Near the forward end of the cockpit sole, there was a never-opened (by me, anyway), heavy, stainless-steel inspection port. I had removed it long ago, but now I decided that I would patch the hole instead of reinstalling the port. I believe that originally, the port was a means to have access to the top of the fuel tank, but my new tank is forward, and there’s plenty of access to under-cockpit, and I see no need for the port.

I began by grinding out a bevel, and preparing a backing to go underneath to support the core while I glassed the top.

The pieces below were laid up on the underside of the patch.

The top side of the patch required a decent amount of filling and fairing.

More on the cockpit in a later post.

I had wanted to get some varnish on the masts before the winter, but that did not happen. They were well covered, and protected from the elements, however, so they fared pretty well. In preparing for varnishing, devised a means to support the masts in such a way that apply complete coats in one session. In the photo below the mizzen mast is supported over the main mast.

Here they are ready for the first coat.

Here the first coat has been applied.

Nine more coats should do it.