Some one drilled holes in the new deck!

Well the work is progressing along nicely. The cap rail has been varnished with Epifanes Wood gloss. It came out great and the pictures don't do it justice.

Next step was to start drilling. It is a little scary drilling holes in the new deck and paint job. I only messed up one but it was easily fixed with some epoxy. I started by drilling the holes for the life line stantions and worked from the bow back. Once the varnish was complete I put the bow pulpit back on and started putting the new life lines back on. 

Once the holes were drilled, I then sealed the core where I didn't put a piece of e-plate. I used thickened epoxy to fully seal the opening and then sanded it to the proper dimension for the fitting. 

I have the entire bow back together now and everything looks great!

So moving on today, the varnish was fully dried and I was able to mount the bow pulpit and anchor windlass. The bow area is now pretty much done and I can start moving towards the stern. 

Most of the life line stantions are mounted and next I have to install the stern pulpits. There is some other work going on as well in the interior. I have the batteries hooked up and working. The nav station is back together now that the through bolts are back from the deck hardware. The carpenter is working hard on getting the companion way back together. He also is redoing the dorade box trim so I can remount them.

I also rebuilt the forward side of the main hatch so that new teak can be installed to match the sliding hatch. 

All in all, the boat is starting to be put back together. I am a little behind schedule with how I would want to be, but I am plugging along in the hot humid heat down here. By the end of the day, I look like I just got out of the shower and have drunk over a gallon of water, nothing too much different than working on a ship in the Middle East. I'm trying to stay motivated but may need some time off before the next trip back to work in August. Hopefully I will be sipping Margarita's on Stella Maris before the end of summer...

“The fatigue was there, but some people understood that putting it aside was the single most important factor in succeeding.” ~ Seth Godin

Back to the grind

Well, I am back at it. Made it back to Wilmington and found the boat freshly painted with awl grip and tuff coat non-skid. I am happy how it came out, there are still a few spots that need to be touched up and are being addressed.

Over all it looks great and like a whole new boat. Now I am working on sanding the cap rail to varnish it before I re-install all the deck hardware. The old varnish sanded off nicely and should look great when done.

Also getting back I found a mountain of boxes of gear that I order while I was at work and had a pay check burning a hole in my pocket. Everything I ordered seems to be here and I should have a well stocked boat for cruising, although there is always a long wish list of more stuff that would be nice to have. 

I have also received my new 6 person life raft, which is smaller than the 4 person I had... I still have the old one if anyone wants to buy it and have it re-certified? The canvas guy came by and made patterns for the new dodger that I am having made. Should be a great investment for the boat and really make it look great. Can't wait to see it!

This is just a quick update as I get back into the swing of things down here. It is hot and humid and tough working but I am plugging along making head way. I planned on launching her by the end of June but don't know how it will plan out. The carpenter didn't do any work while I was gone and that will set me back some time, but I will have to make up for it other ways. Starting to look like a real sailing boat now, getting excited to go sailing!

“A leader, once convinced a particular course of action is the right one, must have the determination to stick with it and be undaunted when the going gets tough.” -Ronald Regan

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