News travels fairly quickly and word spread of my efforts in resurrecting the autohelm dock, to the point that one of my fellow sailors asked if I could help him out.
As I was at a loose end waiting on parts arriving (and additionally having issues with my car meaning that I was constrained to my local area) I agreed to have a look at his problem wood. It is a simple cover for a gas bottle and tap on a powerboat. He was unable to find the time and momentum to get to it himself and it looked like an easy enough job, so I took the awful bit of wood away and started bringing it to life.
As you can see it is a bit of marine plywood that has seen better days. I measured it up but I was aware that he had also asked if it was possible to make it about an inch longer. This was to make it more solid and cover up the rust stain that was creeping upwards from the steel container that it covered.
So, I felt like I was on familiar territory when I started marking up and cutting.
You can see the original length and the inch I have added. It was remarkably difficult to cut with a handsaw as the wood itself is hard. In Scotland some of us would use the phrase "Harder than a hoor's heart!", I shall leave the interpretation of that to you :)
The ring puller for the hatch is recessed, I did not really think about that until after I had agreed to do the job. I'll freely admit that for a while I was cursing myself for taking on this job and I had visions of me having to hack away at it with a chisel. However, I had one of those jobs where it all came together nicely. I had rounded off the edges with my air powered random orbital, having marked each side with my OddJob to make sire my chine was even. I marked the centre point for the ring puller and drew a circle. Then I had a rummage in my garage - the best thing I have done in years!
I found two tools I did not know I had - an Elu Belt Sander and an Elu Plunge Router! They used to belong to my dad and after he had passed away my brother and I had split up the tools in the workshop. In my case the sander and the router were a little tarnished and dirty, but with a liberal application of compressed air, WD40 and a little cleaning up with a high grade sandpaper I was able to get both tools back to fully operational and shiny! You have no idea how happy that made me.
So, I sanded the surface of the wood with my new-to-me belt sander and cut out the hole for the ring puller.
Once I was happy I applied my first coat of Dick Oil (read this for an explanation https://steemit.com/sailing/@agrestic/dick-oil) and took a look at the fittings. I'm pretty sure I could have just put the brassware back on as it was; and my sailing friend would be perfectly happy, but I am not that type of chap.
I whipped out my tin of Brasso and set to work. Incidentally I set up my old WorkBox on my chopping block to give me a nice place to work outdoors. I noticed with some dismay that the Black and Decker Workbox was discontinued in the mid 90's. I still remember purchasing it. That made me feel very old.
I got both bits of brassware nice and shiny and offered them up to the oily wood for a final aesthetic check. I am pretty pleased with the results and I'm confident that it will earn me a few beers in my sailing club.
As always my friends, happy sailing, either on the water or in your head - either way I hope you chase the horizon with joy in your heart!
