Cabin Sole, Forward Hatch and Binnacle

Cabin Sole:  I have Marco busy tearing up the cabin sole to repair a couple of spots where there is core de-lamination.  It should take a few days to do that, and all this is on hold because of the hurricane coming towards us.

Forward Hatch:  Instead we are focusing on finishing the forward hatch. I have new plexiglass to pick up tomorrow.  The old wood will need to be epoxied, new angle brackets attached, and all gaps filled with filler.  I also want to add a rubber strip on the back edge to prevent water intrusion.  Right now with the back of the boat stripped out, ECHO is bow heavy and water has been pooling behind this hatch.  That area had been repaired once, and poorly. I had Marco fix that, so my decks are even uglier which after all the other work on the deck, of course they will have to be completely repainted in the spring to bring them back to perfect.

Binnacle:  Well some things seem to come together well.  I was lucky enough to get the new Pedestal Guard in.  This one is 1.25" in diameter instead of the original 1"--leaving more room for wires.  I have a beautiful stainless steel Edson Top Plate.  I rushed out to buy some more epoxy primer so he could get started on priming the binnacle, so it can be painted tomorrow.  Still to do is replace the plywood backing under the cockpit sole.  These are more in the nature of alignment shims for the quadrant cables. That should be easy enough to do.  My only hangup to getting this work finished are the four flathead bolts used to secure the binnacle to the cockpit sole and quadrant sheaves.  I have them on order, and it will be a few days.  If I'm lucky I can get it installed the day before the hurricane hits--that will seal up that hole--which is the last area on ECHO that needs to be sealed up!

And this will be one of the few things needed to be completed before moving ECHO to Portland, CT for the winter where it gets it's new interior.