Christmas in the summer

Note: The last blog hosting sit has been having a lot of problems and deleted all of my pictures and info, I I moved what I could over to this site...

Well, I am finished with work for another 2 &1/2 months but the work on the boat is far from done. I am flying home tonight and then taking a week off before starting work again on Stella Maris. 

Some exciting things that have been going on while I was away... The boat has been painted with AWL grip on the top sides and new non-skid has been laid down. The interior carpentry work should be finishing up soon and from what I saw before I left should be nothing less than amazing. I have it all set up to have a new dodger made when I get back down there and have a surveyor ready to finish the survey for the insurance company.

I have also started outfitting the boat. Which turned out to not be an easy or cheap thing. I had the life raft picked up for service before I left and found out that it would cost only a little less than a new one and was 15 years old. So I went with a new Viking Life Raft with 6 person capacity instead of the old one with only 4. Not going to lie I was not ready for that cost as they quoted 350$ to have it repacked and certified as it had a sticker on if from only a few years ago... Oh well, there is now cost for safety on an appliance that could save your life.

I also purchased all the dock lines, fenders, life jackets with harnesses, jack lines, mast head light, boat hook,   new bilge pump, charts, navigation equipment, and a lot more that I can't even remember right now. It is going to be like Christmas when I get down to the boat with all of the packages that I have to open.

I have also outfitted the galley with the help of my father. We took a lot of advice from the book The Boat Galley which has a ton of good advice from seasoned sailors. I should be a well outfitted galley ready to entertain.

There is still a long "wish list" of stuff that would be nice to have on the list to order in the future. 

As for the work, there is still a long list to go but should only take about a month to finish if all goes according to plan. The start of the list is as follows in no particular order:

Batteries

Wire for Mast Head Light

Bilge Pump Wire and Hose ?Sea Cock?

Flares

Strip and Paint Bottom

Propane Issue / Leak test

Install Stern Hatches

Fix 2 Frozen Sea Cocks

Install Autopilot Arm & Feed Back Arm

Re-paint Binnacle

Wax Hull

Spare Bulbs and fuses

Climbing Gear / Bosouns chair

Rebuild Frozen Winch

Troubleshoot Reefer

Troubleshoot Radio

Clean bilges

Clean/ Inspect Mast Step

Swim Ladder / Fabrication

Make sure toilet works

Bolts on Rudder gudegeon

Rubber Seal on port opening hatch

Install life lines

Install Cleats

Finishing touches on deck

Install Windlass

Bow pulpit and wiring

Stern pulpits and wiring

Oil change and filters

Set up Wind vane

Dodger

Sail Cover

Life Raft

A lot of work to do but nothing that can't be done. I'm flying down to Wilmington on the 29th and the work starts again. I will try to post pictures as I get them and keep you updated!

Determination gives you the resolve to keep going in spite of the roadblocks that lay before you.
Denis Waitley 

I’VE GOT BLISTERS ON ME FINGERS

Well, sorry for the lack of updates. The past month has been a hectic one. I had to push hard to get the boat to a position that I could leave it for the 75 days that I am now at work again. So, that meant a lot of sanding. And even more sanding in tight places where you could only do it by hand and it seems like more skin came off my fingers than glass came off the boat. After the new deck was laid on the entire thing had to be faired. That meant, laying down a fairing compound, and then sanding it all off until it filled all the low spots and made a nice surface for the paint. I first put down a layer of Interprotect 2000e to seal the newly laid glass. Then I started by using the Interlux WaterTite fairing compound, which turned out just about impossible to work with. It took almost 8 hours to set and was impossible to sand. So I switched to Pettit Ez-Fair, another epoxy based fairing compound but only took 3 hours to cure and was a lot easier to sand. I spent a couple weeks fairing by my self and was running thin and on the edge of giving in. I ended up hiring the yard worker to lend a hand when he could. We ended up finishing the fairing process just before I had to go to work. We put Dolphin Lte, as a finish filler to get rid of any pin holes and smaller scratched as it was sand-able in 15minutes and had a nice contrasting color to the e-z fair. I then laid down 2-3 more layers of Interprotect 2000e to fully seal the deck.We then taped off anything that was not supposed to have paint on it. I am painting the top sides in Awl Grip; Snow White color. A very white white, you would be surprised at how many shaded of white there are available! So anything that is not supposed to have white on it got covered with tape and masking paper. I think we went through about 7 rolls of tape to get it done.The day before I left the primer got laid down. The yard worker, Ian, didn’t like how it came out and saw some little spots that were missed, so we spent another day sanding and filling again. It is easy to over look small spots after starring at the same white deck for 3 weeks straight. Ian is going to finish the paint job while I am at work. Then the non-skid is going to be sprayed on. I went with Ultra Tuff, which is a ruberized coating and is fairly new, so I am very curious to see how it comes out. I went with that because it seems like it is very durable, easy on bare feet, easy to apply, and was cost saving compared to grip tex or similar. I will try to post pictures when they get sent to me. Also, while I am gone, the carpenter, Walter Atkins, is going to finish up the interior work. He showed me the main hatch that he redid in his shop and it took my breath away how nice it came out. I can’t wait to see the boat when I get back from work! It is going to be an entirely different boat.

For those of you that don’t know, work for me is shipping out on a large oil tanker called the Mississippi Voyager as a Marine engineer. I do 75 days on and 75 days off. Not too bad only working half the year. Anyway, while out here I plan on ordering all the safety supplies like EPIRB, jack lines, life vests, flares, fenders, dock lines etc. I also have to out fit the galley, and have a few ideas from http://theboatgalley.com/  , as well as the multiple people who are vying  for the position of cook on the boat… I have also sent the life raft and fire extinguishers away to be reinspected and certified. My mother is remaking all the cushions and should be great when they are done! If I did this job again, there is one thing that I would do different after getting to the spot I am in now. When cutting the old deck out, I would leave a larger border around the edge of the cut out to make a larger bevel and not go any where near the radius of the cap rail. That way all of the sanding would be flat and could be done with an air file and not by hand, having to essentially rebuild the radius. My fingers would have thanked me! You would have to dig out more core material from underneath it but, it was so rotten anyway that it could be easily removed, I guess it would all depend on the condition of what was underneath… Well, back to work, wish I got a real vacation.“Many of the great achievements of the world were accomplished by tired and discouraged men who kept on working.” ~ Unknown

EVEN AN ELEPHANT COULD WALK ON IT

Well, since the last post a lot has changed. The decks are now decks again, although they may not look it. The sealer and fairing compound has been ordered and the prep work for paint has been started, which means sanding, sanding and more sanding! Fun…

First off, the deck had to be laid. That means finish cutting the glass and finish fairing out the old leftover deck to give the new fiberglass a good place to bond to. So I took the 7in grinder with 50 grit paper on it and beveled the edge to have a nice 2-3inch scarf joint the entire perimeter of the “new” deck. I also sanded down any place that the core was a little to high or the bedding compound was sticking up.

Next was to make sure that I had all the glass cut and ready to go. I laid out the entire first layer without resin to make sure I had all the pieces and everything fit as I wanted. Then I cleaned the core really well with a vacuum and then acetone the entire thing. Next it was time to fiberglass the deck!

I ended up going with 7 layers, for the proper thickness, 1.5 oz mat and 17 oz 45 degree Bi-axial w/out mat were used. I went mat, mat, bi, mat, bi, mat, bi for the lay up schedule. On the test piece I made this came to about the same thickness as the old deck that came off and should give the same, if not better strength because of using bi-axial instead of the roving that was used when the boat was built. I started by laying the first three layers over the entire boat. The mat soaked up a lot of resin and when the bi was put down after I used a fiberglass roller to get rid of any bubbles and to fully wet out the cloth. It took all day and some acrobatics balancing on the cap rail to get it all done. I slept good that night, and got up early to finish the final 4 layers. It got chilly overnight and the resin was still tacky, so it was perfect for the final layers to still get a chemical bond. I laid up the final 4 layers together, the same way that the first three were done. When it dried it looked amazing and there were very few air pockets that I had to grind out. It came out really strong and I can’t even tell if it flexes when I jump up and down on it. So strong, that even an elephant could walk on it…

Next comes the fun part. Sanding.

I learned the hard way that I should have put wax in the final coat so that the resin would cure fully. I did read that in the book that I have, but I tried to get away with out it. Turns out it just gums up the sand paper almost instantly. So I got some wax and painted a light layer of resin over the deck to get a fully cured, and easier to sand deck. Such a small step and only 4$ worth of wax makes all the difference, don’t forget it!

I started grinding the high spots where the cloth overlapped and the edges that were higher. I also drilled out all the holes in the cabin top, reamed them out with a bent nail and will fill them with epoxy tomorrow to help prevent any water ingress to the cabin top and give the screws something better to hold onto. All the non-skid on the cabin top was ground off to make room for the new stuff.  I also removed the main hatch so the carpenter could work on it. Turns out that it was never supposed to be removed, so I had to cut it out, as it was glassed into the cabin top. I thought the destruction was done! Oh well, in the end it will all look better than it did before.

Not on it is boring old sanding and prep work for paint so that she will look great when it is all done. Can’t wait to see what she looks like with some paint on her!

“The miracle, or the power, that elevates the few is to be found in their industry, application, and perseverance under the promptings of a brave, determined spirit.” Mark Twain

BEAUTY IS ONLY SKIN DEEP…

Well, it has continued to be a busy work week. From the last update, the supplies have been ordered and received. The decks have been de-cored and prepped and the new core has been cut and installed.

The old core came out fairly easy and was rotten for the most part. It looked like a river was running through it. The previous owner obviously knew about the leaks because there was sealant on the underside of the deck (in the cabin). So instead of fixing the leak on the top like you are supposed to do, he gave the water no where to go except to the core. Which it did and sat there, rotting it away under the top skin and all the teak that was there. When the teak came off and the deck was checked it sounded like it was hollow. The first layer of skin was peeled off and the amount of water retained in the plywood core was astonishing.

All the core material has been removed. The hardest part was the narrow section next to the cockpit.  I had to get a special tool to get that core out… It was a 4″ Angle Grinder with a chain saw blade on it. I got the angle grinder at Harbor Freight and the thing was horrible, but it was only twelve bucks. The switch broke and the lock tab broke off as well, I rigged it to work without a switch, plugged in and it’s on! Scary with a chainsaw blade and no guard on it, but you got to do what you got to do.

Once the core was removed the entire under-skin was ground down to remove any residual core material or bedding material. Some of the under skin was looking pretty thin, so I decided to lay a layer of fiberglass mat to give it some extra strength, plus it was good practice to get the hang of laminating before it really counted. It came out great and only required grinding in a few places where it didn’t bond.

Then came the cutting of the new core material. I ordered 4 sheets of Divinicell H80 foam for the new core material (not cheap). I used the old top skin for the pattern to cut the foam. Everything worked out great. I laid it all out and used a sander to make sure everything fit correctly. I then stuffed scrap pieces under the 3 inch scarf joint that I left on the edge to glass the new deck to. Once everything looked like it fit correctly, I took it all off and got ready to glue it down.

I got a 5 gallon bucket of Core-Bond B70 to glue it down, basically a pre-thickened polyester based bedding compound. I would butter up the edges of the scrap pieces and hammer them under the old skin and then use a trowel to coat the under-skin with the core-bond. I would put a “hot coat” of polyester resin on the back side of the foam and then bed it in, lightly tapping it in place with a hammer. I would then put heavy weights on top to keep it in place until it cured. That ranged from old buckets filled with water, old batteries, and wood blocks.

The core set up nicely even though the temperature decided to drop towards the end of the week. I used the entire 5 gallon bucket bedding the foam and still had some gaps towards the stern where I ran out. I ended up using silica thickened resin to fill those gaps and none the wiser. I also bought some straight 3/4″ fiberglass sheets from McMaster Carr, cut squares out of it, and bedded it where any cleat or stanchion base would be drilled into the core, to not only add a ton of strength but keep water from getting to the foam.

Now I have begun to cut the glass to start on the top deck. I am going with a mat then biaxle alternating layup schedule until I get the right thickness.

I have recruited some help from a local boat builder to do some carpentry work on the inside while I am at work and cannot get to it with the exterior work. He has some good ideas, good advice and good connections to get supplies while I am down here and I am looking forward to working with him.

Next up is some more fairing and sanding to make it easier to lay up the deck, finish cutting the glass and then time to start laminating the deck!

“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.”

-John Quincy Adams

OFF WITH HER TEAK!

Well, it has been a busy week. The boat was moved inside on Tuesday, and all the teak was removed by Thursday! I am now currently cutting the outer skin on the deck and ripping out the core material…

The boat is currently at Cape Fear Boatworks, which is a great place at an even better price. They have a huge indoor building that has only a few boats inside, so I have plenty of space to work and no one to bother me while I do it. There is only one employee at the yard who is always busy running around and fiber-glassing his own projects. The owner of the yard lives on his boat there, but rarely seen and a super nice guy (and the local magistrate, so don’t get in trouble!).

I started by taking off all hardware on the deck. Tough task when a lot of hardware is through bolted and you can’t be in two placed at the same time. I ended up getting lucky and a lot of pieces had so much caulk on them that I could undo the nut on the underside without holding the top. Other’s I used vice-grips and unscrewed it from the top.  Once all the hardware was removed the teak was next. I attempted to remove the plugs and unscrew it but it didn’t work out that easy and I ended up with more stripped screws than removed ones. So, a hammer and crowbar were my best friends for the next day and a half. One side was redone with epoxy and was a pain to get up and the other was put down with a rubberized adhesive and was easy to get up. Most of the teak came up easily but broke in many spots, I was not planning on reusing it so no big deal.

After all the teak was up, I peeled up a small section of the deck to check what the core looked like. Once I got it up I was slightly surprised to see that it was small 2″x2″ squares of plywood all completely soaked and rotten. Ok, this is going to be a big job. I had planned for the worst and this is it. No easy way out now.

So, on my hands and knees, I used a circular saw to cut a 3 foot square out of the deck, just cutting through the top layer and peeled it up. Then using a hammer and chisel, slowly, chipping out the old core material. I left a 2-3 inch edge around the cutout to feather it to connect to the new deck I am going to lay in.  I am still working on getting the core material out. My goal is to have it all out by the 15th and them have a new skin on the deck by the end of the week. Time to start ordering supplies!

“If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.”
― H.G. Wells

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Well, the past three days have been really busy. The mast has come down, the boat made road worthy and then put on a truck and hauled to its new, indoor, home. On Monday after some last minute phone calls we got a crane to come take the mast down at 2pm. So we rushed to get it ready to come down. The wind instruments were taken down and everything was double checked. The mast came out and down without any problems. It only took about 2 hours with an additional 3 to clear the mast of the rigging to get it ready to go on the truck.

Next was getting the boat on the truck with the mast and getting it safely to the next boat yard. The truck came at 8am the next day and they already had the boat lined up on the trailer when I arrived at 8:05am. It took about an hour and half to get the pads in place and everything strapped down. I followed the truck, who might have forgot he had a boat with him as he was speeding down just about every road we went down. I guess he was in a rush to get to the next job. The trailer bowed down under the weight of the boat and scrapped the ground a few times. The truck driver didn’t seem phased and just powered through it, tearing up some grass here or relocating dirt down the high way. While following my boat the only thing that fell off was a piece of Plexiglas on one of the hatches that I forgot was not fastened down. No big deal just have to cut a new one…

Once at the new place, they had the lift already set up and ready to receive.  It came off the truck and was set and done by 11:3o. I went and grabbed some lunch and started to clean it out. I took out most everything from the interior and got ready for the work to begin.

The next day I managed to get just about all of the deck fitting off, with the exception of the few things in the stern. Tomorrow the old teak decks start to come off!

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
― Nelson Mandela

THE WORK HAS BEGUN

Well, I moved into Wilmington, NC to work on my boat. I am currently living on a 65′ Yacht that the broker is trying to sell (it sounds a lot nicer than it is), but it is right north of down town on the river. So if I ever have time to check out downtown it is in a pretty good location.

As for my boat, the current plan is to pull the mast tomorrow and then haul it by truck to the indoor shop so I can get going on the repairs.

I spent all day yesterday with Bob, the broker/previous owner, and got the boat ready for the trip. The main sail, boom, and all lines were taken off and coiled. The bow pulpit and stern pulpit were removed along with all the life line stantions. We lowered the dingy engine and took off the wind generator and pole. The canvas and dodger all came off. The boat looks good all cleaned up. Very open and you can really see the lines with out the other ‘junk’ in the way.

oday, I went and worked on her alone. I labeled and disconnected all wiring to the mast and loosened the shrouds to make sure they were not frozen. I also started to remove some of the deck hardware to get a jump start on that. It stinks that there are a lot of fittings that are through bolted and I don’t have someone to help. I have been running down with a pair of vice grips and then up to unscrew the piece, then back down to clamp the next nut and then up to unscrew the bolt… you get the point.

Hopefully it all works out to plan an by Wednesday I can start the bulk of the work. It is going to take a long time getting set up and all of the junk from inside the boat out of it. Set up the scaffolding and then actually doing the work.

It is still almost unbelievable that it is mine. I am almost still in shock. It is going to be a lot of work and money, and I hope that in the end it will all pay off.

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
― Thomas A. Edison

Let the Adventure Begin!

Well, I did it, after 20 years of sailing and dreaming of owning a boat, I, after lots of saving and hard work have bought a boat.

I bought a Litton built, Perry 41. Let the adventure begin!

I had been looking around at lots of different kinds of boats and had decided that a reasonably “fast” cruiser would suit my fancy the best. I would love to own a racer, but can’t afford a racing circuit nor the cost of an mishaps that occur while racing. So might as well stick with racing other peoples boats. Although, I would foresee a Bermuda race and definitely a Figawi in the future. After a lot of research and liking Robert Perry as a designer for his off shore designs, proven designs, and nice balance between speed and seaworthiness; I started looking mostly at his designs. Most, in my price range, are of the Taiwan boat builder era, when it was a lot cheaper to build it over there in the 70′s and 80′s. I found a plethora of boats built in that range in varying conditions. Most were heavily over built and a contained more teak than you would know what or want to do with.

So, searching on the internet, mainly yachtworld.com, and found what I hope to be my diamond in the rough.  I did a ton of research on it, I found out that the builder, Litton, was a Taiwan builder that is now out of business. They mainly built Trawlers but may have been contracted by Cheoy Lee to build this yacht.  I have only found a few other on the owners site and am speculating that there were only a few produced.  Next the designer, Robert Perry, know for starting the “performance cruising” movement in the late 70′s was one of my top choices for a designer. This yacht is said to have similar hull lines to the Valiant 40, which is a known circumnavigator and capable of 200+ mile days. I contacted some of the other owners that said they raced theirs on the west coast and said that their PHRF rating was 130, not bad considering I usually race on a J/105 that rates 96…

While at work, I called the owner, Bob, who turned out to be the owner/broker for Oriental Yacht Sales in N. Carolina. We talked and I got all the information possible about the boat. There was definitely some problems with it from the survey that was done, mainly the teak decks that were in poor condition. There was also some rotten liners on the interior of the yacht, caused by the leaky teak decks. So, minimally the decks would have to be replaced. After talking with Bob some more, getting quotes to replace the deck and core for around 15k; he said that there was a yard, with indoor storage that I could do the work myself. And it is only 250$ a month for indoor storage! So having 75+ days off at a time, not a bad deal to having something to do on my time off.

So, when I got home from work, I drove down to N.Carolina to look at the boat. When I first saw it I thought it looked huge! I spent all day going over the boat with Bob and then over to the yard where I could work on it. Upon further inspection the boat needs some work, most of it is cosmetic though, a light sand and some varnish will turn it around 100%. The big deal is the teak decks. The previous owner, a Canadian know as Dick, one of Bob’s friends who was in failing health and Bob took the boat to sell, had started to re-caulk the deck but didn’t really know what he was doing. Bob said he has been “De-Dicking” the boat for some time now.  The deck might possibly be salvaged after it it removed to check the core for water ingress, but it would be much easier to rip it off and non-skid the deck, a lot cheaper to maintain although less pretty to some. The cabin top was already non-skid and in good condition, all the winches and running rigging was well maintained and not in need of much. Down below the wood work is beautiful. There is a few small carpentry jobs to do but a varnish, good deep clean, and new cushions will make the interior beautiful once again.

There is a lot of good too, which makes it a well equipped cruiser. There is a life raft (not cheap), new Raymarine chartplotter/radar, Icom SSB, Raymarine Autohelm, Monitor Windvane, 2 solar panels, wind generator (needs to be replaced), A/C, heater, Water maker, new oven/stove, plenty of space and over all in sound over built hull construction (survey found nothing wrong with the hull except a few dings in the gel coat  here and there).

The bad makes the boat look like it needs a lot of work, which it does, but it is manageable. Being an over confident Marine Engineer, I feel that I have enough skill to fix just about anything, so to keep me busy and from just drinking my vacation away I decided that this would do the trick. It will bring a lot of hardship, work, and tough times but I am sure that in the end it will turn out to be an awesome adventure making new friends along the way and good times to be had with all. No one said it was going to be easy, but perseverance, hard work, and help from all sources will all pay off in the end either way.

You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you that you can’t do it. You want something? Go get it. Period.