Thursday

The final step before I could install new core in the cockpit sole was to make the cutout for the new access hatch.  Now that I had a template (and the hatch itself), I began by laying out the position of the new hatch.  There was an obstruction a little bit forward (a glassed-in wooden support near the head of the cockpit), and I strove to leave the new hatch flange far enough aft from that to allow for fasteners.  In the event, the new hatch ended up more or less centered above the old opening, which of course was no terrific surprise.

Layout complete, I cut out the center portion and test-fit the hatch.  Then, I sanded away any old paint and coatings that remained around the new opening.

Installing the core pattern in the cockpit, I made some marks to show where the opening was, so I could omit the core around the hatch opening (and also, later, for determining the hatch location when I cut fiberglass for the sole).

From here, I laid out and cut the core, leaving a wide-ish boundary around the hatch, which area I’d later fill with solid fiberglass.  The core was in several pieces to fit around the hatch, and because the cockpit size was a bit wider than a sheet of the core.  At the cockpit scuppers, I left out the core a bit back from the drains so I could manually form some new funnels from epoxy later in the process.

After final preparations to the sole, including adding a simple brace beneath the aft end of the hatch cutout to support the sole at its weakest point, I prepared the core by wetting out both sides and letting the epoxy soak in for a bit while I wet out the sole and then applied the notched epoxy adhesive over the whole thing.  I installed the new core and weighted it down with sandbags.  One of the bags opened as I put it in place, spilling some sand onto the plastic I’d laid above the core but not causing any issues.  But the sand might be visible in the photos.

While the core cured in place, I used the same paper pattern to lay out and cut two layers of fiberglass for the new top skin, sized as needed to wrap up the sides of the sole by about 2″ (roughly to where I ground off the gelcoat) and 1″, for the first and second layers respectively.  I cut out (roughly) the opening for the hatch in the first layer, but realized belatedly that this would make the fiberglass harder to handle during installation, so for the second layer I marked the hatch opening but left the cloth intact; I just wouldn’t wet out that area.  The new top skin would go on next time, once the core was cured.

At the transducer housing, I lightly sanded the new fiberglass from last time; then, after cleaning up, I applied fairing compound to smooth the area and fill and form some of the last remaining contours to blend the new housing in with the adjacent hull and keel, which was needed before I could do the structural fiberglass and then fair the whole thing its final time(s).

With some leftover fairing compound, I applied a first coat to the two through hulls I’d patched on the starboard aft part of the hull.

With that, it was about all I could do right at the moment, so I finished up the day working on another project at the shop.

Total time billed on this job today:  5.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  32°, mainly cloudy.   Forecast for the day:   Mostly cloudy, 36°. 

Wednesday

Thinking ahead to the day, I decided it was time to do the next steps in the transducer installation:  That is, to create the fiberglass housing that would eventually secure and bed the transducer itself.  To prepare, I wrapped the transducer in a couple layers of masking tape for protection, then, at the top–following the line of the stainless steel part of the transducer (versus the transducer-y part below)–covered the top in black tape to aid in mold release.  I applied some paste wax as well.  The transducer itself would provide the mold for the new housing.

A test fit showed a need to slightly open up the hole through the hull at the bottom edge, since the transducer bound a bit when nearly all the way in.  After pulling out all the transducer cable again, and enlarged the hole as needed with a drum sander, I fed through the cable once more and propped the transducer tightly into position against the fiberglass plate I’d installed in the keel cutout.

I cut lightweight fiberglass cloth strips to appropriate sizes and prepared to go to work.  Bringing the bottom edge of the fiberglass down to the bottom of the black line on the taped-up transducer, I applied two staggered layers of the cloth on each side, focusing on keeping the bottom edge as straight as possible and sticking the fiberglass closely to the transducer and immediately adjacent hull.  I wrapped more around the base of the keel just aft of the transducer, where there was a small space; this would give me a pocket that I could fill with epoxy afterwards.  This fiberglass exercise was to provide the final shape of the internal housing, into which the transducer would fit during final installation later, but there’d be additional shaping, fairing, and finally structural fiberglass to tie the whole new assembly into the rest of the keel before all was said and done.  I installed heat lamps on each side to speed up the curing process, since I wanted to remove the transducer from the new housing as soon as the fiberglass had cured sufficiently to hold its shape.  I moved the heat lamps around to aim at different parts of the assembly over the next couple hours.

While I waited for the fiberglass to cure, I worked in the cockpit to sand the paint out of all the corners and tight spots, by machine and hand as necessary.

Right after lunch, the transducer housing was ready to remove.  Though during the dry fit I’d tried to ensure that the transducer itself would be easy to remove–that is, not bind anywhere in the through-hull hole or elsewhere–I had a moment’s panic consternation when I couldn’t get it to budge; I’d hope that I could simply pull it straight down from below.  Eventually, I threaded the fixing nut onto the top of the shaft within, and with light tapping got the transducer to move, after which I finished from outside once more.  The little curved fiberglass pocket at the aft end protruded just a little and prevented the aft end of the transducer from passing, so I trimmed it with a knife.  I left the new housing to fully cure before proceeding further.  I unmasked the transducer and set it aside; I wouldn’t need it again till final installation.

With new core material and hatches due with the courier’s usual arrival in the afternoon, I prepared the cockpit for the structural work by vacuuming and solvent-washing so I could make a pattern of the sole.  The original cockpit sole, which was relatively thin solid fiberglass “reinforced” with a trio of plywood stringers beneath, was flimsy and weak underfoot, and shuddered and creaked alarmingly when trod upon.

I made a pattern of the sole in the usual way, with a sheet of paper and a straightedge to mark 1-1/2″ (or one straightedge width) from the edges.  Down on the bench, I trimmed the pattern to the correct size.

I was awaiting arrival of a new, larger hatch for the cockpit sole, to replace and enhance the old round one, and planned to eliminate the core from around the new opening, but since the delivery hadn’t yet arrived, and I didn’t have a stock pattern on hand for the hatch, I spent a few minutes starting the repair on the starboard cockpit seat scupper, the fiberglass tube for which had broken off when I removed the old hose earlier.  After determining correct alignment to fit the ragged edges back together, I secured the tube section back in place with thickened epoxy, both at the break and along a nearby structural member to help stiffen the whole thing.  I used some tape to hold the tube in place.  This repair alone would not be sufficient, and I planned to add some fiberglass once the adhesive had cured and I could actually work on the piece.

My delivery finally arrived, a bit later than usual, but not to late to prevent me from making a cardboard template of the new aluminum cockpit hatch that I could use now (and in the future) to lay out the new cutout.

Also now on hand was new 1/2″ core for the cockpit, and the new forward hatch.  I had a wood delivery coming on the morrow, so I looked forward to getting the hatch project underway soon.

Total time billed on this job today:  7 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  28°, mainly cloudy, 6″ or so of snow and plenty of sleet from yesterday.   Forecast for the day:   Cloudy, possible show or sleet or freezing showers, 36°. 

Tuesday

Beginning at floor level, I lightly sanded as needed the engine through hull patches, rendering them ready for final filling and fairing.

I continued with another round of light sanding on the transducer housing, which, other than a couple minor lows, brought this to a stage ready for the next steps, including installing some fiberglass, which I planned to get started on soon.

I spent the bulk of the day in the cockpit, sanding the rest of the seats, cabin bulkhead, coaming edges, and the cockpit well to remove the old coatings down to original gelcoat.  I worked through two grits of paper in the process, leaving only the inaccessible corners to be dealt with during future sanding steps that would be underway presently.  At the aft bulkhead, I prepared the edges of the large opening to the lazarette, which we planned to patch and fill in favor of a new opening in the poop deck.

I could have started the next rounds of sanding in the cockpit–corners and details–but decided instead to make the cut for the new hatch in the poop deck, which not only would provide better access to the space for various preparations and other tasks, but would also confirm the fit of the generator within, which I’d tentatively  measured and thought would fit rather well.  So I used the generator itself to make a simple cardboard pattern.  Using a square held against the generator at its maximum dimension/protrusion on each of its four sides, I marked the cardboard accordingly, which gave me a rectangular pattern that would represent the minimum size of the hatch opening required.  This was a starting point for the new hatch.

On deck, I measured in several places to determine the centerline (the backstay chainplate does not exit the hull on centerline), then laid out the template in an appropriate position near the forward edge of the space, and centered on the deck.  An existing hole in the deck, leftover from a vent or some other installation, meant that I needed to slightly expand the width of the hatch to incorporate the old opening and obviate the need to patch it first; an additional 2″ width (to be duplicated on the other side for symmetry) took care of this, and I marked out the basic shape on the deck with a square.

Next, I cut out the deck with a saw, creating an expansive and accessible opening to the space within.  I test-fit the generator in the space:  plenty of room even allowing for some kind of platform, and as it stood now the handle of the generator stayed completely below deck level even with the generator standing nearly vertical.  For the moment, the hatch opening was just barely wider than the generator, with minimum clearance, but I might need to make it a bit wider to accommodate the hatch surround/gutter.  I’d deal with that in due course, but at least the storage idea had been confirmed as feasible.

Total time billed on this job today:  6 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  26°, snow and windy, several inches down overnight.   Forecast for the day:   Snow, maybe mixing with sleet, eventually ending, 30°. 

Monday

After spending a good bit of the morning on another project, which had required my attention unexpectedly, I started back on Lyra by taking advantage of the “clean” conditions to remove the chainplates, which were in the way of the interior painting and were only dry-fitted and vaguely bedded at deck level anyway (going back years to the previous iteration of the project that led to this project).  These appeared to be the original bronze chainplates.  For now, I set them aside, though they’d require assessment later.

Over the weekend, the owner and I had come to a plan and decision about how to proceed about the cockpit in particular; the cockpit was in poor condition, with widespread and wholesale paint failure, numerous repairs required (icebox hatch, engine gauge holes, and more), and in addition the original Triton cockpit sole construction was weak and flimsy underfoot, which condition had only been exacerbated over the years.  So after discussion, we decided to refinish the entire cockpit area now, as well as reinforce the cockpit sole with add-on coring and topskin, which would greatly improve cockpit use going forward.

To this end, I began by removing a round plastic deck plate at the forward end of the cockpit; we planned to install a larger, stronger, aluminum hatch here later.  I also removed a completely ineffective (as well as rotted) wooden brace that someone had bolted to the bottom of the cockpit in an attempt to stiffen things.

To augment the electric motor planned for the boat, the owner had purchased a small portable generator with the idea of storing it beneath the poop deck when not in use.  To assess this possibility, as well as other options, I made some basic measurements to determine the fit and feasibility.  Space in the lazarette was limited, but it looked to me like the generator could fit within, and beneath a modest hatch, especially if the storage was slightly angled to use the deepest part of the locker forward of the backstay knee (which, along with the angle of the transom, conspired to greatly limit depth in the aft end of the compartment).  The depth wasn’t there at the aft end, unless the locker was built to extend well above deck, but with a slight angled approach I thought it looked possible here.

Another storage option could be the two cockpit lockers.  The openings here were just a bit small, but with minor modification might be made to work.  The generator required roughly 11″ width by 22″ width (and about 22″ height), and while the forward end of the locker opening was plenty wide, 22″ aft it was about 1/2″ too narrow–but this could be opened up by cutting some of the overhanging lips built into the gutter system.  So I felt either cockpit locker could be a viable alternative as well.

With my clean work done for now, I turned to the day’s ration of sanding, starting with the transducer housing, which I lightly sanded to clean up and prepare for another round of fairing that brought the protrusion to nearly its final contours.

With the leftover filler, I filled the old through hull hole in the engine room, which I’d prepared from outside previously.  I’d masked over the hole from inside while up in the cockpit earlier.  A bit later, after lunch break, I installed two layers of fiberglass over the hole, and two layers over the adjacent (and previously filled by others) small through hole just behind.

Now I used a grinder to remove all the paint and gelcoat from the cockpit sole, down to bare laminate, as well as a couple inches up the sides all around–this to prepare for installing new core over top, and then a new top skin that tied into the well all around.  While the nonskid paint tended to flake off in large sheets (having never bonded well with whatever was beneath it), the gray primer beneath, as well as the original gelcoat, required substantial sanding to remove.  With immediate plans to make a cutout for a larger access hatch at the forward end, I left an appropriate area unsanded rather than waste time removing the paint from there.

During what remained of the afternoon, I got started on the paint removal and surface prep in the rest of the cockpit, getting most of the starboard seating area and inside coaming sanded before the end of the day.  Here, I worked my way down through the paint layers with coarse paper, leaving dribs and drabs of the old coating as I reached the original gelcoat; then, with finer paper, I finished up the general paint removal.  I planned to continue in a similar vein next time.

Total time billed on this job today:  4.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  -3°, mostly clear.   Forecast for the day:   Increasing clouds, 29°.  Snow beginning overnight.

Friday

I lightly sanded the area around the transducer installation as needed to smooth the epoxy and prepare it for subsequent steps.

After cleaning up, I applied additional epoxy, continuing to shape and form around the fixed positions of the fiberglass plate and adjacent hull.  In particular, I focused on the leading edge, where I had to build up a fair amount of material to create the sort of shape and flow I wanted when all was said and done.  To keep the epoxy from overheating, as well as to prevent a gravity-induced failure, I planned to build up the shape over several applications.

Back in the interior, I went over the overhead and cabin sides in all three cabins with slightly finer paper, just to dress up these most visible areas and better prepare them for primer and paint.  With that, I hoped the worst of the major interior sanding was mostly complete (equivocate much), and to allow me to work in and around the boat in the coming days without a respirator, I took the time to catch up my cleaning with broom and vacuum, getting the interior back to a better state of things.

By the end of the morning, the first round of epoxy on the transducer had cured sufficiently to allow me to make a second application for the day, green on green, and continue the shaping.

Total time billed on this job today:  4.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  10°, clear.   Forecast for the day:   Sunny, windy, 22°

Thursday

After a morning appointment away from the shop, and which inevitably took much longer than I’d intended, I got back to work on the transducer installation.

To help create the integral fiberglass housing that would accept the transducer on the hull, I cut some prefab 1/2″ fiberglass to fit the transducer, and just slightly larger all around.

After some final assessment, I settled on the cut lines at the leading edge of the keel, marked here with numerous arrows.  I transferred the lines to the port side of the keel as well to aid in cutting.  Then, I used a grinder and a cutoff wheel to score the lines and cut as deeply as possible before finishing up the cuts with a reciprocating saw.  The aft end of the cut was just a little bit into the lead ballast keel, which was surprising on one level and totally predictable on another.  The cutoff would make a unique paperweight and weighed around a couple pounds.

With the bite taken, I prepared the hull all around the area by grinding away the paint, barrier coat (gray), and gelcoat in a wide area, preparing for fiberglass and fairing compound.  I cleaned up the cutout as necessary.  During an initial test-fit of the transducer, I found that I needed just a bit more room at the aft end, so I pared back the vertical face of the cutout as needed to allow the transducer and its fiberglass top plate to fit.

The plan to secure the transducer, generally speaking, was to build a fiberglass housing that would extend over the red prefab fiberglass and as far down as the black portion of the transducer, covering the stainless steel body of the unit.  This would leave the transducer itself (the black portions) free and clear for its visionary needs all around, while securely holding the transducer in place within the molded housing (and well-bedded within as well).  I don’t know why transducer manufacturers insist on placing stickers all over the transducer face.

To start this process, I first had to secure the fiberglass plate to the hull, so after final cleanup and preparations I pressed it into a thick bed of epoxy adhesive.  Using extra epoxy, I began to shape and fair in the protruding plate, though for now it was just a base coat, with plenty more to come to create a fair and generally hydrodynamic form at the forward edge and elsewhere as needed.  I initially registered the fiberglass plate with a short length of 1″ diameter tubing through the hole in the hull, as seen in the first photo, but removed this once I had the plate epoxied and taped in position.  I left the initial application of epoxy to cure overnight.

Total time billed on this job today:  3.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  30°, cloudy, light snow shower.   Forecast for the day:   Light snow showers, then cloudy, 33°

Wednesday

The last major portion of the interior left to sand was the forward cabin, and I spent the morning completing the surface prep there, and in the chainlocker.  Much of the paint here was in fairly poor condition but was easy enough to remove down to a sound substrate.

After a break to take care of some plowing, I turned to the various settee and underberth lockers, sanding these as needed.  Access was limited through the small hatches, but fortunately the hull surfaces within were already in quite good condition, and a light sanding was all that was needed.  These areas were not particularly photo-worthy.

The cockpit would require additional work soon, but for now I worked on preparing for patching several old engine instrument holes, the old icebox drain hole, and a hole leftover from some other installation, grinding away the paint and gelcoat and exposing the laminate beneath to accept patching and fairing.

Meanwhile I continued with the cockpit lockers and spaces aft of the cabin, all of which were relatively accessible now.  There were a couple old supports from something or another still in place on the port side, but these were easy to remove with light hand pressure.  Afterwards, I scuffed all the surfaces to prepare them for future work, including repainting.  As with most of the other “hidden” areas of the hull, these surfaces were in decent condition to start with and didn’t require major sanding to prepare.  Afterwards, I spent some time cleaning up from the week’s efforts:  I’d kept ahead of the worst of the sanding debris each day, but with the worst of it now behind me, and quite a lot of leaves and other debris from the after lockers, it was time to go a step further, both inside the boat and on deck, where I cleaned up the bulk of the dust that had settled there.

There was more surface prep and the like ahead, but for now I needed a change of pace, so I turned to the transducer installation for the owner’s new electronics.  We planned to install this large, rectangular transducer forward of the keel on the centerline, and this location would require a sort of “shark bite” cut in the leading edge of the keel in order to mount the transducer properly.  This location was preferable as far as the transducer’s efficiency was concerned, but in this case there was also a lack of better options to begin with, and, as I’d done a similar installation many years before, working with the forward centerline location appealed to the owner for all these reasons.

Inside the boat, in the forwardmost section of the bilge, I determined the location for the transducer stem, using its fixing nut to ensure appropriate space in the flat spot in the bilge.

I marked the center of the nut, then used a long drill bit to drill through from inside; I wasn’t sure how thick the keel was at this point.  With the bit all the way through (and slightly off center on the exterior, though that could be fixed with the larger hole and the shark bite cutout), I marked its depth so I could ensure that the transducer stem was long enough to work here:  It was, with plenty of room to spare.  The existing thickness was roughly 3″, and this would actually be reduced once I made the cutout.

Next, I drilled a 1″ hole through the centerline from the inside out.  This was the size required for the transducer stem.  I dropped a length of tape through the hole to allow me to attach the transducer cable and pull it through, which I needed for the next step.

I rough out the shape of the cutout required, I pulled through the transducer cable and then inserted the transducer stem in the new hole, which gave me the angle and orientation of the transducer housing  as dictated by the through hole and stem.  I transferred this line to the hull with a steel rule, then began to guesstimate how I should cut the hull in order to partially insert the transducer housing.  I’d have to research the directions more thoroughly, but I suspected that most of the black part of the housing needed to be exposed, assuming the transducer included side-scanning capabilities.  So I needed ultimately to find the right balance between how deeply into the keel to set the housing, versus how much of the housing had to extend exposed anyway.

I’d work that out soon, but in any event once I made the cut in the hull I planned to build a fiberglass housing into which the transducer would fit the appropriate depth, and then glass and fair the whole arrangement into the hull as smoothly as possible.  For now, I’d gotten along far enough, and in any event I didn’t have the blades I needed to make the keel cut just yet, so I’d fine tune the details as needed and proceed once I could.

Total time billed on this job today:  6.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  28°, cloudy, 2-3″ snow down overnight.   Forecast for the day:   Light snow, then cloudy, 35°

Tuesday

I spent the day working on interior surface prep, starting in the main cabin on the port side below deck level.

I continued by sanding the cabin sides and overhead.  These surfaces were in poorer condition to start with and required somewhat more aggressive sanding to remove loose and suspect material and provide a sound substrate for new coatings.

After lunch, I got to work in the head, sanding all surfaces including inside the various storage lockers and shelving.

Now, after sweeping the bulk of the dust and debris out of the bilge, I lightly sanded the bilge (which had been previously painted and was in almost startlingly good condition), then the floor boards and settee front panels from the head aft to the engine room.

After cleaning up the bulk of the spoils, I had a bit of time left in the day, so I tried my hand at cleaning up the varnished paneling on the main bulkhead, starting outboard on the port side.  In the short time remaining, I stripped the outer two planks, and would continue with the remaining parts of the bulkhead in due course over the next few days.  This solid wood paneling was in fair condition, with some splits and other issues, but ought to clean and finish up fairly well.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  14°, clear.   Forecast for the day:   Sunny, 32°