Manitu's project: Finessa 33

[manitu]

Hi Guys!

Some of you might remember this boat , I bought her blind last fall and haven't seen her until now.
The plan is to get this old boat in ship shape again. Simple , but ship shape!

First task is to get her seaworthy enough to the 3 hour journey to her temporary home.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...3-a-70544.html

Now.. The work has begun , and right away I found several soft spots along the keel. So I went berzerk with the angle grinder and removed the wet glass.


The keel is mounted with nuts placed in small windows in the keel! and these windows were not filled with anything!!


Some bolts are a bit short and no washer on this one?


I'm a bit confused right now, wondering what the next step is..

Pictures of the bolts inside the boat will follow.

.manitu

[barnakiel]

6 pairs of bolts. Pretty typical. On our ship the gaps are then filled with light epoxy putty. The bolts are accessible from the top - bilge side. Plain SS bolts.

While at it pull them out one by one and replace with new ones. Minimum cost, maximum effect. Then fill the voids with epoxy putty ... They will outlive you.

How is the seam doing? Is it dry?

b.

[manitu]

Yeah was thinking about replacing the bolts , but the bolts looks like new despite the wet glass.

The seam looks good , a bit wet in the outer edge just the first two feet from the bow.


Wich is more than I can say about the wood inside!!


It looks like a bit more work before she hits the water.. I quess I have to replace the wood.. I don't think there is rot but it's soaking wet!

.manitu

[barnakiel]

Ouch!

The wood part is alien to me. In our ship the bolts are just bolted to the bottom portion of the bilge withe some help from big 'washers' cut of metal bar - each two bolts share a single 'washer'.

Since the wood is wet and you are going to rebuild, you will be pulling the bolts anyway (unless I am wrong and they do not go across the wood).

The part of the bolt that you can see does not count - the part hidden from the eye is the one that gets corroded first and most (if at all). If they are sound, just perhaps replace the too short one.

Looks like a nice summer project in wood and epoxy!

Cheers,
b.

[barnakiel]

BTW looks like the boat was owned by a rocky bottom surveyor at a time :-) At least that one got lucky - we hit with the meat JUST ABOVE the keel - got a gouge twice this deep three times this size ...

b.

[manitu]

I wish I could use all summer.. The problem is: the boat is sitting at the previous owners place. The plan was to make her somewhat seaworthy, then sail her across the bay and continue. I guess there is no way to finish the keel,and deal with the lumber later?

I guess I'll have to remove two bolts at a time to glass in a new ,non-wood reinforcement?

About the keel. The keel looks like it's completely glassed in. Is this neccesary? Is'nt a epoxy coating good enough?

Any suggestions?
.manitu

[manitu]

About the gauge in the keel.. It is a bolt cutout.
.manitu

[s/v Jedi]

Oh my, I guess Minaret will jump in too, but I would replace all those ribs and the bolts.

I would start in the middle, get the two bolts out of a rib and grind the rib out. Then clean and sand the whole section, fair it smooth with epoxy and put a layer of cloth over where the rib was and just over halfway towards both neighbor ribs using epoxy resin. Then make a pattern from 3-ply and cut the new rib from solid oak with a bandsaw. Fit it in and mark from below for the bolt holes. Then drill and epoxy the new rib in, put the bolts in, countersink at the top like the old ones are, and glass a layer of cloth over the rib probably even over the bolt. The oak piece must allow room for the cloth when the floor rests on it which it does I think.
I would think about drilling oversize, filling with epoxy casting and then drilling right size again so that the wood is protected from any possible moisture but these musings I have are often overkill.

Then do the next one, overlapping the cloth a couple of inches. When all are done, paint it with bilgekote. It should be rather quick after the first one or two are done. I had to learn how to quickly make a pattern for something like this... don't hesitate to ask questions like that because the right techniques save many hours and often material too.


Nick.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by manitu

I wish I could use all summer.. The problem is: the boat is sitting at the previous owners place. The plan was to make her somewhat seaworthy, then sail her across the bay and continue. I guess there is no way to finish the keel,and deal with the lumber later?

I would sail her across the lake the way she is now. I might put some duct tape over the pockets in the keel but I might even skip that and just have a pump aboard for any seepage.

cheers,
Nick.

[manitu]

Yeah.. Would be cool to sail it as it is .. But no, i think i will do what is needed in situ. If I can get it in such shape that it can stay on the water all summer , thats the way to go. I was thinking about epoxying the lower nuts to the keel and finishing the keel outside now, then sail her across the bay and then replace the lumber. But I guess it's safest to get it done right with the boat on solid ground. I'll do it as described two posts above.

.manitu

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by manitu

Yeah.. But no, i think i will do what is needed in situ. If I can get it in such shape that it can stay on the water all summer , thats the way to go. I was thinking about epoxying the lower nuts to the keel and finishing the keel outside now, then sail her across the bay and then replace the lumber. But I guess it's safest to get it done right with the boat on solid ground.

That can be done when you find a way that the bolts don't turn in the keel pockets after you close them. I would do this job hauled though, as you don't want any water coming into your work area and ruin a lay-up or other epoxy work.

ciao!
Nick.

[manitu]

About to start today's session and two questions comes to mind..

Would'nt it be better to use polyurethane or epoxy soaked divinycell, instead of oak?

When I start to coat the keel I should polish it clean and coat it with laminating epoxy straight away, right?

Thanks for all the help, would'nt dare to start on this whitout the cruisersforum.

.manitu

[barnakiel]

How big is the bay? Can you truck her? She looks nearly trailer-able. This way you would avoid some of the worry and all of the salt water getting into/onto and under the keel.

Your keel looks cast iron. These can be either glassed over or epoxied over. Both ways are OK if executed well. If not executed well, epoxy no glass seems to be easier to touch up between seasons.

b.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by manitu

About to start today's session and two questions comes to mind..

Would'nt it be better to use polyurethane or epoxy soaked divinycell, instead of oak?

When I start to coat the keel I should polish it clean and coat it with laminating epoxy straight away, right?

Thanks for all the help, would'nt dare to start on this whitout the cruisersforum.

.manitu

a) I would stick with wood, look up wood working manuals online - you want to cut the wood so that the pressure / grain are aligned in proper way,

b) dry blasting + epoxy seems to work well, search the CF - there are threads on keel renovation/jobs in place,

b.

[manitu]

It's about one hour to drive, two-three hours to sail.
But I think I'll replace the oak and replace/check the bolts.

The biggest problem now is the one hour drive from the boat to the bandsaw.. I wonder if I could remove two set of bolts a time to save time?
I guess removing half of the bolts at one time, then the other half of the bolts, would be to stretch my luck?

.manitu