Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Ice Box

We had an icebox from the O'day we had salvaged so we cut it down to fit the location in the Alberg and tabbed, filled, and fair'd until it was ready to shoot. Jon, our detailer, then prepped and shot it with Gel-coat for us.


Getting there, one more coat of fairing compound to go!

Jon at work



Finished and curing

Hopefully we will fit it in the boat this weekend if the area is ready to receive it.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Engine bed, Port Lights, Galley, Electrical Panel

The electrical panel arrived and it is a thing of beauty :-) We templated the wood for it and test fit the location. Then the hull was insulated and the area finished. We have started pulling wire through the boat and it finally feels like the turning point of the project. The end is in sight,........a ways down the road yet,...........but in sight!


Decided on a basic layout for the galley and cut some lumber and made a mock up of it and adjusted it until I had the basic layout I was looking for. Templated them and cut them out as required and surfaced the tops with black laminate. We cut down an icebox out of a salvaged vessel and placed it and the sink aft of the stove. Should have it glassed and installed next week.



Decided we wanted opening ports so we cut some plywood and made mock ups onto the cabin side. The blue tape represents the frame of the portlight and the plywood insert represents the glass. The port lights were ordered from New Found Metals and should arrive in 60 - 90 days. Several calls were made to New Found Metals during the mock-up and their staff was always polite and very helpful at responding to my questions. Their portlights are sized by the actual glass size not the overall size; we are installing 3x10 for the four forward portlights, & 7x15 for the four aft.






The area of the hull was prepped for the engine bed and layers of mat and roving were laid up from the galley to the shaft log. Additional layers were added where the motor mounts will be and also under the thru-hull fittings for the cockpit drains. Epoxy and high density thickener was laid in for the thru-hull pads and once cured the adapter flanges were installed. The picture below shows the area before the final fairing has been done. A lot of glassing and tabbing has been done under the cockpit to strengthen it and make the three compartment individual watertight compartments.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Starboard Settee

The starboard settee front was tabbed in, and then the galley bulkhead was templated, made, and tabbed in place. The bulkhead was moved eight inches forward from the original bulkhead to accommodate the three burner gimbaled stove. This shortened the bunk from six foot three inches long to five foot seven inches long. The settee bunk was mocked up; water jugs were placed to determine the locker partition placement, and a template was made, the partition cut from a sheet of half inch plywood, fit into place and then glassed.



The settee top and back were then made in a similar manner, test fit, and removed for finishing. The hull behind and under the settee was insulated and the non insulated parts were painted with Pettit Dura-White paint. The top was then screwed down and bedded with 3M 5200.

The top has two hatches in it; one on each side of the locker partition. The shelf behind the settee was templated, made of ½” plywood, glassed into place, and painted with Pettit Dura-White paint.

Friday, January 9, 2009

Chain Locker; painted, plumbing & wiring roughed in

Looking into the chain locker from the deck


In the locker looking forward; the electrical mounts were attached to the hull using the weld-mount system with self mixing dispenser tips. It is very strong and the larger mounts are rated at over 800 pounds strength.


Looking up from inside the locker at the
hull stiffeners around the hatch


Port side; the hose with the blue tracer is from the vented loop in the head, the pex hose below it is for the deck wash-down.


Wiring roughed in; heavy cables for the the windlass, lighter wiring for running lights and windlass controls. Holding tank vent filter mounted to bulkhead (left side of picture).

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Chain Locker

It always seems to be that before completing one task several others must be done first.
Take the head for instance; before I could permanently install the panels I had made for it I wanted to run the electrical wires and wash-down plumbing (that run behind the head panels) forward into the chain locker. And so I found myself scrunched into the small chain locker with sander in hand, working to finish the locker.

A layer of biaxial glass was applied to the bulkhead to seal it up and make it resistant to abrasions. The hull/deck joint was thru-bolted, and painted on the inside of the hull with Pettit Dura White paint. Fiberglass tubes were filleted in place along the hull/deck joint and two layers of biaxial glass was rolled over them tying the hull/deck joint together. The area under the deck from the hatch forward was templated and a piece of quarter inch thick aluminum plate was cut to fit. The aluminum was etched and then bonded into place with West Systems Epoxy thickened with chopped fibers. A couple of bolts were used to fasten it in place while the epoxy cured.

Two, four foot long pieces of Taco 4-1/2" wide hull stiffeners were spot tacked into place using a hot glue gun. One on the port side and one to starboard. Two layers of Biaxial glass was applied to the hull stiffeners.
2-1/4" wide hull stiffeners were tacked under the deck on each side and the back of the hatch opening forming and "H" with the top of the H butting up to the aluminum plate and the bottom butting up to the bulkhead. Two layers of biaxial cloth was applied. This has added a considerable amount of strength to the hatch area.

Pettit Protect, two part epoxy paint will be applied to the inside of the locker and the electrical and plumbing will be installed.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

V-Berth insulation and hanging locker

Two layers of insulation was installed on the hull in the V-berth in the same manner as in the head. The front and side panels for the hanging locker were installed with a piece of Jatoba cut and routered to join the two panels. Several coats of Min Wax Wipe On Poly was applied to the panels before installation. Epoxy fillets were applied to the panel at the hull.