the area of the hole, carefully brushing out any air bubbles and smoothing the edge down onto the deck. Before the epoxy on this piece of cloth kicked, I applied a second, somewhat larger diameter, circle of cloth so that the second layer slightly overlapped the first all the way around. I carefully brushed the wet epoxy ever so slightly over the inner edge of the donut ring so I could cut out the cloth in the hole without leaving loose fiber ends. After this cloth covering hardened overnight, I used a razor knife to cut out the inner circle of cloth that I had not applied epoxy to, in order to open the hole in the donut again. I set a small sanding drum into my Dremel tool and carefully sanded
the inner edge of the donut where I had cut the cloth out. I wanted to assure a smooth inner edge so that the flange would set in tight and level and to assure that caulking would lie in cleanly without having to work around bumps or chips. Next, using a hand- held orbital sander, I sanded the whole thing to smooth it down and feather the edges smoothly to the surrounding deck. While using the Dremel and sander I wore a ventilator mask and kept a shop-vac running to suck up the dust. I knew my marina neighbors would not appreciate fiberglass sanding dust drifting onto their boats. Next, I applied two coats of gelcoat.
When the gelcoat started to kick, but before it was fully hardened, I applied a thin film of PVA Mold Release with a small sponge brush to assure correct surface hardening. The mold release agent washes off easily with soap and water after the gelcoat fully cures. Since the new circle of gelcoat on the deck lay right up next to the mast step, I decided to paint over the gelcoat with the same color of polyurethane enamel I had applied to the mast and step. When all was dry and clean, I
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48° NORTH, MAY 2010 PAGE 43
installed the flange for the ventilator, generously caulking it with Boat Life white caulking compound. A circle of masking tape around the edge of the flange (built up by applying a score or so of small, one-inch or so, pieces of masking tape) allowed me to achieve a nice clean edge to the caulking that squeezed out from under the flange when I bolted it down. The G-10 material is so hard that self-tapping screws are not effective and I believe in through bolting anyway, so I drilled holes for 10-24 size stainless bolts and used a tapping tool to set the threads into the G-10. The yard manager, who introduced me to G-10, told me it is so strong, they sometimes put bolts into it without nuts. However, I used a small washer and a nut inside on all four bolts.
Now set into place, the mushroom
ventilator is attractive and provides a nice air flow into the forward end of the cabin. It can be screwed down from inside to close tightly when the spray flies. And I now have an uncrowded place to sit forward of the cabin table and space for another bookshelf on the bulkhead should I want it.
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