Productive Week

On Wednesday this past week my brother took the day off work and finished painting the deck and cabin top I primed last weekend.  Looking good!  It was a hot day and he also had a 2 Advil day and slipped on the ladder twisting his foot.

Newly painted deck and cabin top

 The three day weekend was helpful in getting things accomplished.

Saturday morning it was raining at the boat yard so I stayed home and fashioned a replacement section of rub rail to replace the missing piece on the starboard side. I was 3 feet long. I was able to use my router to get the main contours and cut-out, but had to hand sand the section to get the profile to be the same as the rest of the rub rail. It had stopped raining by late morning so I headed up to the boat yard to install the new rub rail section.

New section next to a piece of the old broken section

Before

After installing the new rub rail section

On Sunday I taped and painted the rub rail and I also reinstalled the newly varnished companionway hatch and the forward hatch.

Port side taped and painted

Port side with tape removed.  Some of the red paint
got under the tape, so we will need to do a little touchup.

Hatches reinstalled

On Monday my brother and I put the boot stripe (accent stripe above the water line) decal on. It is 2.5 inches with a metallic charcoal stripe that is 1/8, a silver stripe that is 1/4, a red stripe that is 3/4 with another slightly darker red stripe that is also 3/4 wide.

New boot stripe

 We also installed 2 of the 3 thru hull fittings with new valves that needed replacement. We completed the 2 larger (1”) cockpit drain thru hulls and only dry fitted the smaller (1/2”) engine cooling water intake before we had to leave for the day.

Red arrows show where the thru hull fittings are.
This is under the cockpit sole (floor).
Not much space to work in.

Starboard side bottom showing the larger cockpit drain thru hull
and the smaller one for the engine cooling water intake.



Port side bottom showing the cockpit drain thru hull.

All in all a pretty productive week.

Started the painting process for the decks and cabin top

This weekend it was hot! Temps in the high 80’s near the lake and very very sunny.

On Saturday I washed, sanded and wiped down (with acetone) the decks, cockpit and cabin top.  I then primed the forward and port side decks and the port side half of the cabin top.  Did I mention it was hot?  It was hot.  I think I lost half my body weight in perspiration.  Also I was very sore from all the ups and downs and contortions necessary to prime the decks. It was a 2 ibuprofen evening when I got home.

On Sunday I finished priming the decks and cabin top (starboard side).  I did not get to do the cockpit as the weather forecast was calling for storms in the afternoon starting at 3:00 pm.  I stopped priming at 1:30 in order to make sure everything had a chance to dry before the rain hit.

I did a few small things until 3:00, then “buttoned up” the boat and went home.

Once home I put the first coat of varnish on the companionway hatch boards.

Sunday was not as bad as Saturday for the heat and I finished 3 hours earlier so it was only a 1 ibuprofen evening.

Decks and cabin top primed.

Inventory and more painting

This weekend on Saturday it was too wet for painting, but I was able to remove a broken thru-hull fitting with a bit of an effort, a file and a hacksaw.  I also took inventory of the lines and bumpers stored in the cockpit lockers.  Plenty of lines, but need to buy a couple bumpers.

The weather on Sunday was beautiful!  My brother and I painted the hull above the waterline that we had primed last week.  Last thing we need to do in terms of the hull is repair the missing section of rub rail, and then add the boot stripe and name.

Doesn't look much different than it did after the priming except it is shinier.
You can see reflections in the bow area.

Started Painting....Finally!

Finally the weather forecast calls for a few days of good temps and no rain!  My brother and I took the day off work and primed the hull above the waterline and painted the bottom.

Me priming the starboard side hull

My brother painting the port side bottom

Done for the day.  Bottom painted and the hull primed.

Too much rain and more woodwork

Saturday my wife, my oldest daughter and I went to the boat yard to start painting....finally! We left the house at 9:30am made a couple stops and got to the boat yard at 11:30. Prior to leaving, weather.com said the morning fog would go away by 11:00am and we would have partly cloudy skies until 5:00pm when scatter showers would be likely. Since we would only be priming, this was a good forecast.  We got there and it was raining/misting.  I checked weather.com again and now it said rain all day.  We turned around and went back home.

Since it also rained most of the day Sunday, this weekend turned out to be a woodworking weekend.

I put another couple coats of varnish on the Companionway and forward hatches.

Companionway hatch with 3 coats of varish

Forward hatch with 3 coats of varish

I also added a piece of teak to either side of the companionway hatch boards to make them wider to fit in the new companionway with the aluminum extrusion slots.

Companionway hatch boards before

Companionway hatch boards after sanding and adding a piece of teak to both side

Companionway hatch boards after oiling them with teak oil.

Woodwork

This weekend I removed both the forward hatch and the main companionway hatch to bring them home to sand, oil and varnish them.

Once they were removed I had to make temporary hatches to keep the weather out of the boat.

Temporary forward hatch

Temporary companionway hatch

After I got them home I sanded them.

Forward hatch half sanded

Forward hatch fully sanded

Companionway hatch half sanded

Companionway hatch fully sanded

I will oil and start varnishing them later this coming week.

The weather is not cooperating.  I would have hoped to have painted by now, but we haven't had 2 consecutive dry days with the temp above 40 degrees for some time.  This weekend at the boat it rained both days.  On Saturday I ended up having to make the temporary forward hatch inside the boat to get out of the rain.  On Sunday I had to bring my shop vac up to the boat to vacuum up all the saw dust from working inside the boat on Saturday!

New Galley Counter Top and Varnishing

This weekend I made the new counter top for the galley using the rest of the "King Starboard" I bought a few weeks ago.  I used the old counter top as a template and traced the design onto the "King Starboard".  The installation on the boat went smoothly.  I like the way it looks.  Still need to install the sink.

Old and New Galley Counter Tops

New Galley Counter

New Galley Counter Top From Above.

I also put two layers of varnish on the cockpit seat backs.  I strung them up in the basement, suspending them from the ceiling to make the project easier.

I like when things work out as I imaged them in my mind.

Last weekend I removed the aluminum “tabernacle” (shell support at the bottom of the mast in which the heel of the mast is stepped) and brought it to work on Friday to sandblast it for no other reason than to clean it up a bit.  It had some paint and oxidation on it.  It looks nice now.  I think it will make the boat go faster.

“tabernacle” before

“tabernacle” after

This weekend I installed the new “king starboard” panels to replace the delaminated plywood one that were on the cabin wall just inside the companionway.  As part of the process I wanted to “build out” the panels another 1.5 inches to have the panels cover the back of the compass, wires and any other things that had been or may be mounted in that area.  I designed and had the guys at work make stainless steel “straps” to mount the new panels to and provide the extra 1.5 inches I wanted.  I had bought some aluminum extrusions online to “trim out” the new panels and also to be the slot for the companionway hatch boards to slide into.  Looks exactly like I thought it would…I love it when a plan comes together.

2 of 3 starboard side "straps"

2 of 3 port side "straps"

New panels and extrusions installed

All done with temp companionway hatch board in place.

View top side

I also remove two more thru-hull fittings to be replaced.  These two are for the cockpit and deck drains.  I figured it was a good idea since the one for the engine water inlet broke so easily last weekend.  I might as well do them all now.  They will then be good for another 30 years or so.  Getting at them was a bit of a challenge.  I had to remove the access panel in the bottom of the cockpit, twist at an angle the human body was not designed to do and work will my head lower than my knees.  The space it also crowded and getting leverage on the wrench for the fittings, valves and hoses caused me to mumble bad things under my breath. 

Port side thru-hull fitting removed.  Three drain hose were feeding into it. Thru-hull hole in center of photo. 

Unscrewing the starboard side thru-hull fitting from the bottom

Running the engine and other fun

Went to the boat yard twice this weekend.  On Friday my brother and I pulled new wires in the mast for the 2 lights on it.  The one at the top is the anchor light and another about half way up is the steaming light.  It was a bit easier than I anticipated.  We just attached the new wires (using electrical tape) to the old ones and then used the old wires to pull the new ones through.  No snags or issues pulling them through.

We also needed to replace the valve (seacock) on the bottom of the boat for the water inlet to the diesel engine.  The water is used to cool the engine.  When my dad lasted used the boat to motor from his slip to the boat yard in Maryland to have the boat hauled out of the water, he went to open the valve and the handle broke off in his hand. So we needed to change the valve.  When I put a little torque on the valve to remove it from the through-hull fitting.....it broke the fitting.  I was a bit worried that it would be a costly job to repair the through-hull fitting.   Fortunately, we were able to unscrew the old fitting out from the bottom of the boat and  the threads in the nut embedded in the hull of the boat are very clean and not corroded. 

We also tried to start the engine.  First we had to find a way to feed cooling water to the engine.  We filled a 5-gallon bucket with water and connected one end of a hose to the engine's water line infeed and the other end of the hose we place in the bucket.  We had  the garden hose ready to keep the bucket full as the engine pulled water from it.  Unfortunately the batteries (there are 2 on the boat) were not charged enough to turn over the engine. One of them is dead.  I took the other battery out of the boat and brought it home to charge it.

The next day we went to Kendore boat supply again to buy a new through-hull fitting, seacock and few dozen other items we thought we needed like a new lens for the steaming light.

New Thru-hull fitting and seacock

After visiting Kendore, I stopped at a Menards located by the boat yard.  They had a good deal on a marine battery so I bought a new one to go along with the newly charged older one.

I put both batteries back in the boat and setup the 5 gallon bucket again to provide cooling water.  This time the engine turned over and started after a couple tries.  That sound of the running engine is sweet music to my ears.  Once it started I had to check to make sure the water was running properly through the engine.  I did this by looking back over the transom (flat area at the very back of the boat) to make sure water was coming out of the exhaust.   It was.

Productive Weekend at Home

I did not go to the boat yard this weekend.  I stayed home and used the “King Starboard” I bought at Kendore Boat Supply to fabricate new panels to replace the delaminated plywood ones that are on the cabin wall just inside the companionway.

Old Delaminated Panels

New King Starboard Panels

I also installed the new mast light I bought at Kendore onto the new mast mounting bracket I fabricate at work.  I also install a new wind vane (I bought this at the local store since Kendore didn’t carry them) on the mast mounting bracket.

Wind vane and mast light on the mast mounting bracket

I used a 2 part wood epoxy to do the repairs to the newly sanded cockpit seat backs.  There was a split in one of the seatbacks and a couple rot areas on both.  I then applied “teak oil”.  They need to dry for at least 72 hours before varnishing.

Sanded, repaired and oiled Cockpit seatbacks