Progress

One of the things this last week has been the pop top modification.  A foam cowling was made and fitted.

It was carved out inside and laminated

The outside was laminated

And covered in fairing compound

The contouring of the mast turned out to be a much bigger job than expected.  After three times filling the recessed area it is still not perfect, but I'm getting there.  I spent two sessions in the workshop each day and are about to put a substantial amount of time into this finishing work.

This is port side of mast, continued from previous post.  I put the big fill on too soon and had to refill a couple of times.

Low areas marked, ready for the, so far, last fill.  I haver not yet sanded these fillings down as I progressed to starboard side.

On starboard side I did fill the low areas three times, sanding between each layer to get the idea how much more was needed.  I think a combination of the putty shrinking when curing and the fact that the fill should be convex has made this a bigger challenge than expected.

Yesterday the big fill went on.

Now sanded to 80 grit, continuing on the other side tomorrow

Then there will be the leading edge, and the fine work on all halyard exits etc before spraying epoxy primer.

I have also worked on making the bow pole and forward mast support ready for painting.

Then there is the daggerboard of course.  I have that one at home, working on it when I am not able to go to the workshop.  It will be really good.  Seems to be a tough one to get the fluorescent anti fouling though, received this e-mail from France today, from the only manufacturer of such paint that I have been able to find:

Dear Tor,

Thanks for your interest in Nautix product. Unfortunately we do not have a distributor in Norway and our product are not certified for reselling in Norway.

Our fluorescent antifouling in A9 T.SPEED in Europe and A4 T.SPEED in the UK. You can get it from us but freight cost will be very expensive or you can contact one of our distributor in the UK, in Germany or in Lettonia.

Best regards

Cédric RAFIN
Export Zone Manager

NAUTIX SA

By the way, it seems that I have been misled to believe that the United Kingdom was a part of Europe, while this Frenchman clearly states that Europe and UK are two different markets...