Mast & Tiller

This summer has been busy with work around the property and fence building for the horses.  I did find some time to get some work done on the boat.  This update has items done over the last 4-5 months.

In July I was able to arrange a way to haul home the mast for my boat.  Once home, I removed all the old rigging items and have it stored in the shop, ready for the eventual refinishing of the mast (still up in the air on how I will re-finish - clear coat or paint).

I have removed all the teak trim that surrounded the cockpit, I plan on just refinishing the fiberglass.

I was also able to salvage some old growth fir floor planking - I have milled it down and will be using this for the interior fit out along with the cockpit seating.



One of the spar brackets is broken (still have the spar), so will need to have some aluminum welding done.

No Tiller handle came with my boat - time to make one

Completed raw tiller handle (laminated white oak and mahogany planking from my boat that I will not use)

Through Hulls & Teak

Over the last few weekends I was able to get most of the through hull's removed.  I was dreading the process after having read on the internet how challenging these can be.  I did not want to have to resort to taking a sawz-all to my hull to get them out and have massive holes to patch.  Thankfully I was able to cut off the valves on the interior  side of the boat and then loosen/remove the threaded washer holding things tight.  From there,  a 2-pound hammer did the trick and out they came.  I will still have to remove some the old bedding compound, but the hole repair in the boat should be much easier.  I have taken out a total of 6 through-hulls so far, just a couple left.

The existing teak rail condition is up for consideration.  Do I attempt to repair and rehabilitate or do I replace....more to come

through-hull's removed

Existing Teak Rail Condition

Missing Pieces

More existing rail

 

 

Interior Demolition Continued

More work on the removal of the interior woodwork this weekend.  Nearly all the plywood has suffered dryrot and came out with minimal effort.  Noticed a number of places where the teak wood also suffered dryrot - I guess after 50 years or so, it could be expected if the boat was left out in the elements.  There are some structural members (much thicker plywood) that I think I can salvage and possibly laminate with new plywood down the road.


The chain plate attachments are totally dry-rotted out and will be replaced with something much more substantial on the rebuild.  The hull is in great shape however, once the interior paint is removed, we will have a good place to start again.



forward berths removed, structural members left in tact

plywood gusset that chain plate is fastening to - serious dryrot

view of interior after all cabinets removed.  Floorboards will also
 need to be replaced down the road

Back in the Saddle

It has been a protracted absence from the boat project.  Life happens, you buy 2 horses for your daughters, build a barn, fence a pasture, etc..  Needless to say, I have had a lot of time to reflect on what I will be doing with this project (or not).  I have visited the idea of shelving the boat project totally...I have been chatting with my friend who is on year 4 of his project and still has at least another 6 months to go....once you get into a project and begin to realize the magnitude of the endeavor - you have two choices - sell the boat and save the money to buy a more finished project OR press on, because it will be worth it and you will have something all your own, with your own touches and something you know inside and out. 

I have spent about 8 hours over the last month and I am starting to get into the details of carefully dis-assembling a boat, so that you can put it back together again - only better.  I was able to get the port side "track" off the toe rail this weekend.  with about 35 stainless through bolts - this was no easy task and some had to be drilled out and later driven all the way through the toe rail.

Realized that the toe rail (which I was going to replace), is actually solid teak and with a little work will come back to life (pretty excited about this)  Most of the other wood in the boat is also teak and some can be saved and re-purposed.

I have also spend about 4 hours gutting out 1/2 of the interior cabinetry (all dry rot), it literally just separated from the hull wall with minimal effort.  I will be taking careful account of what I actually put back in down the road.



some of the many stainless bolts holding the track on

Track removed port side so far, toe rail intact

interior cabinetry removed, more to do, saving what I can for templates.

9-5-16 Free Stuff

Free stuff is always great, especially when it comes to boat restoration.  Some if it is readily apparent what you will be using it for and other stuff - remains to be seen....

I have a friend who recently completed a 3 year sailboat renovation and needed to get rid of the remaining epoxy and hull patching supplies.....This is a great start to my upcoming work.

My father in law acquired some used Tug Boat tow line and has since dropped it off at my shop...not sure what I will use it for, but time will tell.

Cart with supplies to start with

Tug boat tow line (approx. 3" diameter braided - this is massive line)

Fiberglass mat and cloth

8-26-16 Cleaning part 1

So I ended up having some time on my hands this afternoon - with the help of my father-in-law - Jeff, we mounted a hitch to the bucket of my tractor to allow me to move the boat and trailer out of the shop as necessary.   So we gave it a try and sure enough my old John Deere could pull the trailer right out of the shop and onto the gravel so we could start pressure washing the grime off the boat.

During this process I discovered a couple of things -

1.  On the trip home I lost the teak sliding roof hatch cover.  I thought it was secure when we left, but should have made more of an effort to verify.  This goes on the list of item to fabricate.

2.  The wood trim on my boat is indeed teak - which is what I had hoped for.  It is great boat wood, but sure does come at a premium price.  I will need to decide how far I will take this on the restoration.

3. Buying a cheap ($8.00) in line pump that hooks to your drill motor to "suction" out the water from the bilge is waste of money.  After burning the contraption up, I ended up resorting to a bucket and scoop to get 90% of the water out of the bilge.  The rest will need to be done with a shop vac.  Oh yeah - bilge water is not very nice stuff, I have no idea how long it has been in the boat, but it is great to have most of it gone.

Pressure washing the deck and hull.  Pulled boat out of ship with a hitch mounted to my tractor bucket

Existing condition of interior trim & cabinets - not much worth salvaging other than the teak

Bilge hatch covers - all will need to be replaced/rebuilt

8-24-16 Coming Home

After nearly 2 months of preparation - it was time to bring her home.  With it only being about 1 hour from my house to the boat yard, I had assumed about a 3 hour ordeal.  In the end it took about 6 hours, but we were able to safely make the trip home.



Completed Trailer at Boat Yard

Lifting Boat From Cradle Onto Trailer

  At the last minute, I added a 7th brace for the bow, not knowing the exact angle of the bow.  I took a guess and got close enough, but will put this on the work list of items to be addressed down the road.

Loaded Up, Tied Down, Ready For Travel

As we were picking the boat from the cradle and setting it on the trailer, it became apparent that even though she was sitting correctly over the trailer axles, we still didn't have as much tongue weight as we should.  It was fine for the short trip home, but when I replace the mobile home axles with new trailer axels (both to lower the trailer to the ground and to add the ability for trailer breaks, I will need to look carefully at where the weight distribution is at that time.

On the trip home there were no issues, she road steady with no bouncing (helped to deflate the MH Tires down to 60psi from the original 90psi).

Summary of Costs to Date:

1.  Used Boat Trailer - $400 (craigslist)
2.  Used MH Tires - $200 (craigslist)
3.  Steel pipe and angle iron for brace fabrication - $166 (Ramm Steel)
4.  Welding equipment & supplies -$50
    5.  Tools (welder & grinder) - $0 (borrowed)
    6.  Tow Vehicle ( 2007 Dodge Cummins Turbo Diesel) - this thing is a beast -  1 tank of diesel & 6 pack of beer  (thanks Dale!)
    7.  Boat Cost - $1050
    8.  Trade in value on old blue trailer (too small axels - see earlier post.  ($300)
    9.  Value of boat cradle not needed ($150)

  So the total cost to date - $1,416.00






Parked in my Shop, her new home for the next season