The work moves to the V-Berth

Our plan of starting our refit inside the boat from the rear and moving forward has worked pretty well.  We are now to the V-Berth which is a pretty good sign.  This is an area that will require quite a bit of work due to leaks that were in the large opening hatch on the coachroof.  Like most things, you don't quite see how bad it is until you take out all of the molding and really start looking closely at things.

We have removed the headliner from the coachroof, and removed all of the molding carefully labeling it all with a sharpie so we can put the puzzle back together.  Sadly I broke a piece of the molding, but as this project has gone on, I have been getting better at correcting my mistakes.  One of the things we learned how to do was  make our own molding to match what is on the boat.  It takes some time and creativity but we have been able to replace it all and keep making them out of solid Teak.

Dry fitting curved Mahogany wall in place (lots of work to still be done)

We removed the opening port, cleaned all of the old bedding material off of the fiberglass both inside and out.  We removed every bit of sealant and bedding from the port as well as the decorative trim that goes on the outside.

We have made new decorative wall sections out of Mahogany plywood like it was originally.  This will cover the raw fiberglass on the inside of the coachroof.  We put a thin layer of insulation behind each panel and then start the re-assembly.  This particular piece was a bit interesting because it is curved.  We have certainly dealt with curves before but this one is not as wide so the curve it a bit tighter.

The picture is just the first step where we have just dry fit the curved piece in place.  The next step will be to bed the port later today and install the other 2 sides of the mahogany walls.

We have been putting the work in the V-berth off since we moved aboard, but we are expecting some friends to visit in a month or so and want to be sure that this room is ready for them when they arrive.

Frankly, the toughest part of this V-Berth work is going to be the fact that the forward bulkhead is rotted and is going to have to be replaced.  It's purpose is to essentially store the anchor chain and rode.  For those not familiar with it, when pulling in the anchor, the chain or line goes through an opening called a hawse-pipe and drops into this forward compartment.  It allows the topsides to stay neat and not have to find a place up there to store 200-300 feet of chain.

Stateroom Coming Together

About 3 months ago we started the Salon refit.  Early into the demolition we found that the Chain Plates were leaking and started to worry about their strength given they are 35 years old.  As you can read in an earlier post, we replaced them.  Once complete we slowed down through the holidays while traveling and are back at the work again.  

So far, we have removed the salon cabinets (behind the settee), Built new seat backs in the Salon, Built new countertops behind the settee's.  We removed the Atkins & Hoyle hatch that was leaking around the glass and sent it back to the manufacturer for rebuilding.  (I would recommend this to anyone that has Atkins and Hoyle hatches.  They are still in business and family owned.  A complete rebuild with new glass, gasket and overall tune up was 1/2 the price of a new hatch and matches all the others on the boat).  We build new Teak walls behind the Settee's as well as along the coachroof.  We painted all of the inner settee storage with a nice new coat of white paint.

Insulated the entire ceiling with 3/4" insulation and installed the Pine Slat ceiling like in the rest of the boat.  This went on the ceiling, including the angled section that goes on to the Galley.  We installed the new duct work and new register boots in the Salon in preparation for the new Reverse Cycle A/C Heating unit that we will install.  

The salon was wired first for LED accent lighting, fans, reading lights as well as surround sound speaker wires.  I know that I won't likely remember the locations of each of the wires so made a quick video to outline where they are run.

One of the challenges we had was that when we made the new counter tops, we had a need to get creative on how we wanted to protect and decorate the raw edge of it.  We wanted to install a fiddle rail, much like what is in the galley.  The down side is that I couldn't find any place where I could buy fiddle or bunk rail that was over 5' long and I didn't want to have a joint in the middle of the counter.  So, like we have found ourselves doing many times in the past, we had to figure out another way.  We purchased raw teak wood at 1/2" thickness.  After ripping it to 2 and a half inches wide, we routed a groove in the bottom, used a round-over bit to ensure that the top of the rail is round.  I think they look pretty good and will be installed shortly.  We ended up making 2 8 foot lengths of this fiddle rail and another 5 8 foot lengths of thin trim molding to go around the cabinet facing that we are building for the salon.

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.