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Friday

I removed and set aside the sand weights and plastic that I’d used to secure the new core, and, with the core exposed, lightly water-washed and sanded as needed to remove any adhesive ridges and the like to prepare the core for fiberglassing.  I also sanded the mast step area and other deck patches (instrument holes and water fill) as needed.

Once I’d vacuumed up the sanding debris, I used paper to create patterns for the new fiberglass deck skin, and afterwards filled the kerfs and any small voids around the edges with thickened epoxy (oops–no photos of that stage).

Down at the bench, I cut two layers of woven fiberglass for each of the recored areas–one layer extending to the edges of the ground flanges, the second layer about an inch smaller on each side.

Before jumping into an afternoon of laminating, I worked on the poop deck to fill as needed the outer edges with structurally-thickened epoxy, then installed the core pieces I’d cut earlier, covering with plastic and weighting down as needed.

Now I wet out and installed the two layers of fiberglass on each of the newly-recored areas, plus the mast step.

To round out the day, I applied a coat of epoxy fairing filler to the now-patched old instrument holes and water tank deck fill.

Total time billed on this job today:  4.5 hours

0600 Weather Report:
35°, mostly cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  rain, high in the 50s.

 

 

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Thursday

After final cleanup and preparations, I installed new balsa core in most of the areas on deck (excepting, for the moment, the poop deck).  For each instance, I wet out the core on the bench, and wet out the edges and flanges of the deck area before filling, as needed, the space around the edges with epoxy thickened with structural fillers.  Finally, I applied thickened epoxy adhesive to the inner deck skin with a notched trowel and pressed the new core in place, weighting as needed.  The messy and time-sensitive nature of this work prohibited photos till the core was in place and weighted.

At the forward cockpit seat area, where I’d begin to rebuild the locker lid gutter, before installing core I added a tab of fiberglass where the gutter met the cockpit seat, and led it partially cure before next filling the gap above (originally filled with balsa core) with structural epoxy filler from the gutter side.  Once that had cured for a couple hours, sealing off the opening from that side and helping to support the little strip of top skin above, I continued with the core installation in that spot, filling in the rest of the gaps and edges with more structural filler and installing the core in thickened epoxy adhesive.

At the same time, I filled the outboard edge of the gutter with the thickened epoxy.

At the mast step, working in batches of several layers at a time to avoid overheating, I installed 10 layers of biaxial fabric to fill the area nearly flush with the adjacent tapered deck edges.  Some of the layers “grew” a bit when wet out, so I just let them wrap up the edges as needed, leaving the top edge for later trimming.

With all the core in place, I continued work on the old water deck fill and bulkhead patches.  After masking over the holes tightly from within, I installed some thickened epoxy to fill the holes and, after allowing it to cure for a while, appliied layers of fiberglass from the outside.  Sometime later I’d complete the patches from inside

Preparing for the poop deck rebuild, I laid out several pieces of core as needed, leaving core-free several areas around known hardware locations (mainsheet blocks and centerline mooring cleat).  Because of the way the inner skin tapered up to meet the top skin at the edges of my cut–the builders had created very broad, shallow tapers at the core edges during construction–I kept the new core back from those areas as needed, and also held the core back from the edges of the two locker openings to avoid the issue that had caused all the damage here in the first place.  I’d fill all these areas with solid material.

I’d had enough epoxy mixing for the day, and I didn’t think I had enough sandbags left, so I held off on installing this core for the moment, choosing instead to wrap up the day with framing some of the boats outdoors to prepare for their winter covers.

Total Time Billed on This Job Today:  5.25 Hours

0600 Weather Report:
40°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 60.

 

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Wednesday

With a late start after a morning appointment, I got back to work on the hull, and once more prepped and sanded the remaining patches on the keel, completing the repairs there for now

I removed the remaining bits of old core from the lazarette hatch that I’d disassembled earlier, and sanded the surfaces clean to prepare for rebuilding.  At the same time, I sanded the forward hatch and cockpit locker hatch to begin the necessary preparations there.

During my initial round of “uncoring”, I’d left alone for the moment the poop deck.  Now I went ahead and cut off the top skin over the entire area, staying back far enough to remain within the boundaries of the core within.  After removing bits of old core that remained, I sanded the whole area, and ground tapered edges as needed to prepare for new material during a later stage of reconstruction.  I saved the old top skin so I could later recreate the raised hinge mounts for the hatch.

After cleaning up the boat and shop from the past few days’ efforts, I got back to work on the areas requiring new core, and, using a variety of tools, stiff sandpaper, and whatever was neeeded, reamed out any remaining old core from beneath the edges of the repair zones before blowing out the gaps with compressed air and vacuuming the remains.

With green masking paper, I prepared simple templates of the various areas, which I used to cut core to fit or, in the case of the mast step area, fiberglass to till the void.

As a first step in the ultimate repair of the cockpit locker gutter system, which had pulled away at the forward and outboard edges, I prepped and cleaned up the area as best I could, and forced a thickened epoxy adhesive into the cracks before clamping the gutter tightly, and applying weight to the inner skin of the forward cockpit seat.  This portion of the repair would hold the gutter where it needed to be as I continued work nearby, and would better allow me to address a more structural repair a little later.

 

Total Time Billed on This Job  Today:  5.75 Hours

0600 Weather Report:
40°, mostly clear.  Forecast for the day:  Mostly sunny, near 70

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Tuesday

Beginning once more with the hull, I sanded the keel patches as needed, revealing a few lingering low spots on the port side; the starboard side patches were looking good.

After cleanup, I applied a third round of fairing compound as required.

After tooling up, I go to work on the decks.  The sidedecks and foredeck, and cockpit sole, featured a molded nonskid pattern–the original surface–that I needed to remove to prepare the deck areas for new paint.  Other areas of the deck had no molded pattern, and with original gelcoat on those surfaces I’d get to them during a later round of finish sanding.

Starting with the cockpit sole, I spent the remainder of the day removing the molded nonskid pattern from the entire boat, starting with 40 grit paper and finishing up with 80 grit.  Because of the way the pattern was molded, it was deep enough in some areas as to resist complete removal, at least without removing altogether too much material.  So I balanced the need to remove the pattern with the practical consideration of leaving the gelcoat as intact as possible.  Later, as needed, I’d fill any remaining vestiges of the old pattern with epoxy fairing compound as I continued work elsewhere on deck.

Afterwards, filling in some time before an appointment in the afternoon, I disassembled the lazarette hatch for rebuilding, and removed hardware from the forward hatch to prepare it for sanding as I continued work on deck repair and surface prep.

Total Time Billed on This Job Today:  5.75 Hours

0600 Weather Report:
40°, mostly clear.  Forecast for the day:  sunny, near 70.

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Monday

After a light water wash, as per usual, I sanded the various patches on the keel as needed, and cleaned up to prepare for additional work and fairing filler as required.

With a finishing sander, I lightly sanded the newly-filled gouges in the topsides.  The smallest areas were fine after this round, but a few of the deeper areas would require additional fairing filler, which I applied now using a fine, smooth gray epoxy filler.

Next, I applied additional fairing compound as needed to the keel areas on both sides, concentrating on getting the overall shape and contours right rather than worrying about every ridge or minor void.

To get ready for the deck work ahead, I set up staging around the boat at deck height.

While working on and around the boat during the past week, I’d already determined several deck areas that would require core repair, but now I went over the deck carefully, sounding all areas and marking those where there was clearly an issue beneath.  Most of the deck was sound, but these areas in the cockpit and foredeck would require repair.

During this inspection, I also determined that the port cockpit locker gutter system was coming loose from the deck; I’d noticed evidence of this from inside the boat when I was sanding the interior earlier, but from outside the issue became even more clear.

Starting with the foredeck, I cut open the deck to expose the core within the area I’d marked, the boundaries of which I’d left well outside the known bad area to ensure that the cut would extend into sound core.  Then, I chiseled out the old core and dug it out from beneath the outer edge, where the core ended.

I continued the process with the area beneath the mast step.  Someone had previously opened a small area of the deck here and installed a greenish polyester filler beneath the step itself, apparently in response to the sort of deck compression one might expect when locating a mast step on a cored structure.  I removed this material as well for a fresh start:  I planned to reinforce this area with solid fiberglass to better accept the compression loads of the mast and rigging.

In the cockpit, there were three areas:  the port cockpit seat (ahead and behind the locker opening), and the cockpit sole around the rudder post.  Even before beginning, I could tell the seating areas were badly deteriorated, and when I made the saw cuts I was able to completely release the top skin and some of the core just by banging the skin like Fonzi at the jukebox.  This made core removal in these areas a snap.  Around the locker opening, I found that the builder had left exposed core at all edges, and that it communicated directly with the seating areas; this is clearly how these seating areas became wet and damaged in the first place, and I’d reconfigure the construction to prohibit this (and make the whole area stronger) as I went forward.

I made the cockpit sole cut well ahead of the known bad areas, and well into sound core material.  As with all other areas, I strove to ream out most of the old core beneath the outer edges, as needed, but would come back during a later stage to continue that process.

With all the core removed, I used a grinder to sand away the gelcoat and create tapered bonding surfaces all the way around all of the areas in question.  At the same time, I ground out a few other areas on deck that would require patching or additional work, including the old water tank fill location, the old electronics holes in the cockpit bulkhead, and all the stanchion base locations, which, being located on thin, solid fiberglass outboard of the stiffer cored areas of the deck, had caused various stress cracking that required minor repair.

With the bulk grinding complete, I sanded the inner skin surfaces of all the uncored areas to remove vestiges of the old core and prepare the surfaces for later steps.

Total Time Billed on This Job Today:  7 Hours

0600 Weather Report:
Mostly clear, light fog, 32.  Forecast for the day:  Partly sunny, light wind, around 60.

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Thursday

With a small grinder, I opened up various existing gouges and small cracks or voids that I’d noted on the topsides, preparing them for filling.  After solvent-washing as required, I applied a coat of epoxy fairing compound to these areas.

Preparing the keel ballast areas for refairing, I determined a need to open up the two areas on the port side a bit more, as I found loose material at the edges of the areas I’d ground out before.  So I pulled out the old fairing material and ground these areas back to sound material, and brightened up the exposed lead to prepare it for epoxy-coating and first round fairing compound, which I applied in turn once I’d thoroughly cleaned the newly-ground areas.

Meanwhile, I sanded the inside of the knotmeter patch area, and, after cleaning, masked over the opening in the bilge so I could fill the hole from outside with a thickened epoxy mixture.  After a while, the epoxy plug had cured enough to allow me to install layers of biaxial fiberglass on the outside and, later, on the inside, once I removed the tape.

I also took a moment to fill and patch with fiberglass two erroneous holes someone (ahem) had drilled in the keel deadwood while searching for the actual bilge sump to drain the water at the onset of the project.  The third hole, which was in the right location, would later become a larger hole to accommodate a bronze garboard drain.

With the hull work well underway for now, I turned to the interior.  The scope of work in the cabin for the moment was to clean up most of the areas and leave as is, as the molded liner and forward cabin areas were mainly just neglected and dirty, and the owner had minimal plans for actually using the interior.  However, the overhead in the main cabin, including the cabin trunk, quarter berths, and other areas down as far as the full-length shelves on each side, required more work to bring back to acceptable condition, with poorly-applied and peeling paint, and the remnants of the old plywood and vinyl overhead system.

So after first removing the long teak fiddles from the shelves, to allow better access for prep and paint work, I spent the afternoon preparing these areas for new primer and paint, sanding away the failing paint and scuffing all areas.  The old resin and mat that had actually stuck to the overhead where the old panels had been was recalcitrant to remove, but I eventually prevailed, as prevail I must.

Total time billed on this job today:  7 Hours

0600 Weather Report:
48°, partly clear.  Forecast for the day:  partly sunny, windy, about 60°, drying out from 6-8″ rain on 9/30

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Wednesday

Before starting work on the hull, I decided to clean up the vinyl rubrail.  With solvent, I cleaned the rail, greatly improving its appearance.

Before:

After:

Next, I measured and noted the existing positions of the boottop and waterline (i.e. bottom paint) for future reference before I began surface prep.  There was also a clear scum line denoting where the boat actually sat in the water, with the typical Sea Sprite nose-down attitude, so I noted this position as well.

The bottom was in pretty good shape, and the owner did not want to strip the paint–I shed nary a tear–but there were a few areas requiring some attention nonetheless.  At each of the through hull locations, I sanded away old sealant and paint to allow the new fittings a clean bonding surface.

At the old knotmeter location, I ground out a larger circle, removing all paint and gelcoat and forming a dished area to accept the fiberglass patch for this obsolete hole.

The external lead ballast keel was at best a casual approximation of the shape of the molded keel to which it was attached, and this meant that at the time of manufacture the builder was required to add a substantial amount of fairing compound to provide a clean and smooth transition between the casting and the molding.   In some areas, mainly on the port side, it was apparent that there was at least 1/2″ of fairing material.   While there was nothing wrong with the installation per se, in several areas the thick, old fairing compound had failed, either cracking or in some areas, leaving large, deep chunks missing.

To prepare these areas for additional cosmetic filler, I ground the edges down to provide a transitional bonding area between old and new, and removed all the paint from the areas in question.  I’d repair these areas in due course.

 

The hull was original gelcoat, and in generally good condition from a damage/structural standpoint.  Cosmetically, the original surface left something to be desired, which of course was one reason the boat was here in the first place.  However, there were only a few surface gouges to be found on the entire hull, so pre-painting preparations would be straightforward.

To begin, I solvent-washed the hull to remove contaminants before sanding.  Then, I sanded away the the boottop paint and the top inch or so of the bottom paint, using two coarser grits of paper on a 5″ right-angle sander.  I also sanded away the vinyl cove stripe and name, and the old registration numbers.  Afterwards, I switched to a 6″ orbital finishing sander, and, during the remaining course of the day, sanded the topsides twice, with 80 and 120 grit paper.

After cleaning up, I went around the hull closely and marked any surface voids or gouges that would require additional attention.   There were few, so this would be a quick process.

 

Total time billed on this job today:  6.75 Hours

0600 Weather Report:
60°, muggy, foggy, showers.  Forecast for the day:  rain, heavy at times, temperature falling through the 60s and mid-50s.

 

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Tuesday

The old electrical system was decrepit and no longer needed nor desired, so I started the day by removing what was left of it–all the wiring, connectors, wire clamps, and electrical panels.  (After I took these photos I removed the 12-volt outlet still in place, which needed a smaller screwdriver.)

The port cockpit scupper fitting was also damaged, so I removed it, like its counterpart to starboard.  Then I removed the hoses and, finally, the old valves and through hulls, all slated for replacement.

The sink drain, with an old gate valve, was slated for replacement as well, so I removed the old fitting and hose.

An obsolete knotmeter impeller in the keel sump was next to go.  Later, I’d patch this hole.

With everything of substance removed from the deck and interior, I moved on to the old toerails.  The owner requested replacement, so I removed the old rails, along with the stem fitting and taffrail sections.  I chiseled out the bungs as needed, and unfastened the rails, which went without issue.  The vinyl hull-deck trim pieces would remain in place on this boat, and during a later stage of the project I’d replace the teak rails in kind.  I found a group of tiny little bugs beneath the stem piece; they’re too small to show up in the photo, but they were contributing nicely to the dterioration of these pieces.  During deck work later I’d clean up the old sealant where the rails had been.

I’d already removed the cabintop handrails, which I’d replace with new, and I thought that the companionway trim could be restored as is, but the cockpit coamings were badly weathered and slated for replacement, so I removed them next.  For the moment, I kept all the old pieces of trim for later reference.

The final bits to remove before continuing with the next stages of work were the two deadlights, which I’d reuse and reinstall later in the project.

With the disassembly complete, and an appointment in the afternoon, it seemed a good time to stop for the day

 

Total Time Billed on This Job Today:  4.25 Hours

0600 Weather Report:
65°, partly clear, muggy.  Forecast for the day:  clouds and sun, increasing chance of shower by evening, 70s

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Monday

After a break, it was time to get into the project for real.  The scope of the project was mostly well-defined, and certainly included full restoration (and, as needed, repair) of the hull and deck, so as usual I began by removing deck hardware.  After documenting all the existing installations around the boat, I started at the stem and worked my way aft during the course of the day, removing all the hardware and retaining it mostly for re-use.  The bow and stern pulpits and stanchion bases would not be reinstalled.

I removed an old knotmeter instrument (later I’d be removing its through hull impeller also), as well as the compass (no fluid) and a depthsounder instrument, which might be reinstalled.  I also removed a wooden filler/backing plate around the depthsounder, since I preferred to patch the large square hole along with the knotmeter hole beneath, then reinstall the instrument properly as need be.

I hadn’t planned–nor wanted–to remove the overhead panels that someone had installed in the main cabin, as the initial scope of the project didn’t include major cosmetic work on the interior.  Unfortunately, these panels had been installed over the nuts securing some of the cabin top hardware, so I had to remove the panels for access.  The panels were installed with some strips of polyester-soaked mat tape, most of which peeled off without much effort, though some of the tabbing had actually stuck and would require more work to remove.  The panels themselves were poor quality plywood covered with vinyl material, and while they’d looked OK before I had to touch them, it seemed clear that they were not worth salvaging.

When I removed the port genoa winch, I was amused to find the base full of small rocks.  Apparently a child (or a very bored adult) had had a fun afternoon dropping these through the winch handle opening in the winch.  There was only one rock inside the starboard winch.

The owner requested I remove the fresh water tank and related plumbing, so with all the deck hardware now off the boat I continued inside.  The tank was secured minimally with some tabbed-in blocking that I removed bare-handed, then removed the tank and its fill and vent hoses and deck fitting without issue.

Renewing the cockpit scupper drains and through hulls was on the list for the project, and a good thing too.  The port hose was virtually nonexistent with deterioration, and while the starboard hose was in better shape, I found that the plastic drain fitting broke at the cockpit when I tried to remove the hose, leaving nothing worth saving on either side.  I’d continue work on these fittings’ removal presently.

 

Total Time Billed on This Job Today:  6.5 Hours

0600 Weather Report:
50°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Partly sunny, low 70s,

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Now that Aventura was in the shop, I took some time to go over the boat more carefully to help determine the most appropriate work list.   The boat featured what appeared to be mostly original finishes inside and out, and, while a bit tired, dirty, and neglected, she wasn’t in terrible overall condition.

The topsides were as expected, and refinishing them was part of the project that was already determined.  The hard vinyl hull/deck joint trim, which covered the seam between hull and deck and on which the teak toerail sat, was in fair condition cosmetically but otherwise in good shape and complete.  I tried a couple methods on a test area to see about cleaning up the vinyl’s appearance, and had decent success.  (first photo)

The bottom was in fair condition overall, with not too much paint and which was still mostly well-adhered to the hull–in other words, better than most.  The ballast keel, as seemed to be typical on these boats, was a poor fit with the molded hull–substantially narrower, which required a heavy layer of fairing filler over the top from the factory to fair it in with the hull.  This material had failed in a couple spots, leaving large voids of a cosmetic nature, but which would require repair/refairing nonetheless.  Structurally speaking, there were no apparent issues with the ballast pig.

The decks were original gelcoat and molded nonskid, with a few cracks near hardware or stress points, and some evidence of core softness in the cockpit around the rudderpost, and on the port seats forward.  Other deck areas, at casual inspection, didn’t immediately alarm in terms of potential core issues, but I’d do a more thorough inspection as part of the overall deck preparation process.  The lazarette hatch was in poor condition and would require recoring, and the exposed core at the edges of both aft openings was soaked; these areas would require repair.  Really, who thought that leaving the core exposed here was a good even remotely acceptable idea?

The cover for the outboard well, along with the hull plug, was not on board.

The woodwork was original teak, heavily weathered and darkened by time.  There was a split in the toerail on the starboard side, just aft of the aftermost chainplate.  Otherwise the woodwork was sound, if unattractive.  Whether to salvage or replace had not yet been determined.

The interior showed its age, but wasn’t in terrible condition for all that.  Someone had installed cork or similar type material on the cabin trunk overhead, which was painted to match, and which looked pretty good.  Certainly some cleaning and sprucing up was in order, the scope of which would be determined in due course.  There was some water damage to the chainlocker bulkhead, the extent of which I didn’t determine at this time.

The bilge had a lot of water in it, with no drain plug, so I drilled a hole in the deadwood to let out the water and start to dry things out.  I’d install a garboard drain later.  There was a fresh water tank and plumbing, and a rudimentary slapdash electrical system on board.  Through hull fittings and hoses were in poor condition.

Total Time Billed on This Job Today:  1 Hour