Windless, new bow roller, holes to drill and others to fill.

C

Capital Sea

New member
Well, after jumping at the great deal for the V-1, I decided to go with a Delta 14 anchor and this required replacing the bow roller. I tried the Lewmar two roller model ending in 08 designed for the delta and this did not move the anchor out far enough so I could locate the windless just off center so the chain and line will run up the center line, without conflicting with the center cleat. So I am exchanging it with the 09 model which is 4" longer. This will give me a few extra inches between the swinging anchor and bow anyway and will solve the conflict. Not to mention that the extra reach will come in handy should I encounter a U-boat and need to ram it.

I have removed the stock bow roller and will make use of the forward center hole while I will need to fill the remaining two holes from the old roller and drill new ones. What are the issues regarding filling. I see some use epoxy. Will gelcoat set up will over epoxy or is it preferred that I use resin? The old holes will be under the stainless base of the new roller and all of that will be sealed, but I want to do things right, so a little advice would be much appreciated.

Also, when I cut the two larger holes for the windless, 2" each I think, some say I should make the holes slightly larger than required so I can seal the edges. What is the best, short of overkill, method for sealing the raw edges these holes.

Last, for now, the windless will sit partly on the textured surface and partly on the lower smooth surface on the bow's center line. How does one create a flat surface upon which the gasket and windless will be mounted? Once I cut the holes and can set the top part of the unit into the holes, I expect that the elevations will prove to be such that if I snug up the mounting bolts which run through the raised textured area that the super marine white stuff between the lower area and the windless frame/gasket will harden at the textured areas elevation. Is this the method?

While I wait for parts, I wave installed an led reading lamp and modified the dinette bed to create a comfortable reading couch using the rigid center cushion from the V-birth. Photos to follow.
 
I have ground down the non skid, which is basically gel coat. If the holes where the bolts for the roller was are going to be under the new roller, I would drill out these holes, to make them absolutely clean. Then take a piece of doweling rod of appropaite diameter, saturated with epoxy, and after coating the inside of the old hole, with epoxy, and tap that in place. I would leave the top slightly below the top of the deck, and fill that with MarineTex. Some folks have had good experience with epoxy adhering to polyester. Generally most boat repair folks use gel coat over polyester resin. There are also tie coat materials which tend to bond gelcoat and epoxy. Since the holes will be covered with a sealant under the SS (most likely 4200) the MarineTex should be fine as a top finish material.
 
Thanks, been shopping and just need some decent daytime weather.

So what do you use to grind down the texture in order to result in a flat area and not scar up the textured surface outside the windless footprint?
 
I have some discs which are about 1 1/8" diameter, and a 1/8" shaft, which chucks to a Dremel tool, and some 2" discs which chuck in a 1/4" rotozip. I use some of the small bits in the Dremel tool, for some edges, and then smooth the area with a detail sander to be sure it is flat. I use the base of the gooves of the nonskid as an indicator of depth--just barely leave these--which are close to the flush gel coat of the smooth area.
 
Hmmmm? Not sure if I will go that way or not. After I get the holes cut out and drilled and can set the upper unit into place, I will just need to see what makes sense. It may be that enough of the base sits on the raised area so that filling the lower area and the valleys between the texture bumps, and only tightening the bolts in the raised area till things harden up will work fine.
 
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