CAL 29 Sea Fever

Winter Projects

2011-12-17T09:45:00.000-08:00

The big one this winter is the new Flex-o-Fold prop which i will have to shoot some pictures of as it is a piece of artwork

The old prop and shaft are out and after i lap the new prop on the new shaft there really wont any old stuff on board except the refurbished motor

I am plugging up all the old worn out instrument holes but it got a bit to cold for the glass work so it will get finished the next 50 degree weather streak

I refinished the old cabin top teak sliders for the hatch and they look really nice and will take a shot after there back in

2011-11-20T11:30:00.000-08:00

The boat is all ready for winter the interior is removed and the fiberglass repiars from the boat hitting me over the summer are about 1/2 done

It would not be fall without a giant pile of leaves

winters work begins

2011-10-29T11:09:00.000-07:00

During todays snow storm i warmed up the motor changed the oil and winterized the motor and water system

The custom hole on the transmission cover allows about 95% of the old oil to be removed

A good way to end the season

2011-10-24T16:12:00.000-07:00

As the sun sets on the 2011 season

The old folks club took home another first in the Main and Jib division on the second weekend of manhasset bay fall series 2011

a short weekend trip

2011-10-01T13:15:00.000-07:00

Well summer is gone and I wanted to make at least one overnight trip on the boat this season so to oyster bay I went

It was a MUCH better day than the forecast plenty of wind and NO rain on what was supposed to be a washout so sometimes it pays to take a chance

On Saturday night there was a huge fireworks display for some unknown reason as i did not thing October 1 was a special day ?

The most impressive thing was how clean the water along the shore was

It's getting a bit cold

2011-09-12T19:16:00.000-07:00

As fast as it got hot the highs this weekend on the water were about 68 with 15 to 20 knots of wind on Sunday so it's dodger time

My best sunset of 2011

2011-09-11T13:05:00.001-07:00

Cal 29 so easy a nine year old can do it

2011-09-11T12:59:00.000-07:00

My nine year old niece Grace took to the helm nicely

Fair Winds Uncle Joe

2011-09-08T14:54:00.000-07:00

My good friend and Seafevers owner for 30 years before his illness and the inevitable slowing down of getting old prevented him for taking care of the boat

Uncle Joe stayed busy right up till the end and did a full season of competitive sailing with us on Zzzoom in the 2010 season at 92 years old as a active crew member and passed away at home at the ripe old age of 93 in August 2011

Another perfect day of sailing

2011-09-02T18:29:00.000-07:00

The wife and myself Took a well deserved four day weekend and started it with a great sail today out to mid sound off Stanford and had the treat of seeing the start of the 2011 Vineyard race a 200 + mile distance race

There were some really BIG boats and when I got home and looked it up Whiethawk was 105 feet

We had to be really careful as the sound is full of broken trees from Irean and we were dodging stuff all day

New Leece-Neville alternator

2011-08-13T18:36:00.000-07:00

Well at 41 years old the OEM alternator was still putting out a bit but it was just barely enough so i am back with 51 amps of new power at a nice steady 14.2 volts

The Leece-Neville took over Prestolite at some point in the pats so there a perfect as the case is exactly the same and there USA made

On a more happy note

2011-08-07T08:58:00.000-07:00

On a more happy note we continue are quest to find out how fast a Cal 29 will go and with yesterdays gusts into the 20s we did a bunch of 7.5s with a 7.7 peak i can smell and 8.0 as we learn more about what makes the boat go fast

Seafevers first new hole

2011-08-06T12:34:00.001-07:00

My !^%^*^#^*##($($&&^*(_+()&)__ mooring neighbor had a motor problem and instead of getting a tow thought he would try his had a sailing into and TIGHT mooring field

Well it could have been worse BUT his bow pulpit punched a fist size hole right between the two main Portlights

Everybody at the yard thought somebody called me and we went out to go sailing and opened up the cabin to a nice pile of paint and glass shards

He is being good about it so far and we will see what the glass guy says this week :rolleyes:

Unfortunately cracked and delaminated into the unobtainium window frame which will have to be disturbed to do a repair as there is a good bit of bad glass under the interior gelcoat

Gotta love roller furling

2011-08-01T16:23:00.000-07:00

After a lifetime of flaking sails changing sails you just have to love spending 11 seconds to have a now small and balanced jib and main and he helming with two fingers in 20 knots true wind

The new constant diameter endless splice for the furling boom

2011-07-30T09:29:00.000-07:00

Knothead from sailnet has done a few you tube videos on endless splicing and other rope work and after a bunch of practice runs in the basement it was time to do it on the boat to the exact correct length on my Stoboom

The line was about 24' long and had to be done in place because of all the blocks and the difficulty of trying to take apart the boom :)

A nice tight crossover with some well hidden lock stitching to keep it toghter

Seafevers first race

2011-07-21T17:50:00.000-07:00

Well we did the LHYC Edward S. Dole Memorial" Stratford Shoal Race which is my third time doing this 34 mile event

BUT the wind was a bit light :) so we relaxed and focused on breaking 8 hours and fun was had by all

a bit more odds and ends work and a whole lot of fun

2011-07-11T18:34:00.000-07:00

The Cal is exceeding all of are expectations from taking out my 7 and 10 year old niece and nephew and feeling safe about it to being able to run a full main and 100% jib in 20 knot gusts and crack 7.2 knots and stay DRY

Out Sailing Thursday night

2011-07-01T18:14:00.000-07:00

On Monday nights voyage the jib and main sheets were breaking which
was no fun they looked kind of faded BUT were in even worse shape

So it has a double main sheet with two 65' sheets and two 40' jib
sheets what's another few hundred at this point :)

We put them on Thursday night and sailed from Northport harbor out to
R8 by target rock and back in light wind and a foul current going out
BUT it pushed us nicely on the return

Now i just have to replace the reefing lines on the main and jib
furling units to be on the safe side

Seafevers big day

2011-06-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

well

that was the most worthwhile 1.5 years i have ever spent

a nice green bottom of course

2011-06-19T13:51:00.000-07:00

Well

Got some good weather so we got a huge amount of work done this weekend

In addition to the bottom paint we put all the new standing rigging on the mast and lashed everything down for trucking to the boat yard for launch

And a bunch of general small jobs like the transom swim ladder BUT when your putting stuff back over new Awlgrip nothing is really a small job

A bit more epoxy work on the small part of the keel and the underwater stuff is done

Bottom paint the last BIG project

2011-06-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

While a boat is and endless series of projects interspersed with a bit of sailing most of them are relatively small

And then theirs scraping off 20 years of bottom paint :)

On my last effort to get ready for topside paint i stopped at this point because i felt i was not going to get another week of such perfect topside painting weather and it has proven to be true

There has not been another solid week of good weather

Somehow i discovered a new tool a cheep home depot 2.5"in carbide paint scraper

The carbide blade is supposed to last 10 times longer than a standard metal blade and i would say it lasted about 50 times longer and worked about 50 times faster

I used up 7 blades at 4.95 each and it was worth every penny because i got all the paint off and prepped in two brutal days of scraping and sanding

In a final act of mercy Uncle Joe the previous owner and a great friend of mine did and and amazing barrier coat job a while back and there is NOT a single blister/bubble/hickey nothing

So i just have to build up some thing spots near the water line and give it a fresh coat or three of barrier coat and two coats of bottom paint

The hull and keel are amazing fair and i believe a good bit better than my J24 was even when it was brand new

A big milestone this week

2011-06-03T15:42:00.000-07:00

Well

Its was a great week as i had the insurance survey done on Tuesday and the boat went through with flying colors

General Summary/Risk Assessment/Values: This boat was found to be well constructed originally, and it has not suffered any major damage or repairs. The basic structure of the boat – the hull, deck, and interior, is sound. The foredeck has been largely rebuilt to correct a delamination condition. The work has been well done. The standing rigging is all new., and the mast and sails are in good condition. The engine, fuel and exhaust systems have all been rebuilt or replaced. The hull has been repainted. There are still some cosmetic upgrades to be made to the interior. In general, the boat has benefited from a knowledgeable and conscientious owner. If the recommendation is followed I would consider it to be an acceptable risk. I would place its current market value, as surveyed, based on book values as well as selling prices of similar boats

cant tell you everything BUT i was happy with the figure and was able to insure it at that level with no problem

out in the sun again

2011-05-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

That was a LOT of work as the frame is made of 6 sections of 5 pieces of wood and a big bucket o screws

the green stripE

2011-05-13T11:37:00.000-07:00

Who would have thopught that would take all day :)

Seafevers paint coming toghter

2011-05-10T11:50:00.000-07:00

After about a billion hours of sanding with a big 30 hour push this weekend as i was NOT gonna let this weather window slip

I must have gone through 500 dollars in sandpaper :)

The colors came from a first J24 and we have always like the Tan green combo and is kind of frightening that we bought that boat in the 80s :)

The motor all happy after the first test run

2011-05-01T13:28:00.000-07:00

It was a PITA getting 5 gallons of fuel into the new SAFE :) fuel fill and a bit of a bigger PITA priming the fuel system with a brand new tank / filters and lines BUT if its all good now

the new instrument panel in action

2011-05-01T13:25:00.000-07:00

new instrument panel

2011-04-30T14:58:00.000-07:00

I could just not live with this mess

So i looked around the wonderful internet and found a surplus navpod for 99 dollars

A nice piece of split weather strip to seal it and 8 screws and i am pretty happy with the improvement

old wire stuff

2011-04-24T09:31:00.000-07:00

Well that is quite the pile of old wire should be worth a few bucks down at the scrap yard

BUT we have achieved a neat look that functions well

we have light

2011-04-12T03:41:00.000-07:00

Those 20 watt bulbs draw a lot of amps

more electric

2011-04-10T13:31:00.000-07:00

Gotta love the simplicity of the old days

Of course the stupid step cable would not let me mount then new box high enough so i have to do a little wood blending

A crap load of screws and all the stuff fit good thing because i did the measurements

Gotta love those backlit switches and for good measure nothing fryed when i fired it up

More electric stuff

2011-04-08T13:57:00.000-07:00

I picked up the panel enclosure and everything fit which was good as i made the drawing :)

The Cal 29 electric coming under control

2011-04-04T17:12:00.000-07:00

Its hard to go backwards when some tired battery cables are the good stuff

So a new switch and ACR

Make up a bunch of dummy cables to get the length right

All toghter starting to look much better

But of course a 20" cable got made 20'

I ran a test charge and everything combined just like the instructions and opened right on time also

The 12 switch panel should be waterjet cut this week

The 12 switch panel should be waterjet cut this week and two battery posts fuses just in case and a whole bunch of cable securing

Seafever has running water :)

2011-04-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

Its amazing how much a faucet can cost and not even be all that good :rolleyes:

So after a relentless search i found these ECO PURE units as Lowes which are perfect in that there really well made and have a nice low flow and are setup with a 3/8 tube push lock fitting

To keep the women happy we went with the Traveler Self-Contained Toilet / Holding Tank as the 9 gallons fits are use of the boat without all the complexity of cramping in a holding tank in a boat that was built without one

Of course no good dead go without problems and ones under a heavy load the pump started leaking BUT it was on sale at defenders warehouse sale and i would have most likely regretted fixing a 30 year old pump as some bolts were breaking when i took it apart

More jobs done

2011-03-14T15:59:00.000-07:00

It was a really productive weekend

I had all new standing rigging made by http://www.riggingonly.com/ who did a great job and were very easy to work with

So i had to put the Profurl back together over the new headstay and put new locktite back on about 30 screws so i don't have them falling out the next windy day

The next rigging issue was the halyards with everybody insisting i change over to high-tech rope which by the time i re-machined the sheaves to work with all rope halyards was gonna end-up being a 1000 dollar deal

Having just spent 1100 dollars on standing rigging that was not to appealing SO i visited the ZZzooom graveyard

Which is owned by a friend i race with he had a big collection of wire to rope halyards he wanted to get rid of So i bit of cutting and Nico-Press and i had 3 plenty good halyards for nothing as i own the BIG tools to do the job

I finished up the sink through hull and connected up some more expensive approved hose the stuff is decorated like a race car with approvals :)

And to make my weekend complete i installed the new fuel filter/anti-siphon valve and A-1 fuel lines from the tank to the A-4 carburetor and anothe 8 expensive hose clamps that is done and safe

even more hoses

2011-03-06T12:56:00.000-08:00

Well now even raw water hose has to have special marking on it

So we have are nice new seacock going to are nice old SEN-DURE sea strainer

And then the water pump and in and out of the hat exchanger

Fuel system about finished

2011-03-06T12:45:00.000-08:00

One of the bigger issues was the fuel filler being inside the cockpit on the sole in terms of getting water in the fuel and its just not safe compared to a modern install

So about 1k later

We have a nice new tank with the fill and vent tubes headed in the correct direction

A fuel fill and vent that are wear they belong

And a some special Trident fill hose that would make some of the crazy bends needed

Moving right along again

2011-02-27T10:57:00.000-08:00

I put the rudder with its minor repairs i made to over the winter back in and it was quite the stand on your head and turn bolts affair but it works really nice :)

I finally got to the point wear the parts i replaced inside the boat no longer needed the old wood for templates so i had a chopping party

And for good measure rolled up all the standing rigging and shipped it off to be copied

It was a PITA to take apart the PRO_FURL but i am really glad i dis as the hear stay was badly worn on the top were the bearing inside the foil rubs on the wire

DON'T mess with one of these without reading the instructions :)

A bit of what I do at work

2011-02-13T17:57:00.000-08:00

Of course I fix things like this giant 1000 gallon toothpaste mixer

New parts prepped to weld

And a new center section ready to do bunch more welding and grinding which if things go well will be mixing again by Friday

Busy again

2011-02-13T17:46:00.000-08:00

with the 40 degree heat wave :)

I am going at it again and this weekend I did the final alinement of the motor and installed the stuffing box and shaft coupling ,shift and throttle cables

Kind of happy all that stuff lined up as after replacing the stern tube I would have had to shoot myself if I had put the tube in wrong

Today I installed the custom copper water lift muffler the boat came with and also put the heat exchanger and hoses back on somehow this used up another 10 hours BUT everthing looks good

I will have to take some pictures

the dark cold days of winter

2010-12-16T05:12:00.000-08:00

Well

He were are again with a really cold start to the winter already down to 13 degree and staying around 32 degrees all day with a lot of wind

After christmas i will have to suck it up and keep pushing :)

Another job finished

2010-12-05T11:03:00.000-08:00

what damage a small leak did

working to save the good wood

new wood and a LOT of glass work to make it strong

something about white paint and stainless that say finished

One year + today

2010-11-25T06:38:00.000-08:00

Well it was one year ago this weekend i put on a BIG push to pull the motor so i could refurbish it and the rest of the boat

At this point i have finished all the big jobs BUT there is a huge amount of paint plumbing and electric work left to finish making a finish date hard to predict

And there is the issue of my 30th wedding anniversary as we are taking a fairly costly trip :)

I can honestly say at this point the only regret is going for the high quality topside paint as its really gonna hold up the launch

more hardware

2010-11-07T11:43:00.001-08:00

deck hatch and putting back hardware

2010-11-07T11:42:00.000-08:00

old and badly installed

Rebuilt and well installed at least IMHP :)

white at the end of the tunnel :)

2010-10-25T16:02:00.000-07:00

droping the rudder

2010-10-16T13:10:00.000-07:00

Well

I was NOT looking forward to this as i do confined entry repairs for a living and the quadrant on the 29 is really freaking stand on your head confined

Through some random act of kindness the quadrant was bronze and fully split and after 40 years it came apart like it was put on last week :cool:

I really did not want o dig a hole in my concrete driveway and was getting nervous BUT it cleared by 1" :laugher

2010-10-16T12:51:00.001-07:00

A big thanks to Mainsail for his deck core sealing guide
]http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/sealing_the_deck

After a bunch of hole sawing drilling and dremel routing i lost count but it was a LOT of holes :eek:

A bunch of sealing below and filled with the mix of your liking

2010-10-11T16:07:00.000-07:00

Well that as a LOT of work with a bunch of detail work LEFT in drilling and epoxy sealing the core

I tried getting in the anchor locker to do some tape work and got STUCK Sunday :eek:

The thought of somebody cutting cutting up my work was quite the motivator :D

Tonight i used the laminate trimmer to cut the core were it overlapped on the hatch now i just have to brush on a few coats to seal it when i drill and pot the about 40 hardware holes:rolleyes:

Been busy

2010-10-08T06:10:00.000-07:00

Well i have lost the weather to finish the paint this year and have gone back to finishing up the inside glass work

I will take the time this weekend for some pictures as a lot of progress has been made

The topsides paint

2010-09-26T10:57:00.000-07:00

well what can i say but its a LOT of work :)

But i have turned this back into

Earl and other slowdowns

2010-09-05T08:07:00.000-07:00

Well

I got sick on Monday Aug 30 and the temp went up to 100 degrees So i was just not up to any upside down fiberglass work this week

With the threat of Earl and dealing with the town about the paint tarp setup i just spent 3 hours on Thursday taking down the frame and putting regular tarps back one the boat

Of coarse we had ZERO rain and about as much wind BUT it was better than dealing with a real hurricane as we have been through many direct hits over the last 40 years i have lived here

On Monday labor day i plan on putting up the tarps a different way that will allow me to try and get the hull paint done Or at least the primer as we seem to have a good run of weather coming

the bulkhead repiar is finished

2010-08-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

If you recall last year :) this was pretty bad and important because it holds up the mast

i had to cut out a good size chunk to find dry wood

with the wonder of epoxy and time i have a bulkhead again

Tom Vs the Town

2010-08-28T14:16:00.000-07:00

It seems on my neighbors does not like my boat cover so they filed a complaint

And the town left a letter in my door to give them a call on Monday of face there wrath

After talking to my friend who works for the highway department and my son the Assistant district attorney it seems the temporary nature of the cover will make it hard for them to do much but i will find out more on Monday

And if they want to get nasty about it i have a second design with no legs that is 100% boat supported :)

the hull to deck joint ficaso finished

2010-08-28T13:59:00.000-07:00

i new the would be some problems when i removed the rub rail but as usally they were much worse than one would expect

There was more or less nothing holding the starboard hull to deck together due to a piss poor previous repair

I had to grind and clean out 29' of joint on the outside of the boat and inject west SIX-10 epoxy which was chosen because it is thickened and self mixes out of a standard caulking gun and then put rivets back into the original holes

It worked out pretty good BUT that was the easy part :)

Then i had to go inside the boat and grind off all the delaminated tape that was supposed to be holding the joint together

This was the mother of all fiberglass snow storms and made about 30 pounds of dust

So after much 6" tape a even more masking tape and paper as i had to do a lot of grinding insides the cabinets the hull is now rock solid

Topsides sanding

2010-08-08T10:19:00.000-07:00

I was able to sand 5 hours Saturday and 3 hours Sunday before my arms said enough so much of the old filler had fallen off i did not feel safe trusting any out it and ground it all out

It will be a PITA filling and fairing :)

the glass work is started

2010-08-08T10:15:00.000-07:00

The glassing of the new inner skin to the core is some messy slow work BUT like everything else its getting easy with each section as i learn

i will try and get a focused picture latter but my but is kicked from sanding the topsides right now

Around Long Island Fun

2010-08-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

It was a good ride till we found the rock

So Zzzooom is down for at least a month as the rock at 7 knots did a lot of hull damage :(

i have gotten deep into the hull paint and glassing the recore and will have to update with some pictures

enough work off to the races

2010-07-28T04:39:00.000-07:00

Life does not get any better than a 190 mile sailboat race

Topsides paint

2010-07-28T04:34:00.000-07:00

I had to contain the dust and keep direct sun off the boat so build i did

I took about 50 pounds of old paint off so far with a razor blade and STRONG 15 minute paint stripper and found soemthing resembling original gel coat

It does not look like much BUT its over 240 sq-ft of surface to prep

the last piece of forward core

2010-07-28T04:28:00.000-07:00

Now for a bunch of glass work

what else more core

2010-07-13T16:15:00.000-07:00

A bit of plywood to hold things up now that i ran out of flat ground

And the bow has been reached :)

Starting the topside paint

2010-07-11T15:24:00.000-07:00

i don't know why but the hull is called the topsides :) So i changed to cover a bit to make some work room and started in the worst place on the boat

gonna have to order the gallon of water proof filler

main suport beam back in

2010-07-11T15:21:00.000-07:00

Through some act of kindness this beam was in good condition and i was able to drill aliment holes before removing it and epoxy it back in the same place over the new core and the deck now has its original crown

but of course more core progress

2010-07-08T16:18:00.000-07:00

It was freaking Hot this week

The paper thin edges was all that was holding up the inner skin had cut from above

And another week another two feet of core the good news is its gets narrow the bad news is theres nothing easy to hold up the core now

More deck core progress

2010-06-27T08:40:00.000-07:00

when i last posted i was here

i got to here

And now its ready to epoxy in new core

The 8" 16 grit disk is my new best friend as its MUCH faster at deck prep

The motors back in

2010-06-25T14:59:00.000-07:00

up up up

down down down

Back to work installing the motor
well it runs a lot better and looks a lot better

A littel diversion for some fun

2010-06-25T14:57:00.001-07:00

Some rocks and waterfalls on the Skyline drive

the shaft is back in and looks good

2010-06-13T15:05:00.000-07:00

I thank the boat gods that the shaft lined up perfect and the with a A LOT of work the new fuel tank is installed

the next stage in the deck core

2010-06-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

I cut out the glass in the next section of foredeck and the anchor locker bulkhead as there was no way to reach the rest of the core

Seafever going together and coming apart

2010-06-12T13:37:00.000-07:00

So you don't have to go to far back i started with this

And with a LOT of grief replacing the stern-tube i am about ready to put the motor back in

The deck core

2010-05-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

well now that is always above 50 deg F the deck core is moving along

The sterntube is done

2010-05-27T16:33:00.000-07:00

So the stern tube worked out a bit harder than i would have liked but i am very happy with the finished job

While i was there i ripped out all the bulkhead tabing in the engine box and re glassed it as it was is marginal shape

More progress

2010-05-15T14:13:00.000-07:00

I got everything back together and was not happy with how the tube lined up so after some massive sanding i did a final install on the strut and sealed it up so i could fill in the gap with epoxy

After its set i will do a buck of layers of fiberglass to make sure it does not move

And while that's drying i am back at the deck core

Some more work on the strut mounting

2010-05-03T16:47:00.000-07:00

It was a bit worse than it looks with the lower board looking a bit like coffee grinds :)

no new pictures BUT sanded and really cleaned it up

Plugged up the holes with some easy to drill out wood and built a small dam to hold in the epoxy and now i have a level water proof place to bolt back together the strut

Fitting the hatch back on the deck so it wont LEAK :)

2010-05-02T12:18:00.000-07:00

This jig lets the router cut the wood to match the deck curve

So the test part fits good NOW to make one in teak

The final steps in the stern tube

2010-05-02T12:14:00.000-07:00

It kills me a had to buy a 237 dollar piece of material to make this part

So now theirs a few hours of grinding and epoxy work and this is good to go

Out with the big dogs today this tube is coming OUT

2010-04-22T16:01:00.000-07:00

So in some kind of lucky break i came across the right size 1.75 cutting tool and adapted it to fit by cutting jig

I had to cut 1/2 inside and 1/2 outside so the tools mandrel would stay supported and allow it to cut

So now i can order a new tube and with a bit of grinding epoxy in a nice leak free tube

Allmost fixed it but the new section had a blister

2010-04-22T15:55:00.000-07:00

Cutting tool to cut new outside of tube

The tool after cut

Nicely cut

BITE ME another blister in the tube so its a NO GO

The stern tube contuines

2010-04-18T12:33:00.000-07:00

I have know since i pulled the prop-shaft and the cutlass bearing was worn through a a few degrees angle there was and aliment issue :rolleyes:

So out with the cutlass bearing and in with 1" bronze bushings and aliment shaft

Well i am pretty sure the stern tube was in the right place and the motor was 3-1/2' high SO that left the famous a MONKEY did a bad job of installing the strut

The wood really was on its last legs anyway so i am looking at as a blessing

The FEIN make quick work of that mess

And like magic suddenly everything lined up PERFECT now i just have to clean up all the parts and make some epoxy shims so i can lock it down in aliment

The hatch is allmost done

2010-04-18T12:05:00.000-07:00

I like to use the easy way when i can and let the water-jet cut the lens

All put in and waiting 4 days for the DOW 795 sealant to setup enough to finish it up

seafevers singel biggest nightmare

2010-04-14T16:06:00.000-07:00

The shaft log which is one of those last ALMOST forever parts is broken and the PO pretty much had the shaft seal held in with plumbers putty

So this jig was made up at the motor height and i have to shim it up in line with the Prop Strut which is the part outside the boat that holds the prop shaft using a long shaft

Then i can cut out the bad part and epoxy in a new one which is so easy to type and so hard to do :)

a post about various progress

2010-04-12T15:24:00.000-07:00

One of the bigger issue with the motor was changing the FWC impeller without draining 1.5 gallons of anti-freeze as ONE time was ENOUGH

So i found i needed 1/2' ball valves and 3/8 X 1/2 male nipples as the 3/8 valves were just to small

I had to tweak one handle to tighten the valve But there is enough there to open and close the valves once or twice a year :)

The hatch is back from powder coating and looks great and the waterjet place should have the lens cut this week as i HATE cutting and sanding plastic

I made two seacock mounting plates using the great Mainsail guide at

http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/boat_projects

And for the final touch i pumped out 15 gallons a REALLY bad gasoline and got the tank out of the boat and called it a day on Sunday as i do have to work a real job :)

progress

2010-04-10T13:06:00.000-07:00

A lot of slow steady progress is being made BUT i forget the camera :)

The forward hatch came back from being powder-coated and looks great i am just waiting to cut the new lens and then put in in DOW 795

The motor is ready to come home as soon as its not raining

The forward deck core is coming along BUT its still to cold to work very fast as a second piece in one day will disturb the first piece if the epoxy has not full cured which is taking about 12 hours

On Sunday i plan to pump out the old gasoline and remove and inspect the fuel tank

The motor is looking a bit cleaner

2010-03-25T16:24:00.000-07:00

So some motor mounts that MOVE :) a bunch of scraping and a few coats of alleged high temperature paint

A bit of hatch progress

2010-03-25T16:22:00.000-07:00

Well the hatch came apart without breaking anything which is good

After taking to the factory they powder coat this model as anodizing was hit and miss on the cast hatch's SO white powered coat is looking like the way to go

The first section of core finished

2010-03-22T16:57:00.000-07:00

The first two pieces have come out great and its amazing how the resin wicks through the balsa grain it has to be making it much stiffer

Its a good thing i went with a SLOW cure to allow it to penetrate before kicking

The forward hatch rebuild

2010-03-20T17:46:00.000-07:00

I was going to by a new hatch until i found out this one is special in that it was made to fit the curve in the deck

And at 1200 dollars its worth some elbow grease :)

So about 250 dollars should cover a new lens and the paint as the good paint is expensive BUT it looks great and holds up to saltwater

When i rebuilt my J24 i got pretty good at the in and outs of painting

The First new deck core going back in

2010-03-20T17:35:00.000-07:00

I am using 1/2" balsa core that comes in 2' X 4' sheets of small squares that allows it to be cut up into just the right size

This is the first 6" x 24" section which is backed up with 1/8 Masonite covered in wax paper to keep the core flat against the deck

I found bundles of 48 x 48" sticks at home depot for 6 dollars and it seems to have worked out well i will work on two more sections tomorrow as i want to get to deck stiff again before i remove any more core

So far mixing up 6 OZ of epoxy at time is working out well and i am allowing it to soak into the core and then giving another coat before placing it on the hull

Making the forward stanchions bullet proof

2010-03-20T17:27:00.000-07:00

One of the areas that always fails on boats is the stanchion bases becasue the glass is so thin compared to the abuse they take in day to day sailing

Both of the forward stanchions had cracked the inner and outer hull skins allowing water to soak the core to avoid this in the future i fitted 1/2" thick 8" x 6" G10 blocks which will put the load into 48 sq inches of deck compared to the orginal 6 sq inches

Starboard

Port

Nothing on a boat is every easy and this was no exception as the port and starboard stanchions were different enough i had to drill each block up different :)

I went with MAS brand epoxy because i like the 2:1 ratio and the containers are easy to pour from

I am using chopped fiberglass to thicken the mix at about one teaspoon per OZ so far as it seems to add a LOT of strength compared to other thickeners

The deck is really wet

2010-03-06T13:45:00.000-08:00

Everything bad people say about plywood decks is worse than they say as the water seems to be able to travel endless distance

I started around the forward hatch as it a wide open area that will allow me to get a good system worked out to replace and glass the core

YOU REALLY have to wear full protection for you EYES LUNGS AND SKIN and i am working with a vacuum sander to control the dust

I will be ordering some core materiel this week as its just starting to get warm enough to use epoxy to start putting things back together

More wet wood

2010-03-03T10:58:00.000-08:00

I have started repairing the forward 8' of deck as its beyond hope in many places due to the original plywood core allowing water to travel so far

After checking the skins i have to do it from below as the inner skin is to thin to support anything if i removed the outer skin

As par for the coarse its to cold to finish anything pictures to follow

The next big project wet wood :(

2010-02-01T09:30:00.000-08:00

You just know its going to be bad when you have a picture like this

The good news is its only in two spots and they are hidden by hanging lockers so i dont have to match up the wood grain

If only you could put things back toghter as fast as the Fein cna cut them out

I really have to work my self up for 16 Degrees

2010-01-30T14:15:00.000-08:00

So it was a balmy 16 degrees today BUT progress we must

I had to put a new drain line on the ice box which was a BITCH even with the hole cut it was at my MAX reach but the pan covers the drain so you have to do it RIGHT

Clamped back in place to drill the 7 holes and spot the locations in the SS beam

Pan back out yet again to drill and tap the holes

Glad i did not screw the layout UP or break any taps

Pan back in again and i really hope its the last time

Nothing like a bit of teak to spruce things up

The final motor test

2010-01-20T16:57:00.000-08:00

Well now i just have to take off some stuff and work on the paint

The New Stainless Beam Is Fitted

2010-01-10T15:03:00.000-08:00

Well

Enough of Winter it was another weekend of 18 deg but the boat must move forward and when the sun hits the tarps at 10AM the solar is pretty amazing and its gets tolerable to work in the boat

Now i just have to weld the 3 tabs to the beam and wait for a warm enough day to redo the glass work

The Winter Is STILL Brutal

2010-01-07T11:06:00.000-08:00

I have been doing a bunch of atomic 4 repairs on the weekday evenings because i have a heated place to work.

I was looking forward to doing some hull work this weekend BUT we are looking at 15 degrees again :(

The Winter Is Brutal

2010-01-04T09:43:00.000-08:00

I had some much needed time off and stayed away form the boat to recharge myself and its just as well, we have had steady 20 degree weather with many days of 30 to 50 MPH winds

I have found if its below 38 degrees i just cant make and progress on the boat as it takes to long to warm up the boat and any painting and fiberglass work requires 50 degrees for 24 hours

The new beam is back form the metal shop

2009-12-28T12:09:00.000-08:00

Time to do some fitting and banging and start putting the boat back together BUT its 20" of snow OR 2" of rain and 28 deg on a warm day making everything go really SLOW :)

WINTERS FULL ON NOW

2009-12-20T16:15:00.000-08:00

Well this sure slowed down boat repairs what a difference 24 hours makes