Breaking All the Rules ...

[homeless]

Today was another day of small jobs to finish big projects.

I spent a few hours digging more foam out of the bilges and down into the keel sections to see if I could find any additional water tank leaks or corrosion before I close them up again. No new leaks detected, so I still can't explain where all the water in the bilges came from I also ran the fan heater most of the day to dry out the remaining foam.

Removed the old sonar sensor through-hull and mounted the new one with plenty of sealant.

Investigated the port fuel tank to see if I could take off the inspection plate, but found that it extends far under the wood floor, instrument panel, steering station, and chart table, so I would need to cut out a lot of nice wood furniture just to take a look inside. I will do what all previous owners did and pretend that everything is OK in the port fuel tank and it does not need inspecting ... If you ever design and build a boat please ensure the inspection hatches are easily accessible without damaging anything. There is no point installing them if it requires thousands of dollars of damage just to open them.

I finished the day with a bit of cosmetic woodwork re-installing the hatch surrounds and covering up some sun damaged wood in the instrument panel and some heat damaged veneer behind the oven in the galley.

[NSboatman]

Hey Homeless- I forget - are the tanks integral to the hull? if so, then just do what I did with my aft fuel tank - cut a nice inspection hole in the hull from the outside. Easily welded up and allows for excellent access.

My tank has the stern tube running thru the middle of it, which blocks access around it to get to the sump. Very poor design really, but I don't want to change it because it is a lot of fuel capacity that I think we'll need where we're going. I could tell the tanks were manky though and I knew they would need cleaning, so we cut the hole in from the outside in the side of the keel. 1/4" plate so it wasn't really tough to do with a grinder and slitting disc.

it's a 10x10 hole, which was perfectly adequate to get my arm and a flashlight in there, and boy did it need cleaning - took out over a gallon of sandblasting sand, nearly a dozen old welding rods and several liters of goop. not good.

All clean now though, and should take ~2 hours to weld up completely again; using backing bars and a proper weld sequence.

...really, I wouldn't assume anything with old fuel tanks. They can really **@@ you up at a bad time if you leave them.

You've done so much, it'd be so crappy to have that one detail cause you grief in the long term; but I know there has to be a limit too. I just wouldn't put it at the fuel system...

my 2C. Enjoying reading your progress - you are an inspiration!

[Steve Bean]

Even if the tanks aren't integral, you could still cut the hull to get access.

[homeless]

The tanks are integral, so in theory I could cut through the hull, but since the hull is faired it would take a few days work to clean up after any welding, and there would always be the additional seams and possibly plate distortion, so not worth the hassle just to poke my head in. Yes, there is probably some junk in the port tank left by the welders but it has been there 27 years so since I am not aware of any issues I will leave it until the next haul out, and in the meantime see if I can pick up an endoscope or wireless camera that I can put on a stick.

There was a bit of rain last night, and this morning there was a bit more water in the bilges. It seemed to originate near the mast, but I could not be sure if it came down from the rain, or if there was another leak from the fresh water tanks. There was one last inspection plate into the keel next to the mast that I had not opened up due to seized screws and limited space. I needed to use the impact driver, but there was not enough space to swing a hammer, so I used the BIG hammer, and just dropped it on the driver, which worked. Under the inspection plate was ... resin. Someone has closed the keel void with resin to keep water out, so not sure why they bothered putting the inspection plate back on. Unfortunately while wire brushing the bilge walls I managed to wrap the wind sensor cable around the grinder shaft and break it, so now I need to splice a new wire on and seal it well enough to survive down in the bilges. I cleaned up the bilge section and will put another layer of resin down and won't bother with the plate. I still have not managed to find any additional leaks from the fresh water tanks, and the water level in the tanks does not seem to be going down, so I will leave it a few more days and plan to close the keel voids with foam again and seal with resin.

Since the previous owner let the water rise to floor level there is some water damage to the bottom of the wall ply veneer. Today I bought 15 meters of tasmanian oak skirting board and started mounting it around the salon and galley walls to cover the damaged veneer. I should be able to complete that tomorrow, then I will be able varnish the skirting boards and finish varnishing the floor.

[homeless]

I have not been able to find any leaks from the fresh water tanks, and the water levels in the tanks has not gone down, so looks like they are fixed. I started filling the keel voids with foam today and should be able to finish that and close the water tanks tomorrow.

I finished the skirting boards in the galley, salon, and v-birth and applied two coats of varnish. I also glued the hatch surrounds today and screwed them back in place. Once painted that completes the work on the hatches.

I mounted the gas bottle today and tested the stove successfully.

[homeless]

A very satisfying day.

I closed up the fresh water tanks, doing up 36 bolts down under the floor in the bilges, then did a bit more work fairing the foam in the keel segments so I can close them with resin. Not sure how someone with short arms would have achieved this.

I painted the scuppers, which is hopefully the last painting above deck, then I applied the first coat of antifoul on the hull, which was the main reason I had the boat hauled 2.5 months ago.

[vejjux]

Hello homeless and everybody,

I don't usually post in forums, but this time couldn't help it

Just waned to say that this thread is amazing and very, very inspiring.

Keep up the good work and please keep posting

[atoll]

Originally Posted by vejjux

Hello homeless and everybody,

I don't usually post in forums, but this time couldn't help it

Just waned to say that this thread is amazing and very, very inspiring.

Keep up the good work and please keep posting

+2

but would really appreciate some photos

[homeless]

Another productive day.

I applied the second coat of antifoul to the hull, then a third coat on the leading edges and waterline. In the past there have been at least two waterlines on the boat, and when I was away from the boat the painting contractor who applied the barrier coat used the lower waterline for their masking tape, which left me with some cleanup to do after applying the black antifoul on the white hull.

I stripped off the old masking tape that had been on the boat 2 months, cleaned off the sticky residue with spirits, then masked again to paint white above the waterline. After two coats of white the higher waterline is no longer visible, and I am happy with the result.

To close the keel sections I have so far poured in 8 litres of polyester resin while playing with MEK catalyst percentage. Less than 1% MEK and it took 24 hours for the resin to set. 1.5% MEK and the resin set in 30 minutes but got so hot it bubbled and caused the underlying foam to expand, cracking the resin. I have now settled on applying multiple thin layers of resin with 1% MEK to build up layers of without it getting so hot that it impacts the foam.

To finish the day I applied two coats of paint to the hatch surrounds.

I will try to find time to take some pictures later this week as I finish more of the projects and get the boat cleaned up.

[Cadence]

Remember MEK even in diluted greatly can cause blindness.

[homeless]

When the welders were chasing leaks in the water tanks they had to cut through the teak floor to get to a bilge section without an inspection hatch, but I did ask them to cut a neat rectangle, and they complied. Today I turned that rectangle into an inspection hatch, then sanded and varnished it.

The other inspection hatches have been a bit insecure as some of the screws holding the hatch seat to the underside of the floor had rusted through or pulled out. I went around all of the hatches, cutting new wood battens where needed, drilling pilot holes from the bilge up through the hatch seats and into the floor, then putting in stainless steel screws to reinforce the hatch seats. As with anything related to the tight spaces in the bilges this work required a lot of time spent upside down developing new yoga moves, and of course I broke yet another drill bit

When I tried to replace my zinc anodes I was told they were a non-standard size, so bought the closest size which require me to drill bolt holes. This afternoon I started drilling the holes, but found that my power drill kept overheating. I gave it a rest whenever I thought it was getting too hot, but obviously the drill to rest ratio was too high, and eventually there was a pop and some smoke and the drill died. Tomorrow I will see if I can find someone with a drill press to finish the work, then head to the hardware store and buy a new hand power drill. My power drill was the cheapest I could find, so I am not surprised it died.

It started raining late in the afternoon, and I have now confirmed that a lot of water is coming down the inside of the mast, so I have now explained the water I found in the bilges last week. I will see if I can stop the water above deck level, but since there are wires coming down the inside of the mast I suspect I will fail.

[handmer]

I am not sure what brand drill you are using, but I find Ozito from Bunnings good yet cheap.

It is a step up from the very cheapest, but importantly has a 3 year replacement warranty.

I have heaps of Ozito tools and very few failures, but being able to walk into Bunnings and swap it for a new one if needed is handy.

[homeless]

Originally Posted by handmer

I am not sure what brand drill you are using, but I find Ozito from Bunnings good yet cheap.

It is a step up from the very cheapest, but importantly has a 3 year replacement warranty.

I have heaps of Ozito tools and very few failures, but being able to walk into Bunnings and swap it for a new one if needed is handy.

Drill was Ozito. Failure was due to overheating, so I am partly to blame, and should have used lubricant and rested the motor more. I have also had an Ozito grinder and sander fail in the last month and having taken them apart can confirm the low price is achieved with minimum spec components. I buy Ozito knowing the quality is poor but hoping they last long enough to complete this project.

[handmer]

Fair enough then, I don't work my tools as hard as you!

So why not just swap them for new ones under warranty, rather than buy a new drill?

[homeless]

A long day of hard dirty work that could have been avoided

1. I should have closed the last keel section yesterday as soon as the foam cured instead of getting distracted by other jobs
2. I should have built a dam higher than 2 inches in the bilges to stop the water coming down the mast from flooding the bilges.

We had about 6 inches of rain last night, and a lot more water is coming down the mast than before it was remounted, so the bilge dam overflowed and my foam filled keel section flooded.

Today was spent lying on the floor reaching down into cramped bilges pulling out the wet foam, drying the section, making a plywood lid for the section, nervously watching the passing rainclouds, then pumping foam in again, letting it set, and covering with resin. In addition I scraped the old sealant out of the mast inserts and re-sealed them to try to reduce water intake.