Wednesday

I removed all the clamps that I’d used to temporarily secure the new cabin sole beams, and was pleased with the end results.

Next, I completed another round of sanding as needed on the tabbing fairing and other areas.  While I had the sander out, I also sanded the tops of the new fiberglass cabin sole beams to prepare them for eventual adhesive when I installed the sole.

There were only a few small areas in the tabbing and head that required additional filler, and for these minor areas I used some of the white acrylic putty that I’d used elsewhere during earlier stages of the interior work.  At the port after section of the overhead in the forward cabin, however, I was required to apply additional epoxy fairing compound, since this area of the liner had been misshapen and distorted by earlier work (work by other people sometime in the boat’s distant past), and while I’d been working the area to bring it back to shape, now I used a wider trowel to try and get the contours where I wanted them.

I spent the rest of the day mainly working on the cabin sole, starting in the galley, where I used the old piece of sole (which had functioned as a hatch) to pattern a new piece to fit the whole area (previously there had been two pieces in that space).  I also marked out where a new hatch should be and made these marks on the old section so I could use it as a template for the new.

I clamped and screwed the old pieces of cabin sole (they were bowed and needed to be flattened) to a fresh piece of 18mm marine plywood and marked out the shape of the replacement sole.  At the aft end at the head entrance, I positioned my little plywood template as needed and extended the shape of the sole accordingly.  Then, I cut out the new piece.  In order to fit the sole into the boat, I then cut it straight down the middle, creating two narrower pieces.

Next, I test fit the pieces in the boat.  I was happy to find that the wraparound cutout for the head opening worked well and that I could use it as is.

Now I made up the last piece for the galley, using the old piece and some additional measurements as a template, and cut out the center hatch to fit.  That angled section to the right (port) is a small raised area that will later receive a wood overlay along with the rest of the sole, but required no plywood.

Lifting half the main section of sole at a time, I marked the locations of the cross beams so I could lay out and cut the bilge access hatch.  I also laid out an opening just forward of the hatch for the mast compression post.

Since the center hatch was in two pieces, I epoxied them back together so I could use it as a blank for the opening.

The hatch would rest on the beams at the ends and across the center, but along the sides of the opening and between the beam locations, I added plywood support cleats beneath the sole, which I epoxied and screwed in place.

The last thing I needed to do to the sole for now was to epoxy-coat the bottom sides and edges of all the pieces, a layer of protection against bilge moisture once installed.

As I geared up to get the sole permanently installed, I prepared the bilge for final paint by applying some two-part epoxy primer to coat the new fiberglass I’d installed earlier, something I’ve found was necessary to allow proper curing of the topcoat over fresh epoxy.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  30°, sleet and snow (about 7-8″ overnight).  Forecast for the day:  Sleet and snow eventually ending, around 34°, another inch or three possible accumulation

Tuesday

In the ever-continuing process of bulk surface prep, I started the day once more with the sander, and sanded all the new fairing compound I’d applied over the bulkhead tabbing and in the head.

In the main bilge, I lightly sanded the new fiberglass I’d installed, and cleaned up the new mast step base.

After cleanup, I spot-applied additional epoxy filler in areas of the tabbing and head as needed.

The existing cabin sole had ended shy of the entry into the head, and I wanted the new substrate to extend further aft to better transition between these two areas.  So I used narrow strips of cheap plywood and a glue gun to create a rough, basic template of the shape; because of the way this wrapped around the center portion of the liner, on the inboard side of the door opening, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to build the new sole to fully enclose the area like my template, but at the very least I could extend it straight back through the doorway.   I chose to build this template now because I had hoped I might get to cut the new sole plywood later in the day, but as it happened I didn’t have time.

To provide support for the new cabin sole (which I planned to build from 18mm marine plywood eventually overlaid with cherry planks), I chose to use these 3″ x 1-1/2″ x 1/4″ fiberglass I-beams, which would be very strong and stiff, and of course not subject to moisture issues in the typically damp bilge.

Starting at the main bulkhead and using it as my my measuring reference, I laid out positions for three beams across the bilge area.  I positioned the forwardmost beam just aft of the new mast base, and evenly spaced the remaining two over the remainder of the space leading aft.  This left sufficient space for a hatch in the location of the original one, and the overall positions of the beams would well support the new sole.

The beams would rest beneath the overhanging settee flanges at the edges, and needed angle cuts on their ends in order to accommodate the shape of the hull.  I used a bevel gauge and scrap 2×4 to rough out the angle required (the same angle would work well enough in all locations).

After figuring the amount of the beams that would fit beneath the flange, I measured the overall lengths of each of the three beams, and, starting with the first, shortest beam, cut the ends to the proper angle.   The top edge of the beam had to be relieved in way of the settee flanges, so that the main portion of the beam would be flush with the tops of the flanges (and therefore properly supportive of the plywood sole), so after getting a measurement I cut about 1/8″ from the top of the beam at each end, using a table saw.  To allow for epoxy bonding and some fiberglass tabbing that would secure the beams, I sanded the webs of the beam at each end, extending in far enough for my tabbing.

Satisfied with the basic setup for the ends of the beams, I continued and prepared the remaining two beams in the same way.

After dry-fitting all three, and cleaning up the bonding surfaces at each location, I installed the beams with epoxy on the surface against the settee flange, and clamped the beams in place.  Then, I prepared two layers of tabbing cut to fit within the beam web and installed the tabbing on both sides at each beam end.  The working space was tight and mainly visually inaccessible, especially as I had to take care not to jar any of the beams in the tight space, so the tabbing isn’t necessarily pretty, but it would do the job, and no one would ever see or touch these areas anyway, once the sole was in place.

Later, once the fiberglass had cured, I thought I’d probably add mechanical fasteners through the beam flanges and the settee overhang later as well, but perhaps not.

In the middle of the day, my order of new cherry lumber and various sheet goods arrived, and I looked forward especially to building the new cabin sole so I could close up the bilge again and get to work on the remaining interior projects.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  6°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny but becoming cloudy, 20°, snow to sleet coming overnight

Monday

To get started, I lightly sanded all the new tabbing I’d installed last time, on both sides of the main bulkhead and a small area in the head.

The cabin sole blank was too large to fit out through the companionway, but was now in the way as I planned to work in the bilge to prepare and eventually rebuild a support system for the replacement sole.  To remove the old sole, I cut it into three pieces, leaving a narrow piece at the aft end on which my construction ladder could rest.  I removed the other two sections to the shop floor and removed the old support beams from beneath so I could soon use these pieces as a template for the new sole plywood, which was coming soon.

With the way clear, I sanded in the bilge area, cleaning up as necessary.  The surfaces were generally clean, as I’d soaked and scrubbed the area previously, and I’d already sanded lightly everything I could reach through the original openings, but now I improved the prep as needed, mainly to better accept paint in the near future.

In between the built-in reinforcements at and around each keel bolt location, there were thin panels of fiberglass, which provided a smooth bilge surface.  These were just a bit flimsy, so I decided while things were wide open to go ahead and reinforce these three areas with an additional layer of fiberglass and epoxy.

Meanwhile, in several areas in and around the new bulkhead tabbing, where I expected the final paint surface to extend close to the bulkhead itself, I applied a coat of epoxy fairing compound to fill the weave of the tabbing and begin to smooth these areas into the adjacent surfaces.  Specifically, these areas included the cabin trunk and underside of the sidedeck in the main cabin, and all areas of the forward cabin, including the overhead.  I didn’t need to fair in the tabbing at the overhead in the main cabin because I planned to cover that section of overhead with thin plywood, since the overhead there was in such a dreadful state.  When I prepared the liner for the new fiberglass, I’d anticipated this process, so the new tabbing was just slightly recessed from the adjacent surfaces and easy to blend in in this way.

At the port after corner of the forward cabin, I added some fiberglass to reinforce the last bit of that old cut seam left over from previous repairs to the boat some years before.  When I repaired the forward sections of this cut earlier, I’d left the aftermost section until I determined how we were dealing with the bulkhead, but now I could fiberglass it and, a bit later, apply some of the fairing compound over the top.

In the head, I applied fairing compound to the various screw holes left from the sink removal and other areas, and also applied a skim coat over the two sections of the molded sole to fill and smoothly incorporate the old molded nonskid pattern.

In this boat, the mast is deck-stepped, but directly supported from beneath with a compression post between the main cabin overhead and the keel.  This location was just aft of the main bulkhead.  I’d removed the wooden compression post much earlier in the project, but now with the cabin sole removed the main support for the whole thing–a flat, reinforced area just forward of the keel–was exposed, and it seemed a perfect time to enhance the original structure with a new solid fiberglass pad on which the future compression post could rest.  The original structure was sound enough, and surely built from layers of plywood covered and encapsulated with fiberglass, but there was a square, slightly-depressed section in the center that suggested that the original post had, over time, pressed into the structure slightly.

From 1″ prefabricated fiberglass sheeting, I cut pieces to fit the space and epoxied them to the flat area beneath, adding a nice wide fillet around the edges and leaving plenty of space around the edges for bilge water to flow.  Later, I’d glass over the top of this to complete it.

The rudder needed one more light sanding to finish up the final areas where I’d spot-applied epoxy fairing compound, and now I deemed the repair and rebuilding work complete.

In the midst of all this, I’d finalized my plywood and lumber order, including plywood for the cabin sole and cherry for all the interior trim, and made arrangements for its delivery on Tuesday.

Total time billed on this job today: 8 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  15°, partly clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 24°

Friday

I began the prepwork for tabbing the main bulkhead by measuring the spaces for the tabbing required.  Afterwards, I used thickened epoxy to install a nice fillet all along the intersection between the bulkhead and the deck above, filling any small (or larger) gaps and creating a consistent and smooth transition along both sides of the bulkhead.

While the fillets gelled slightly, I cut all the tabbing needed for the job:  two layers (6″ and 4″) for each side, in several manageable and logical pieces with joints staggered where appropriate.

With that done, it was time to start wetting out and installing all the new tabbing on both sides of the bulkhead.

In the head, when I’d removed the two tabbed-in shelves I’d also prepared the hull and part of the liner for a simple layer of tabbing just to secure the liner, since the shelves’ removal had left it a bit floppy.  Now I installed a single layer of tabbing just to tack the liner in place.

The cabin sole, besides being dirty and worn, was also creaky and weak, which the owner had immediately noticed during his visit.  Now it was time to look into the problem and determine whether the existing sole could be shored up and used as a substrate going forward, or whether it made more sense to rebuild and start fresh.  While I wasn’t entirely sure how the sole was supported and installed, I suspected that it rested on flanges connected to the settees along the sides, and there was clearly an additional molded section at the aft end in the galley, on which the plywood sole rested.  The main body of the sole had a series of wooden beams beneath, but at this point they were not doing their job and had allowed the sole to sag.  Access was limited beneath the sole, but with a camera I could get a sense of things, and frankly it looked like there wasn’t really much securing the sole at this point.

There were a couple obvious, exposed screws here and there along the edges, plus some bunged fasteners at the aft end, but the first thing I knew I’d need to do in order to remove the sole was to remove the teak threshhold between the head and main cabin.  With no plans to save this threshhold, I used a large bit to bore out the bungs in the fastener locations, then removed the screws and, at some length, pried up and removed the old threshold (saving the pieces to aid in creating a new one later) and revealing layer after layer of delaminated plywood beneath, none of which was still glued together.

Afterwards, I removed any remaining fasteners around the edges of the sole and then lifted up the whole arrangement in one piece, including the ineffective wooden beam network beneath (which hadn’t been attached to the hull nor the settee flanges at all).

By now there was no question that I would be building the substrate anew (later to be covered with cherry planking to match the rest of the woodwork in the new interior).  It would be pretty straightforward to build a new and better support system, and a new plywood substrate would ensure a comfortable sole for many years to come.  Having the sole removed would also allow me to better clean up and paint out the bilges too.  For the moment, I moved the sole back into the head and vacuumed up the worst of the mess beneath, but then I relaid the sole loosely so I could still use my ladder to get in and out of the boat until I could actually build the new sole.  This unexpected-but-not-really-unexpected project moved well up the priority list, and I ordered some materials with which to build the new support system starting next week.

With the day running out, I decided to sand the fairing compound I’d applied to the rudder last time.  I was pleased with how well it turned out after just the single coat, with only a few minor low spots that required another round of filler, which I installed once I’d cleaned up and prepared the newly-sanded surfaces.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  33°, light rain.  Forecast for the day:  Showers, cloudy, well into the 40s

Thursday

One of the many areas we discussed during the owner’s recent visit was the main bulkhead, and whether–and how–to tab it more securely.  As it stood, the bulkhead was tabbed securely to the hull, but not to the deck.  The original setup had secured the bulkhead vertically with a pair of wooden blocks at the top corners, which blocks were bolted through the deck–sort of an oddball arrangement that I’d removed earlier.  After some discussion, we decided on a plan that would secure the bulkhead to the overhead liner, but stopped short of the extra work required to remove some or parts of the liner in order to prep and tab the bulkhead to the underside of the deck laminate, which would have been the ideal answer but here was essentially unnecessary given how the boat was engineered in the first place and would be used in the future.  Sometimes, common sense and pragmatism have to take precedence, and since in this case the liner was pretty tight and secure to the deck above in most areas, I felt this approach would be successful, strong, and in any event a vast improvement to the original setup.  Obviously it wasn’t a perfect solution, but a decent one.

To this end, I began by checking the bulkhead for plumb, and then removed the gelcoat from a 4″ strip on each side of the bulkhead, all along the overhead, cabin sides, and undersides of the sidedecks, both on the main cabin and forward cabin sides.  I also lightly sanded clean the plywood bulkhead along the edges to prepare it for the new tabbing.

During his visit to the head compartment, the owner had quickly decided two things:  First, that he wanted to paint the brown colored gelcoated pan that formed the head sole and shower drain (I’d left this as original on the off chance that it could be salvaged as is); and, second, that he wanted to remove the two shelves and silly sink unit to open up (and probably repurpose) the space.

After unscrewing the dozen screws securing the little flange behind the sink and lower shelf to the adjacent bulkhead, I used a grinder and cutoff wheel to remove the shelves, which in addition to being tabbed to the hull were secured with wooden cleats on each end.  Once they were out of the way, I sanded clean the hull and adjacent areas as needed.  This made a significant difference to the space. and I wished I’d cut these out sooner.

Afterwards, I sanded the sole and liner area to degloss, clean, and prepare for future refinishing steps, working through the grits as I’d done everywhere else in the boat.  Once I’d completed the sanding prep, I reamed out any additional fastener holes (mainly from the sink unit) in the fiberglass liner to prepare them for filling and smoothing.

The original opening through the main bulkhead was several awkward inches above the sole level in the v-berth, requiring an extra step made more difficult by the general shortness of the opening and the height above the main cabin sole as well, which was substantially lower than that of the forward cabin.  During his visit, the owner quickly agreed with my idea to cut this opening down to the same height as the forward cabin sole, so now I did this, with immediately gratifying results.

In the early afternoon, after I’d cleaned up the inside of the boat, I debated whether to press on with the bulkhead tabbing, but decided that I might be pushing it timewise, so, leaving that task for next time, I decided instead to continue with some smaller jobs for the remainder of the day, starting with the rudder.  This required light sanding after the latest application of fiberglass, and, with that complete, I was ready to near the end of the rudder work with the first coat of fairing compound, which I applied not only to the bottom edge but also the top and leading edges where I’d completed structural repairs earlier.

After some prep and planning for a few immediately-upcoming tasks I planned to tackle, I finished up work on my wood list, determining roughly how much lumber and plywood to order for the interior work ahead.

Total time billed on this job today:  8.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  30°, cloudy, an inch of snow down overnight.  Forecast for the day:  Cloudy, around 33°, light rain or drizzle late in the day and into overnight

Wednesday

I spent much of the day on planning and administration as I sorted out various discussions we’d had during our meeting the day before, researched some materials options, but after a few hours of that I did get up to the boat for some “real” work, including another fairly quick round of sanding on the interior patchwork as required, bringing these areas pretty much to their final level of preparation.  With a few minor changes coming for the interior, there’d be more prepwork on other areas soon to come, though.

I continued work on the rudder as well, lightly sanding the main application of fiberglass over the bottom edge to prepare it for the final layers of fiberglass to encapsulate the corners and tie together all parts of the repair, which I finished up next.

Later, I finished rough-measuring for interior trim and other new materials required, the first step towards calculating what I’d need to order in order to continue the interior work.

Total time billed on this job today:  8 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  20°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 32°

Tuesday

I got started again in the cabin, where I sanded all the epoxy fairing compound over the various liner/overhead patches.  This brought most areas close to their final contours, with only minor spot-filling still required, which I did next.

After sanding smooth the new corner pieces in the forward hatch surround,  I did a final test-fit of the hatch.  Remaining work here would take place later, when it became time to finish off the trim work around the inside of the hatch, but for now I stored the hatch away for safekeeping.

I dressed up the last coat of fairing compound on the bottom of the rudder, completing the preliminary work, then cut two layers of fiberglass to cover both sides and wrap around the bottom of the blade.  I left the second layer back a ways from the leading and trailing edges so that I could later incorporate a separate application of fiberglass to wrap these areas, since the curves and various planes wouldn’t allow all areas to be properly covered at once.

I spent the remainder of the morning cleaning up and preparing for my meeting with the owner, which took place over several hours in the after noon, during which we discussed myriad aspects of the interior and other work still to come on the boat.  The fruits of these discussions would be illustrated in these pages in the weeks to come.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  33°, partly cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  A rain shower, perhaps, then mostly clearing, around 50°

Monday

In the cabin, I started with the new patches I’d installed in various spots of the overhead liner.  The new fiberglass required sanding to smooth it and bring it flush, as needed, with the surrounding surfaces and to prepare it for the next steps.

I lightly sanded the three patches over the insides of the old through hull openings in the head, galley, and port settee.

At the forward hatch, I lightly sanded the new fiberglass lining the inside of the opening.

After cleaning up, I applied a coat of epoxy fairing compound over the various liner patches as needed.

After some sanding of the latest round of rebuilding on the lower edge of the rudder blade, I finished up the initial reshaping work with a light coating of fairing compound to fine-tune the previous work, the last step before I could reglass the blade.

In the port cockpit locker, there was one more place I needed to install an inside patch over the old bilge pump hole, which I’d patched from the cockpit side earlier.

I prepared some triangular pieces of solid fiberglass for the forward hatch opening, to span the inside corners and finish off the inside of the opening where the hatch itself  curved around the corners.  Once cut, I epoxied these into the corners, leaving them so they extended above the top surface for later flush-trimming.

With all the currently-active tasks taken as far as I could for the moment, I started measuring the main cabin and galley areas for some of the new trim and woodwork that would be starting soon, rough measurements so I could begin to estimate the material required.  I had a meeting scheduled at the boat tomorrow with the owner, who was flying in for the purpose and his first time actually seeing the boat, and I looked forward to discussing with him the plans for the interior and some specifics that would soon dictate the next courses of action.

Total time billed on this job today:  6.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  32°, clouds.  Forecast for the day:  Sun, high 40s

Friday

After sanding the second round of hole filler in the cabin, I found many of the spots weren’t yet smooth and flush, so I was required to apply an additional coat of the filler throughout the cabin.  I had hoped to avoid this, but fortunately the white acrylic filler would cure quickly and I’d be able to get back to it later in the day.

While I left those spots to cure, I prepared to install various fiberglass patches throughout the interior, including the old deck prism openings and some cracks in the forward part of the liner, as well as three remaining through hull locations–the galley sink, head sink, and an old depth transducer location in the port settee locker–that I’d previously filled and patched from outside, but hadn’t yet patched from within because when I did some of the other patches earlier in the project, I’d yet to sand and prepare the inside of the hull in these other areas.

After cutting the new fiberglass for all areas, and other final preparations, I wet out with epoxy and installed all the patches.

To finish off the forward hatch frame installation, I installed narrow strips of fiberglass over the inside of the opening, extending from the new fiberglass frame down over the exposed core and deck structure.  I let the pieces hand down a bit over the gap between the deck and the interior liner, but did not attempt to incorporate the liner into the system.  The fiberglass would add some strength and also sealed off the exposed core; all this would later be hidden with trim.

By now, the putty over the holes in the cabin liner had cured, and I performed what I hoped was the final sanding of all areas.

To finish up the day, I continued work on the rudder, beginning with sanding and cleaning up the second round of reconstructive structural epoxy.

Afterwards, I built up the bottom edge just a bit more as needed, focusing mainly on the after corner where I wanted a “squarer” rounded shape.  By now, the shape was looking pretty close to what I was going for, and I expected one final round of minor shaping and smoothing to fine-tune the rudder before I could finish up with new fiberglass.

Total time billed on this job today:  6.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  -4°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 20°

Thursday

In the cabin, I spent the morning sanding the epoxy filler on all the fastener holes, as well as in the settee lockers.

After cleaning up, I applied a second round of filler to the fastener holes as needed.  In this case, I used a white quick-dry acrylic-based fine putty for this fine round of minor filling, an excellent product but one I don’t use often because my own preference for exterior work is and remains only epoxy-based fillers, but here in the cabin and for this purpose, this filler greatly streamlined the second round.

Back down at the rudder, I sanded the first round of epoxy filler I’d applied to the bottom of the rudder, as I worked to essentially create a new rudder core from thin air.

With the first round smoothed out sufficiently and cleaned, I applied another layer, building up the rudder shape closer to the final contours I wanted.  My goal was a basically flat bottom (parallel to the line I’d drawn on the rudder earlier), with a generous curve at the forward edge and a somewhat more square–but still curved–after corner.  This general shape would match photos of sisterships I’d found here and there.

With this second round, I though I was pretty close on the forward corner and basic shape of the bottom edge, but the after corner would require additional material later.  This solid epoxy “core” would later be covered in new fiberglass and tied in with the existing rudder blade.

Total time billed on this job today:  6.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  -10°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, teens.