Locker lids Part 1

Slow progress again this week, after watching England thrash France yesterday there was little hope of me having any co-ordination until at least early afternoon.  I didn't want to be inside the cabin so sidelined the galley unit and had a look at the cockpit locker lids.

They look pretty ropey but cleaned up reasonably well,  I used a heat gun and scraper to remove the varnish and then went over with the sander.  I have decided to route out a pattern and fill with black Sikaflex to make them look like a planked deck

I marked out the pattern in pencil, click on the picture for a clearer view.

I then clamped guides on to keep the router on track.

Unfortunately it all went a bit wrong.  After doing the more difficult lines I must have got a bit complacent and really farked up the easy lines.  Fortunately  I had some 12mm marine ply left over from last year so I cut out a new locker lid and started again.

It nearly all went to plan, except for the second from last cut which I managed to balls up.  As it is just a cosmetic line I cut a slither from an off cut and glued it in. Once set I'll sand it down and I think it will look ok.

I still need to shape the corners, I will then mask it up with tape and fill the grooves with sikaflex.  I'm still not sure how I'm going to finish them but I think I will paint with sadolin. The reasons for this are.. Colour, the ply that I have is very light in colour and will look odd with clear varnish.  Maintenence, If it start to show wear mid season, it is easy to apply a repair coat without having to have perfect conditions.  Experience, the rubbing strakes were painted with sadolin last year and stood up pretty well to the conditions.