My Blog

More than a moon

Sun, 23 May 2010 15:12:31 -0700

The last time I wrote the moon was just a sliver of a waxing crescent in April. Today we’re nigh onto the full moon in May. So what’s happened and what do we have to show for ourselves?

Well....

Amatheia is beginning to look more like herself in every way. The countertops are on, and the sink and freshwater pump has been installed. The cabin sides and overhead panels are just beautiful.

The four bronze ports are in. We had to route a rabbet in the cabin sides to fit them. And we ground out the openings so that the top of each port was parallel with the top of the cabin. Then of course the holes were too big so we covered each port with tape and cheap car polish, then mixed up a think bath of epoxy, colloidal silica and chopped glass. Then we built up the wall of each opening and shoved the ports in to shape the hole. Remove ports, grind off excess epoxy inside and out and the holes are a nice tight fit again.

The four large ports are in as well. These were made almost two years ago by Bomon Marine in Quebec. I had to order deeper retainer rings and have then trimmed to fit at our local machine shop, this to accommodate the increased wall thickness with the new cabin sides. Then we found the protective paper just didn’t want to come off, the glue had hardened and was stuck. A few phone calls to Bomon later we bought a gallon of methanol which dissolved the glue without damaging the plexiglass. Lots of light in the cabin, at least when the tarp is off.

And we’re just about at “tarp off” time. A few final touches and we can install the new bronze deck iron for the 3” stove pipe. We’re a few fasteners from installing the small round port on the aft wall of the cabin. en a compass. Then it’s bye bye tarp!! Really quite exciting.

Messed around this weekend on a series of small things. Mounted the teak box over the gauges on the aft bulkhead. Trimmed the radio panel for the nav-station and can now reinstall that. Finished the cleaning of the large ports. Jon finished one side of the v-berth ceiling strips. Finished the epoxy of the thru hull flange holes and so are ready to install a new thru hull and seacock. Measured the chains and removed from under v berth.

Started to think about how to mount the Sea Tiger windlass.

Bolted on the bow pulpit!

Summary

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 20:25:19 -0700

Well it’s been a while since I’ve updated the blog, so long in fact that some summing up is in order. When we last wrote we were working on the cabin sides and had started on the stringers for the underside of the cabin top and side decks. Now we have:

Finished the underside framing and have cut and dry fit most of the wood panels for the underside of the side decks and cabin top. To create the panels we created templates with cardboard strips and lots of hot glue.

We totally disassembled the cabin interior and sanded all the teak. We reinstalled the various pieces of trim and then varnished the entire interior (well almost) with numerous coats of Epiphanes Wood Gloss Varnish. Jon is sanding the interior as I write and we’ll finish the varnish off with Epiphanes Matte finish. This was an incredible amount of work.

We’ll put the last coats of varnish on the doors in my garage this weekend

hen we’ll epoxy all the panesl with more coats of Epoxy, sand them smooth and then prime and paint with Brightsides one part poly enamel.

We’ve primed and painted the cabin sides with Brightsides. Looks good! We have one more coat to go. We flattened the paint with their flattening agent for a finish a little flatter than semigloss.

Slower than Molasses

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:01:24 -0800

The days are getting longer. And you, gentle reader, are possibly wondering what we have been up to.

So let me tell you. The cabin side process is crawling along. The sides have been sanded and coated with three coats of epoxy. They look great. Upon the go ahead from my attendant shipwright we’ll sand them smooth and prime and paint them. With that done we can finally install the portlights throughout and be one step closer to removing the tarp that shrouds Amatheia’s noble form.

David, in charge of this phase of the project, says that he’ll soon finish the stringers for the underside of the side decks. Then we’ll be able to cut and install the plywood that will cover the side deck underside. I can’t wait.
Jon went to work on the lockers, cleaning, priming and painting. They are now wonderfully white, clean and sparkly, and that makes me happy just looking at them. We used an oil based paint for these.

We’ve started on the galley. We peeled off the countertop laminate, filled the large holes cut in the counter by the previous owner, removed the icebox tops and will be ready to install new laminate, sink and seawater hand pump as soon as I scrape together the funds to purchase them. We’ll build new icebox lids or repair the old ones, haven’t quite decided yet. I’ve seen some DE 32’s with a cutting board lid for the forward icebox, that sounds like a good idea to me.

We cleaned the icebox interiors with good old acetone, they cleaned up well.

And that’s where we are.

Merry Christmas!

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 17:17:07 -0800

Christmas day Amy and I were joined by Jon. We had breakfast, traded our presents, hiked up MacLeay creek and then made dinner.

All that to say that part of the weekend was left for Amatheia. Saturday I cleaned from stem to stern. Jon and David had left mounds of sawdust and just general confusion throughout. Which is wonderful really because it meant a lot of work had occurred. The cabin sides are up all around. I cut off the rest of the excess length from all the overhead fasteners and used Core Bond to fill in any gaps along the top and sides of the cabin side panels. The idea is to not leave room for condensation.

I tried to replace the tarp but the wind gusts were too strong, so I buttoned up the old one and went home.

Today I spent most of the day just puttering. Sanded the forward panels with 100 grit. Dry fit all the bronze portlights and found that the cabin sides will need to have a rabbit let into them to allow the windows to move outward some. The original wall thickness was 7/8” but now is 1 1/4”. Took one more fit of the large portlight to see if the trim/retainer rings I have would work after all. No such luck. The trim I have is for walls to 1 1/16”. Alain at Bomon Marine said they would make me new rings for a modest price. So that is what we’ll do.

Finished up by cleaning part of the forward cabin liner with copious amounts of acetone. I’ll do one section at a time so as not to take in too many fumes at one time!

Covered Amatheia with a brand new tarp, the light kind. Perhaps the last tarp of the project?

Morale Builder

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 18:20:23 -0800

We took the sails down from the attic in the garage. We had lots of room in the living area to spread them out and give them a long leisurely look. It sure felt good to handle them. It was a balmy wet day in Portland and in my minds eye I could smell the water and feel the heel as the breeze filled those sails. A good boost to morale, always important with a project of this duration.

The sail inventory is very adequate, but a few are in need of attention.

Main - quite worn, this sail will have to be replaced to feel confident in the vessel. We’ll restitch some areas and use it next summer. After that we’ll have a new one built.

Jib - older but quite serviceable. No repair needed.

Staysail - condition is fair.Needs some restitching.

Genoa - good condition with a small amount of attention.

Trysail - excellent

Drifter - excellent.

More Cabin Sides

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 18:04:51 -0800

David has continued with the installation of the side panels in the main solon this week, ably assisted by Jon. Saturday the starboard panel was installed. It was quite a project with lots of notches and cuts for the overhead “beams”, hanging locker and windows.

Once the port panel is installed we’ll be able to break up the remaining projects and hopefully work a lot more efficiently. David will continue to box in the side decks underneath and Jon and I will start on the overhead.

Cabin Sides

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:49:35 -0800

Brrr! It’s been a cold couple weeks here in the Pacific NW. Nighttime temperatures in the teens, that’s chilly for us folks living on the west side of the Cascades, used to more moderate weather. This weekend the clouds rolled in, and the warming began.

David Smith had the cabin sides templated and the panels cut. Today we started the process of installing them.

Jon took some time last week and braved the chilly temps to grind the cabin sides just a bit to rough up the surface for the project. Today Dave and Jon hauled the new cabin sides down to the boat and were hard at work by the time I caught up with them in mid-morning. They dry fit the forward face in the berth area as well as the side in the head and the two aft panels adjacent to the companionway. Holes were traced for the head portlight and the compass opening in the rear as well as the gauge area aft.

Each panel was hot coated with resin on the inside face and then we mixed the Core Bond and coated each panel. Next the panels were fit, and clamps and shoring timers added to keep them in place while the Core Bond set. We’ll see how fast it kicks with the temperatures as cold as they are. Tomorrow, if they have kicked, we can install the panels on the port and starboard sides in the main salon and berth.

Interior work

Fri, 4 Dec 2009 18:14:01 -0800

Lots to do inside that’s for sure. David Smith has the project of the cabin sides and new handrail at their bottom. Right now he is scarfing pieces of 9MM marine plywood and shaping to fit. I missed getting a picture of the cardboard templates made for them, he tacked them up along each side to indicate the dimensions of the new cabin sides. Once they are installed we’ll paint them white and start to build the handrails that will trim out the bottom of each side. And then we can install windows!

Last weekend I got to disassemble more of the boat by removing various parts of the cabin trim in the way of the cabin side installation. I removed the rails around the top of the hanging lockers while I was at it and peeled off the old Harvest Gold formica tops to those. I scraped off the old glue and then cleaned the tops of each locker with Acetone.

I did get to do a bit in the cockpit. The deck just aft of the lazarette was bothering me, it hadn’t been sealed and the holes for the steering shaft were not filled either. I mixed some epoxy and buttered up the inside edge of the steering shaft hole through the deck. Tomorrow I’ll drill out the holes oversize and fill with epoxy. Then I can re-drill and mount the steering shaft bearing underneath and the tiller tim above.

It’s also time to start my prop shaft project. The shaft is quite pitted where it goes through the packing box and I’ll never get it to seal that way. I’m hoping I can slide the shaft back and get the shaft seal and rubber hose out, cut a new piece of hose longer and reinstall the shaft seal so it rides on a different part of the shaft. Otherwise it’s time to remove the shaft either through the rear (with a rudder removal) or through the front (by pulling the engine).

I finally took some pictures of the stainless steel trim pieces made for the bitts. The bitts are bedded in black polysulfide and it sure looks good.

Hot Days and Split-Shifts

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:16:55 -0800

We learned about sanding, sanding and more sanding. We also learned about filling, fairing, priming and taping. We stripped the cap-rail and removed the old sealant from the inner and outer edges. We removed anything from the cabin and decks that had not already been removed. We hired Brooks from Charlot Marine to spray the primer and finish coats. We dry fit all the cabin and deck hardware and brightwork and drilled out their respective fastener holes through the epoxy plugs we had made.

We had been warned that repainting the cabin and decks would be a time consuming process. True to the prediction it took an incredible amount of time. Truly incredible. It would be easier the 2nd or 3rd time, but not really knowing what to do sure helped make it a long experience. After the first prime coat we found all of our imperfections, well almost all. After the 2nd coat we found some more, and we found yet a few more after the 3rd coat.

Finally the top coat, Awlcraft 2000. It sure looked good, not perfect but good. We have a drip to try to sand out and a couple other problems but it looks good. Hopefully it will stay on long enough that I won’t have to do that again real soon.

We had lots of hot days, mid-90’s by noon. We started at dawn and either came back in the evening or simply laid off at 2 or 3 for the day.

Once the non-skid was done it was time for assembly. We fit and installed each fitting, mounted winches and etc. In spite of the dry fitting and drilling a few pieces took some additional steps. All were bedded with polysulfide. We first dry fit and taped, then assembled finger tight with sealant, then tightened the next day and trimmed after a week.

We had Leonard French, our resident stainless steel fabricator, build 1/8 plates to go between the companionway cover tracks and the cabin top. The companionway cover used to ride directly on the cabin top, wearing grooves in the cabin top. These seem to have worked well for this.

It sure has been great to have Leonard nearby. He fabricated all of the backing plates for winches and deck fittings, fabricated the deck fittings for the bitts and has been generally essential in a number of ways. It always a pleasure to visit Leonard's shop over in the corner of the boatyard. Squirrels and birds visit periodically to see if he has any nuts for them, and there is always something interesting to look at.

Lots of osprey families, and all day they provided a steady backdrop of busy calls.

The cap rail was treated with Cetol. We put a new bead of polysulfide all along the inner edge of the cap rail. We’ll see how long this lasts.

The stanchions were remounted in what seemed to be one of the messiest operations we have had. We used gobs of polysulfide.

The chainplates were installed, ours are through the cap rail. We bedded each plate in the cap rail with black polysulfide. I bet we’ll rebed this spot frequently.

As the weather changed so did our bird visitors. The ospreys finally left, and hundreds of blackbirds called noisily each day from the cottonwoods toward the river.

David convinced me to put a fillet of epoxy with fairing filler added around the outside edge of the cap rail. We did just that, and it really filled the gap we had in a number of areas between the cap rail and the top of the bulwark. I’m hoping the gap left is small enough that the cetol will fill it but we may have to run a bead of poly here as well.

We should have torn the cap rail off and sealed the hull to deck joint as much as possible and rebed the rail. But we didn’t and hopefully that project is at least several years in the future.

The (modified) goal for this summer/fall was to get the top done. We didn’t get it all but we sure got most of it. Left to do to complete the cabin and decks outside:

Mount butterfly hatch
Install all window ports (waiting on completion of cabin-side interior)
Mount deck iron for stovepipe
Put copper caps on the bitts and stainless plates on the mounting holes
Mount compass
Mount tiller head (slides on rudder shaft)

And that’s about it!

A Sad Spring

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:34:51 -0800

The problems started right around Christmas. My mother, who lived in NJ began to develop some health issues. Lots of trips back to help with her care, a pretty slow period for any further work on the project. Mom continued to decline as the winter turned to spring. On the 28th of April she left us.

Just after this I was perusing the “sailboat” section of the Pdx Craigslist and a listing caught my eye. The ad was for a local boatbuilder, advertising his services. I thought I would give him a call as I still had a major structural refit of the forepeak that I just didn’t feel qualified for. Enter David Smith, master boatbuilder when not selling real estate. David does this for the love of boats he says, and it’s clear that he speaks the truth.

He gave me a bid and got started on the forepeak. We settled on a plan for the refit. Plywood would be epoxy coated and glued to the underside of the forepeak, extending aft under the side decks to the wall of the hanging locker on the starboard. side and the bulkhead to port. The bulkhead that formed the chain-locker would be removed, strengthened and reinstalled. A toggle system would be constructed to receive the bitts, the toggle secured to the bulkhead.

David is a part-time boatbuilder and this project took a while although it didn’t cramp our other work at all. When it was finally completed he installed the bitts and bowsprit with the stainless trim around the bitts on deck. David did a fantastic job and forepeak is strong and the deck gorgeous with the great looking bitt trim and new bowsprit.

In the meantime the warmer weather allowed us to begin the prep process of the deck and house. I struggled with how to proceed. Repaint the whole deck? Leave the non-skid and just paint the old gelcoat? I finally decided to paint the whole thing white, then come back and tape out the non-skid and redo that as well.