It seems that the major tasks that needed to be done before moving onto the boat are done. There are a lot of little ones and today was one of those days filled with little tasks. Deb was taking care of some final prep on storage areas before putting pots, pans, food, and storage bins in all of the little hidey holes that will become our the equivalent to a house "pantry"
Here is some video of Deb doing the work on this task. She actually does a LOT of the work on the boat and helps with most projects but sadly she is usually the one filming so you rarely see her 'doing' the work.
In addition to this today, we were also able to get a third coat of varnish on all of the new teak cabinets
in the Salon. In the picture to the right, you can see that we still have all of the cushions out of the salon so we don't get any varnish on them.
Salon starting to come together
With those missing, it seems so disheveled. Today, I was also doing some work under the companion way steps, so you see those leaned up against the mast in this photo. The cabinet doors are all inside getting varnished as well and I am hoping by early next week they will all be installed.
Things Deb completed today.
Loaded pots and pans for the boat
Organized several air tight containers (Lock & Lock are the brand we really like) in the pantry behind the stove.
Started to put some condiments into the refrigerator (Ketchup, mayo, salad dressings, etc)
Finished organizing all of the screws from our projects (which we had in about 40 small plastic cups) She sorted and tossed any flat head screws, and kept all bronze and stainless screws. We threw away all zinc ones due to the possibility of corroding on the boat in the salt air.
Things I was able to complete today.
Installed House Battery (Big ass 8D battery) into the new battery box with tie downs in the engine room (With a stroke of genius, I was able to use the companion way stairs and a couple of dowels to roll the battery from the walkthrough up onto the new shelves in the engine room without having to lift the 75lb battery while contorting my body in the engine room)
Rerouted the large battery cables for the starting battery, house battery and both charging banks
Cleaned and services both batteries
Installed molding under rear stateroom door frame and around shower
Put engine room door back on as well as forward engine access panel that has been out for months
Another coat of varnish on the cabinet doors (insides this time)
We now have a working rear head with electric flushing head (toilet), new counter and Teak wood sink basin.
We removed the artificial marble that was in the head for an old counter. It was stained and not installed at the right angle and sadly after showering, the water would puddle on the countertop and not run off the front.
We pulled all of that out, repainted all of the walls with a porcelain paint to refresh all of the walls in the shower. We also decided to make the counter out of Teak and Holly. To do this we used 3/4" marine grade plywood with teak and holly veneer on it.
After dry fitting the counter and vertical wall, we cut all of the holes we needed for the storage access, shower pump switch, sink drain, faucet and shower knob.
Because this is also the shower, it was important that we consider how to avoid rot from the water. To do this we decided to cover all of the wood in epoxy. After mounting, we have used painters tape to protect the newly applied porcelain paint, and then did an initial coat of Epoxy. After dry, we sanded with 220 grit sandpaper to get it very smooth. The next step was to wipe it all down with a tack cloth and then apply another coat of epoxy. I noticed in the first coat that by the time I was finishing up the work the epoxy was starting to get too thick to work well with.
To combat this, I mixed smaller batches and focused on specific parts of the counter starting with the top because I wanted that to look the best of all of it. I applied a fairly thick coat of epoxy with a chip brush on the wood, and then gently stroking in the direction of the grain to blend it all in and ensure any bubbles in the epoxy were popped.
I added the shower control and the sink faucet and then installed our favorite feature and that is the sink carved out of an actual teak log. We bought the sink online and when installed it leaked around the drain. We contacted the company and without much help from them other than an assurance that the movement and gaps in the drain would not be a problem (turned out it was), we did what most boat owners end up doing, we figured we could do it better. We removed the old drain from the log, cleaned out the sealant that was used by the place we bought it from to seal the drain. From there I carved the drain a bit deeper so that the flange of the drain actually sat lower than the lowest portion of the bottom of the sink. I thickened some epoxy with sawdust to a peanut butter consistency and applied it in the newly carved drain seat. After installing and letting it dry, this worked great and was no longer leaking. I still need to anchor the sink to the counter (likely will use silicone to do that in the event I ever need to remove it I can) but will do that after the fact.
In the end, we loved how this turned out. The epoxy coats are thick enough to protect the wood for many many years even when getting wet during showers. The finish is so shiny that it is reflective. In the top picture you can see the reflection of the outlets. Now I may have to make an outlet cover out of some spare teak that I have and epoxy them so they look close to as nice as the counter.
When we finish all of the work such as hanging the mirror back up, finishing with the outlet covers and doors for the counter, I will post more pictures.
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.
