Fixing the annoying wet bridge deck
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November 2006 --
After recoring and resurfacing
the cockpit sole, I need to put new non-skid
down, and will put matching non-skid on the seats and bridge deck. Before
that, though, I'm going to fix something that has been a constant annoyance.
Water drains down on either side of the companionway. In fact,
this drain handles all the water draining from the hood over the companionway
hatch, forward of the dodger.
So even with the cockpit completely covered,
rain water drains down under the awning.
In the picture to the right, you can see
the morning dew, draining right onto the place where one steps out first thing
in the morning, and right where I want to sit and have a cup of coffee.
Here's a picture of a puddle of water,
in case you've never seen one.
As an additional insult, the water doesn't
drain off of the bridge deck, but
just sits there in a big puddle
right in front of the companionway.
This means that one can't sit there when it's raining and drink coffee and read a book, and I'm always tracking water into the boat.
Here's the panel set in place. The outline was traced with a razor knife.
It will leave a channel around the edges, and water will drain away, leaving the bridge deck dry.
I traced out the outline of the non-skid
on the bridge deck,
and used the pattern
to cut a panel
of 1/8" thick
vinylester FRP from
McMaster-Carr.
The panel is set in place with West System epoxy, thickened up with colloidal silica to a mayonnaise consistency.
Now it's ready to be
painted with non-skid.
So, of course, my cockpit looks wierd until I put the non-skid down.
Heck, my cockpit has looked wierd for about
a year. But it's functional.
I want to be able to sail the boat.
Putting down the non-skid is a project for another day.
