MarineCityBrian
Apprentice Tinkerer
Aft Led Lines Follow-Up (Progress - Part 2 of 4)
Once I had marked-off all of the hardware, I drilled the holes from the topside either using the hardware itself as a guide or the supplied guides that came with some of the hardware. Then, from beneath (after removing the headliner), I drilled up through the deck with a 1-1/8" hole saw, STOPPING AT THE UPPER LAYER OF GLASS (after my 1st mistake, I took care to clearly mark my hole-saw...more on that later...):
This is the one for the port-side halyard winch which I relocated from the mast:
![IMG_20170726_213726.jpg IMG_20170726_213726.jpg](https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/data/attachments/15/15052-83af813d16f92b65b1e02eddc509f4a3.jpg)
Next, use a screwdriver to pop-out the deck coring (in the case of my boat it's marine plywood)
![00000IMG_00000_BURST20170726213707_COVER.jpg 00000IMG_00000_BURST20170726213707_COVER.jpg](https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/data/attachments/15/15053-a20f8aa3da5bdd9a283285e0062010bc.jpg)
Next, use a chisel to get down to the parent glass layer
![IMG_20170726_213805.jpg IMG_20170726_213805.jpg](https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/data/attachments/15/15054-734ccbdb785ef6b1930582d9509eecdb.jpg)
Nice clean holes! (these are actually the ones for the deck organizer whereas the above are for the port winch)
![00002IMG_00002_BURST20170724190040_COVER.jpg 00002IMG_00002_BURST20170724190040_COVER.jpg](https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/data/attachments/15/15055-22cce8874a22c29c64a4a85ce0936925.jpg)
After doing this, I mixed up ~3 pumps of Epoxy Resin and mixed-in 406 filler until I got to a "Peanut Butter" consistency (West Systems defines this as a mix that is thick enough so that when a stirrer is pulled from it the peaks are thick enough to stand-up rather than fall down) such that it could be applied to the underside of the deck. The objective here is to fill these oversized holes with a plug of solid strengthened epoxy to keep the core nice and dry as well as having a material with a higher compressive strength than the plywood it's replacing. I started using the stir-stick as a putty knife and wetting the core as much as possible, then mashing it up into the cavity until it pushed-out through the small hole in the gel-coated top deck layer. I then leveled it flat to the inside core with the stir-stick, if not slightly proud, and finally placed a piece of release fabric over the bottom-side and rolled it several times with a finned roller to remove as many bubbles as possible:
![IMG_20170726_220807.jpg IMG_20170726_220807.jpg](https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/data/attachments/15/15057-4aafa4951ee795d67d28627f304be53b.jpg)
I used a little masking tape just to hold the release fabric up. The release fabric probably isn't mandatory, but it does make a nice smooth surface once released and purportedly eliminates the amine blush that plagues certain epoxies (which would only really be a problem if we were to apply a 2nd layer of epoxy).
Once I had marked-off all of the hardware, I drilled the holes from the topside either using the hardware itself as a guide or the supplied guides that came with some of the hardware. Then, from beneath (after removing the headliner), I drilled up through the deck with a 1-1/8" hole saw, STOPPING AT THE UPPER LAYER OF GLASS (after my 1st mistake, I took care to clearly mark my hole-saw...more on that later...):
This is the one for the port-side halyard winch which I relocated from the mast:
![IMG_20170726_213726.jpg IMG_20170726_213726.jpg](https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/data/attachments/15/15052-83af813d16f92b65b1e02eddc509f4a3.jpg)
Next, use a screwdriver to pop-out the deck coring (in the case of my boat it's marine plywood)
![00000IMG_00000_BURST20170726213707_COVER.jpg 00000IMG_00000_BURST20170726213707_COVER.jpg](https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/data/attachments/15/15053-a20f8aa3da5bdd9a283285e0062010bc.jpg)
Next, use a chisel to get down to the parent glass layer
![IMG_20170726_213805.jpg IMG_20170726_213805.jpg](https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/data/attachments/15/15054-734ccbdb785ef6b1930582d9509eecdb.jpg)
Nice clean holes! (these are actually the ones for the deck organizer whereas the above are for the port winch)
![00002IMG_00002_BURST20170724190040_COVER.jpg 00002IMG_00002_BURST20170724190040_COVER.jpg](https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/data/attachments/15/15055-22cce8874a22c29c64a4a85ce0936925.jpg)
After doing this, I mixed up ~3 pumps of Epoxy Resin and mixed-in 406 filler until I got to a "Peanut Butter" consistency (West Systems defines this as a mix that is thick enough so that when a stirrer is pulled from it the peaks are thick enough to stand-up rather than fall down) such that it could be applied to the underside of the deck. The objective here is to fill these oversized holes with a plug of solid strengthened epoxy to keep the core nice and dry as well as having a material with a higher compressive strength than the plywood it's replacing. I started using the stir-stick as a putty knife and wetting the core as much as possible, then mashing it up into the cavity until it pushed-out through the small hole in the gel-coated top deck layer. I then leveled it flat to the inside core with the stir-stick, if not slightly proud, and finally placed a piece of release fabric over the bottom-side and rolled it several times with a finned roller to remove as many bubbles as possible:
![IMG_20170726_220807.jpg IMG_20170726_220807.jpg](https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/data/attachments/15/15057-4aafa4951ee795d67d28627f304be53b.jpg)
I used a little masking tape just to hold the release fabric up. The release fabric probably isn't mandatory, but it does make a nice smooth surface once released and purportedly eliminates the amine blush that plagues certain epoxies (which would only really be a problem if we were to apply a 2nd layer of epoxy).
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