With the drop board retainers now installed I thought it was time to finish off the acrylic drop boards and get them ready for use - whenever that might eventually be.
Fist of all I quickly dropped the boards into the companionway to make sure the parts still fitted properly.
They did and here they are.
Next came refitting the Sapele flange which seals the two drop boards when in place. I dry fitted the flange and taped up to control squeezed out sealant, like this,
Then came installation. I was so intent on making a good job of it that I neglected to take any pics. But it seemed to go OK.
Next day I checked and was disappointed to find air pockets in the sealant. This is one of them, after removal of the flange.
There was one such air pocket between each pair of fastenings.
I had used spring clamps to squeeze the drop board and the flange together while I tightened the fastenings, forcing out the sealant and creating what I thought looked like a good joint.
In hindsight I could see that the board and the flange had separated slightly when the clamps were removed, sucking air into the voids between the fastenings.
So the clamps were overkill. So now I know.
The flange was removed and everything was cleaned up ready for a second refit.
This time I made sure to use only the fastenings to close the joint, and double checked that it was full of sealant.
All went well this time. Here is the finished article.
Next was connecting the upper drop board to the companionway slide.
The slide was already fitted with a hasp, but I needed a second staple to fit to the upper drop board.
This meant buying a second hasp assembly, which I did to ensure that the fittings matched.
Here we are marking up the new staple on the drop board.
Holes were carefully drilled in the drop board and the staple fitted. Here is the completed hasp fitting.
That looks good.
And finally here are the completed acrylic drop boards in place in the newly fitted retainers.
She is starting to look quite smart again!
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