NOT what you want to find in the middle of the job

The work on the Salon continues and we have removed the rest of all cabinetry.  2 opening ports have been removed as has one of the hatches in the roof that was leaking.

Removing the hatch took several hours to break the aluminum frame from the rise as well as breaking the riser loose from the actual deck.  Both had to be removed to inspect the core where the leak was.  We do have softened core in a small section along the opening, it is being removed and filled with a thickened epoxy.

The deck around the openings have all been cleaned and all silicone and adhesive removed.  Acetone worked well along with some 3M pads and razor blades for removing the material.

All of that was going according to plan, what was not going according to plan was noticing down below that water was slowly coming in along the forward port chainplate.  (The Chainplates are what attach to the hull and then the Standing Rigging, the wire that holds up the mast, is attached to).

After further inspection, I can see that at some point in time, this chain plate had some type of service done to it.  The wooden toe rail that the chainplate goes through, has been cut and then patched back in.  (Below in the image, the blue arrows point to the spot where the toe rail had been cut to gain access to the chainplate.  The red arrows point to the spot that the water is getting into.  I noticed when pouring just a couple of ounces of water on the deck in front of that patched part of the toe rail, some of it is running in.)   I could likely just run a bead of silicone along the joint between the toe rail and the deck, but I suspect that if this has been leaking for a while, I really want to see what is going on in there where that patch is.  This is one of the benefits of having the boat down to bear hull.  I would have never seen this otherwise and in the end, it is not a lot of water coming in, but a little bit every day would cause serious damage.  Now I know why I am having to replace the wooden countertop in the Salon, I suspected a leaking port, but I don't think that is the bigger problem here.

The strange thing is that it was not raining, this leak became evident just from the dew that was on the deck and starting to pool along the edge of the patched part of the toe rail.  Needless to say, I will be removing the patch and inspecting this closer.  This is a delay I certainly did not anticipate.

I am starting to see why I have heard that when starting a boat project, estimate the time line and the cost accurately and realistically, then double the cost and triple the time and you will be about right for the job.  That has certainly proven to be the case in most of our ventures so far.  :)  Ahhh boat ownership.    I joke, but really wouldn't trade it for the world.

The Salon Remodel begins

This is an old post from September of 2012, I just noticed that it remained in draft mode and was not published according to it's schedule

Now that we have wrapped up the Navigation Station, Galley and Walkthrough, we had friends in town and did some nice sailing, now it is back to the next bit of work on the boat.

So yesterday it started, cushions removed, everything removed from the storage below the settee, cupboards emptied and the demolition begins.

Salon - Port Side - Before

In the "Before" picture you can see both Red and Blue arrows.  The blue arrows point to places where we have noticed water coming in when it rains hard.  The odd thing about a boat is where you see it dripping from is typically nowhere near where it is actually leaking.  In this case most of the dripping was coming out of the florescent light fixture mounted on the ceiling behind the settee.  

The leak actually appears to be coming from 2 places.  One is from a poorly bedded opening hatch about 6 feet from that location.  The other culprit appears to be the opening port just above the light itself.  

The red arrows point to all of the areas where the wood will need to be replaced.  This falls into 2 categories.  The peeling veneer on the back wall is rather easy, typically it is just a thin 1/8" thick piece of veneered plywood as a decorative piece.  The flat top of that counter behind the cushion is a little bit more complex and is 3/4 inch teak veneered plywood and helps to provide structure and strength to the boat by locking the galley and Vbert bulkheads together.  

That is the countertop that the cupboards are mounted to, it is also the top of the storage area behind the seat back and houses the air conditioning vents for the Salon area.  

Salon - Port Side - Wood removed

We removed the cupboards, removed the decorative veneer wall from behind it.  Removed the face of the storage area (Also the back of the salon seats) and then removed the horizontal piece that was rotting. 

As we typically do, we have taken these wooden pieces to our storage unit where we will sand the moulding and all of the good pieces of wood down to fresh wood with 220 grit sandpaper.  For the pieces that are rotted, we will use the old ones as patterns and make new ones.  

The big decision now is if we will put it back the way it was, or try to improve upon the storage that the boat has, and we will likely need when living aboard.  I think we will be doing the later and likely will make new cabinets that are deeper than the previous ones.  We will also work to create dividers and doors across the entire countertop so that we have storage all the way across.  By doing these 2 things, we should more than triple the amount of storage that was above the counter on the Port side of the boat.

The hole in the bottom of the seat is the access panel to the 16,500 BTU air conditioning unit that will be installed as soon as the leaking ports have been repaired.  

The realization hit both of us today, it is amazing that in just 2 day of working  (about 7 hours total) we have gutted this section of the boat again down to bare hull and fibreglass in areas.   It will take us 3 months to build all the new stuff and install it again.  And as we all know Murphy's law (I am convinced he was a sailor) kicked in and it started to rain today and will for the next 3 days when I really need to remove and rebed 2 opening ports and 2 opening hatches in the roof.

We did a small video showing what it looks like in more detail now that we have removed the old "stuff"

Sailing Galveston Bay in a Thunder Storm

This Labor Day weekend some of our friends came down to visit and we decided to celebrate the progress made on our refit work down below with a nice sail out on Galveston Bay.  We picked up some sandwiches from Subway and packed some drinks.  (The boat still doesn't have our galley stocked from all the work we were doing just before this trip)

We left the dock in Clear Lake TX and headed east out into Galveston Bay.  The wind was 12-18 knots or so and we had a really nice sail under full main and reefed head sail.  We were nicely making 5-7 knots or so and the sun was shining and it was great visiting and hanging with friends.  As we reached about 4 miles out into Galveston Bay and approached the Houston Shipping Channel, we could see the storm building pretty good to the west behind us.

Checking the radar showed that the storm approaching wasn't that bad, but there was another building that had stronger cells and lightning so we decided to turn back and head back toward it and toward our home port.

As we approached the start of the Channel Markers near Kemah, I saw a power boat trucking out toward the bay at a pretty good clip.  Deciding that I would prefer to ride it out just outside the channel where it was still deep enough was a pretty easy decision.  We just circled a quarter mile area or so watching for other boats that may be doing the same thing.  I did see another sail boat also hunkered down doing the same thing not too far away.

As the rain let up, and visibility started to improve we were able to easily see the channel and head on back.

In the end, we had a great sail.  Everyone got wet, but we were able to confirm that nobody melted.  The return to the slip and subsequent backing into our slip was near perfection if I do say so myself.

The best part of all of this is that one of our friends was taking video's on her iPhone to send to her daughter.  I used those clips to put together this quick summary of the day.

Now, for Deb and I, it is going to be back to tearing up the Salon as that is the next portion of the boat to be refit.

New Air Conditioner Circulation Pump

While we have been doing all this sanding and wood work on the boat, we made a conscious decision not to run the Marine Air unit so that we would not get a lot of dust into the system.  We removed the Thermostat from the wall and turned off the breaker.  Now that the wood working is complete and varnish and finish work is going on in this section, we decided to kick it back on and made working down there a little more tolerable in Texas in the Summer.  So as Boat work goes, connected the thermostat, turned on the breaker and no go, no water circulation.

After doing some checking it turns out the Rear A/C Circulation Pump was not starting up.  I think that I have a bad spot on the motor, since I was able to disassemble the unit, rotate the motor a bit and it would start right up.  I decided to replace it with a new one and we can get the other one rebuilt and keep it as a backup.  I replaced it with a March Pump and she is pumping water really good.  Likely went a bit overkill with 1000 gallons per hour but I figured by getting one this large, I could use this single pump to pump water through both air conditioner units in a pinch.

Using Git-Rot Penetrating Epoxy on a Bulkhead

As we were rebuilding the Navigation Station we noticed that there was a section of the bulkhead that had some dry rot in it.  I could push my finger against the veneered bulkhead and while the veneer in this section appeared solid, you could tell it was soft behind it.  After removing a little bit of the veneer we could actually push a finger into some sections of the plywood and it was soft.  (not so bad that it was just falling apart, but bad enough that I was really concerned).

I started to read about scarfing two pieces of wood together and then fiberglassing over them.  This seemed like a lot of work and would still be a "patch".  I considered removing the bulkhead and replacing it all together, however on this boat, the bulkhead is tabbed in under the subfloor, tabbed in along the hull as well as tabbed in on the roof.  This particular bulkhead goes up the port side, across the ceiling in a decorative rounded shape and down the starboard side.    I quickly deduced that this was beyond my expertise and would likely be upwards of $5K at a yard.    So I started to really do some reading on penetrating epoxy and it's use specifically on stringers on boats.  If this stuff was strong enough to form a new "foundation" in the form of stringers, it may really do wonders on this small section of the bulkhead.

So with instructions read, and the web researched, I picked up a bottle of Boat Life's Git-Rot at my local West Marine.  I did notice that there are other brands of penetrating epoxy and some are geared toward home repairs.  I am assuming that these are likely similar in concept but I stuck to the one made for marine applications in this case.  (I don't think it mattered, but don't know for sure).

The job started by refrigerating the whole package of Git-Rot because if you are not applying it in 50-70 degree weather the manufacture recommends cooling it overnight in the refrigerator.  I can assure you at the end of June in South Texas, even with the AC on in the boat, it was warmer than that.

We drilled a series of holes into the bulkhead at about a 20degree downward slope being careful not to drill all the way through the bulkhead.  This allowed the injection spots for the epoxy to go through all layers of the plywood where needed.  Once drilled the product was mixed and shaken for the very exact amount of time (60 seconds) and then slowly squirted into each hole.
I started at the bottom of the vertical area to be epoxied and would slowly fill until the epoxy started to come out of the hole.  I would then move to the next.  I did this through each hole (about 18 of them or so) and as soon as I was done with the 18, I would start over again.  The goal is to keep doing this until the wood won't absorb any more of the solution.
I did this with 3 squirt bottles (about 4 ounces each) on the first day.  I started to really see it penetrating the wood because as I would inject the epoxy in one hole, I would at times see it start to seep into the wood below or adjacent to it.  This was a great sign for me as it showed that it was really being absorbed into the wood like a sponge.

The next day, I came back and repeated the process and it took about another bottle and a half (about 4 ounces each).  At this time, no more was being absorbed into the wood.  After letting it dry overnight, I sanded the surface of the wood smooth where some of the epoxy had gotten on the surface of the wood.

The test was in the "knock"  Before I started I knocked on the bulkhead and when I got to the rotted section it went form a crisp knock sound to a thud.  After using Git-Rot, I could no longer stick my finger in the wood anywhere, there was no "give" on the veneer and the knock test sounded crisp all the way across the bulkhead even over the spots that previously responded with a thud.

I would call this process a success and was glad to have been done in a few days (between applying the product and then veneering over the surface where I drilled the holes) rather than attempting to tear out and replace that bulkhead.

As is the case, if we do a project and don't find information or some good step by step "how to" instructions, we have been recording the progress and then putting them together as a video in hopes that it helps others.  It should be known that I am not doing this because of any product sponsorship and I happened to Choose Boat Life's brand but there are others out there that would likely work the same way.  This is being posted in hopes that if you are attempting a project like this, you find it useful.  It also has the secondary benefit of helping my chronicle the work we are doing on our own boat.  Like most boats, it seems that with every repair, we find something else that we determine we should correct as well.

Galley Cabinetry assembly

The Galley is starting to really come together now and it is nice to see items going back into the boat, rather than out of it.

We put the new laminate surface on all the counter tops.  We chose a laminate rather than granite due to the weight and the desire to ensure we kept the practicality of having fiddle rails on the counters.  If we went with a granite or stone, we were not sure how we would have effectively mounted fiddle rails on the edges.

After the laminate was down, we installed a shelf under the galley sink that has an access panel from above for dry storage. 

We then veneered all of the lower cabinets in African mahogany.  This included the side of the cabinets (one facing the nav station in the walkthrough the other facing the salon, and all front drawer and cabinet panels.  The veneer was put in place using not only the Pressure Sensitive Adhesive that it came with but also the standard contact cement on both surfaces method (like a laminate).  All of the new veneer received a sanding with 240 grit sandpaper.  This will smooth out the surface, blend in the joints and have a smooth surface to put a finish on.

We installed the new front panel to the pantryWe still do not have doors on it as we are not sure if we want to go back in with sliding doors or opening doors.I suspect due to the limited counter space we will go with sliding doors to not have to move items on the counter if you need to open the pantry doors. 

The rear wall of the galley was laminated in Teak rather than Mahogany.  We are trying to keep the bulkhead walls in teak and really like the way it looks   For this we removed the Electric Propane control switch, cleaned the mating surfaces of all dust using a towel dampened with denatured alchohal.  This allows for a fast drying time and allowed us to then coat both mating surfaces with contact cement.  The new wall was cut out of a single large piece to fit the unique shape of the rear galley wall. 

The teak panel is 1/8^th inch thick and made installing a little bit of a challenge as you had to cut it with a saw to shape rather than a knife like the thin veneer.  (Tip:  When applying contact cement to an area this large, it was helpful to have 2 people, Deb applied it to the wall and I applied it to the back of the teak panel, this allowed us to install it when it just started to get tacky rather than dry.

A new GFCI outlet was installed at the first plug in the wire chain and mounted back into the face of the pantry. 

New wire was run to the ceiling where insulation (3/4” closed cell foam) panels were installed between the fiberglass and the new pine slat ceiling.  The installation of the ceiling always presents a unique situation in that the roof arches to some extent, additionally the sides are not square so it starts with a single pine slat run fore to aft on the center line of the boat.  It then works outward from that so that the angled cuts to align with the outer curve of the boat can be made.   We have 

decided to install all LED lighting in the boat and wanted to have that light being emitted from the ceiling for general lighting, and then add reading lights at locations that make sense.  To that end, we mapped out how we wanted to control the lights for the common central are of the boat (the Galley, Nav Station, Walkthrough and Salon).  We liked the idea of having control of those lights from a central location near the  companion way.  We decided on mounting 6 switches (3 on each side of the companionway) that each control specifc lighting.  For example the 2 most forward switches will control the led lighting on the salon ceiling lighting on the port and starboard respectively.  The center switch on each side turns on the general lighting across the galley and companionway.  The next switches back control either the lights down the walkthrough, and on the port side control lights to light up the galley including one that shines into the top loading fridge/freezer unit. 

We are pleased with the LED lighting we chose.  They have a brushed aluminum finish, are bright but still a bit warm (not that sterile white from some LED’s) and can swivel slightly to point in specific directions.   They do not each have their own switch on the base which is why we mounted the bank of switches.

When we were looking for LED lights we considered just getting the marine fixtures with LED’s in the, however we wanted a little bit more versatility and selection for our lighting choices.  After speaking to some marine LED vendors at boat shows, I learned that LED’s for marine use are not something special but are typically the same as the ones that you can buy on line that are not “marine” specific.  Armed with that information, we decided to look at all LED lighting options.  We settled on some LED lights from Ikea that came with an adapter that went from 110V AC to 12V dc.  Because the output of the device included with the lights was in the 2-4 amp range, we worried a bit about the potential higher voltage that would be going to the lights.  I have ben assured that the lights will only draw what they draw, regardless of how many amps the supply “can” provide.  That said, I suspect that I won’t see the same life expectancy out of these as someone might on a regulated 2amp output.  So in the end, if I lose 25% of the life expectancy of these, it will still provide some 7500 hours of use.   For the money saved and the selection, I am hoping that I made a good choice.  So far so good but it has only been a couple of months at this point.  We will keep some spares on board in the event we needed to replace these.  Because of that reason we made mounting and replacing them fairly easy if we need to.

After the veneering, sanding, ceiling, lighting, electrical, etc, the sanded molding was all wiped down with denatured alcohol and the dry fitted.  Because the new ceiling is a bit thicker than the old headliner, and because the rear galley bulkhead veneer is thicker than the original, we knew we would have to slightly modify (trim) some of the molding.  We made those minor adjustments and reinstalled all of the trim in the galley and along the new ceiling. 

At this point we still have to build a new fridge/freezer lid with the new counter laminate to match, need to have the compressor serviced (still can’t believe I dripped water on the control panel when taking the sink out), fasten the sink and install the new faucet in the galley.    The next step from there will be bungs in all screw holes and varnish as a last step.

Galley Rebuild Continues

It has been a little while since we provided an update.  I have been traveling a lot for work and Deb and I have been doing some traveling for pleasure, the down side of all that is that it takes us away from the boat projects and they seem to take longer than we hoped.

Since the last post, we have finished dis-assembling the majority of the items in the Galley.  We removed the cupboards and storage.  This included the galley length cupboard behind the stove, the ceiling cabinet above the refrigeration, the pots and pans storage under the stove and the under the companionway food storage cabinet.  

We rebuilt the new stove cabinets and the new galley length cupboard.  For all of the interiors of those cabinets we laminated them with white laminate so they would be easy to clean and reflect light.  On the outside of the galley length cabinet we veneered it with Mahogany so it matches the rest of the wood in the boat when we are through.

We made some new countertops and laminated them in formica that looks like granite.  On the new counter where the sink goes, we have fabricated an under the counter shelf and added an access panel in the top of the counter.  This will be great can, food and wine storage.

We have laminated all of the existing counter pieces with the same granite looking laminate as the counter tops so that they would match.  This includes sides and under the stove. 

The stove step (area that the stove hangs from it's gimbals) also was fabricated using the old pieces as patterns.  

We have rebid and sealed all fixed ports in the walkthrough and the galley and confirmed that they don't leak.  We have also fabricated new mahogany panels to go along the hull and ensure that the boat has that nice wooden look inside.  (The old pieces that were up were just completely delaminated from leaking ports over the years)

There is not a lot of room to add insulation here so we are only adding a thin insulating layer with a moisture barrier to help prevent condensation on the hull from getting to the wood panels.  We have chosen to use the high quality underlayment for laminate flooring.  It is closed cell foam with good insulating properties for it's thickness and has a built in moisture barrier on one side because it is design to be laid on slab flooring.

In addition to the counter tops, we have started to install the pine slat ceiling as well.  This is looking really good and when the whole boat matches the rear stateroom, it will look phenomenal as well as provide additional insulation for keeping the boat cool or warm (we are adding 3/4" thick insulation between the cored cabin top and the pine ceiling below.  

Plank Ceiling started (With Switches going in as well)

While doing this, we have continued to upgrade the electrical wires as we go, replacing 12v wire with Marine Grade wiring.  We are going with all LED lighting in the boat for primary lighting and incandescent only as backup.  One of the things we did, was found small "puck lights" that are LED and can swivel to direct the light.  We found these at Ikea and they came with a 120V AC to 12V DC adapter.  We simply throw the adapter away and connect these to the boats 12volt system.  I have wired them in such a way that we can have a switch on for ambiance lighting and enough to see, and then turn another switch to really light up the galley including one that shines into the refrigerator and over the sink and stove.  Here is where we will lose our nautical chops a bit.  We decided to wire these into switches at the companionway so they are all easily in reach.  That means in the ceiling we have mounted a household style bank of switches to control all overhead lighting forward of the rear stateroom.

The re-assembly is going good.  We still have half the ceiling planks to install, put the mahogany veneer on the lower bulkheads in the galley and install all the molding and plug (bung) the screw holes.  From there it is Varnish, Varnish and more Varnish.

I am thinking I am going to leave the nav station in a state of incomplete for a bit longer.  I am going to be making a new instrument panel for the new Radio, AIS, VHF, GPS and Secondary Screen.   I have been having fantasies about all the cool things I want to do with the nav station including the "screen" I mentioned.  I think I am going to set it up so that is can connect to the TV, Laptop, DVD and cameras mounted in the engine room and somewhere up top so we can see what is going on even if down below.    See... Fantasies :)