Update on my repairs, Gemini105MC,

[Mr B]

A few piccys on my repairs to my Gemini.
Both Hulls have been fully repaired and replaced,
They are now 13mm thick, Instead of the 6mm original,
Verified by drilling thru hulls for the sea water intake and Depth sounder,
Resealed the head, it was leaking, Not a pleasant job,
Have got the westerbeke diesel ready to run, Waiting for a new filter assembly to come,
It turned over by hand easily, after sitting there for 6 years,
New Battery flicks it over even easier.
Have Drained both tanks and polished the 6 year old diesel in the tanks,
The lines had a wax substance in them and was blocking fuel from flowing,

Majority of the wiring has been completed, And it all works
All the water hoses and pumps have been installed and replaced with new ones,
Have installed 500 Watts of solar panels on the davits, Not shaded, Its all up and running,
Both rudders are reinstalled and work easily, New cables, Just needs the new ropes to be fitted properly,
New ropes for the centreboards to be fitted and the cleavis pins needed sealing and fitting.
Its getting close, Its been a very big job,

[Mr B]

A more few piccys,
Its not the way I wanted to get to learn about my boat,
But makes it easier if any thing breaks down in future, I will know what it is and how to fix it,
But it will be reliable, When I plonk it back in the water
There are no yacht stops where Im going, hahahaha
Shame its about 80 Kays each way to get to my boat, It takes a lot of time out of the day,

[GRIT]

Well it looks a might better than the last time I saw it. Could you point me to the thread that covers in between here and when the hull was finally sealed up?

I remember the problems you had getting it repaired, but seem to have lost track of the story since the hulls were finally glassed.

Thanks, and congrats on your progress.

Cheers.
Paul.

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by GRIT

Well it looks a might better than the last time I saw it. Could you point me to the thread that covers in between here and when the hull was finally sealed up?

I remember the problems you had getting it repaired, but seem to have lost track of the story since the hulls were finally glassed.

Thanks, and congrats on your progress.

Cheers.
Paul.

I cant find it myself, Thats why I put it in a new thread, Sorry,

[GRIT]

I'll look, but I'm glad you're making progress.

Are you doing it yourself these days? It would seem so. Did you not have any luck with "the trades"?

Cheers.
Paul.

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by GRIT

I'll look, but I'm glad you're making progress.

Are you doing it yourself these days? It would seem so. Did you not have any luck with "the trades"?

Cheers.
Paul.

Other than the Hulls, I am doing every thing myself,
I have all the manuals, So its just following the books, Make it all the same,

Just every thing is upgraded to bigger and better as most was destroyed by the water inflow, And was cut off or cut out,

Google, You tube, Tutorials have helped a lot, They show how its done,
The electrics were a bit of a struggle as Im not a sparky,
But mechanicals are a breeze, I am a Tradie,

A few changes from experience,
Batterys are well above any water ingress now, So I will have power if it does get low in the water,
Tractor inner tubes I will carry, Blow them up and I cant sink, They pack away to nothing,
In fifteen minutes, I can have a battery and air pump on the roof, Tractor tubes tied under the Transom, To keep the motor well above the water line, So I will still have propulsion, And power,
The dinghy tied low across the back can also provide flotation, It would probably be enough on its own to support the rear,,
A cubic metre floats one Ton, I need 4 cubic metres to be safe,
A couple of tubes tied low on the Bows, Under the water line, Then pumped up, I cant sink,
I am not relying on the flotation chambers built into the boat, But I will seal them all off any way,

I can repair any thing with time,
But not sinking is a big relief and it will give me the time to repair if I do get into trouble, Not that I am expecting it,
Forward planning for the worst, Makes sailing a breeze,

Its just the same as a fire plan here, Be ready for a bush fire before it gets here, I live in a high fire danger area, I will be staying to fight it, Thats all planned out,



Cheers,
Brian,

[Cadence]

Brian,
She looks sweet. How did you glass the bottoms to achieve the double thickness and do you have any idea of what it cost in weight?
Roger

[Kita]

I have a Gemini 105mc & am looking to do 500 watt but am struggling to find what will fit where you have them mounted,can you identify what size those panels are and where I can locate a pair of them? Thank you!

[captstu]

Your Gemini has between 5 and 7 floatation tanks that I’m guessing need to be opened and drained.

After a mayday-level near sinking on my Gem 3400, I found 3 of her tanks full from water leaking from above. Drained, reglassed and foamed her 7 tanks - she now calculates to be unsinkable.

The assurance of foam, all USCG approved, helped me sleep nights.

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by Cadence

Brian,
She looks sweet. How did you glass the bottoms to achieve the double thickness and do you have any idea of what it cost in weight?
Roger

Both hulls were completely cut out, so it was easy to add the extra thickness that I asked for,
I told the bloke that repaired it, I wanted it to sit on the beach, So he just beefed it up as part of the job,
No idea on what the extra weight is, Not really bothered about it,
Having a solid floor under me is more to the point,

Basically, Its about 15 feet x 2.5 feet x 3/8ths thickness, extra, X 2 hulls in fibreglass, So what ever that weighs, So Its not a great deal more.
Not enough to worry about,

Sailing back from Fiji, The Plimsol line was 2 inches under the water line and it sailed easily, So the extra weight doesnt bother it,
I was loaded to the hilt with spares and extra diesel,

This time, I wont have all the spares and 35 gallons of extra diesel, Etc Etc, And over a months supply of canned food on board, So the boat will be higher in the water,

Cheers, Brian,

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by Kita

I have a Gemini 105mc & am looking to do 500 watt but am struggling to find what will fit where you have them mounted,can you identify what size those panels are and where I can locate a pair of them? Thank you!

They are 5 feet long and 30 inches wide, 250 Watts in each panel,
The fit just neatly on the top rail of the dinghy davits,
Centrally mounted on single swivels, I can tilt them,
They are Cryocera Monochrystaline panels, They are Chinese panels sourced locally here,

They were $324-00 AUD, The pair, Delivered Free with 2 X 2 into one MC4 connectors, They have inbuilt diodes,

Ebay.com. You can get them direct from China with free delivery,

You can also get a solar controller for the panels, Minimum 40 Amps, for about $40-00 USD with free delivery,
Mine is in the pictures above, Its 40 amps, Works great, You only need one controller for the panels,

Cheers, Brian,

[Jeannius]

Congratulations on getting the boat back to this stage. I must confess having read the story from the very beginning of your purchase, trip from Fiji and the wrecking, I never thought you'd get it back together. Looking forward to seeing the launch photos.

[Mr B]

These are solid panels,
They are house panels, Not, so called, Marine panels,
My 4 smaller panels off my Gemini, are now on my RV, 16 years old, and still working fine,
Two were on the davits, one on the roof and one was on the side rails on the deck, The one on the side rails got cleaned up by the fuel wharfe when I forgot it was hanging over the side of the boat, It still works, But I have a bent hand rail,

I added a 30mm x 30mm anodised angle on both sides, with 5 x 3/16th bolts in each to give them extra strength to carry the weight of the panels on the swivels,

The middle swivel bar is 80mm x 6 mm anodised structural aluminium flat bar, With two 10 mm bolts in each end.

the bolts go thru both the 30 x 30 angle and the sides of the panels,

Cheers, Brian,

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by captstu

Your Gemini has between 5 and 7 floatation tanks that I’m guessing need to be opened and drained.

After a mayday-level near sinking on my Gem 3400, I found 3 of her tanks full from water leaking from above. Drained, reglassed and foamed her 7 tanks - she now calculates to be unsinkable.

The assurance of foam, all USCG approved, helped me sleep nights.

I only have four dedicated flotation tanks, The others are just lockers with lift up lids, The lids are water tite, So that will give me time to get the inner tubes happening,
But I will make sure they are water tite now that you mention it,

The two back ones are about one cubic metre total, They are dry and can be sealed,
Not sure how big the front ones are, They are inaccesable any way,
But I am not relying on them to keep me afloat,
Thats why the inner tubes are being added,

Cheers, Brian,