Saturday, December 28, 2013

Work to be done:

Guy: Here are pictures of the boat:
As you can see, there is a metal bar along the top edge/side (this is called the gunwale of the boat)
As you can see, there is a metal black bar (track) along the top edge/side (this is called the gunwhale of the boat)

The track has a "car" on it that slides back and forth, which is the large black roundish thing in the middle.  The track is screwed through the fiberglass into a hidden compartment underneath.  The track is recessed into a channel made out of fiberglass.  The compartment below (and bottom side screws that hold the track) are accessed via a 7" round port hole.  There are larger pictures of the opposite side port hole.

The compartment doubles as an air tank which helps keep the boat afloat.  Presently, my tanks on each side leak just a little bit when submerged.  there is a drain near the back of the tanks that has a rubber plug/stopper, but as you work on the boat, I would like you to seal the screw holds, and maybe even use truck bed liner, or some type of sealer inside the tanks to seal them up just a little bit better.
Zoom in of the 24" track
 If you zoom in a little, you'll see that the track is 24".  I put these new tracks in July 2013.  They are narrower than the old tracks and a little bit shorter.  It would be better to shorten the recessed fiberglass channel, and move the tracks back about 3 inches.
 Here is a close-up, straight down of the front of the jib track.  The yellow paint is peeling, and the ruler gives you some idea of size.










I peeled back some of the paint just to show you  what it looks like.  Note the object screwed into the fiberglass.  It is handhold screwed through a cutout.

Here is the back of the track.  You can see that this can the track can move back 3 inches easily.















Across to the other side is the port-hole access.  It is simply a circle cut-out.  We can put more of them into the sides.  This one access port is small, and it is very difficult to access all of the screws.  Additionally, under the jib tracks, there is very amateurish gobbed glass and resin.  You'll find it makes for a difficult surface for washers and nuts because the gobbed glass is not level. 














Here is the Transom, just for looks!