Interior refit 1970's kit sailboat questions

[Spot]

I decided to pre-drill 5/8" (16mm) and fill and re-drill the 1/2" (12.7mm) holes in the keel board. It worked well to match mark them with a transfer punch ran from outside below up into the bottom of the new keel board clamped into place. Holes were filled in with colored epoxy and hand-cut fiber (forgot how messy that gets). I experimented with a 3D printed button taped into the holes to re-find center after filling. It worked for the most part but could have been done by eye and center punch. Not many photos from the sessions, maybe that is a good sign that I am actually working...?

[Spot]

Keel board is in and glassed.
One layer 1oz/sqft epoxy-compatible mat between hull and board the first day and 3x 1708 -45/45 w/ mat over the top with the middle layer bias cut to make it 0/90 (in line with keel) the next. Fillets (epoxy with glass spheres and fumed silica) were added to the long edges before glassing, short edges to receive some sort of decoration later. Layers were wet out and stacked outside boat on plastic, then folded to get into boat. I used Delrin pins to keep the holes aligned to hull during board attach and bits of nitrile gloves to keep the resin mostly out of the holes for capping. I could have used a bit more radius on the plywood and would have been better off finishing before dark to avoid insects trying to swim in the wet epoxy.

Weather is cooler than I'd like so considering running some sort of heater, perhaps IR bulbs (brooder lights or food lamps) in the cabin after setting the cross pieces. My older tail ends of 2:1 epoxy do not seem to mind 'the cold' and cure normally but the newer clear 2:1 system I have is curing very slowly, which lines up with recommendations by them and by West System for having warmer temps for their clear hardener. I am trying to get a week of good curing temps on the repair before use. If I get the cross members in today and capped tomorrow, I will be just in time.

[Spot]

Some more action from the driveway.
The 3/4" (19mm) marine plywood was not going to bend without cracking so I gave it some relief cuts. The floors are covered with 4oz cloth and epoxy resin on the undersides and glued with mat and epoxy to the hull. The gap between hull and floor is filled in with low-expanding canned foam. The old ones had holidays in the glassing which allowed water to get at the plywood. I am hoping by using the trimmed foam and a resin +glass microspheres + fumed silica 'peanut butter' (fillet material) that the fillet joints will retain resin and remain sound.

[Bowdrie]

I take it that you'll fill all the saw kerfs with thickened epoxy?
You've already got them in place now but should you do anymore similar jobs it generally works out easier to fill the kerfs with the mush first and then install the floor.
That way you are assured of totally filled saw kerfs, (excess squeezes out when floor is bent into the hull.
However, I realize that due to set-up times that an extra pair of hands can become necessary at times.
All-in-all, looking pretty good.

[Spot]

Originally Posted by Bowdrie

I take it that you'll fill all the saw kerfs with thickened epoxy?
You've already got them in place now but should you do anymore similar jobs it generally works out easier to fill the kerfs with the mush first and then install the floor.
That way you are assured of totally filled saw kerfs, (excess squeezes out when floor is bent into the hull.
However, I realize that due to set-up times that an extra pair of hands can become necessary at times.
All-in-all, looking pretty good.

Filling the kerfs in beforehand would have worked great, thanks, I will file that tip for another time. I went back and trimmed foam and peeled tape (the tape seemed almost as much trouble as it was worth) and touched up the foam and filled in the kerfs. I will need to do a little more sanding and clean up before glassing. Nights are supposed to warm up for the next couple days which will be nice for getting the next batch and curing.

[Spot]

More forward progress but not enough to make next weekend's event with the boat.

Looked up an epoxy fillet aka 'peanut butter' recipe and found an old MAS video on YouTube. By volume: 1 part mixed resin and 1 part fumed silica and 2 parts glass microspheres. I had just enough silica left for glassing all of this, so happy not to have to drive or wait for more to come. Up until now I'd just been freestyling the mixes with the jars of filler I bought 10 years ago.

I am thinking on the deeper floors I will need a purposeful relief cut at the keel board. The first one went OK without and the second one seemed to do better with a small cut.

[Spot]

I went for a two-fer today. The 12" (30cm) disposable piping bags for adding fillet material are worth it, less time spent applying and wiping and re-applying and less material used overall. Things were humming along until I found myself pulling up fibers rolling out the laminate. Turns out in my two-fer frenzy I installed the wetted-out laminate upside down or mat side up . It took about 5 seconds to realize I did not want that, and I pulled and flipped them, happy to take the extra transferred fillet material over having two smooth and two furry looking floors. In this case the longer working time of the new epoxy was an advantage.

[Spot]

After completing the framing I went after the rusty keel stub and blade.
1. Boat placed on stands/ remove trailer
2. Drop blade with internal winch and cable
3. Drop stub with floor jack
4. Sand off finish with poly-carbide disks
5. Coat 1x neat epoxy, wire brushing wet epoxy into metal per West system instructions
6. Coat 1x with epoxy + West 422 barrier coat additive (coats were heavy as pieces were horizontal)
7. Coat with green paint...2x(?) after epoxy was fully cured and washed/scuffed
8. Install stub to boat with fresh hardware and 3M5200
9. Install blade with new pivot bolt and new cable
10. Put boat back on trailer

A few highlight pics. We've already had first snow here so I am looking at last minute vacuuming inside the cabin and covering for the winter.

[GILow]

You’ve probably mentioned it somewhere, but how much does that keel weigh? I remember being quite nervous of the keel on my Austral 20, I think it was around 200 kg.

[Spot]

Hi Matt, not too heavy, 206kg/463# all together. Most of the time I was only trying to wrestle one piece or the other.

[Spot]

I am back on this boat after spending the beginning of the season away doing other boat-related things. Once again there is a rally approaching, chores outnumber hours, and paper wasps have again taken residence in the cabin.

I have a couple joinery things to accomplish
1. Add a track and hatch boards to replace the GRP(fiberglass) cover that only works from the outside. If I do this right I may stop the wasp ingress...
2. Rebuild the galley cabinets for a place for stove and sink

As far as the hatch boards and track go, does the enclosed pic look like an OK/expedient solution? Looking at plain drop boards or maybe one with a screen.

As far as the galley cabinets go, can a person make square/rectangular carcasses and then mark/trim to fit or is it better to pattern the non-square faces A,B,C (fore, aft, countertop) and assemble to a flat front or face frame? The cabinets sit on the ends of the side berths towards the v-berth and need to be 2-3" (50-75mm) bigger between fore and aft and between bottom and countertop planes (hull flares out as it goes up and back) to meet the contour of the hull. There are pics early on in the thread with the berth rebuild if those help.

Thanks!

[Spot]

Forward progress has been made. Tabbing is sanded and painted, Countertops are installed using silicon bronze screws recovered from a 1940's Herreshoff 12 1/2 that I helped work on over the summer and latex caulking, so they can be removed if needed. Fresh water is plumbed and working. No solution for gray water other than an ice cream bucket...sink was direct discharge, where I go that is not a possibility.

[Spot]

We got out for a shakedown sail and motor (had to replace carb linkage and starter pinion gear) this last week after missing the season last year in this boat redoing the keel framing. Forgive the bad trim of the jib, the skipper had not yet informed crew of how to rout the sheets (as if he knows better himself...)