60 ft on the Chesapeake - It Begins !

[DSDman]

we had thought about going to Baltimore this weekend but with the schedule for the next couple of weekends hauling her Friday was the best option. I was dreading removing all that hardware but in the end it only took about six hours. So I may go out today and grind the remaining gel coat from around the edges.

[DSDman]

Took the day off from work, to work! More grinding, getting close to re fiberglassing.

[DSDman]

No work this weekend either. A life of outdoors and a chilhood of sunburns have caught up with me and the top of my head. So I donated two large chunks of scalp out of the top of my head and 17 stitches later I am basil cell cancer free....again! But the doc says take it easy and try not to sweat too much, which excludes doing any real work on the boat. I find that i can no longer sit on the couch and simply do nothing and feel good about myself. So I may have to slip out tomorrow and at least go visit and plan.....

[Pblais]

I find that i can no longer sit on the couch and simply do nothing and feel good about myself. So I may have to slip out tomorrow and at least go visit and plan.....

Planning isn't to be underestimated! Consider this a lesson in patience! It's something you need a lot of as a sailor on land or sea. Doing things right is harder than just doing them. For every project on a boat there are a lot of ways to take short cuts that come back to bite you.

You've made such great progress and now the details start to get very interesting.

[IdoraKeeper]

This is a great thread. I love to see these kind of projects. I hope you continue to post pix of your progress. When she is done you will have a fine vessel and the kids will have experiences they never dreamed could happen. Best of luck, don't give up and don't back down.

Todd

[DSDman]

I love the smell of fiberglass in the morning! Back deck coming along. Next will be the install of the new Sea Frost refrigerator, freezer guts! Got the boxes yesterday.











gel coat next, then anti skid.

[CnC40sailor]

I'm not sure which is more amazing,the fact he is doing this or the fact he's doing this on a 60 ft boat....hmmmmmm

[DSDman]

Just a little back story on this. These decks are foam cored and solid. In a couple of low places where the water would sit the foam had come unstuck from the bottom layer of fiberglass. So when water got in they would hold water a little under the foam layer. I ended up drilling a few holes around the perimeter of the deck edge to allow all this to drain. After a few weeks of the deck being 100+ degrees in the sun and keeping it dry we cut out a few squares from the top to see how the foam was doing. It was all bone dry. Had this been a wood cored deck I would have had much more of a problem and would not have bought the boat. I actually was about to back out of the deal until I finally figured out that Nautical Development was one of the few builders in 1981 that had gone foam core. The stuff of super solid and still in excellent condition.

[DSDman]

Bottoms done for now. Deck is still in the works, got most of the hardware reinstalled. Goes back in the water tomorrow.







more pics when I get the dingy davits back on. I need to fabricate a piece that looks like a wedge to compensate for the round on the stern of the boat. The original one was wood and rotten, thinking of trying to make this one out of pvc.

[DSDman]

So I've spent almost all week on the boat. relaunched and reinstalled the life lines. Back deck is 98% done just need to paint in the smooth spots. new refrigeration is about 85% done, just need to make all the connections. Found an issue with stay current, still chasing that down very frustrating when you can get 90 volts through the sea water strainer! So first 4 months of ownership coming to a close. So far, hatches rebuilt, teak removed from back deck, that rebuilt, new sea frost refigeration/freezer mostly installed and a whole bunch of rotted interior wood removed.

[DSDman]

I see cold beer from the fridge very soon. All hooked up and running! Only took me about four days longer that I had planned. Seafrost 12 volt system, one compressor for the fridge one for the freezer.







now just have to make all the wires/hoses look pretty. 10.5 hours today alone working on it. Hope it's worth it all.

[CnC40sailor]

Fantastic! All that work will certainly pay off! Enjoy your first sail!

[DSDman]

Boy, I sure hope so, ahh the first sail! It was suppose to be last week but it just didn't happen. Couldn't make it happen no matter how hard I worked. So not this weekend, gotta work all weekend. Maybe next... I got so many tools on the boat and so much crap it probably won't sail...gotta clean all that out at some point.

[DSDman]

Took a day off from the job. No wind yesterday, but we did manage to get the old girl out of the slip and go for a little cruise, with cold beverages! So that was a small victory. Kids got to practice the cast off and docking drill. They all did real well, even took Grandma and Grandpa with us! Couple of first for me, started the boat on first try..no fuel bleeding or cursing required. Got the dink back together and it ran reasonably well. The chart plotter stopped working and also the auto helm. Some nights I really start to believe I bit off more than I can chew.

[malbert73]

Originally Posted by DSDman

Took a day off from the job. No wind yesterday, but we did manage to get the old girl out of the slip and go for a little cruise, with cold beverages! So that was a small victory. Kids got to practice the cast off and docking drill. They all did real well, even took Grandma and Grandpa with us! Couple of first for me, started the boat on first try..no fuel bleeding or cursing required. Got the dink back together and it ran reasonably well. The chart plotter stopped working and also the auto helm. Some nights I really start to believe I bit off more than I can chew.

Naaah. Don't think that way. You've already gotten more done than any of us could imagine, but it is a big boat so will take some time....