Well, things are looking up.

The installation of three layers of 1708 fiberglass along the leading edge
of the keel went smoothly, if hectically. I did a layup schedule of all the
pieces needed to make it work out, with all the lower areas butted, and on
top of that, not, so it's seamless in the end. It was 6", 12" and 18", all
done from 12" roll stock, so it was a bit challenging to figure out the
pieces in workable size and to avoid/and cover overlaps. We marked the
centerline of the boat, and of the fiberglass, to make layup a bit easier to
position.

We cut and labeled each piece, and put them in order on the "shelf" over our
wetout table. That allowed us to just reach for the next one, put it on the
table, wet it out, lay it on, roll it out, and hustle to the next.

We had to really hustle, though, because we did a full layer of the entire
11+3 foot length (the break being the transducer which I'll be replacing,
more on which later) before going to the second layer. We had to make it
fast so the epoxy hadn't kicked in order to lay the next layer on without
sanding.

We JUST made it, the final 3' being tacky on the third layer. The rest of
it was still wet, so not to worry... A quickie slop of lots of extra resin
so that my sanding wouldn't take off any more than some of the sacrificial
3/4oz mat on the backing of the 1708, and we were off to a family friend's
pool to cool down and wash our sweat-soaked clothes.

Back to the boat, I got busy with the sander while the resin was still
"green" and got all but the starboard 11' section's 12-18" layer sanded
before it got too dark to see.

That pretty well wore me out due to the contortions I had to do, and the
epoxy was becoming fully kicked, so I didn't bother to get up early. I'll
hit the sanding tomorrow.

Instead, I sourced a new camera to replace the one which had gotten drenched
during our wave-watching during the same storm which caused the Rule 62
disaster. It had worked in the morning and in the afternoon at the pool,
but wouldn't light up for pix of the accomplished layup/sanding. Changing
batteries to known full, even not coming on when stuck into the USB port
(which turns it on electronically rather than by the switch), convinced me
it was time. I'd already done some research but was glad to find one even
more inexpensively than my prior searching, prompted by Olympus having said
that it was beyond repair when I sent it in on their all-inclusive repair
offer.

The best news today however, was the arrival of a new triducer for my
fishfinder. I'd ordered one from West on a competitive price deal, but it
was the wrong one. The company who was going to assist my installation was
all set to install it without first testing it; it turns out that this same
housing is sort of a "class" of triducer, and without some extraordinary
expense and hassle beyond what I'd thought would have been necessary to make
that one work.

So, I called Port Supply, and confirmed that it wasn't stocked any more, but
there might be some in stores. A search revealed that there were only two
stores, with one each, both in Maryland.

It had been a more-than-$600 item. He said it was 4757 - which I took to be
thousands. "That can't be right - it's a several hundred dollar item!"
"Oh, yeah - I see - they were being closed out at $329, but since it's no
longer in the system, it just assigned that price." That was better than
anywhere else I'd found one (best $350 or so, plus shipping), so I told him
to have the store send it here.

Holding my breath, I expected to see my invoice reveal that price plus
shipping. Imagine my joy to find the invoice being under $60 including
shipping and tax!!

Quick like a bunny I took off my instrument, connected it, and it works like
a champ. Installation to come soon!!

L8R

Skip, glad to have some positive news for a change :{))

--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
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