Holes in the Companionway

[Mitch]

I'm changing the clocks this winter - the B & G's have never worked and the Raymarine wind instrument has never shown the right direction. I have now ordered a B&G Triton, this has only one display; the Zeus Chartplotter will have to wait till next year I think, but I shouldn't need any more displays once that's plumbed in.......
That leaves two surplus holes - anyone had a similar problem, and if so how did you deal with it? I'd be interested to know, or indeed if you have any ideas (at the moment I'm thinking two teak panels, one on each side; the Chartplotter will end up on the port side bulkhead)

[40ursa_minor]

Mitch if you remember Ursa Minor has very few things on the cockpit bulkhead. This was not always the case and two years ago when the deck was repainted I closed off several large holes using west epoxy products and following the standard repair technique of grinding and tapering the edges of the redundant holes and cutting several layers of glass mat in reducing sizes. I also used simple backing pads stuck in place with peanut butter epoxy resin mix. I also closed off the hole near the mast for a chimney and another one near the forehatch that I had not a clue as to its original purpose. This was only possible because I had overwintered in a shed to organise the deck painting.

[Mitch]

Hi Robert,

I ended up doing something very similar, patched each hole with a glass/epoxy sheet and laid up both sides. I was going to go for a gel-coat patch on top, but due to the new meter and connection being so deep there was a juggling job to find enough width and depth to fit the B&G Triton. Lack of time meant I just cut a piece of Iroko, slightly wider than the frame, and with a piece of trusty white breadboard found enough depth to connect a low profile 90' NMEA 2000 connector behind. These connectors are a problem - fitting the chart plotter onto the bulkhead required a teak spacer and a hole behind. I am well pleased with the result though - I had a bit of an interesting night passage to Rathlin last weekend and the kit performed wonderfully, a following sea, big tide, a dead run and the Aries going a dinger (It wouldn't have been half as practical with the old set up - I never knew where the wind was accurately).

[Mitch]

Out with the old, in with the new. I have a before and after photos of the on deck ‘navigatorium’ on Seal Morning. I generally work from the cockpit and if there’s any planning to do downstairs it can be sorted on an iPad.

[Mitch]

And the magical Zeus…….
There was insufficient depth for the connections so careful positioning and the surround was necessary.