On the mizzen mast, I repeated the same basic installation process for the lazy jacks, starting with cheek blocks mounted a couple feet below the sidestay tangs.
My original thought had been that a single leg would be sufficient for the mizzen, which I’d imagined was a little smaller. But when I strung the line and looked at the boom and mast in reality, I thought that the single leg might not be sufficient after all, as the boom was a bit longer than I’d pictured in my mind while planning, so I decided to go with two legs on each side like on the main mast.
After a delay while I awaited new parts to come so I could finish the modified mizzen jacks, I finished up the installation with extra blocks, additional line, and eye straps on the boom, stringing the lines as with the main boom to create a pair of adjustable legs on each side and allow for retraction of the lazy jacks when desired.
The final task for me on the mast was to remove the corroded part of the mast butt. I’d originally planned on having the riggers do this along with their work list, but with some time on hand now I decided to take care of it. Earlier, I’d determined that I needed to remove 1-1/2″ of the mast to clear the old corrosion at the bottom, and I’d rebuilt the mast step on the boat 1-1/2″ higher to accommodate this. To begin, I made a mark at the correct height all around the base of the mast. Then, I cut to the mark with a saw.
After some minor work to accommodate the cast aluminum mast base plug, I finished up by reinstalling it with a couple machine screws to hold it in place; I didn’t see why it needed any more than two.
Now that I’d completed the bilge soak, I could remove the final through hull fittings from the boat: a transducer in the very bottom of the boat beneath the (former) engine, and the old engine intake through hull and valve. There was also a small sink drain fitting near the head sink that I’d not gotten around to before.
The engine intake fitting was a convoluted arrangement that turned out to be nothing like I’d expected. Seeing four nuts on the inside of the backing plate, and four screws on the outside of the flush screen fitting, I’d logically assumed one begat the other, so after cutting off the valve inside, I removed the nuts and tried to bang out the bolts to no avail. I figured they must be in tapped holes, so from outside I removed the screws and then the screen fitting, revealing a normal through hull set inside a recess–a recess created by the strange two-layer backing plate within. Back inside the boat, though, I found that the threaded parts of the bolts were still there–obviously another set of four bolts. Eventually I removed those and the second layer of backing plate, along with the mushroom head of the through hull, completing the removal. The huge transducer fitting came off with little effort.
With all the through hulls now removed, I used a grinder to prepare the hull around each location for repairs and patching, creating tapered dish-shaped recesses concentric with the old through hull holes for all 9 underwater fittings (including that skeg-mounted transducer, which I forgot to photograph here), plus three others at or above the waterline. Patching would come a bit later in the process.
The bottom was in good outward condition with only a layer or two of bottom paint. Also, my work now, as well as earlier at the garboard, had revealed the existence of what appeared to be a barrier coat (gray), which tied in with the generally good condition of the bottom paint and lack of the heavy buildup one would expect on an older boat. This was good news to me, as it all meant there was no immediate reason to strip the bottom and start over.
With good access now through the new poop deck hatch opening, I removed the backstay chainplate from the center of the transom.
Finally ready to begin the bulk surface preparation work, towards which all the dismantling had been leading, I documented once more the initial condition of the hull and boottop. Other than the obviously-repaired areas visible on the port side, the hull was original gelcoat in poor cosmetic condition, although there were no major issues visible beyond the ugly repair work to port. There was a strange sort of raised edge on the starboard bow, clearly visible and with a hard edge of about 1/16″ in height. This area ended right at the bottom of the boottop, and extended in an angle a couple feet up the stem. I’d no idea what that was about, but would streamline the area during the surface prep ahead.
The rest of the boottop was in poor condition and had clearly spent its life nearly or partially submerged over much of the length of the boat, with widespread coating failure. The repair work on the port side, while ugly on the surface, didn’t look like anything recent, and so far there’d been no signs of a continuing problem. Otherwise, the hull was simply worn out and tired in appearance, with the usual collection of minor surface interruptions common to boats of nearly any age.
Before beginning, I made reference measurements to document the existing locations of the waterline (i.e. top edge of the bottom paint) and boottop above. At the stern, there was the remnant of a scum line clearly visible to help suggest actual floating level there, and similar indicators elsewhere, largely on the boottop. In any event, I used a tape measure from easily-reproducible locations to record the existing locations for future reference.
Now, working from ground level, I began the hull work by sanding off the old boottop paint, a two-grit process to avoid going too far with the coarser grits since the hull above was just soft gelcoat and would require less aggressive sanding to prepare. Once I’d worked around the hull along both sides to remove the paint, I switched to a different sander and repeated the process, this time reaching up as far on the hull as I could (about 18″ above the waterline, or just below the hailport or to the top the through hulls in the port counter in these photos) with 80 and 120 grits on a 6″ finishing sander, cleaning up the hull and removing any (ha ha) gloss to prepare for future work.
Sanding the lower portion of the repair work on the port side, mainly amidships, didn’t reveal any undue surprises, and while these repairs had been unsightly blemishes on the hull, so far it looked sound enough, and appeared only to require additional cosmetic fine-tuning and minor fairing to prepare for refinishing later. The existence of this repair had been obvious all along, from both inside and out, so at least I’d not been surprised by any new findings just yet.
With the ground-level work complete at the end of the day, I planned to set up staging and continue working my way up the hull next time.
Total time billed on this job today: 7.5 hours
0600 Weather Observation: Cloudy, 30°. Forecast for the day: Clouds, then slow clearing, around 40°
After a day away on another project, the epoxy in the three bronze through hulls (cockpit scuppers and galley sink, all of which were glassed in place) had cured, and left me with the little plugs I needed so I could center a hole saw and remove the fittings.
With a 3″ hole saw that was wide enough to encompass the entire heads of these fittings (assuming they existed), I removed the three fittings, leaving clean holes that I’d patch later.
Just a bit of trim remained in the forward cabin, and now I removed it.
I’d agitated the bilge water and detergent a few times over the past couple days, loosening the accumulated grime, and now I drained the bilge. The forward bilges beneath the main cabin cleaned up fairly well, considering, and I rinsed the detritus aft so I could clean it all out from the engine room. Now the bilges could air out and dry over the weekend.
I spent a little time contemplating the bowsprit and whether to remove it or not. It was in fair, but weathered, condition, with some minor damage at the forward end on the bottom side (not visible here), but I didn’t relish the task of unnecessarily removing it, as access to the underside was tight through a small opening in the chainlocker bulkhead. For now, with no pressing need for its removal nor any obvious reasons requiring it, I decided to leave it in place pending further work and to see if something came to light later that might require the removal.
Finally, I cut apart the fiberglass fuel tank so I could dispose of it.
Total time billed on this job today: 2.75 hours
0600 Weather Observation: 40°, foggy. Forecast for the day: Light rain in the morning, then improving, temperatures in the 50s
With the milling and varnish work complete, just a few details remained before I was ready to return to the boat for the final installation.
The new fiddles for the U-shaped original dinette were to be removable, so that there’d be no hard spots between the cushions when the area was converted in to a full-size berth, but were still needed for looks and to help hold the cushions in place during normal configuration. I also decided to make the fiddle on the outboard side of the table removable.
To hold the fiddles in place securely, while keeping them readily removable, I chose stainless steel dowel pins. Into each of the fiddles, I drilled 1/4″ holes for the pins, then glued them in place with epoxy, leaving about 1/2″ – 5/8″ of the pins protruding below the fiddles.
On the tabletop, I aligned the fiddle and its new pins over the top and drilled holes for the pins, using the next size larger drill bit to keep the fit tight, but not so tight that the fiddles couldn’t easily be removed. Note that in these test-fit photos, I did not push the fiddle all the way down, as the pins were just freshly glued in with epoxy here.
Finally, I installed the top end of the table pedestal to the center of the underside of the table with six #12 screws.
A few days later, back at the boat for the final installation, I got started by clamping the three pieces of the support cleat assembly in place beneath the opening in the settee. Everything fit well and as intended.
To secure the cleats, I drilled and countersunk bolt holes through the settee and through the cleats beneath: three locations on each of the short sides, and four on the longer center piece. I installed the cleats permanently with glue and 1/4″ flathead bolts.
To finish off the opening and cover the exposed plywood end grain, I cut and installed cherry trim that I’d milled and pre-finished for the task.
Now I could test-fit the table in place.
After determining the center of the opening, I located and installed the table leg base.
To finish up the installation, I marked and drilled holes in appropriate locations to accept the dowel pins from the removable cushion fillets. I had to trim the ends of the long center piece, which I’d made too long, which meant that I had to bring this piece back to the shop so I could smooth and refinish the ends as needed, but otherwise the fillets worked well. I took detailed measurements of the opening so I could have a filler cushion made to suit. Fortunately, I even had offcuts of the original fabric on hand for the job.
Now I turned to the companionway area. The slim trim I’d made for the threshold fit once I cut it to length, but I found that I needed to make relief cuts on each end to accommodate the thickness of the paneling in the pilothouse and allow the center portion–in the companionway opening itself–to extend fully through the opening. I didn’t have the tools I needed to make these cuts properly on site, so I noted the details and brought the trim back to the shop.
The corresponding piece for the top of the ladder assembly fit once I’d cut it to length and fiddled around a bit, and I glued it to the top of the plywood backing, pinning it with some brads till the glue cured. This piece was designed to butt up flush with the 1/4″ thick threshold.
I’d return once more to bring back the modified parts and complete the installation, as well as to deliver the filler cushion once completed.
Total time billed on this job today: 3.5 hours
0600 Weather Observation: 25°, clear. Forecast for the day: Mainly sunny, high around 50°, increasing clouds late in the day and light rain overnight
To finish up the lazy jacks on the mainmast, I determined appropriate locations on the boom to accept the two lower legs and installed small eye straps on each side, then led another length of line from one location to the other, leading up through the turning block at the end of the main control line. I secured the lines to snap hooks for easy installation and removal as desired.
By adjusting the single control line on the forward side of the mast, the lazy jacks could be easily deployed or retracted forward along the boom to the gooseneck.
The masthead light assembly featured a threaded top to accept a Windex mount, but in this case the nearby VHF antenna interfered with the proper rotation of the wind indicator. So I made a simple offset with some aluminum stock to extend the Windex mount further aft to allow clearance past the antenna, and also improve visibility of the vane from the cockpit.
Total time billed on this job today: 1 hour
0600 Weather Observation: 25°, clear. Forecast for the day: Mainly sunny, high around 50°, increasing clouds late in the day and light rain overnight
Continuing with the removal of the old steering system, I turned to the quadrant bolted to the rudder shaft. This was held in place with a machined keyway, and the two-piece aluminum quadrant was secured together with four machine bolts plus two through bolts. Fortunately, all six bolts came out without major effort, releasing the quadrant. The key was well stuck to the quadrant and came out on its own. I sprayed some penetrating oil on the stuffing box nuts to let them soak for a while so I could eventually service the packing and/or drop the rudder for some needed repairs.
The lack of proper rudder stops (as I mentioned earlier, the rudder stop assembly I recently removed had been installed apparently upside down) was directly responsible for the damage at the top edge of the rudder, since the rudder, even with the pedestal steering, could be turned too far to each side. This caused the rudder to hit the hull at its inward edge, causing, over time, the damage seen to the top of the rudder blade. I’d have to install some sort of proper stop system for the new tiller-driven steering later, and hoped to drop the rudder at least partially out in order to effect the repairs to the top of the blade. All this to be determined in due course.
Since I was in the cockpit lockers anyway, I finished up the removal of several through hulls, including the engine exhaust and bilge outlets and yet another transducer. I’d already cut off the tops of these fittings, but now I worked to remove the remainders and the backing plates, when installed.
I drained the icebox of its moldering contents, and quickly cleaned up the interior a bit. The two icebox lids were beyond salvage, full of disgusting moldy saturated wood and foam, and I threw them away rather than worry about attempting to rebuild them, as their construction was hardly worth emulating anyway.
Meanwhile, I removed the galley sink drain through hull, a small through hull from the engine room, and yet another transducer located beneath the port settee in the main cabin. I’d patch all these openings later once I got into the repair stage of the project.
The cockpit scuppers and galley sink drains featured bronze mushrooms and that were fiberglassed to the hull from within. The easiest way to remove these fittings was to drill them out with a hole saw, but first I needed a way to center the bit in the opening. To this end, I masked over the outsides of the openings, then filled inside with a thickened epoxy mixture, leaving it to cure. This only had to provide a solid-enough plug for starting the hole saw once cured. My epoxy was a little looser than I’d planned and wanted to run out of the steeply-angled scupper fittings, but a little masking tape helped stem the flow.
In the main cabin bilge, I wiped out as much gunk and chunks as possible, then decided to add cleaner and soak the bilge for a couple days, hoping to loosen the accumulated grime. The detergent didn’t suds as much as I’d expected, but with some agitation on and off during the rest of the week the soak might have a positive impact.
Finally, I disassembled the propeller shaft stuffing box, which I’d removed with the shaft still stuck inside earlier, and tossed the remnants of the shaft. I expected to clean up and re-use the stuffing box assembly later.
With most disassembly chores now behind me and at a logical stopping point for the moment, I decided to grab the opportunity afforded by better-than-expected weather outside to work on an ongoing mast project and enjoy the fine spring-like conditions for the remainder of the afternoon.
Total time billed on this job today: 4.75 hours
0600 Weather Observation: 32°, cloudy. Forecast for the day: Rain or snow shower, then mainly cloudy, 40s (it ended up being sunny and mid-50s in the afternoon)
Taking advantage of better-than-expected weather, and with a less-than-optimistic temperature forecast for most of April, I moved Jasmine’s main mast from its storage area over to the other side of the building and near the boat, where I had more convenient access. I had just a few small tasks to complete on the spar, beginning with the final installation of the masthead light assembly. I secured my new mounting platform to the masthead with a screw through one of the original strap bolt holes, then secured the aluminum light fixture with three machine screws into the holes I’d already prepared. I secured the wiring with a rubber-lined clamp that I attached to another of the masthead strap bolts.
With a drum sander, I pared down the plastic wiring fitting at the base of the mast till I could slide on the 1-1/8″ hose I’d purchased as a conduit. This hose could be cut to the proper length later for routing the wires from the mast through the deck and into the head for connection.
Next, I started the installation of a lazy-jack system, a retractable and simple system I’d been using for many years. On. each side of the mast, a few feet above the spreaders, I installed a small cheek block for the main control lines, using two machine screws in tapped holes, all protected with Tef-Gel. I ran a continuous line through these blocks and through another block on the front side of the mast, from which I then led a tension line down towards the mast base. This arrangement formed the main part of the system and allowed easy tensioning and retraction of the jacks if desired. It’s a difficult system to photograph and works more easily than I can describe it, though I’ve done so in various other project logs in past years.
By now, it was late in the day, and I left the remaining lazy jack installation–all on the boom itself–for another time. I’d also repeat the installation on the mizzen mast another time.
Total time billed on this job today: 2 hours
0600 Weather Observation: 32°, cloudy. Forecast for the day: Rain or snow shower, then mainly cloudy, 40s (it ended up being sunny and mid-50s during the afternoon)
Getting started in the main cabin, I removed the door trim from the opening between the main and forward cabins, removing the trim from both sides and maintaining the pieces for reference in creating replacements later.
This freed up the old Formica covering on the bulkhead, and now I removed this, as it was poorly adhered and generally in poor condition. The plywood bulkhead beneath, made up of two layers of plywood secured together to cover the large space, looked to be in sound condition. This bulkhead does not carry rigging loads, and was not tabbed at the overhead or otherwise secured there beyond a pair of wooden blocks bolted through the coachroof at the corners, and to which the bulkhead was bolted. This, along with the trim when installed, held the top edge of the bulkhead more or less rigid. The after bulkhead at the forward end of the engine room was similar in its installation.
I removed the baseboard trim from the main cabin, then turned to the head area and removed all the trim from within, including the final piece of the original companionway ladder trim that I’d attempted to remove before, which I found had additional screws securing it from behind one of the head trims.
I was more than ready to be done with the steering pedestal. It cluttered up the cockpit and didn’t allow good access fore and aft, as the wheel was large enough as to prohibit access around the edges without standing on the seats, and it was about the last major installation standing in the way of other progress. Before I could remove it, though, I needed to remove the steering cables. In the starboard side locker, the original fiberglass fuel tank stood in the way, and needed to be removed anyway, so I decided to go ahead with that.
First, though, since the owner and I had talked about creating an access hatch through the large poop deck, both for better light and access to the aft part of the boat as well as for increased convenient storage, I decided now was the perfect time to cut an opening. After inspecting the deck from below to locate anything that might stand in the way of or limit the size of the new opening, I marked out a rectangle on deck, staying a few inches aft of the traveler location. I cut out the hatch with a saw, revealing plywood core in sound condition though with some top-skin delamination at one edge. I might enlarge the opening later, but for now it allowed in light and air and made continued work in the aft lockers more enjoyable tolerable.
The fuel tank was tabbed to the hull along its two exposed edges (outboard and forward), and while the gauge read nearly empty, I decided to look inside, since there was a little access port there, which had only one screw securing it along with (what else) silicone sealant. Clearly this hatch had leaked over the years, as the top of the tank showed plenty of leakage evidence. Removing the hatch, I confirmed there was just a small amount of fuel in the tank, so I could proceed without having to pump out the contents. With a reciprocating saw, I cut the fiberglass nipples for the vent and fill hoses at the aft end, then cut the tabbing along the hull, releasing the tank.
The tank was just too large, it seemed, to twist out of the cockpit locker opening, but fortunately it fit over the divider bulkhead and through the head, and I gladly removed it down to the shop floor. With the tank gone, I found my two sets of Vice-Grips that I’d lost in the inaccessible void beneath the tank when I was removing deck hardware back in September.
With better access now, I turned back to the steering system. A hefty plywood platform was secured across the two structural members just above the steering quadrant, and served no purpose now; actually, it had served no purpose ever, that I could tell, since it appeared to have been installed upside down. I think it was meant as a support for cast iron rudder stops, to prevent overturning, but these faced upwards and did nothing to limit rudder movement. In any event, the platform limited access to the quadrant, and while access was possible with it in place, since it served no further purpose I decided to remove it. The platform was secured with angle brackets on both sides, and with the fuel tank gone I could easily (using the term relatively) access the starboard side bolts and remove them.
Moving to the other side, I removed the nuts from the bracket, but couldn’t easily remove the bolts since the long bolts hanging down from the platform itself were in the way. So I cut through the platform just inboard of the bracket, making it easier to remove in two pieces. This exposed the steering quadrant to make additional work more convenient.
The steering cables were attached with fussy little half-hidden eye bolts, which in the original installation allow for tension adjustment of the cables. After working on one of these for a few minutes, my impatience got the better of me and I cut through both cables with my saw, just so I could get the pedestal out. I’d come back later and work on removing the two-piece quadrant from the shaft (though it caused no particular harm if left in place), but for now I was ready to unbolt and remove the pedestal itself. The four nuts securing the pedestal guard bases were easy to remove, and I pushed the bolts up from beneath.
I couldn’t remove the large aluminum nuts from beneath the pedestal from beneath: the bolts turned. So I clamped the nuts with Vice-Grips and tried loosening from above, using an impact gun on the slotted heads. This worked for two of the bolts, but on the other two the aluminum slots spun out. I drilled out the remaining two heads, which was easy enough since they were aluminum, then snapped (in one instance) or cut off (t’other) the bolts and nuts from beneath, releasing the steel bottom plate and bronze cable sheaves, and then allowing me to remove the pedestal from above.
Photo from 3/21/18
Photo from 3/21/18
Photo from 3/21/18
Photo from 3/21/18
What a nice openness the pedestal removal gave the cockpit. It’s a small cockpit well, and the helm dominated the space.
Total time billed on this job today: 7.5 hours
0600 Weather Observation: 12°, clear. Forecast for the day: Mainly sunny with increasing clouds late in the day, around 50°
Hoping to disassemble the top part of the steering pedestal, I removed the compass to expose the innards. The long screws securing the compass binnacle to the top of the pedestal–stainless steel into aluminum–were heavily stuck in place with corrosion and I couldn’t budge them, so I soaked them in penetrating oil for the moment. Meanwhile, I failed yet again to pull the wheel off the shaft despite massive pressure on the gear pulling tool. I abandoned the disassembly for now and, while I was in the cockpit, removed a few last bits of hardware from the cockpit well, including the locker latches, the old manual bilge pump, and the engine stop cable.
Earlier, the owner and I had discussed the fate of the pedestal, and he indicated a possible interest in converting to tiller steering rather than attempt to revive or replace the wheel steering. Given the current state of the pedestal, I decided it was time to confirm this choice, and some other pressing questions, and later, after a phone conference, he made the decision that the tiller conversion was his choice. Fortunately, this looked to be a straightforward conversion, since the rudder shaft already extended above the cockpit seat, where it had been covered with a nice little teak seat, and there was even a keyway machined into the shaft, ready to accept a tiller head.,
Since I now knew the pedestal wouldn’t be reused or require more work from me, I abandoned the disassembly and planned to soon remove the pedestal entirely from beneath. In the meantime, I got back to work in the cabin removing the rest of the trim. I discussed the condition of the trim with the owner, and he agreed that since much of the old teak was dark, stained, and dirty, as well as damaged in several places and generally nothing special to begin with, it made sense going forward to consider replacing the trim with a new wood of his choice rather than expend extensive effort carefully saving each piece of trim in the boat, then refinishing and reinstalling it all. While I planned to save any trim pieces that were worthwhile for another use, many of the small, thin pieces would require more effort to remove than to replace, and this streamlined the dismantling of the interior since I didn’t have to spend a lot of time on great care.
Beginning in the forward cabin, I removed the large fiddles around the edges of the berth, then removed the ceiling strips from the hull, a laborious process with many screws.
At the after end of the space, I removed the trim from inside the forward hatch (which was to be replaced with a new, modern deck hatch), and removed all the trim from around the aft end of the berths and hanging lockers. The plywood main bulkhead was covered with high pressure laminate, which seemed largely loose and, once I removed some final trim around the large door to the space, looked to be relatively easily removable. This would be required since the existing surface was in poor condition and not worthy of re-use.
Later, on deck, I removed the forward hatch trim, leaving the raw opening in the deck. The exposed core in the cutout was in good condition to the extent visible.
In the main cabin, I removed the two sliding doors from the opening to the forward cabin. I’d remove the rest of the door trim in the near future. For now, I noted details for future reconstruction.
In mid-afternoon, the new bronze garboard drain I’d ordered arrived, and I spent a few minutes installing it right away, to give the sealant time to cure and so I could move on with the full-soak bilge cleaning later in the week. After removing the bottom paint and other coatings from the area, I expanded the small drain hole I’d created earlier, keeping the new hole as low as I could, then prepared fastener holes, drilling and tapping for #10 machine screws. Then I installed the new fitting with plenty of polyurethane sealant (4200), securing it with four bronze screws. Inside, since I had access, I added nuts to the insides of the screws.
I spent the remainder of the day removing most of the trim in the main cabin, including bulkhead trim and fiddles.
Total time billed on this job today: 7.25 hours
0600 Weather Observation: 14°, clear. Forecast for the day: Sunny, 41°
Over several days, I applied three base coats of gloss varnish and a final coat of rubbed-effect satin varnish to the table and related trim pieces.
1st coat
1st coat
2nd coat
2nd coat
3rd coat
3rd coat
Final coat
Final coat
Later, I turned over the table top to expose the bottom side, where I’d already applied two base coats, and applied a coat of the satin varnish there as well.
Meanwhile, I worked on another small project for the boat. The original trim piece I’d built at the companionway between the pilothouse and main cabin had never worked well and was ill-conceived. I’d built a simple transition that overlapped the top edge of the removable companionway ladder assembly, but the problem was that when the ladder was removed, the thin trim overhung too far, and this resulted in it cracking and breaking.
I removed the old trim piece and made some measurements for replacement trim.
My initial idea had been to cut down the top edge of the ladder assembly a bit and mill a single piece of trim with a thicker, heavier overhang, but back at the shop this seemed overly complicated and unnecessary. Instead, I milled a 1/4″ thick strip of cherry to the 1-1-2″ width required to cover the plywood subfloor in the pilothouse. This trim would no longer overhang the top of the companionway ladder.
Instead, I trimmed the top edge of the plywood backing for the ladder, removing some additional trim that I’d originally installed there, and milled a solid, heavier piece of trim to cover the plywood end grain and meet up with the pilothouse floor level.
Over several days, I built up base coats of gloss varnish, then the final satin coat on these small trim pieces. Final installation would come after a trial fit next time I was back at the boat.
Total time billed on this job today: 2.5 hours over several work sessions
