Jason was on hand during the morning to pattern the new top for the canvas enclosure. After examining the old canvas, then making some minor adjustments to bring the existing frame back into symmetry, and set up properly for the new work, he prepared a new pattern from plastic material in the usual way, working forward to aft in sections to make an accurate pattern that, while so much gibberish to the uninitiated, would make sense to him back at his shop. He preferred to do the side panels only after the top itself was built, so for now he focused only on the top.
The old top had a problem where the bimini ended and the side curtains zipped on, in that the inherent tension in the top, and the position of the break, caused the top to curl when the side panels were removed (as they often were). The owner requested that we try and address this issue, so to that end Jason roughed out a new line, shown here in a black dash mark, where the new top should end, just below the curves of the frame and less affected by the design and tension of the top, while not so low as to look strange.
Meanwhile, I continued with my own tasks with the brightwork, beginning by disassembling as needed the companionway doors and hatch, then sanding all the loose pieces to prepare them for maintenance coats. The existing coating was in good condition on all these parts. I cleaned and, as needed, masked the parts and set them aside to await delivery of my new varnish supply.
Once Jason was finished with the pattern, I could get back to work on the windshield and other on-board brightwork, removing the remaining hardware and sanding and cleaning all the woodwork. Most of the existing coating was in good condition, but the windshield, as usual, had a few places near the seams where the varnish had lifted in small areas, and the trim atop the engine box had suffered when the box was moved around repeatedly during some engine work over the past year. These areas required a bit more prep, and would require additional varnish to rebuild. By the end of the day, all the wood was prepared, vacuumed, and solvent-washed, and ready next for masking and the first of the maintenance coats.
Total time billed on this job today: 6.25 hours
0600 Weather Observation: Cloudy, windy, showers, 46°. Forecast for the day: Rain, windy, 51°
Arietta was back for another round of work, this time focused mainly on completing the remainder of the deck refinishing, after completing the cockpit and hull phase last year. After clearing space in the shop following summer break, I moved her indoors and prepared to get to work.
The first order of business this season was to get the preliminary work done on a new winter cover, which Jason, my canvas subcontractor, would be taking care of. The new cover would use the mast as a ridgepole, and until the initial fitting was done, the mast had to stay in place on deck. After an initial consultation and some basic measuring, Jason had the information he needed to build a rough blank for the cover, and now I’d wait till that was complete and patterned before I could get into the bulk of the deck work.
In the meantime, however, I planned to pick away at the work list and get done whatever I could in advance, so I started by removing the lifelines and stanchions, which needed to be out of the way for the cover in any case. I also removed and secured some rigging that had arrived still attached to the chainplates, preparing not only for the new cover work, but, afterwards, for the removal of the mast during the bulk of the project.
Next on my list of early projects was to remove the bronze port trim rings in advance of the deck preparations and painting. These were secured with bronze screws from outside, and removal was straightforward. The trim rings had been bedded in abundant silicone, which I’d later have to remove. The trim rings were in good condition and would require minimal cleaning, since the bulk of the old sealant had remained on the gelcoat.
Next, I removed the teak eyebrow trim from both sides of the cabin. All the screw heads were exposed (but buried beneath a substantial coating of finish) except for one I found on the port side that still had the last vestiges of a bung, suggesting that at one time all the screw holes had been bunged. This trim was easy to remove, and other than the inevitable damage to the gummy coating as the screws came out, remained intact. However, I planned to mill new trim here, since it would be quicker and easier than attempting to save and restore the old trim; this would also allow bunging the screw holes during installation.
With a bit of time later in the day, I began to assess another one of the projects on the list: Replace the backing pads beneath the scupper seacocks. The original pads of plywood, while still generally sound, were beginning to deteriorate after years of moisture and condensation.
This would require removal of the hoses, valves, and through hulls. I hoped to be able to unthread the through hull mushrooms from the valves from outside, after which I could unbolt the valves and replace the pads as needed. However, the through hull installation wrench I had, and which works well for new installations, wasn’t suitable for removing these fittings, as I found I couldn’t apply enough leverage to break free the threads. After a fruitless attempt, I ordered what I hoped would be a better tool for the job, one to which I could apply a wrench, and set this project aside for the time being till the new tool arrived.
Total time billed on this job today: 2.75 hours
0600 Weather Observation: Cloudy with showers, 43°. Forecast for the day: Rain, 50°
Easing back into the routine after summer break, I got started early in the week by getting things back into order around the shop, clearing out temporary storage and other projects to make room for boats again. With this done, and after a preliminary meeting with Jason, my canvas subcontractor, to discuss the immediately-upcoming role he’d play in a couple of the several canvas projects lined up here for the winter, I elected to move Skeedeen, which had been delivered some weeks previously, into the shop for Jason’s convenience in patterning a new canvas enclosure for the helm area, as well as to get going on my own standard mostly-seasonal maintenance work on the brightwork. With what appeared to be a break in the rain (it wasn’t), I jumped at the opportunity to get her indoors so Jason could get to work, and before the even worse rain arrived over the next several days. The boat was blocked a little low for my trailer, and I had to make some adjustments before I could load the boat.
The next day, I got started by installing the old canvas top on the frame for reference. This top was over 10 years old and had held up fairly well, but was overdue for replacement. These photos are for general reference only. I hadn’t seen the canvas in some time and was amazed how faded the original color had become.
Meanwhile, preparing for the brightwork maintenance work ahead, I removed all the pieces I could, including the companionway hatches and cockpit trim. Later, once the initial work on the new canvas enclosure was complete, I’d continue and remove the hardware from the windshield.
Total time billed on this job today: 2.5 hours (over both days)
Tuesday 0600 Weather Observation: Cloudy with showers, 43°. Forecast for the day: Rain, 50°
Late in the week, the valve for the new through hull in the head arrived ahead of schedule, so I finished up the installation with the valve and hose adapter.
With that, everything was ready for Lyra to depart for a couple weeks at the owner’s home where he’d finish a few chores before launching near the end of the month.
Total time billed on this job today: n/a
0600 Weather Observation: 42°, clear. Forecast for the day: Sunny, 72°, chance of showers and thundershowers
The backing block for the new head through hull was ready after an overnight cure and a light sanding to clean up the inside of the hole, so I began with a dry fit of the through hull and flange base, not only to check the fit (fine) but so I could drill the bolt holes through the flange and hull. With the fittings secured together and positioned correctly, I drilled each hole in turn, installing a temporary bolt in each from the top to hold the alignment. This done, I removed the fittings and, outside the boat, countersunk the holes to accept the machine screw bugle heads.
With everything cleaned up and otherwise prepared, I installed the through hull with lots of sealant (4200), with some tape over it to prevent it from falling out (though the sealant was heavy and dense enough to hold it pretty securely in any case). Inside, I added sealant around the exposed through hull neck and at the boltholes and edges of the eventual flange position, then threaded on the bronze flange base, aligning it with the existing bolt holes, through which I installed temporary bolts from above to hold it securely. Then, back outside, I installed the flathead bolts from outside, applying sealant heavily and pushing out the temporary bolts in the process, before tightening the through hull completely from outside.
I finished up the installation with nuts and washers on the bolts, and cleaned up the excess sealant inside and out. The fitting just awaited its valve and hose adapter on the inside.
This wrapped up my current work list, and I finished up by removing the last of my tools and so forth, cleaning the boat, and loading in the various boxes of equipment the owner had originally sent over with the boat. Lyra would be back in the fall to do the rest of the much-needed job on the decks, including some additional coring work (mainly the forward portion of the coachroof) and to bring the rest of the decks into compliance and appearance with the new cockpit.
Total time billed on this job today: 1.5 hours
0600 Weather Observation: 35°, clear. Forecast for the day: Sunny, 68°
After a day mostly working on other things while I awaited delivery of some materials I needed to finish up a short, add-on work list the owner had requested, I got back to work, starting with reinstalling (physical and plumbing only, no wiring) the existing, operable bilge pump and auto switch. I located the pump in the deepest portion of the bilge, with the auto switch located nearby. With enough solid fiberglass lining the bottom of the bilge, I could use short screws to secure the pump strainer and switch, with sealant at all locations. I arranged the pump so the outlet faced aft, ready for the discharge hose.
I led a new length of 1-1/8″ bilge pump hose between the hull outlet on the starboard quarter (a fitting dry-installed by the owner and later bedded and permanently installed here) and the pump, leading the hose through the space beneath the cockpit and below the propulsion motor, securing it with wire ties and clamps as needed. Where the hose passed over the engine foundation, I added a piece of offcut hose for chafe protection, securing the hose to keep it well clear of the shaft and couplings.
In the past couple weeks, the owner had finished up work on the final two bronze opening ports and shipped them to me, so now I turned to their installation. He’d also found a way to remove the pins securing the opening part of the ports, which meant I could install the port bodies without the hassle of the operating section hanging in the way and adding weight and complexity. This, coupled with the experience from the one I’d installed on the opposite side of the boat, made the process much easier this time. Note that while both of these ports were labeled as “starboard”, they were actually the port ports.
With the removable parts removed, I aligned the body in the opening, ensuring that the screw holes lined up properly through the cabin side, then, after applying sealant around the body and beneath the trim ring, used longer-than-needed screws (3/4″) to secure the pieces together, before then removing and needed the screws one at a time to replace with shorter ones, since the screws passed right through the port and into the still-empty gasket recess. First the one in the head, then the one in the forward cabin. Interestingly, and head-scratchingly, I noticed that the trim ring for the port in the head (like its counterpart to starboard) was thicker at the ends of the port, and thinner in the center–but the ostensibly identical port in the port forward cabin had a trim ring of consistent thickness around the whole thing. This caused confusion when I found that on this installation, the screws at the ends of the trim ring had to be shorter than the ones in the middle, which didn’t make any sense till I figured out that the trim ring was different.
With tbe ports bedded and installed and cleaned up, I temporarily resecured the opening parts, reinstalling the pins only enough to hold the pieces securely for now since the owner wanted to remove them again for installing the gasket material once he had the boat back home again (where it was headed–hopefully briefly–after leaving here before launching for the season in a few weeks).
The final task on my slightly-extended work list was to install a through hull on the starboard side of the head, as the owner had become intrigued by the idea of a small vanity and sink there. I’d ordered the bronze fittings required, which all had arrived except for the ball valve required, which caused me to hesitate since I was wary of installing a new fitting sans valve without knowing for sure whether the valve could be obtained in time. Fortunately, the owner lived near a good marine store and was able to find the valve required, so with that question satisfied I proceeded with the through hull installation.
Digging around for a piece of solid fiberglass to use as a backing block, I found what I thought might be a perfect piece already cut (the center cut, or hole saw spoil, of a trim ring I’d built for a heat stove pipe on another project). At 1″ thick, however, I worried it might be too thick for the through hull neck, given the generally-known thickness of a Triton hull, so to check it I drilled a hole through the center, then marked and drilled through the hull in the appropriate position and installed the through hull from inside so I could easily check the threads exposed on the outside. While I could have made this work if I’d had to, there weren’t as many threads exposed as I wanted, and, with ample extra threading room available inside the flange body of the fitting, I decided instead to cut one of my traditional backing blocks from a piece of 3/4″ fiberglass instead.
With that decision made, I cut and cleaned up the new backing block, and after roughly marking its position on the inside of the hull, sanded away the paint there to prepare for bonding; I also removed the bottom paint from around the exterior of the fitting, leaving the barrier coat beneath untouched.
After cleaning up, I installed the backing plate in a bed of thickened epoxy, leaving it to cure overnight before continuing.
Total time billed on this job today: 4 hours
0600 Weather Observation: 42°, mainly cloudy. Forecast for the day: Scattered showers, 60°
Preparing for the season, I took advantage of a slow afternoon to finish up the project and paint the bottom. I’d moved the boat indoors earlier to give me the chance to do the work regardless of the weather. This was a straightforward task except for the need to remove the trailer’s keel guides for access to the sides of the keel. This posed no problem on the starboard side, but to port, the keel was pressed tightly against the guide and I couldn’t budge it.
I decided to go ahead and paint all the bottom, including the starboard side of the keel, leaving the port side of the keel alone for now. Then, after painting, I reinstalled the starboard keel guide and used a small jack and some scrap lumber to push the keel (and the boat) sideways just enough to release the pressure from the port keel guide, allowing me to remove it and finish up the painting there.
Afterwards, I released stands as needed to finish up the paint in those areas, then reinstalled the keel guide and moved the boat back outdoors to await her eager owners.
Total time billed on this job today: 2.5 hours
0600 Weather Observation: 50°, cloudy with a sprinkle. Forecast for the day: Chance of showers, gradual clearing, 64°
The sealant securing the new acrylic lenses in place had cured sufficiently over the weekend, so my first task was to trim the excess from the back sides of the frames, where the sealant had spread a bit onto the raised mating/bolting flange of the frames. This was straightforward and quick.
I chose to leave the outer side of the frames alone for now, leaving the squeezeout for removal after installation so that the protective paper would remain intact. Plus, I didn’t want to take the time to remove it now, since it didn’t affect installation and frankly I just wanted to get these in, after which I could clean up at leisure.
Next, I dry-fit each inside frame to its respective mate and used the frame as a guide to trim the paper on the inside of the lenses.
With preparations complete, and the rest of the installation gear still arranged on the port side, now I could get back to the final installation after last week’s setback. I started with the port forward frame. For each frame, I first dry-fit the frame with the braces to check its security and to choose the right brace lengths. Then, I applied sealant to the back of the frame and braced it for the final installation. This worked well to position and hold the outer frame tightly, allowing me to go below and install the inside frame with screws. Then, I could go back out and clean up the excess sealant from the outside of the frame.
I continued with the port aft deadlight. In this case, I found a need to use a shorter, 3/8″ screw (versus 1/2″ as the working length elsewhere) in one location on the frame since the longer screw there was bottoming out and pushing the outer frame away.
With both port frames installed and the new sealant cleaned up, now I could remove the cured squeezeout from the lens on the outside and pull off the paper from both sides, revealing the new windows in all their glory.
Moving my operations to the starboard side, I started with the forward deadlight frame and went through all the processes. On this frame, a couple of the dead end threaded holes in the frame seemed to be somewhat stripped, and while the bronze fixing screws would seem to grab at first, ultimately I couldn’t get them to pull tightly. At these two locations, I ended using a couple of my longer bolt and nut assemblies to pull the frames together, and also needed a single short screw at one of the top locations. Late in the week, if possible and once the sealant cured enough, I hoped to replace these with the proper screws.
With great fanfare, I finished up with the starboard aft frame. This one required a third brace since the shape of the cabin trunk here was preventing the aft part of the frame from being pushed in tightly with just the lower brace. When all was said and done, this frame required a 3/8″ screw at the top, followed by a 5/8″ screw just below, and the rest the stock 1/2″.
I finished up by removing the paper and excess cured sealant from the frames on this side.
I had a few items to do later in the week, part of a short extra list the owner requested since we had a few days’ bonus time before the boat departed on Friday, but for the moment I was awaiting new materials that I’d ordered, so I finished up the day with another quick coat of white paint on portions of the new shelf supports, mainly above the supports where the dark laminate was shadowing through the first coat. Then I removed the masking tape to complete this task.
Total time billed on this job today: 4 hours
0600 Weather Observation: 50°, cloudy with a sprinkle. Forecast for the day: Chance of showers, gradual clearing, 64°
Awaiting delivery of the new acrylic for the deadlights later in the day, I took care of a couple lingering projects to offset the waiting period, starting with the foot pump for the galley sink. The eventual companionway ladder (analogued for now by the rough construction ladder I was using) stood in the way of some of the logical locations for the pump, but there was just enough room in the settee face forward of the ladder, while still keeping the pump behind a solid portion of the face (there were numerous old cutouts in the face). After ensuring there was sufficient room given the shape of the hull behind, I used a template I’d made some years earlier to lay out the slot and fixing holes for the pump, then installed it with three bolts through the face of the bulkhead. When the new ladder was built, a modicum of planning would keep full access to the foot pump for use without interfering with the ladder.
These foot pumps are highly useful, and I like them, but I really hate installing them because the pump bodies are a constellation of weird shapes, hard edges, and odd fastening locations. I’d long ago adapted my method for installing them by pre-modifying the molded screw holes to accept bolts through the bulkhead face, then using washers and nuts behind, as the intended installation method apparently required good, clear access from behind–great for production-floor installation but just about inapplicable in the real world of existing boat improvement.
Since access was tight to the plumbing connections, I pre-installed lengths of 1/2″ hose for both the outlet to the sink (which I connected via an adapter to the 5/8″ hose I’d previously pre-installed on the faucet) and another length for the inlet, which could later be connected to a line from the water tank with a splice.
Next, after minor surface preparations, I applied a coat of semi-gloss white enamel over the primer on the new shelf support work and surrounding areas.
Later, in the afternoon once my new material arrived, I got back to work on the deadlights. Using my pattern, I traced the outline on each sheet of 1/4″ clear acrylic, then cut out the shape with a jigsaw, testing each piece in a frame till I had all four successfully sized (two of the frames were slightly smaller within their channels and required me to cut the plastic slightly differently).
To prepare for installation, with the paper-covered acrylic in place in each frame, I carefully cut through the paper along the edge of the bronze frame, then removed the paper from the bonding area, leaving the main part of the new deadlight covered for protection.
Finally, I applied a good bead of adhesive sealant to the frame channels, and pressed the new lenses into place, holding them securely with cross braces and clamps as needed and ensuring good squeezeout all around. I planned to leave these in the clamps through the weekend.
Total time billed on this job today: 2.5 hours
0600 Weather Observation: 34°, clear. Forecast for the day: Sunny, 61°
Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I got right to work on the deadlight installation, starting with the port forward unit. No greater motivator exists than the tantalizing thought of being done with deadlight installation. I applied sealant around the outer edge of the frame, then carefully inserted it in the opening and braced it tightly in place.
Inside, I installed the interior frame, which went well and quickly. I got all the screws started first, and I was careful as I went and maintained as even pressure as possible on the various screws as I tightened things down. The good news was that the bracing system worked well, and I had no trouble starting all the screws with the outer frame and glass held in position thus.
Then the day went downhill: The glass cracked at the forward lower corner, all on its own. And also at a spot at the top of the glass.
Was was worse, and all the more troubling, about this was that the outer frame wasn’t yet even tightly pulled in at that forward corner: I could still move it in and out with fairly light pressure.
This was devastating. This was a known potential all along, but I’d removed (and later reinstalled) glass deadlights in a sistership many years before, so when the owner had the glass lenses made I thought it would work, with cautions and care. It didn’t. These lenses today were 1/4″ laminated glass; the glass in the previous iteration was tempered safety glass. I’d had a problem with laminated glass on an Alberg 30 many years earlier too, which ultimately led to replacement with acrylic.
But there was nothing for it but to remove the frame, and regroup. There was no sense trying any of the other frames because they were doomed to failure. I couldn’t leave this one in place because the cracking was catastrophic, and the way laminated glass works any cracks tend to grow with time, pressure, heat and cold, and movement.
With the boat scheduled to leave the shop just 5 days hence, two of which were weekend days, I couldn’t waste any time. I ordered enough 1/4″ cast acrylic for the job as soon as I’d been in touch with the owner about the setback. I needed to get the new lenses installed as soon as they arrived Friday, giving them two days over the weekend to cure in place, then do the final installation on Monday. (Fortunately, the owner was later able to reschedule the transport a little later in the week, giving me some breathing room.)
Next, I removed the frames without issue and cleaned up the sealant. In the process, the smaller crack at the top of the lens grew through the whole plate.
The problem with glass lenses in cases like this is the frame and glass have to bend slightly to conform to the shape of the cabin trunk, and, worse, the way the frames pin the lens between them, along with the inconsistent clearance and cabin thickness on these boats, even moderate screw pressure creates uneven hard spots on the glass, which then leads to the cracks. There’s no way to cushion this or add soft gasketing because of the nature of the frames and the minimal clearances.
I made a template of the lens now, since I didn’t think there was any chance of the lenses coming out of the frames intact. There wasn’t room to trace around the exposed side of the lens if I laid it on top of the template material, so instead I made a rubbing of the edge from above.
Satisfied with the template–and the owner had previously told me that all four lenses were cut the same by the glass shop, so a single template should do the job–I removed the offending lens, using heat to soften the adhesive, heavy gloves, and my favorite prying/scraping 5-in-1 tool. With one corner already compromised, it was pretty easy in this case to get the blade started, and once I got it inserted between the frame and the glass it was pretty easy to remove the whole thing in short order. This one maintained its overall shape well enough (with only the broken forward corner, which was still held together by the clear fabric in the center of the lamination) that I could use it to make a second, traced template (which ended up corresponding well with the original).
I repeated the process with the remaining three units. None of the other lenses came out without suffering numerous breakages, since it was tough to get the prying tool started beneath the glass–the glass sits in a recessed area, with a raised section just outside (which contained the threaded holes for the fixing screws), so there was no easy way to just slide beneath the glass. Laminated glass holds together pretty well when shattered, but when the broken bits come away from the center lamination they are sharp, deadly, and minute. I cleaned up carefully between each removal.
Afterwards, I was left with a pile of frames ready for the new acrylic, and one intact lens that I kept pending arrival and shaping of the new material.
With nothing more I could do about the deadlights for now, I moved on to the newly-glassed shelf supports in the cabin, which now required the usual light water wash and then a light sanding to prepare for primer. With such fresh epoxy, I chose as usual a two-part epoxy-based primer as a sort of tie coat, since sometimes one-part products won’t cure properly over fresh epoxy. (Sometimes they do.) Once this cured, during the rest of the day and overnight, I could continue with the final products to finish off the new work.
Total time billed on this job today: 4.5 hours
0600 Weather Observation: 45°, cloudy. Forecast for the day: Cloudy, then becoming partly sunny, 59°
