Tuesday

To begin, I removed the various clamps and  temporary screws securing all the paneling I installed last time.

In the forward cabin, I lightly sanded the new fiberglass at the ends of the berths and liner, and after cleaning up, applied a skim coat of epoxy fairing compound over the new fiberglass, as well as over the existing plywood ends of the berth itself.  This would eventually prepare all these areas for primer and paint.

After a trip out into the world to a paint store to investigate the possibilities of using a specific color the owner hoped to use on the painted interior surfaces, I returned to the shop and spent the remainder of the day working on the galley sink and surrounding area.  I’d purchased a new slightly larger, deeper stainless steel sink to fit the space, and now I traced the outline of the sink’s flange on the countertop in the appropriate position so I could better align the cutout template provided with the sink.

With the marking complete, I cut out the opening in the plywood countertop, then used the new opening to mark where I had to enlarge the hole leftover from the old sink and made those cuts.  At the after end, this cut extended well into the fiberglass and foam that had been built around the old (now repurposed) icebox, and this inevitably led to some project scope since I had to remove some of the old material and foam now that I’d exposed it, as I couldn’t see leaving it as is.  Removing the old sink earlier had also damaged some of the adjacent fiberglass on the other side, so this was an opportunity to deal with that area now as well.  The first image below shows how the area looked right after I cut out the old sink a few days earlier.  I cut out the fiberglass (it was rough and raw and awful anyway) and removed the foam pieces from the two newly-exposed sides, revealing the molded side of the storage compartment.

With the cutout complete, I could test-fit the sink and countertop.  This sink came with a nice wooden cover/cutting board as well, so the space would be usable for other purposes, a handy feature since there was little counterspace otherwise.  With a big hole saw, I also neatened up and enlarged the hole through the compartment bottom for the sink drain, which can be seen in the photos at the bottom of this page.  When the time came to install a new sea valve for the drain, I hoped I could work through the new opening as well.

I was reluctant to dig any deeper into the area beneath the sink and around the old icebox, as there was simply no point and it would have been a waste of time and resources–and any further work in this area hadn’t been in my plan to begin with.  I also didn’t want to disrupt any materials that might be helping to hold the whole galley in place in the first place.  Nothing I’d done so far had had any such effect, but it was far better to leave well enough alone at this point.  What structure (using the term for lack of a better one) remained was fine and stable, but now I wanted to close it off in a way that was simple and effective for the required purposes.

The only access here in the completed galley would be through an opening in the bulkhead directly beneath the sink, and with the sink’s protrusion and various plumbing, the space would be effectively fairly small and unlikely to be used extensively.  I considered various means to finish off the area, but at length, I decided to built a simple partition of 1/4″ plywood running from the compartment’s floor to the level of the bottom of the sink bowl and enclosing the rough area behind.  I tacked the three required pieces together with hot glue, and secured them to the boat with epoxy fillets in all available areas, which closed off the gaps at the edges, would provide a smooth finished appearance once painted, and effectively solved the mission requirements with as minimal wasted time as possible.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  8°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 20°

Monday

In the forward cabin, I lightly sanded as necessary the new little bulkheads at the ends of the upper liner, easing the outer corner and otherwise preparing these areas for fiberglassing.  The installation was probably fine as is in this application, but I wanted to tab over the new material and into the hull to ensure that everything would remain stable and secure.

Afterwards, I used some thickened epoxy to fill a few minor low areas and give a better substrate for the fiberglass and, after cutting out pieces of fiberglass to fit, glassed between the liner, over the triangular panels, and out a bit onto the hull.  I also added a piece of tabbing over the edge at the aft end of the berth tops, to cover the plywood edges there and tie that area in; I’d previously prepared these areas for this step.

The owner’s choice for the final surface on the main bulkheads throughout the boat was beadboard paneling, which would be finished with primer and paint and offset with solid cherry trim throughout.  Most manufactured beadboard paneling seems to be built on an MDF core, which I didn’t like the idea of using on this (or any) boat, but I found a birch-faced plywood paneling for the job.  Now, starting with the starboard bulkhead in the main cabin, I prepared a paper pattern of the bulkhead shape that I could transfer to the paneling.  On all sides of the paper, I traced a line 2″ in from the edges, both straight and curved, which would make it easy to transfer the pattern to the plywood.

On the bench, I transferred the pattern and cut out the plywood piece.  Bringing it to the boat, I was once again hampered by the companionway shape and size:  I couldn’t fit the piece, as originally cut, into the boat, no matter how I tried.  In this case, the fit was close, and since the part of the panel that extended beneath the sidedeck would eventually be largely hidden behind another cabinet I planned there, it wasn’t the end of the world to trim a couple inches off this part of the panel, which allowed the panel finally to fit into the boat.  I planned the inboard edge of the panel to minimize the length of the seam between it and the next section of panel, locating the seam at the top of the doorway to the forward cabin.

With the first section clamped in place, I continued with a small piece to cover the top part of the bulkhead above the opening.

The last section of this bulkhead–the largest piece, since the doorway was off-center to starboard–required some additional planning, since there was no chance of the full-size piece fitting in through the companionway.  I had to choose a way to divide the panel that would allow proper alignment with the bead pattern, and also hopefully locate the seam in as unobtrusive a location as possible.  I was limited to about a 33″ panel width to fit through the hatch, and eventually chose the location for the seam as far outboard as practical based on these limitations.  I held the outermost edge of the panel (beneath the sidedeck) the same distance back from the hull as on the starboard side for continuity.

With the first three crucial pieces cut and fit, I proceeded with final installation, leaving the small section beneath the forward cabin doorway till afterwards.  To install the panels, I chose a quick-cure polyurethane adhesive for its strength, ease of application, and long-term flexibility.  I applied beads of the adhesive to the back of the panel–enough to securely hold the panel without issue, but without being excessive or so dense as to prevent the panel from squeezing the adhesive as needed during installation.  To hold the panels while the adhesive cured, I used clamps where possible, wedges in the spaces along the settee tops and backs, and, sparingly and only as necessary, screws and washers in other areas to draw the panel in tightly.  I’d remove the screws and patch their holes later, once the adhesive cured.  In this way, I installed the three panel sections I’d cut already.

To finish off the main bulkhead, there was one small piece remaining–below the opening to the forward cabin.  In the same way as before, I patterned, cut, and installed the final section.

Next, I turned to the bulkhead behind the galley, and followed the same steps to pattern, cut, and install the new paneling here to finish off the day’s work.

Total time billed on this job today:  8.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  20°, cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  Light snow, up to an inch or so, then clearing in the evening or overnight.

Friday

First on today’s agenda:  permanently install the cabin sole.  With the three sections dry-fit once more, I laid out marks to show where the cross beams landed, then drilled pilot holes for a series of screws that would help hold the sole in place.  I didn’t go crazy with the number of screws since their main purpose when all was said and done would be just to hold the sole in place while the adhesive cured.

With screw holes thusly prepared, I removed the plywood and vacuumed up the drill spoils as needed, and solvent-washed all of the bonding surfaces.  To secure the sole, I chose a polyurethane adhesive (a fast-cure version in this case), which I liked in this instance because not only was it tenacious and strong, but also remained flexible, which seemed a worthy characteristic in this application.

I applied a good bead of the adhesive to half the sole underpinnings, beginning with the starboard side.  Once I laid down the first section of plywood, I applied the adhesive to the other side, and laid down the port sheet as well before going around and installing the screws on both pieces.  Once I’d secured the main sections, I repeated the process with the final section in the galley.   I’d worked to minimize adhesive squeezeout in the hatch openings, but some was inevitable, and I cleaned up the excess with solvent; I left the hatches off the rest of the day lest they get accidentally bonded in place.

The new sole was rock-solid underfoot and was well worth the efforts to replace.

Earlier, when I’d built the substrate for the galley countertop, I’d done some layout measuring to locate two access hatches over the repurposed original icebox, but since there was no way to mark the openings accurately from beneath, and I was wary of making a mistake, I took the extra step now of creating a quick cardboard template of the countertop (by tracing the plywood on a sheet of cardboard) and, cutting a narrow access hole, traced the opening on the bottom of the template.  I could then easily (after cutting out the opening) transfer this shape to the plywood itself.

As it happened, my original layout was OK as is, but I did make some minor changes based on the more accurate marks.  Then, I removed the plywood section to the bench, and cut out the locker openings, and also installed wooden support cleats from beneath with glue and screws.

In the forward cabin, there was some work remaining at the aft ends of the berth, where I’d removed the original molded hanging lockers earlier.  I needed to bring the sole level up even with the existing sole in the center part of the cabin, so that eventually the new finished sole surface could extend seamlessly into these newly-created spaces, and there were the open, unfinished ends of the cabin liner to close off and prepare for finishing, along with the plywood berth ends.

The soles in the old locker spaces turned out to be 1/2″ lower than the finished part of the sole, so I made simple patterns of the spaces and cut 1/2″ plywood to fit.

I made cardboard patterns of the triangular “bulkheads” to close off the open ends of the upper part of the liner on each side, and transferred these to more 1/2″ plywood to fit.  Securing these temporarily with hot glue, I finished a more permanent installation with thickened epoxy to hold the mini-bulkheads in place and fillet them into the adjacent surfaces.  Later, I’d complete the work here with some fiberglass.

I installed the new plywood sole sections in epoxy adhesive, and filled in any small gaps around the edges with more of the epoxy to create a smooth surface.

The Cutless bearing had been a thorn in my side for some time now.  Back in June 2018, I’d first looked into the replacement of the bearing and at that time removed the outer housing in the aperture, ostensibly allowing access to the bearing for removal.  The existing (probably original) bearing was in poor condition and required replacement through whatever means.  Photos below are from June 14, 2018.

Of course, there was really no way to get the old bearing out easily.  It was flush on the outside, and, in the period between that initial access and the present time, I’d pondered the thing from every possible angle and made various non-starter attempts at its removal, including using a steel bar from inside the boat to hammer out the bearing (nope–but more on this presently), and even making an attempt to remove the housing somehow, as some anecdotal information found in the nether world suggested a possibility of this housing being threaded into place  (nope–at least not in any way that I could unthread).  I sanded the external parts of the housing clean and searched for setscrews or some other eureka-type thing that would assist me in finding out what held the bearing in place, but alas.

Complicating the whole process was the fact that direct access was limited by the rudder shaft and small aperture.  With the boat on concrete, and having already made the decision much earlier not to drop the rudder for its own rebuild, at least in the immediate term the rudder wasn’t going anywhere, though reluctantly I considered the possibility that I might have to drop it simply to replace a shaft bearing.

Whatever the backstory, it was time to fish or cut bait.  I wanted it gone, and yesterday wasn’t soon enough.

All the happy advice in the usual boating reference and impractical online sources fail to touch upon the situations like this one, where those convenient suggestions related to pressing out bearings on a hydraulic press, or using spiffy little shop-built tools to pull it out (always through the apparently ever-present external strut, as if there weren’t thousands of boats with stern tubes and bearings embedded in the deadwood like this one) fall unhelpfully short of offering any tangible advice for getting out the really hard cases.

Brute force wins, but it isn’t pretty.  Fortunately, as difficult, time-consuming, and frustrating as this process was, I was unquestionably aided by the fact that the brass shell of the old bearing was about as thin as it could be, since the size of the stern tube (1-1/4″ ID vs. the size of the shafting (1″) required that the shell be thin in order to fit.

I started by driving an awl and screwdriver between the bearing shell and the stern tube (which was bronze), which allowed me to begin to collapse the bearing in on itself.

Working a few minutes here and a little longer there over a couple days leading up to the present, I basically chipped away at the bearing–not by choice, per se, but because it’s just how it worked in this case.  Instead of “neatly” collapsing inwards, the thin, ancient bearing shell came apart in little pieces, all the time stubbornly resisting any more efficient means of removal.  After a while, I’d cleaned out about half the bearing, but the mess that remained was on its way to becoming a fairly solid little plug located about 2″ inside the tube.

With a long drill bit, I created some little openings in and around the collapsed shell remains, and, at length, finally succeeded in getting out what was left of the bearing.  They never show you this in the articles and weekend maintenance books, but this is how they come out sometimes, folks.

With an air nozzle, I blew out the remaining detritus and happily put this removal job behind me.  With the tube clean and finally able to see in from both ends, I could now determine that the outer part of the stern tube was a smaller diameter than the inside, apparently threaded or otherwise secured within the inner section.  This is why my steel rod from inside the boat had failed to push out the bearing:  the bearing, with its narrow wall, had basically hidden behind this change in diameter.  At least this made more sense now, since I’d failed to comprehend how a 5 lb. maul hammering a solid steel rod with some urgency had failed to budge a little brass and rubber bearing (and there couldn’t have been any setscrews–and weren’t–since there was no access for their installation nor removal).

With class time over, I was happy to put the removal job behind me, and after cleaning up from the week’s efforts, I looked forward to a weekend of clean conscience and with no bearings hanging over my head.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  15°, cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  Clouds and showers (snow and rain), 30s

Thursday

Looking forward to a flat and solid place to stand, first thing I installed the cabin sole–just dry for now.  Final installation would be soon.

Next, I dispatched the morning’s sanding chores, just a few small areas throughout the cabin plus the larger section at the aft end of the port forward cabin.  Later in the day, I spot-applied some final filler to this spot.

This short round of sanding didn’t satisfy my desire for more dust and mess, so I decided to cut out the old galley sink, which was slated for replacement.  The old sink was part of the molded galley unit, and was surprisingly heavily constructed.  I used and angle grinder to cut through the sink just below counter level.  I also sanded the inside of the old icebox to prepare it for paint; this space would become dry storage in the revamped galley.

After completing a pretty thorough cleanup of the boat and shop, I made a simple plywood pattern of the galley countertop so I could cut a new 1/2″ plywood top, which would be nice to have in place now to store tools and so forth. I fit the pattern inside of the raised, molded lip of the existing unit (which happened to be about 1/2″ tall itself), and later, trim and fiddles would cover this area.

When I removed the pattern, I found that I couldn’t get it out the companionway–though with some careful bending I eventually did.  However, I was therefore unsurprised to find that the new countertop blank didn’t fit either.  I tried every which way, but the clearance simply wasn’t there.  It didn’t seem worth it to try and remove any of the trim still in the hatchway, or to make other modifications, so in the end there was nothing for it but to cut the countertop into two pieces, which was disappointing but actually wouldn’t make a whit of difference in the end result–and in fact would make fitting and various related chores easier, as it happened.

I marked out the existing openings for sink and stove for later reference in recutting these openings as needed, and did some initial layout for some top-access hatches to the old icebox/storage area.  For now, this was as far as I needed to take the installation.  It was nice to see some new work going into the cabin in any event.

During the remainder of the day, I worked on various and sundry tasks that would later lead to fruition of other interior and overall progress, including measuring spaces for possible tankage and similar sorts of preparatory things, but which were otherwise un-noteworthy for the moment.  Before it got too late in the afternoon I turned to final preparations in the main bilge.  Removing the cabin sole again, I vacuumed and solvent-washed the space to clean thoroughly, then applied gray bilge paint to all areas.  This looked terrific.

Total time billed on this job today:  7 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  18°, clear, a little fresh snow accumulation overnight.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 34°

Wednesday

I removed all the clamps that I’d used to temporarily secure the new cabin sole beams, and was pleased with the end results.

Next, I completed another round of sanding as needed on the tabbing fairing and other areas.  While I had the sander out, I also sanded the tops of the new fiberglass cabin sole beams to prepare them for eventual adhesive when I installed the sole.

There were only a few small areas in the tabbing and head that required additional filler, and for these minor areas I used some of the white acrylic putty that I’d used elsewhere during earlier stages of the interior work.  At the port after section of the overhead in the forward cabin, however, I was required to apply additional epoxy fairing compound, since this area of the liner had been misshapen and distorted by earlier work (work by other people sometime in the boat’s distant past), and while I’d been working the area to bring it back to shape, now I used a wider trowel to try and get the contours where I wanted them.

I spent the rest of the day mainly working on the cabin sole, starting in the galley, where I used the old piece of sole (which had functioned as a hatch) to pattern a new piece to fit the whole area (previously there had been two pieces in that space).  I also marked out where a new hatch should be and made these marks on the old section so I could use it as a template for the new.

I clamped and screwed the old pieces of cabin sole (they were bowed and needed to be flattened) to a fresh piece of 18mm marine plywood and marked out the shape of the replacement sole.  At the aft end at the head entrance, I positioned my little plywood template as needed and extended the shape of the sole accordingly.  Then, I cut out the new piece.  In order to fit the sole into the boat, I then cut it straight down the middle, creating two narrower pieces.

Next, I test fit the pieces in the boat.  I was happy to find that the wraparound cutout for the head opening worked well and that I could use it as is.

Now I made up the last piece for the galley, using the old piece and some additional measurements as a template, and cut out the center hatch to fit.  That angled section to the right (port) is a small raised area that will later receive a wood overlay along with the rest of the sole, but required no plywood.

Lifting half the main section of sole at a time, I marked the locations of the cross beams so I could lay out and cut the bilge access hatch.  I also laid out an opening just forward of the hatch for the mast compression post.

Since the center hatch was in two pieces, I epoxied them back together so I could use it as a blank for the opening.

The hatch would rest on the beams at the ends and across the center, but along the sides of the opening and between the beam locations, I added plywood support cleats beneath the sole, which I epoxied and screwed in place.

The last thing I needed to do to the sole for now was to epoxy-coat the bottom sides and edges of all the pieces, a layer of protection against bilge moisture once installed.

As I geared up to get the sole permanently installed, I prepared the bilge for final paint by applying some two-part epoxy primer to coat the new fiberglass I’d installed earlier, something I’ve found was necessary to allow proper curing of the topcoat over fresh epoxy.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  30°, sleet and snow (about 7-8″ overnight).  Forecast for the day:  Sleet and snow eventually ending, around 34°, another inch or three possible accumulation

Tuesday

In the ever-continuing process of bulk surface prep, I started the day once more with the sander, and sanded all the new fairing compound I’d applied over the bulkhead tabbing and in the head.

In the main bilge, I lightly sanded the new fiberglass I’d installed, and cleaned up the new mast step base.

After cleanup, I spot-applied additional epoxy filler in areas of the tabbing and head as needed.

The existing cabin sole had ended shy of the entry into the head, and I wanted the new substrate to extend further aft to better transition between these two areas.  So I used narrow strips of cheap plywood and a glue gun to create a rough, basic template of the shape; because of the way this wrapped around the center portion of the liner, on the inboard side of the door opening, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to build the new sole to fully enclose the area like my template, but at the very least I could extend it straight back through the doorway.   I chose to build this template now because I had hoped I might get to cut the new sole plywood later in the day, but as it happened I didn’t have time.

To provide support for the new cabin sole (which I planned to build from 18mm marine plywood eventually overlaid with cherry planks), I chose to use these 3″ x 1-1/2″ x 1/4″ fiberglass I-beams, which would be very strong and stiff, and of course not subject to moisture issues in the typically damp bilge.

Starting at the main bulkhead and using it as my my measuring reference, I laid out positions for three beams across the bilge area.  I positioned the forwardmost beam just aft of the new mast base, and evenly spaced the remaining two over the remainder of the space leading aft.  This left sufficient space for a hatch in the location of the original one, and the overall positions of the beams would well support the new sole.

The beams would rest beneath the overhanging settee flanges at the edges, and needed angle cuts on their ends in order to accommodate the shape of the hull.  I used a bevel gauge and scrap 2×4 to rough out the angle required (the same angle would work well enough in all locations).

After figuring the amount of the beams that would fit beneath the flange, I measured the overall lengths of each of the three beams, and, starting with the first, shortest beam, cut the ends to the proper angle.   The top edge of the beam had to be relieved in way of the settee flanges, so that the main portion of the beam would be flush with the tops of the flanges (and therefore properly supportive of the plywood sole), so after getting a measurement I cut about 1/8″ from the top of the beam at each end, using a table saw.  To allow for epoxy bonding and some fiberglass tabbing that would secure the beams, I sanded the webs of the beam at each end, extending in far enough for my tabbing.

Satisfied with the basic setup for the ends of the beams, I continued and prepared the remaining two beams in the same way.

After dry-fitting all three, and cleaning up the bonding surfaces at each location, I installed the beams with epoxy on the surface against the settee flange, and clamped the beams in place.  Then, I prepared two layers of tabbing cut to fit within the beam web and installed the tabbing on both sides at each beam end.  The working space was tight and mainly visually inaccessible, especially as I had to take care not to jar any of the beams in the tight space, so the tabbing isn’t necessarily pretty, but it would do the job, and no one would ever see or touch these areas anyway, once the sole was in place.

Later, once the fiberglass had cured, I thought I’d probably add mechanical fasteners through the beam flanges and the settee overhang later as well, but perhaps not.

In the middle of the day, my order of new cherry lumber and various sheet goods arrived, and I looked forward especially to building the new cabin sole so I could close up the bilge again and get to work on the remaining interior projects.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  6°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny but becoming cloudy, 20°, snow to sleet coming overnight

Monday

To get started, I lightly sanded all the new tabbing I’d installed last time, on both sides of the main bulkhead and a small area in the head.

The cabin sole blank was too large to fit out through the companionway, but was now in the way as I planned to work in the bilge to prepare and eventually rebuild a support system for the replacement sole.  To remove the old sole, I cut it into three pieces, leaving a narrow piece at the aft end on which my construction ladder could rest.  I removed the other two sections to the shop floor and removed the old support beams from beneath so I could soon use these pieces as a template for the new sole plywood, which was coming soon.

With the way clear, I sanded in the bilge area, cleaning up as necessary.  The surfaces were generally clean, as I’d soaked and scrubbed the area previously, and I’d already sanded lightly everything I could reach through the original openings, but now I improved the prep as needed, mainly to better accept paint in the near future.

In between the built-in reinforcements at and around each keel bolt location, there were thin panels of fiberglass, which provided a smooth bilge surface.  These were just a bit flimsy, so I decided while things were wide open to go ahead and reinforce these three areas with an additional layer of fiberglass and epoxy.

Meanwhile, in several areas in and around the new bulkhead tabbing, where I expected the final paint surface to extend close to the bulkhead itself, I applied a coat of epoxy fairing compound to fill the weave of the tabbing and begin to smooth these areas into the adjacent surfaces.  Specifically, these areas included the cabin trunk and underside of the sidedeck in the main cabin, and all areas of the forward cabin, including the overhead.  I didn’t need to fair in the tabbing at the overhead in the main cabin because I planned to cover that section of overhead with thin plywood, since the overhead there was in such a dreadful state.  When I prepared the liner for the new fiberglass, I’d anticipated this process, so the new tabbing was just slightly recessed from the adjacent surfaces and easy to blend in in this way.

At the port after corner of the forward cabin, I added some fiberglass to reinforce the last bit of that old cut seam left over from previous repairs to the boat some years before.  When I repaired the forward sections of this cut earlier, I’d left the aftermost section until I determined how we were dealing with the bulkhead, but now I could fiberglass it and, a bit later, apply some of the fairing compound over the top.

In the head, I applied fairing compound to the various screw holes left from the sink removal and other areas, and also applied a skim coat over the two sections of the molded sole to fill and smoothly incorporate the old molded nonskid pattern.

In this boat, the mast is deck-stepped, but directly supported from beneath with a compression post between the main cabin overhead and the keel.  This location was just aft of the main bulkhead.  I’d removed the wooden compression post much earlier in the project, but now with the cabin sole removed the main support for the whole thing–a flat, reinforced area just forward of the keel–was exposed, and it seemed a perfect time to enhance the original structure with a new solid fiberglass pad on which the future compression post could rest.  The original structure was sound enough, and surely built from layers of plywood covered and encapsulated with fiberglass, but there was a square, slightly-depressed section in the center that suggested that the original post had, over time, pressed into the structure slightly.

From 1″ prefabricated fiberglass sheeting, I cut pieces to fit the space and epoxied them to the flat area beneath, adding a nice wide fillet around the edges and leaving plenty of space around the edges for bilge water to flow.  Later, I’d glass over the top of this to complete it.

The rudder needed one more light sanding to finish up the final areas where I’d spot-applied epoxy fairing compound, and now I deemed the repair and rebuilding work complete.

In the midst of all this, I’d finalized my plywood and lumber order, including plywood for the cabin sole and cherry for all the interior trim, and made arrangements for its delivery on Tuesday.

Total time billed on this job today: 8 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  15°, partly clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 24°

Friday

I began the prepwork for tabbing the main bulkhead by measuring the spaces for the tabbing required.  Afterwards, I used thickened epoxy to install a nice fillet all along the intersection between the bulkhead and the deck above, filling any small (or larger) gaps and creating a consistent and smooth transition along both sides of the bulkhead.

While the fillets gelled slightly, I cut all the tabbing needed for the job:  two layers (6″ and 4″) for each side, in several manageable and logical pieces with joints staggered where appropriate.

With that done, it was time to start wetting out and installing all the new tabbing on both sides of the bulkhead.

In the head, when I’d removed the two tabbed-in shelves I’d also prepared the hull and part of the liner for a simple layer of tabbing just to secure the liner, since the shelves’ removal had left it a bit floppy.  Now I installed a single layer of tabbing just to tack the liner in place.

The cabin sole, besides being dirty and worn, was also creaky and weak, which the owner had immediately noticed during his visit.  Now it was time to look into the problem and determine whether the existing sole could be shored up and used as a substrate going forward, or whether it made more sense to rebuild and start fresh.  While I wasn’t entirely sure how the sole was supported and installed, I suspected that it rested on flanges connected to the settees along the sides, and there was clearly an additional molded section at the aft end in the galley, on which the plywood sole rested.  The main body of the sole had a series of wooden beams beneath, but at this point they were not doing their job and had allowed the sole to sag.  Access was limited beneath the sole, but with a camera I could get a sense of things, and frankly it looked like there wasn’t really much securing the sole at this point.

There were a couple obvious, exposed screws here and there along the edges, plus some bunged fasteners at the aft end, but the first thing I knew I’d need to do in order to remove the sole was to remove the teak threshhold between the head and main cabin.  With no plans to save this threshhold, I used a large bit to bore out the bungs in the fastener locations, then removed the screws and, at some length, pried up and removed the old threshold (saving the pieces to aid in creating a new one later) and revealing layer after layer of delaminated plywood beneath, none of which was still glued together.

Afterwards, I removed any remaining fasteners around the edges of the sole and then lifted up the whole arrangement in one piece, including the ineffective wooden beam network beneath (which hadn’t been attached to the hull nor the settee flanges at all).

By now there was no question that I would be building the substrate anew (later to be covered with cherry planking to match the rest of the woodwork in the new interior).  It would be pretty straightforward to build a new and better support system, and a new plywood substrate would ensure a comfortable sole for many years to come.  Having the sole removed would also allow me to better clean up and paint out the bilges too.  For the moment, I moved the sole back into the head and vacuumed up the worst of the mess beneath, but then I relaid the sole loosely so I could still use my ladder to get in and out of the boat until I could actually build the new sole.  This unexpected-but-not-really-unexpected project moved well up the priority list, and I ordered some materials with which to build the new support system starting next week.

With the day running out, I decided to sand the fairing compound I’d applied to the rudder last time.  I was pleased with how well it turned out after just the single coat, with only a few minor low spots that required another round of filler, which I installed once I’d cleaned up and prepared the newly-sanded surfaces.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  33°, light rain.  Forecast for the day:  Showers, cloudy, well into the 40s

Thursday

One of the many areas we discussed during the owner’s recent visit was the main bulkhead, and whether–and how–to tab it more securely.  As it stood, the bulkhead was tabbed securely to the hull, but not to the deck.  The original setup had secured the bulkhead vertically with a pair of wooden blocks at the top corners, which blocks were bolted through the deck–sort of an oddball arrangement that I’d removed earlier.  After some discussion, we decided on a plan that would secure the bulkhead to the overhead liner, but stopped short of the extra work required to remove some or parts of the liner in order to prep and tab the bulkhead to the underside of the deck laminate, which would have been the ideal answer but here was essentially unnecessary given how the boat was engineered in the first place and would be used in the future.  Sometimes, common sense and pragmatism have to take precedence, and since in this case the liner was pretty tight and secure to the deck above in most areas, I felt this approach would be successful, strong, and in any event a vast improvement to the original setup.  Obviously it wasn’t a perfect solution, but a decent one.

To this end, I began by checking the bulkhead for plumb, and then removed the gelcoat from a 4″ strip on each side of the bulkhead, all along the overhead, cabin sides, and undersides of the sidedecks, both on the main cabin and forward cabin sides.  I also lightly sanded clean the plywood bulkhead along the edges to prepare it for the new tabbing.

During his visit to the head compartment, the owner had quickly decided two things:  First, that he wanted to paint the brown colored gelcoated pan that formed the head sole and shower drain (I’d left this as original on the off chance that it could be salvaged as is); and, second, that he wanted to remove the two shelves and silly sink unit to open up (and probably repurpose) the space.

After unscrewing the dozen screws securing the little flange behind the sink and lower shelf to the adjacent bulkhead, I used a grinder and cutoff wheel to remove the shelves, which in addition to being tabbed to the hull were secured with wooden cleats on each end.  Once they were out of the way, I sanded clean the hull and adjacent areas as needed.  This made a significant difference to the space. and I wished I’d cut these out sooner.

Afterwards, I sanded the sole and liner area to degloss, clean, and prepare for future refinishing steps, working through the grits as I’d done everywhere else in the boat.  Once I’d completed the sanding prep, I reamed out any additional fastener holes (mainly from the sink unit) in the fiberglass liner to prepare them for filling and smoothing.

The original opening through the main bulkhead was several awkward inches above the sole level in the v-berth, requiring an extra step made more difficult by the general shortness of the opening and the height above the main cabin sole as well, which was substantially lower than that of the forward cabin.  During his visit, the owner quickly agreed with my idea to cut this opening down to the same height as the forward cabin sole, so now I did this, with immediately gratifying results.

In the early afternoon, after I’d cleaned up the inside of the boat, I debated whether to press on with the bulkhead tabbing, but decided that I might be pushing it timewise, so, leaving that task for next time, I decided instead to continue with some smaller jobs for the remainder of the day, starting with the rudder.  This required light sanding after the latest application of fiberglass, and, with that complete, I was ready to near the end of the rudder work with the first coat of fairing compound, which I applied not only to the bottom edge but also the top and leading edges where I’d completed structural repairs earlier.

After some prep and planning for a few immediately-upcoming tasks I planned to tackle, I finished up work on my wood list, determining roughly how much lumber and plywood to order for the interior work ahead.

Total time billed on this job today:  8.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  30°, cloudy, an inch of snow down overnight.  Forecast for the day:  Cloudy, around 33°, light rain or drizzle late in the day and into overnight

Wednesday

I spent much of the day on planning and administration as I sorted out various discussions we’d had during our meeting the day before, researched some materials options, but after a few hours of that I did get up to the boat for some “real” work, including another fairly quick round of sanding on the interior patchwork as required, bringing these areas pretty much to their final level of preparation.  With a few minor changes coming for the interior, there’d be more prepwork on other areas soon to come, though.

I continued work on the rudder as well, lightly sanding the main application of fiberglass over the bottom edge to prepare it for the final layers of fiberglass to encapsulate the corners and tie together all parts of the repair, which I finished up next.

Later, I finished rough-measuring for interior trim and other new materials required, the first step towards calculating what I’d need to order in order to continue the interior work.

Total time billed on this job today:  8 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  20°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 32°