Bulkhead Repair
While its too cold to do any fiberglass layup, its not too cold to cut the
new bulkheads out and prep the boat for the repair. Using the old
bulkhead, I traced a template onto cardboard and cut it out. I test fitted
it to validate size. I fit well. I then took the template and placed
it on my new sheet of AC grade 3/4 plywood. For you southerners, the white
stuff is the snow I will have on my driveway until March.
I used a standard jig saw to cut the template out. I was able to save
the trim from the old bulkheads and will be reused on the new. Note the
new bulkhead leaning against the Desperado ground support vehicle.
I repeated the process for the aft bulkhead using 1/2 AC. Sorry no pics
for that.
I then donned my respirator, goggles, coveralls, hat and gloves and entered
Desperado with a angle grinder. This is by far the nastiest part of the
job, prepping the hull for receiving the new bulkheads. I ground
down the remaining tape and all paint off the tape bound to the hull. The
combination of noise, dust and general unpleasantness really made me want to
finish this step in one session. I got everything done in about an hour
except the keel sump as the angle grinder wouldn't fit. Got to get another
tool. There is currently about 1/4 inch of nasty, fine white dust in the
boat coating everything. Sorry no pics as I didn't want to expose my
digital camera to such a hostile environment. If you decide to do this,
get a quality respirator and ear plugs! When I get her cleaned up, I will
take some shots of the prep work.