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.

Wednesday

To begin, I cleaned up the interior pretty thoroughly, vacuuming and then solvent-washing as needed to prepare all the surfaces for epoxy filler.  Once clean, I went around the boat and applied a coat of filler to the fastener holes  and other areas I’d prepared.

In the lockers beneath the settees, where I’d removed that old core material, there remained an edge around the insides of the lockers leftover from the old fiberglass, and, having sanded it as far as practicable, I used some epoxy filler to smooth out the transition. not going crazy with the process since these were only storage lockers.

In the overhead in the galley and head, I filled the shallow voids left from the deck prism patches I’d installed on the deck side during the bridgedeck recore with a strengthened epoxy mixture, bringing the center areas flush with the surrounding fiberglass that I’d prepared.  Similarly, I filled some larger fastener holes beneath the foredeck and in the head with the mixture as well, preparing these areas for a layer of fiberglass that would come soon.

Having taken the interior as far as I could from now, and with some time left in the day, I turned to the rudder.  The lower edge of the blade still required some rebuilding and repair, and to begin, I sanded off the bottom paint, barrier coat, and gelcoat with a grinder, preparing a section of the bottom of the blade for new fiberglass.  I also cleaned up the mess that passed for the bottom edge to prepare it for filling and eventual reglassing.

I thought the basic shape left on the starboard side of the blade was more or less how the rudder had been originally shaped, and served as the most raw basis for how to rebuild the lower edge, though in the end I’d judge the final shape by eye as needed.  After cleaning up the area, I started with some epoxy thickened with high-density filler, pressing it into the voids between the rudder sides and then beginning to rebuild the shape from there.  It would most likely take a couple more applications to get the shape back where it needed to be, after which time I could glass over the whole thing to complete the repair.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  31°, snow, about 3-4 inches down so far.  Forecast for the day:  Snow ending (about 5-6″ total) and clearing, growing colder with snow squalls.

Tuesday

After a mid-morning start following some errands and other business, I continued finish-sanding work on the remaining surfaces in the main cabin, including the port settee, both sides of the cabin trunk, and the galley area.  When I was through with the larger tool, I switched to a small palm sander and 120 grit paper and finished up work on various corners and tight spots to complete the basic prep work in the main and forward cabins.

Afterwards, I went around the interior with a drill and countersink bit, and reamed out all the old screw holes throughout the interior, making the holes wider to better accept epoxy filler.  I liked to start with a clean slate and not be tied to any existing holes, particularly in a situation where I wasn’t sure how new trim and other details would come together.

Next, I used a grinder to open up a few cracks here and there, mainly in sections of the port side where the liner had apparently once been cut out for access to the hull and deck.  These seams had opened up in places, and the non-reinforced seams would show through new coatings unless I improved the bonding.  I kept these areas minimal, since this was just a non-structural interior liner and my only purpose was to better hide these seams and old cracks.  While I had the grinder out, I prepared the area around the old deck prism above the galley, and also some old fastener holes beneath the foredeck that required more substantial filling and patching.

The main bulkhead was tabbed along the hull, but not at the decks, and originally (or at least as-delivered here) the bulkhead was pinned at the top corners by wooden blocks, which were bolted through the bulkhead and had once been bolted awkwardly through the deck.  I’d removed the large bolts through the deck during that phase of work, and now I finally got around to removing the blocks and their remaining bolts from the bulkheads.  Later, I planned to tab the main bulkhead to the deck throughout.

The final area requiring bulk surface preparations was the head compartment, with myriad small but multi-faceted surfaces to prepare.  As in the galley, the after bulkhead here was covered with Formica and didn’t need the sanding prep at this time.  For the moment, I also chose to leave alone the molded sole section, which incorporated a shower pan as well as a molded nonskid area, plus a platform for a toilet.  This section was a different color and was in pretty good shape as is, and on the off chance it could be kept as-is, I avoided it for now.

After various rounds of sanding with different tools and by hand, followed by hole reaming and some spot grinding to prepare a couple areas for larger patches, I completed the basic head surface prep to the same level as the rest of the cabin.

Total time billed on this job today:  6.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  0°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Increasing clouds, snow showers, then snow overnight, 20s

 

Monday

After a late-ish start while I took care of other business, I started in main cabin, where I worked in the lockers beneath the settees, cleaning up the final remnants of the old coring that I’d removed.

Beneath the galley, I cleaned up the lowermost locker as much as I could given the access, focusing on the inside of the old galley sink through hull, which I’d previously filled and patched from  the outside, but this patch still required fiberglass on the inside, which I’d do soon.  That hose is attached to the drain on the old icebox, and remains currently inaccessible.

In the forward cabin, I used a grinder to clean up the cuts at the aft end of the berth, where I’d removed the old, tall hanging lockers, and also cleaned up the hull and surrounding areas as needed in these corners.

Next, I sanded all the forward cabin liners, including the berth platform and edges, undersides of the deck, and overhead, with three separate rounds of sanding:  first with 80 grit to break and remove the gloss and clean the surface; then two rounds of sanding with an orbital finishing sander, ending with 120 grit, to hone the surface properly for the upcoming primer and paint steps (ad whatever else).  I still needed to come back and finish up the corners and detail areas.

With a bit of time left in the day, I moved back to the main cabin and finish-sanded the starboard settee, again with the 6″ orbital sander and ending at 120 grit.

Total time billed on this job today:  6.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  20°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 21°