Moving day

24 October 2014

I have not been happy with the boat's being where it's been.  This is sort of the 'swamp' of the yard.  Well-- it is not really a swamp-- Diana has been sitting on good solid packed gravel-- but the ground immediately beside her is low and tends to fill up in any rain.  This, in addition to the constant mosquitoes, makes doing boat work after 4.00 pm and on weekends less than fun.  So I contracted the guys to relocate Diana to a drier, happier place, especially with regards to facing another (her last?) winter on land.

Here in the Northeast, when placing a boat for the winter season, it is best to situate her nose-into the weather.  This is better for the boat, for any covers, for the stowage of gear on deck and on the ground, for persons entering the boat in the off-season, and for a host of a million other reasons.  Diana, especially, with her low-profile deck and cabin, heads to weather very well-- but all my covers and the cockpit have taken a beating over these (too many) years sitting stern-to the weather, which here in Delran comes to us on a direct line from Philadelphia (bearing from W/SW) in summer and from W and NW in winter.  The compass in the bulkhead shows her facing E/SE.  Enough said.

This is Diana's old spot, in 'The Swamp'.  Here Jerry's C44 Second Alarm has been moved to his new spot and I was standing, for the first time in two years, where his boat had been.  Together these boats and the others in this photo weathered Superstorm Sandy and all the rest.

Now I know how these guys work.  The guys from Riverside Marina come over, back the hydraulic boat carrier to the front of your boat, and then-- wait for it-- remove all the stands.  I mean all of them but the very back and the very bow.  I've seen them do this even on windy days, with the rig up.  Yikes.

Watching them do this with a C44 or Ben's Rhodes Reliant (with that narrow transom!) is unnerving.  Watching them do it with my own boat is an automatic case of the heebie-jeebies.  I was so paranoid that I subtly replaced the stands in the very back with a pair a little closer forward, though they were not at any bulkhead, just to persuade them to leave those as the last two.  But they moved them back (to right where they were before), saying they couldn't get the truck under it.  I was near fits.

Then, to really bring on the stomach acid, the forward pads on the truck would not find the boat.  I've seen this thing in action many times but always thought that for smaller boats the pads would angle inwards.  Apparently, they don't.  The picture shows the back ones too far forward and too low, the front ones way too high, and the keel (read that: whole weight of the boat) on a 3-inch-wide strap spanned between the wheels of the truck thing.  Sheesh.

Meanwhile, between snapping photos (which I did not really do so much) I was worrying that the pads in front are pushing against the v-berth shelf, probably popping off the rode-locker bulkheads I 'glassed there, and definitely scraping off the newly-applied primer paint.

Then Jeremiah in the shop says, 'It better not be scraping off the paint.  It's epoxy.  If they're scraping it off, it wasn't applied right.'  And it was applied right.

End result: Diana arrives across the yard safe and sound.  There was a problem with blocking her, as the guys could not get the strap out from under the keel without blocking the keel bottom in the same place as before-- meaning I still can't scrape, prime and barrier-coat the very bottom.  But I can sort that out another day.  The bulkheads forward were fine (of course).  And the epoxy primer survived very well-- the traces of black wiped off with one hand while I was talking on the phone.  No worries.

In this location the barn part of the shop will block most wet snow.  The weather now comes from off Diana's nose or from slightly to port.  I will have this shrink-wrapped by the end of November (after topcoat on the hull).

The few odd places where the barrier coating was sanded through are the repairs I had to make for the cracks; this is reported elsewhere.  Jerry gave me some leftover stuff so I may not need to go into the quart kit of Pettit Protect that I bought for these (and for the rudder).  The gray cover is because of the instrument holes in the back of the cabin and because the forward edge of the hatch hood is still open (needing woodwork, the last major job to be done to the deck).

On the deck there is a bucket upside-down over the mast step.  The step will be removed for the deck to be painted and then reinstalled with 5200.

The holes forward, where the running lights were mounted, are to be covered with Plexiglas panels, as Diana's eyes (more on this 'secret' later). 

The foredeck hatch is slid open in this picture.  I have to put hinges on it, then remove them, then varnish the whole thing, which, with the boat under shrink-wrap, can easily be done in the shop.

Little Diana likes her new spot in the sun!

In the background can be seen the CY spars rack, welded and bolted to the side of the former storage trailer that is now the lumber-storage room for the shop.  On this rack are C44 spars, the ones for Dave's Reliant, and a few others.  Jeremiah puts each up there with the forklift (another operation that has to be seen to be believed).

I prefer six stands, not four (not counting the bow) because it's simple to pull one down to paint the bare spot.  The plywood steps came over from Diana's old place because I used them to fill and fair the old bow damage and will use them now to reinstall the section of toerail, the stem fitting and the anchor roller.  In this photo I have not yet moved the spars and the workbench to the new spot.

The half-gallon of iced tea is Turkey Hill from 7-11-- the very best cold green tea you can get!  :)

* * *

Replacement cockpit drains - Take Two

18-19 July 2014

I don't think I mentioned this before, so....

The small brass fittings I installed about two seasons ago (here) were really too small.  After making a big deal out of putting them in, I decided to replace them with the very idea I have been advising other H25 owners to do for many years.

The original H25 drains were RC Marelon through-hulls straight out the back wall of the cockpit-- necessitating that water either climb up the 5/8" threshold to flow out or else stay in the cockpit pan.  I installed the little brass drains in the sole itself, fitted them with 90-degree elbows and though them good enough.  After consulting with my friend Roland (SV Moonshine) about his solo Atlantic crossing, I decided too big can never be big enough.

The fix I have been long suggesting for this entails the fitting of a rigid fiberglass tube straight out the very bottom corner of the cockpit pan through the transom.  In what has to be the most productive two two-hour work sessions I have ever had on this boat (even in the face of predicted rain), I drilled the holes, bedded these into place, removed the old ones and filled and faired the old holes.  I did one one day and one the next, after a full day of work each time.  It impressed even myself!

 

Here's the view from the cockpit.  The tubes are 1" inside, 1-1/4" outside diameter, pressed fiberglass, ordered from McMaster-Carr.  It was about $21 for one 60-inch piece, which, cut in half, fit perfectly for this application.  I deliberately made the cut on an angle, twisting each tube in its hole in order to fill the corner (shorter side inboard).  Bedded in 5200 and faired with WEST epoxy and Microlight, they look like they were molded there.

 

At the transom I allowed the excess length to just stick out and, when the epoxy had dried, cut them shorter with a hacksaw and used the orbital sander to smooth them over.  This picture doesn't show it so well, but the factory's installation wasn't symmetrical-- one old hole (filled as of this picture) will appear closer to the new tube than the other side.  I just eyeballed the site from above, applied a ruler and made them lead  out parallel to the centerline, straight aft from the corners of the cockpit pan.

The green tape covers the HIN.  I got some epoxy into it a while ago and decided to preclude any more messing it up.

The other two through-hulls are the Marelon ones I installed for the bilge pumps.

 

Looking under the cockpit the downward angle and parallel leads are seen clearly.  The duct tape is part of one of my 'mooyock' solutions for filling holes.  When the old through-hulls were taken out (with hammer and chisel), I taped over the holes in the inside and made up 'communion wafers' of fiberglass to stuff into the voids from the outside with epoxy.  Why try to fill a hole that's overhead or angled so that the epoxy will only dribble out?

This isn't a great view of it, but below the tubes is a little floor I installed aft of the low bulkhead in the foreground.  This low bulkhead, a little higher than the waterline, will contain water from any rudder-post leaks in the event of a rudder strike (which should be high on the list of any sailor's worst nightmares).  A small hole, here seen stained in epoxy, is fitted with a brass tube which will accommodate one of those little rubber transom-drain plugs.  It's not the most secure arrangement; but it's much better than having nothing at all in the event of this happening, for which Stephen Dashew says your best scenario is to crack the rudder blade.  Any other possibility involves catastrophic damage to the hull-- and, with your average production spade-rudder boat, probably the end of your voyage.

 

This pic, with the fuel tank in place, shows the upper end of the cockpit-drain tube.  With the little brass things in place, there had to be an elbow over the back edge of the tank that seriously complicated attaching fuel hoses and intruded on space for removing the tank.  Now this is practically structural-- no worries for stuff in the lazzarette weighting down the drain hoses till they fail or pop off.

(The dark spot on the tank is an old epoxy spill, not a leak or any damage.  This tank has been kicking about this boat for very long, getting dusty and spilled-upon, and only now (September) is is finally in its place for good.  Of course I've kept all the openings well taped-up!)

* * *

Inner-forestay support

This pertains to the pole-lift/inner staysail idea I've had for a while.  The blog post is here: http://dianaofburlington.blogspot.com/2012/08/internal-pole-lift.html

In fitting an inner forestay, even if it's a detachable one, the foredeck needs to be reinforced.  Though I've filled all the rotten core adequately, the deck alone won't support something that amounts to a chainplate and may be called upon, in a catastrophe, to support the rig as the only surviving headstay.  So I decided upon a "horse", a structure going athwartships at this point.  Here is my original drawing (on the piece of plywood I would use for the crossmember/deck beam).

Below is shown the initial structure, two short little bulkheads in the forepeak, aligned with a couple of sticks.  The stick under the starboard-side shelf is propping up the shelf from its as-built position, as it was both angled downwards inboard and also too low.  The cleat on the forward bulkhead (what used to be the rode locker)  is aligning the two shelves more or less evenly; though the starboard-side one, once leveled, is too high by 1/4".  Such is the nature of budget-minded mass-produced yachts of the 1970s.

Of course these pieces narrowed the space considerably.  I had trouble wedging my out-of-shape self forward of this to disconnect the running-light wiring (along the port side) which kept getting in the way; so I decided to cut out the bulkheads a little.

I am always wary of amorphous shapes like this (such as on the back of the Hyundai Sante Fe SUV, which is downright hideous) so I just used a 4" sanding block to scribe a line parallel to the hull and deck all round.  This picture shows the cutout with the crossmember in place.  The bulkheads are 3/8" and the crossmember is 1/2".  I use mainly good-quality cabinet-grade plywood, well-saturated in epoxy and sealed in epoxy paint (these will be done in Easypoxy).  The void to port is for the wiring, which here I have tucked back out of the way.

 

Pretty cool how the bow-locker door hinges open and fits into the curve of this new bulkhead; huh?  (Should I say I planned it this way?)

(And, yes; this is where the microwave goes.  I've written on this before.)

On most budget-minded production boats, the V-berth shelf is meant mainly to stiffen the hull above the bunktop, as this tends to be the longest and highest section of otherwise-unsupported fiberglass hull on most boats.  It's not there to be useful; and most of the time the fiddles on the shelf are so miniscule as to be only for show.  Determined to have a proper forepeak, I made these high enough (6" inside) to contain plenty of gnarly gear that will accummulate here, like fenders, mooring lines, a mooring pennant, spare tackle, and probably even a couple of sailbags (Diana's main and jib already share a bag that would fit in here as it is).  The fiddles are made of 1/4" plywood, just decent cabinet-grade lauan that I had got to finish some Barbie dollhouses for my kids.  I cut them down forward of the new bulkheads to allow the little door (the only cabinet door with hinges in the whole boat) to open fully.

 

Above is to go a mahogany plank, about 4" wide and 1/2" thick, to serve as a backing plate for the deck winch (which serves the anchor rode), the mooring cleat, and the inner-forestay attachment fitting, as well as the aesthetic purpose of representing the centerline.  Originally I made this for the full length of the space; but I will cut it and fit two pieces to the fore and aft of this crossmember.  It occurs to me to have some really nice bright white LED floodlights under the deck, forward of this, to illumine the whole compartment.

Along the deck, against the hull, kind of like a facia meant to hide the toerail bolts, I will fit a wooden cleat between the new bulkheads and the (new) chain-locker bulkheads, on which can be mounted hooks and straps on which to hang line and sailbags and other stuff.

These pics were taken a few days ago.  As of today (Saturday, 24 May) I have applied a fillet of 5200 along the hull and, using WEST epoxy, 'glassed the bulkheads and crossmember into place.  When this is kicked-off I'll be painting this with semi-gloss Easypoxy.The original faux-teak forward bulkhead will be left as original; though when I replace the door I'll be replacing the tired old brass-plated-steel offset hinges with some in SS or chrome.  My daughter Rachel hand-painted ship's wheels and anchors onto some wooden knobs for my mother's kitchen cabinets recently; there is one left over and I may use it on this door.

Stay tuned for the pics of after I install the rode-locker bulkheads and trim up here.  I've mocked it up a few times and it's going to look really cool.

* * *

Diana's new stemhead fitting

I never liked the three-legged Hunter 25 pulpit and meant to replace it with something cooler from the very start.  This would mean cutting off the 7/8" stainless-steel stud from the stemhead fitting and polishing it over; but as Diana's PO had put her into some kind of close encounter with a piling, the original stemhead fitting was quite mangled and badly restraightened.  So I determined to make a new one.

I designed a very nice replacement part for this but found no one to make it at a reasonable price.  Then I happened to stumble across one on the Racelite web page and ordered it.  Though the dimensions on the site represented an adequate part, the actual thing seemed to represent them only nominally-- the thickness was not a true 1/8" and the length was entirely too short.  Rather typically I sat on this problem for over a year, working on other things, while I contemplated some solution.

Finally I ordered some flat stock, cut it to length, and sent it out to the local welders' with a pattern of the correct angle.  The part I received was simply beautiful.  I have begun to polish it and will finish it off before it's permanently installed.

 

You can see how the original part was only about 60 percent as long as it needed to be along the stem.  The flat stock welded to the part effectively doubles the thickness for the first three holes.  It is true that the tang for the forestay is still of the thin (original) stock; but as it's already thicker than were the shroud tangs I'll install it as it is and see if, as the rig is tuned, I get any elongation of the hole.  If that will be the case (which I doubt) I'll have it remedied with more welding.  As this Racelite part is meant for 20-to'22-footers, and as it's already meant to carry the load of 1/4" clevis pins, I'm betting it won't ever be a problem.

 

In this pic I have set the part on the bow to check the fit.  Thanks to my template the welder's work resulted in a perfect fit. You will see the gap behind the very top of the fitting-- this requires attention.  If I were to mount this as-is, two things would happen: Diana's J measurement (foot of the headsail) would be longer than that of a stock Hunter 25 by about 7/8"; and the natural stresses of a tuned and ruggedly-used rig would attempt to bend the fitting aftwards, putting the single screw through the deck into a shear load, and some distortion would occur.  This is why it is never wise to suspend rigging attachments over air, as would be done here.  I will fabricate a little block for in this gap, just something to support the compression load, and 'glass or epoxy it into place prior to paint and prior to attaching this fitting.

The horizontal pencil lines are marking where the mounting holes will go.  Only one of the original holes lined up.  I have a mahogany backing block for this, to be bedded in 5200 inside, and will drill new holes for the 1/4-20 hex-head cap screws.  Hex-heads are best for this sort of thing because you can put a ratchet and socket on each one and really tune them well.  Large-scale Phillips and, worse, slotted-head screws are really kind of pointless after a while.  A larger screw implies a larger load which means installation torque matters more.  No one can apply appropriate torque with a screwdriver handle.  I think the only reason people dislike hex-headed cap screws is because they make the boat look like Frankenstein's monster.  Personally, I like the look.  It's its own aesthetic.

The evident damage to the bow was from the PO.  The starboard-side toerail was cut to facilitate the fiberglass repair and reattached.  Coincidentally, this piece will have to be cut down to accommodate the anchor roller.  I'll fill the seam in the toerail with black 4000-UV to minimize the appearance of a crack.  Much of the old fiberglass repair was faired over with 3M filler (the grayer stuff).  The darker brown-olive is raw fiberglass from my sanding.  I have filled all the imperfections with both Evercoat 27 and epoxy and after painting with epoxy paint (Perfection or Brightside) this won't be visible or vulnerable.

The brown thing above the deck is the work-order tag from the welders'.  Mistakenly they wrote it up as being for my cousin Dave's shop; but this was my project and I contracted and paid for it.  (This happens a lot, actually.)

Sales pitch #1

If any other H25 owner is interested in having one of these parts, I will be happy to supply it.  It does, however, require a 4-legged pulpit; though I'd consider that an improvement.  I've designed an updated bow rail for Diana, along the lines of a J27's, complete with step-through end, varnished-mahogany seat/step with nonskid, and mount for Aqua Signal running light; though I'll be installing a plain-Jane castoff pulpit from another boat for the short term.

Sales pitch #2

Yes; the boat beside Diana, evident in one of these pics, is one of her sisters-- in this case a fellow February 1974 boat, this one the later trunk cabin/pop-top model.  They are both of the same series, Diana being number 027 and the other boat being 140.  At that time Hunter had two production lines of H25s at their Marlboro, New Jersey, plant; and I believe that the "0" signified the period's production series of "blister-canopy" or "flush-deck" models and the "1" signified the trunk-cabin models. If these boats were not on the production floor at the same time, they are probably not more than two weeks apart in age.

I have been referring to this other boat as "the sweet sister" and  hope to enter negotiations with her owner to take over her care and to restore her-- for she is still, even with an inadequate cover, in better condition than Diana was when I first found her and would represent a pretty easy, quick and profitable "quick fix" and resale.  She'll need some deck-core repair, paint, new cushions and upholstery, lifelines and probably cordage; and I do not know if there is an engine available.  But it wouldn't take much more than that for her to go sailing again.  As soon as Diana goes in I will have this boat shrink-wrapped and set a dehumidifier in her, to help preserve her.  Anyone interested is welcome to get in touch.

* * *

Interior developments, 2013

I have not been on this site for some time!  Here are some photos of recent progress as this boat really is coming back together.

 

Anchor-rode lockers

I have long had the idea for relocating anchor rodes farther aft in the hull.  One of the biggest detriments to performance, especially in small boats, is in carrying heavy ground tackle at the pointy end of the boat.  Of course this is where it must be deployed, and from where it must pull; but nothing but some shortsighted concept of 'convenience' says it has to be stored there.  Ancient ships brought their anchor rodes aft to the foremast or even abaft it; but this was only because the ship was sufficiently wide there to allow for a human-powered vertical capstan.  When I designed Starchase (an 84-ft lug-rigged schooner) in 1981-82, I envisioned a whole full-width compartment aft of the foremast in which sails were stowed and through which the anchor rodes were dropped to a deep well under the sole, right in front of the ballast.  This is where such weight should be; but of course it entails the leading of chain aft along the deck, which can be a tripping hazard and much else. 

 

For Diana I had already given over the idea of using the V-berth for a two-person sleeping area.  Its foot is too cramped and the whole space is too hot.  And I had already committed the after outboard corners to plumbing and such for the toilet and holding tank.  Against the forward bulkhead is the toolbox locker (with microwave above, since it's the only place a microwave can fit) to one side and a hanging locker (the only one in the boat) to the other.  So I decided to extend these lockers forward and to make room for the anchor rodes as well. 

   

My first idea was to use common plastic trash cans for the rode bins.  They're cheap (and replaceable) and, if fitted with a plain nylon through-hull, can drain into the bilge or elsewhere.  I bought two trash cans; but after cutting out the V-berth hull shelf I realized they were just not going to fit.  So I concluded the sensible plan was to use the trash cans as trash cans somewhere else and to just drop the rodes into the spaces as they were. 

 

The two bulkheads are show here, each side, before the fitting of the longitudinal bulkhead that will finish them off.  Each side will be fitted with an access plate; but the bulkheads will be removable as well. 

 

This 'glass did not kick off immediately.  I suspect bad MEKP, or just an improperly light quantity of it, as my MEKP dispenser's pickup tube snapped off in the bottle while mixing.  (This happens with MEKP dispensing bottles when they get old.  No matter what it looks like, replace it at least every three to five years.)  These surfaces will be painted in gelcoat later; but for now this is what the work looks like. 

1. Port side 

  
The white stuff is 5200, with which I seal all edges of plywood before 'glassing them to the hull.  Water intrusion along the edges of plywood where they are 'glassed to the hull is the number-one killer of plywood bulkheads-- especially where chainplates are mounted. 
 
(If you think it's sealed against water, think again.  It's a boat.  Water gets everywhere. 

2. Starboard side  

  

Here is the toolbox locker, complete with fiddles to hold the all-plastic (no metal anywhere) Rubbermaid toolbox.  Ahead is the old rode locker, above which the rode deck pipe is removed.  Though I fitted a proper drain pipe in the pointy space, to lead dribbles aft to the through-hull sump, this will be dry.  Some light comes in through the 'eye' windows, where the old hull-mounted running lights were.  (More on that later.) 

 

The battery box fitted with a PVC tube and rolls of wire is my Wire-O-Matic (shop-use wire dispenser, typically made from a box or barrel).  It even has a proper lid (the lid from the battery box)! 

  

The hull-side shelf is cut out for where the plastic trash can was; but now it broadens the space so there is less chance of the rode becoming caught under its edge when running out by deploying an anchor.  

  

  

 Main cabin (aka 'saloon')

During one of the hottest weeks of July I came out to the boat each day at 6.30 AM before leaving at 8.30 for my contract job 50 miles east.  I managed to use up a whole quart of Easypoxy on the bulkheads, which has been a great relief because it's made the boat look closer to done.  
   

  
Nearly all of the brightwork was removed before painting.  The very intricate and delicate doorjamb seemed stuck to the bulkhead with varnish and I would not risk prying it off; so I masked it.  Along the baseboard to port some residual tape can be seen.  The baseboards are actually structural-- they help hold the sole joists down against the hull. 

  

The thermometer and hydrometer are from a cheap 'weather station' I found in the trash.  I dismantled the instruments, cleaned them and painted the shells in matte black.  They work great.  Above them, on the same centers, will go the clock and barometer.  Below them is a bulkhead-mounted compass (mounted in the bulkhead! --imagine).  I consider it vital to have a decent compass visible below, with which one can check courses and at-anchor bearings.  Below below this, above the drop-leaf table, goes a clinometer.
  

The second blue plastic outlet box is for a 12VDC outlet and USB-based chargers.  The stereo goes between the empty box and the (now absent) table.
  

The four-foot-long fluorescent shop light is, of course, temporary. 

  

  

In this view the saloon is being used as a varnish shop.  The large piece on top of the workbench is the top of the 'duffel-bag lockers' outboard of the toilet in the head.  The other plywood piece is the top of the galley bins.  The rest are just various bits of mahogany that go all over this compartment and in the head. 

  

Plugs have been added to the vertical grab posts (at last!).  Typically I varnish the main piece a few times before adding plugs so that the plugs receive a few coats less and so show as a lighter color.  This is just an aesthetic I happen to prefer; and I have always done it this way.  

  

The galley counter is still covered in cardboard.  I have decided to add ceramic tiles to that 3-inch-high bulkhead above the settee. 

  

The small red toolbox is the 'jewelry box', in which I keep all the cool rigging stuff (my favorite parts). 

  

Here too can be seen the side of the speaker box, at the forward edge of the hull shelf, and where I 'glassed the small athwartships bulkhead of it to the hull.  The white-pine stick, old iron C-clamp, and red-handled squeeze clamp (almost hidden from view) are currently holding this shelf up into position.  Like the ones in the V-berth these two did not match each other, sideto side; and this one sagged while the one to port tilted up.  The stick is forcing it up till the 'glass cures.  Hopefully this will remedy some of the problem; but the little mahogany block under the forward end of the shelf (partially painted white, because its proper replacement is undergoing varnishing) will assist in this.

  

Other stuff

Here is a pic I took, on my back, up at the new foredeck hatch with the old hatch, which fit only the original trapezoidal molded-fiberglass opening, on top.  Still waiting on white Sikaflex 295-UV to complete the new one.
  

The terminal blocks are junctions for the spar wiring.  These get screwed to the teak crossmember (now painted white) and enclosed in a cute little mahogany box with sliding door, currently undergoing varnishing.  

   

   
At the other end of the boat, I 'glassed a short bulkhead across the back end of the fuel-tank shelf, tucking it in just ahead of the fiberglass rudder-post tube.  The problem with all skegless rudders is that they are liable to catch something nasty, such as when shooting some dodgy inlet.  In this eventuality, there are two possible outcomes: one, the rudder will break off below the stainless-steel shaft (preferable) or, two, the rudder, tube and all will tear backwards and out of the boat (not good).  If this were to happen, there is little anyone could do to save the boat-- unless that water were able to be confined to a watertight compartment.  ALL rudder tubes should be isolated from the rest of the boat, so that intruding water cannot invade the rest of the hull and overwhelm the bilge pumps.  (We all did learn something from the Titanic; right?)  
  

 

This bulkhead is not high; and it will be fitted with a drain tube as well-- but in the event of a leak at a stricken rudder tube, the drain can be plugged and this compartment will contain much of the water before it is overwhelmed.  This may be enough time to shift weight forward, get something over or into the torn hole(s), or fix or reroute a pump to handle the inundation.  In any case it's far better a solution than that on most other boats-- which is to say it's better than nothing at all. 

 

The little block is just holding the bulkhead in place and gets removed.  In fact I painted this recently and probably should have taken a newer photo.

 

The little step in the foreground was added for climbing down into this locker through the cockpit-seat hatch, which I have done about 350 times since I have owned this boat.  I got tired of leaning over and lying upon the edge of a 3/8" piece of plywood.  Above this is the top of the under-cockpit locker, forward of the fuel tank, which is accessible through the quarter berth and, as of this writing, is now isolated from the rest of the under-cockpit space and its attendant gasoline fumes. 

  

 
* * *

The crucial duty of the compression post.

A Hunter owner asked me about rebuilding his compression post; and my comments on the Hunter Owners Web in response are probably worth something; so here they are--

http://forums.hunter.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?p=996161#post996161

And here are some pics that go with it--

 

This is what Hunter gave H30 owners-- it is NOT a compression post.  This is the view looking through the bilge.  Apparently this corroded object purports to support a piece of mahogany, which supports a piece of aluminum, which supports the plywood sole, which supports a teak block of some kind-- and all of it transmitting the load to precisely the wrong place-- the top of the keel.


Here is my post; and below is how it is supported.

The pic below shows Diana's bilges before I installed the sole (half of it is in place to starboard). Thejoists are all 5/4 mahogany, cut and fit to the hull and bonded with 5200; the post stands on a doubled one abaft the main bulkhead. Note that none of them are in contact with the actual bottom of the hull. The goal was to spread each one's load to as much surface area as possible. Note the limber holes and bilgewater spaces, access for keel bolts, and the central joist having cleats to accommodate the leg of the drop-leafed table (looks like a tripled joist). The part on top of the can that looks like 2/3 of a joist goes in the head compartment.

The electric bilge pump goes in the space farthest aft in this view.  The manual pump's pickup goes in the farthest forward space in the main cabin.

Under each settee is a water tank and a house battery, so all this weight goes here, not to the ends. The red and yellow wires tie the batteries together as one bank.  The orange wire is for the voltmeter.  These will be restrained in fairleads later.

The PVC freshwater manifold (second big space from bottom) connects the two tanks, one under each bunk.  Unfortunately the head sink will feed from only the port one.  There are independent shutoffs, port and starboard.  The valve to the back is the drain, so either tank can be selected to either drain or supply the galley sink.  The black thing is a particle strainer.  Under the galley sink goes a proper cartridge filter.

The hull drain has since been added, under the tanks' drain.  It is removable from inside-- the better to facilitate inspection and maintenance (and to streamline the underbody).

The brown dirt is pretty much bonded into the spilled epoxy and will have to be sanded off and painted in Bilgekote.

 

* * *

Cockpit drains

Hunter, in their infinite wisdom (read that: attempts to save money) devised a simple way to install cockpit drains in the back of the H25 cockpit.  I really cannot fault this too much because they spared the cockpit sole itself from the potential for damage; and indeed my 38-year-old balsa-cored cockpit floor is one of the soundest parts of the boat.  But by installing the through-hulls through the vertical after bulkhead of the cockpit they kept much of the water from running out.  You always had to sponge out the last 1/2" or so while people stood towards the rear of the boat to get it all to run down to the drains.

This was something I meant to remedy from the start.  I found some nylon drains by Starboard East (that's the brand name) having a flattened side, meant to go in a vertical bulkhead down low to the floor; but they are nylon and subject to UV-exposure damage and stems' cracking and this is not a place one wants to risk that.  After searching high and low I found what the plumbing guy called 'bar-sink drains', at 1 inch diameter (though I have 'bar-sink drains' in the head and galley sinks and they are 'standard' at 2 inches).  They are rugged, heavy brass, but not stainless-steel and will go green unless I paint them.

Here is the mess I started with.  In this photo the starboard drain has already been chopped out.  I left the port side one for later as the boat on its stands is sort of tilting to that side and rainwater will have to go somewhere.  I had once removed the old Marelon (nee RC Marine) through-hulls and rebedded them with 5200 to stop leaks when I first got the boat.  Now I just hacked them out with a chisel.

The flange itself, now separated from the stem, is standing next to the hole.

All the tools used are in the picture!

The next step was to fill the hole.  Here are shown the 'communion wafers' of fiberglass to be used for the fill.  I used about six of these for each hole. These are of 1708 biaxial, because it was what was available.  For a small job like this really any 'glass will do.  I would not use cloth alone; but if you had at least most of it done in plain mat it would be fine.




The smaller ones are for the other holes in the cockpit getting filled at the same time. (Yes; I used the one with the bite out of it.  It doesn't matter.)



My simple 'mooyock' system for this is to apply duct tape to the back or harder-to-get side (the outside of the hull, for example) and to fill from the front or upper side.  Why make life hard on yourself?


This photo shows the power of 5200-- the gash to the left of the hole itself is from the through-hull's parting from the 'glass and its 5200 taking some 'glass with it.

Here is a close-up of the port-side hole before filling.  Apparently I missed a little with the duct tape (doing it by feel with arm down port-side seat locker).

Here is the port-side hole filled.  This-- like all the rest of these holes about the cockpit-- will get sanded and faired with Microlight before Epoxy Primekote and paint.

There is nothing wrong with overfilling it, so long as it's with 'glass.  A patch like this is easy to sand flush and it's reassuring knowing you've got solid material completely filling the hole.

As ever proper preparation is key.  Scrub the back and front sides with sandpaper and clean thoroughly with acetone before mixing up your resin & hardener.


The holes in the bulkhead above were from something the PO or the factory had here.  I really don't remember.  The smaller one is the lower drain hole of the port-side seat locker's drain, which I eliminated when I made the replacement drain trough (which now only uses the upper hole).

In this photo the right side (to the left) is already done (more or less) and the left side is to be filled.  Some days passed between these stages, to allow for a weather window which would let the port one cure before rain might leak through the cover.

You can see how Hunter's money-saving scheme for these did not include ensuring that they were mounted symmetrically.

The ugly patched place to port is from where the PO had installed his bilge pump's Auto-Off-Manual switch-- right into the bulkhead, without sealant, and without cognizance of what happens when these electrical things get wet.  In this photo it's been filled with 'glass and begun to be faired with Microlight.

The big round hole to starboard is for the Whale manual bilge pump.

 
Here are the drains newly installed.

These nifty little fittings came with very good flanged nuts for the other side.  (I did not use the rubber gaskets.)  The surface-mount flanges are not too thick-- certainly much thinner than the flanges of normal nylon or Marelon through-hulls would be.  When I drilled out these holes I was relieved to find that they would miss all the balsa, which starts about an inch or two forward of the holes, and would go through solid 'glass.  It did occur to me that I might rout out the 'glass to set the flanges flush; but what tool would I use for that in this tight corner and how would I get them smooth and level enough?  I have lately decided I will mask these off and fill the space behind them and around to the outboard edges with Microlight, so as to keep water from pooling against the edges of the flanges.  Though I set these in with 5200 I did not get as much 'ooze-out' as I would have liked.  Most of it is between the stem and the hole I drilled for each one, where it should be.


My yardmate Roland made a very good point that these 1-inch drains are probably too small for offshore work.  I don't expect to do much sailing far offshore in this boat; and boats with cockpit drains of this size or worse have done successful passages.  But his point is well taken; and once I have fewer tasks in front of me I may look to replacing or adding to these with larger ones.  My choice of size for these was governed by only the existing transom fittings; but they could be changed too.

After discussing with him I did decide I will not install check-valves in these lines.  They are almost straight runs and are subject to pooping from heavy water directly aft, which would lead to not only water shooting into the cockpit but the water already in the cockpit not going out.  But the check-valves would further restrict water flow.  The H25 is pretty buoyant aft and would probably rise away from heavy swells; but who is to say what happens in such conditions?  People with experiences about cockpit flooding at sea are encouraged to comment!


I don't have a photo of the underside, but the Marelon elbows I meant for the bilge-pump outlets screwed onto these brass fittings perfectly (with plenty of Teflon thread-seal tape) and I was able to hook them up using the old hoses.  I did, however, wait for the 5200 to fully cure (about a week).  Shields no.148 hose can be a monster to fight on and off; and experience has shown it is strong enough to work loose the 5200 on recently-bedded fittings and through-hulls.  So-- proceed gently, with patience.

I reused one of my old hoses for this (just temporarily) but found the other was too short.  I hacked off a piece from the (as-yet) unused bilge-pump lines, not measuring very well as I was doing all this from lying inside the starboard-side locker, and got it almost too short again.  For now one clamp is sufficient; but these will all be done properly before the boat goes in.


The very dusty state of this cockpit is due to its being prepared for Epoxy Primekote and paint.  The nonskid of the sole did come off with scraping from a chisel; but it is adhered really well and since I don't need to bed down any more hardware to the sole I may only rough it up enough to take the Primekote and paint over it.  The same goes for the deck/cabintop.

* * *

Cockpit-seat lockers

These are some older photos that never got posted under any specific topic.  In most cases there has been much progress since these were taken.

1. Here is a view into the port side locker, what used to be the fuel-tank locker.  As I have said before, this area was so soggy when I acquired the boat that I removed the bulkhead and shelf with bare hands-- really; no tools needed!  The bulkhead was formerly under the drip rail to the right.  I made a new bulkhead about 8 inches farther aft, to make the quarter berth about 6'4" or 6'5"; the foot of it is under this shelf, which, with a fiddle installed, will hold winch handles and the like.

In this photo the shelf is holding a plastic bulkhead vent fitting which I may end up not using and a length of SS angle intended for the backstay's backing plates (since substituted with aluminum).

Outboard is a little box/shelf I made to hold quart cans of paint, solvent, 2-stroke oil, and whatever.  It drains into the area farther inboard.

I really hate black 5200-- it always looks unclean and messy somehow.  But it's what I had; and this will all be painted in white Bilgekote.

The port-side battery's breather tube comes up through the box/shelf and extends up like a snorkel to within a few inches of the underside of the coaming (the PVC coupling seen on the shelf is for that).  The battery is under the main-cabin settee.

The after bulkhead replaces the one that was there holding up the fuel-tank shelf.  The 3" hole will accommodate a ventilation tube leading from the Dorade box (after of the tiller head) to the foot of the quarter berth.  This will be PVC, as it should be rigid to keep from being damaged when stuff gets dropped or thrown into this locker.

You can see the bodged-up job the PO did in increasing the size of the openings in the hatch's drip rail.  The real reason he had such leaks is because he had cut out the drip rail itself along the outboard side of the hatch to accommodate overly-big hinge bolts.  I patched this, not prettily, but adequately to lend it strength.  This will get sanded and reshaped prior to paint.


2. This is a look straight down at the starboard-side locker.  At one time the fresh-water tank was under a platform at the forward end of this space.  It was not there when I acquired the boat.  My new fresh-water tanks go under the main-cabin settees.  I fitted this shelf in here to lend stiffness to the hull the way the quarter berth does on the other side.  All major flats and verticals should be structurally bonded to the hull-- they all help.

For access under this shelf I made two lift-out panels.  I really cannot think of what I would put down there, as the top of this shelf will be full of things like life jackets, mooring line, fenders and a folding bike.  The inboard opening without a cover (left side of the pic) is for the engine-starting battery.  A standard-sized battery box fits into here with its ear handles holding it from sinking all the way through.  Of course this will get screwed in place-- and a strap fitted over the cover when the battery is installed-- as well.

The little block of mahogany is a step I made on top of the edge of the stiffening rib so that, for the many times I have climbed down this hole for access under the cockpit and aft, there is something to step and lean upon that is more substantial than the knife-edge of a piece of 3/8" plywood.  (My back is grateful for this!)

Under the cockpit at the lower edge of the photo you see the black plastic (Tempo) fuel tank, which is 11.5 or 12 gallons.  It sits on a plywood shelf, the edge of which protrudes a bit this side.  As it is located, the tank is about one inch off center but otherwise fits perfectly, with all access points at the after end for vent, sender, feed and fill.

The openings in this hatch's drip rail were enlarged too but not as clumsily as the ones on the port side; I filled and faired these as well.

3. This is a look from inside the starboard-side locker, looking forward.  You see the two lift-outs and the hole for the battery box.  All of this has received one coat of Interlux Bilgekote; it'll get another coat before it's done.

The things in the forward corner are a brass tube, which will be installed in that bulkhead, down by the hull, to admit bilge water from this compartment to where the bilge pump is, and the ends of the PVC tubes that lead to the electric and manual bilge-pump pickups.  I made this section of them in PVC because it would be nightmarish to thread any replacement hose through this route once the boat is done.  PVC can be assembled in pieces, in place, so even in the unlikely event that the PVC might fail it too can be replaced after being hacksawed out.  From this point hose, with check valves to avoid backfill, will lead towards the transom outlets.  The vertical PVC tube mounted on the plywood block is the starboard-side battery's breather which extends up to within a few inches of the underside of the deck.  The battery is located under the settee berth.

The wooden bulkhead is the back side of the teak plywood bonded to the inside of the cabin back.  It extends down below the galley counter back here and provides a surface to which to fasten wiring and other stuff.  In this plywood will be fitted the on-off switch for the engine-starting battery, so one can reach down to the galley from the main hatch and switch it on or off.  Also the wine lockers will be mounted in this bulkhead (more on that later).

The long skinny shelf along the side of the cockpit (to left in the photo) will get a varnished-mahogany fiddle to hold stuff (mainly because I have plenty of countertop-fiddle stock).  This shelf was installed to seal the under-cockpit locker from potential fuel fumes (the tank is out of view just to the left of the camera).  This whole compartment gets vented via a Rule #140 blower and a hose leading to the Dorade box.

Just forward of the drip rail (angled feature at top left in photo) in the cockpit side will be mounted the throttle and shift for the motor; so those cables will run straight towards where I was holding the camera here.  Also the Whale manual bilge pump gets mounted in the cockpit side just to the left of the camera.


* * *

JC's secret system for filling deck-core rot

I recently posted a comment responding to a core-fixing issue on the Hunter Owners Web.  I think this is valuable for most fiberglass-boat owners to consider.  Here is the whole text.

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JC:

I filled all of the 'rotted'/'questionable'-core spots on my deck with epoxy. It's so rigid you could hold a teenagers' hip-hop dance party on it.

Once I made a mistake and began filling too close after a rainstorm. I don't know what I was thinking; but when I [pumped with the syringe] I saw that the epoxy actually pushed the water up to the surface. I was very surprised-- thought I had wandered into a really fine mess. What I found was that by continuing to inject epoxy, the ugly baby-vomit-looking water/epoxy slime that migrated upwards eventually stopped-- all the water (and not very much had ever got in) was gone and now the epoxy was doing its job, saturating to the bottom of the void and filling towards the top. The result was a deck area as stiff as any of the other places I have filled.

The only drawbacks to my system of 'drilling and filling' is that epoxy weighs more than does foam or balsa. In very large repairs the weight difference could be a problem. In my 40 years of boatbuilding experience I have never found a point at which this is a problem. The sides of a small production sailboat's cabin are just not enough volume to warrant worry about any increase in weight. The average owner's toolbox would probably negate any theoretical savings.

While it is very true that 'Water migrates very far from the point of entry' [mentioned by the original poster], it is also true that epoxy does the same thing, perhaps even better than does water. Penetrating epoxy is made to do this. I have been filling voids successfully with epoxy since I first heard of the stuff in the 1970s and the only significant mess I ever encountered was when the epoxy would not seem to stop sucking in, and more and more got pumped in with the syringe, until I happened to notice an uninstalled drawer sitting in the pilot-berth area with one whole corner full of the stuff. Through the tiny voids between plywood edge-grain and the fiberglass, the epoxy had migrated 10 or 12 feet along the flange of the boat (and fortunately found something to drip into that was more or less replaceable). To this day that part of the flange on that boat is probably the strongest hull-deck joint we've ever had on one of those boats.

I would trust WEST epoxy with any wood-to-wood or wood-to-raw-fiberglass joint with my life-- and, oh, wait-- I do; because my boat has been restored, remodeled and improved based on that ethic.

 

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A friend, Pilot, then asked me:

'Can you describe the process and the materials you would use. Specifically the typical hole size drilled the distance between holes and the number of holes for a given area. I've read other articles for epoxy injection but would like a builders take on this process.

'My boat was surveyed 3 years ago and an area around the windlass was found to have an elevated moisture level. Rather than pull the windlass and start replacing plywood core and all that's involved in that, injecting may be the solution that stems the moisture migration and solidifies the deck.

'My own personal thoughts on wet core and soft decks is, it's a distraction, and after 37 years of sailing on many different boats some that I've owned I have never seen a catastrophic failure based on moisture or soft decks.'

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So I told him (writing a veritable book into the process!):

If you know there is water present you can drill a hole-- only through the fiberglass layer(s)-- from one side or the other and then apply a vacuum hose to suck it out. This works surprisingly well-- it's the first step I recommend in fixing rotted outboard-skiff transoms. They all rot (motorboaters don't seem to care for their boats like we do ours); and this is the best way to save them. (I am doing my motor bracket's backing board the same way.) You then drill a few smaller holes, sized to fit the syringe, maybe about 3/16" or 1/4", into the top of the transom and pump in the stuff.

I used to thin the epoxy with acetone (not what Gougeon Brothers recommend; though when I told of them of this they said 'Who are we to argue with the Cherubinis about treating wood?" ) But you really do not need to thin it; as it's only doing its job by penetrating the way it does.

You might go cautiously at first, with just a little (3-5 pumps' worth?)-- it will migrate down. When it comes out the hole you drilled for the water, at the bottom, you know it's done what it should (and you know the transom was toast). Next batch, tape over the hole and after it's kicked off, go for broke and really pump it in.

For a deck, you do basically the same thing. You might drill a hole into the underside for your vacuum hose. Tape it securely to make an 'airtight' seal-- I have done this adequately enough with duct tape-- and run it till the vacuum cleaner's motor labors. For Diana I knew the deck to be already dried-out (but for a mistake involving a recent rain, as I said). Be sure to plug up or tape over any openings in the underside-- for the epoxy will definitely find them. You might station a partner below to watch for drips! --and be very wary of when you are pumping in tons of epoxy and apparently making no progress! Spots to watch are along the flange/toerail seam and anywhere silcone (or something worse) was used to bed down through-bolted deck hardware.

Topside, you drill a few holes to begin (you can always drill more if you think you have to). The best tactic is to choose a spot, maybe a few square feet and outboard (low) on the deck, drill pilot holes-- into the core only (mark the bitt with tape if you're worried, to be sure)-- near the highest border of the spot, and fill till you see the epoxy is no longer soaking down in your pilot holes. Don't make the mistake I've made too many times and go silly drilling too many holes-- when the epoxy makes it down to the lower holes you get a dribbling mess all over.

I generally make the holes about 4 inches apart; but it depends on the size of the area you are working with and how serious the rot is inside the core. In theory even rotted core is still 'there'; and epoxy will bond very well with wood or foam dust. As I said before, it is heavier than core material; but as I said too it's never been a terrible concern in the proportions we're talking about. For odd isolated areas it is a very solid, reliable, permanent fix. And if you do not get it all, the parts you do get remain strong and make a good base or boundary for you to fill other places.

If you choose to drill only in places where there is nonskid, you have only to fair over the holes and repaint the nonskid patches. For my deck, which was pretty bad, I resigned myself to repainting the whole deck (with Perfection) and I was redesigning the pattern of the nonskid patches anyway. The little indentations left when the epoxy is done flowing in can be faired with Marine-Tex or epoxy with silica gel, either of which will be rugged enough to not fall out in future and will be able to take paint (after the usual proper prep). Gelcoat, being polyester-based, will not stick well to epoxy (though the reverse is true). So in using epoxy you've pretty much given over the hope of refairing the affected area in polyester- (or vinylester-) based products.

This system should also be used any time you have to mount or re-mount hardware to a cored deck. Drill a pilot hole-- only through the fiberglass to the core-- for each mounting screw and fill it. Do the same in the area under the bit of hardware, like a winch and especially anything in compression or tension, like a padeye or halyard-lead block. When it's cured, drill through the solid-epoxy core you've just filled and bed down the part with 5200-- which will keep out water, hold like crazy especially in shear or tension, and provide needed flexibility. In many cases you will need only fair-sized fender washers with the under-deck locknuts because the epoxy block you just made can serve as an adequate backing plate, especially for anything in shear, like cleats and halyard stoppers.

I had doubts about the integrity of my hull after I rebedded the keel and so drilled a few exploratory holes into the bottom strata, between the keel bolts, to probe them with epoxy. This was supposed to be only solid fiberglass; and it was. No hole took more than a fraction of the syringe's worth. It was-- and is-- solid.

For Diana I had made a new, short little bulkhead at the back end of the cabin sole on which I stood the ladder/cooler shelf structure. I used 'high-quality' 3/4" MDO for it. Within too short a time this board was rotten from water behind it (from the cockpit-seat locker leaks), even though it had been well saturated (so I thought) before I installed it. (I blame it on using Dave's MAS and not my own WEST epoxy. MAS just does not penetrate as well; period.) Removing the bulkhead was out of the question; and it could not stay like it was. I drilled pilot holes down into the top edge of the plywood, straight into the depths of the laminations, just like I would have done for a plywood motorboat transom, and poured in the epoxy. It took three or four tries and made an awful mess (the stuff ran straight through the spoiled core and gushed out the bottom edge, finding gaps in the 5200 and dribbling into the bilge, where it glued down a stray PVC fitting that I still haven't ground completely away) but I sorted it and now it's solid.

I think this is a good solution for your [Pilot's] windlass mounting bolts. Given enough epoxy in the surrounding core, it will take the very severe shock and shear loads very well. Once epoxy has found something to latch onto-- the rough inner surface of the fiberglass deck, the rotten core, the remnants of any plywood-- it will stay in place and provide a very sturdy inner stratum through which you can drill even big bolt holes. And it takes 5200 very well, adds stiffness, and displaces all gaps that might otherwise find condensation or stray moisture. The one thing it does not do well is flex-- but for a windlass mount you had better not have much flex (let the nylon rode take the shock loads!) and a rigid deck is always stronger and thus more secure underfoot than one that moves and flexes to the point of fatiguing the glass fibers within and weirds you out when you step on something you'd prefer to feel solid.

Epoxy and wood = perfect together.  :)