Cutting BIG Holes and Climbing Masts

The time has come in my propane locker project to cut a giant hole in Holiday. 10.5″ diameter to be exact. It really wasn’t that big a deal, but I definitely didn’t want to mess up. So, after getting all my tools ready and the cutting project prepped, I went to town on it. No issues, and I’m glad that part is over.

Boats of Holiday’s vintage have a balsa wood “cored” deck and hull. Balsa wood resists rot even with some moisture present, and sandwiched between two pieces of fiberglass, makes a very strong and relatively light weight (as opposed to solid fiberglass) structure. Sort of like how an I-beam is stronger than just a flat beam. However, whenever you cut or drill any hole through to the balsa, you have to seal it up. If you don’t, you risk the wood saturating and rotting over time from water seepage and eventually getting mushy. On a large scale, this can effect the integrity of the entire boat’s strength. So, next I chipped out about a half inch of balsa core and filled the area with thickened epoxy. Voila, water tight and stronger than it was when I started.

Needing to wait for the epoxy to dry before continuing on the propane locker project, I had Lindy winch me up the mast to take down the wind indicator. If you’ll remember, we had found one of the tail fins broken off of it laying on the deck, and I had planned to try and glue it back together. In the mean time, the second tail piece broke off…and this one didn’t land on the deck. It’s somewhere in Davy Jone’s locker. The best we can figure is an osprey keeps landing on it or attacking it or something. It’s too high for a limb to hit, and neither broke off during the tropical storm or anything like that. So, up 55 feet I climbed, and pulled the broken piece down. The indicator is a wireless transducer that tells wind speed and direction on a display at the helm. I’ve located an open box replacement that won’t cost as much, so that’s nice. Pretty cool views up at the top of the mast. I snapped a picture of Holiday from up top. I could see pretty far off over the Intracoastal, Anna Maria, and out into the Gulf. Should have taken more pictures, but it’s a little spooky up there, and once the task was done, I didn’t waste too much time having Lindy lower me. Hoping tomorrow to get the propane locker bolted into place.