thru hulls

The Marleon was proving a hassel.
long story short there were too many special orders. got bronze.
thank god for my Fisheries discount.
To keep it simple and uniform I'm going from 1/2" to 3/4: for the raw water intake.
and from 1 1/4" to 1 1/2" on the head overboard discharge.

I also ordered the thru hull transducers for speed/temp and depth. They should arrive in a couple weeks. I'll wait on the display unit for cost reasons. but at least the holes will be filled and the boat can float.

It was raining good this morning so I'll wait a couple days until lI get the next 2 coats on the bottom.

I'm still working.....

Finally after week s of fiberglass work, sanding and sore arms the bottom paint is on, well at least the 1st coat. Above the waterline is black and white, classy like a tuxedo. But when she heels over, sexy!

But let me back track a bit. Work did stop on the boat for a long time while we did a major bathroom remodel at Alia’s place. But, nothing lights a fire under your pants like an eviction notice. The city/ state still don’t know what their doing or when. I was told I had to be out by the 28th of last month. But, a couple other boat owners were told May and June. So My plan is to work on getting the boat float ready and keep working until I get a notice taped to the boat.

Then I’ll just put her in the water and get the rigging set up and go from there. I can sail just fine with a less than finished interior.

Over the last few weeks I spent a lot of time re-doing the hull to keel joint. I was undecided on this, because I had to get out of the yard I thought about just letting it be, but I had a bad feeling about it. I was proven right when I took a grinder to the filler. The boat has been out of the water for 18+ months but there were still pockets of water in there. Also the leading edge was 100% filler, and the whole thing had minimal cloth. I re-did the joint with cloth and mat and filler, but less than what was there before.
I feel confident that the joint will have a long waterproof life.

The next task was to decide what I was going to do about the thru-hulls and lack of proper seacocks.
I knew I needed to install backing plates and real ball valve seacocks but I was undecided about the backing plate material and seacock material too. For cost and time reasons I’ll go with wood plates sealed up good with epoxy. For the seacocks I was set on bronze…. Until I tried to get the old ones out. I’ll go with Marleon. All the ball valves were so corroded it took a lot of leverage to get them to open/ close but they still moved. Getting them free from the thru-hull was another matter. I was able to get the thru-hull nut off which let the thru hull head drop down far enough to get my trusty sawz-all in between the head and hull and I cut out all but one thru-hull. One did come out, just like it should but this was enough to sway me to “plastic”. No corrosion or grounding issues.

I still need to go pick up the new thru-hulls and seacosks. Then buy lumber, and make up the plates. But I’m getting close!

Yesterday I applied two coats of Pettit’s epoxy barrier coat, followed this morning by one more coat and then this afternoon, the 1st of 2 or 3 coats of bottom paint. I went with Pettit’s Vivid red and wow!



































I’m starting a new job so I’m not sure what my schedule will be like over the next couple weeks, but here soon I think(?) I’ll be working part time so my mornings can be spent down at the boat, or working in Alia’s next project……



This is what happens if you can't move your boat......

Working out Ideas

Staying busy with non-boat items. We're about to start a major bathroom remodel.

I'm trying to work out a nice, simple way to put the side panels up in the interior, the area around the port lights (windows).

The area the is causing some difficulty is the forward facing area in the vee berth. This area is curved side to side, and top to bottom, like a bowl. So....

After reading about cold molding, I was thinking I could laminate a few thin sheets together. This still leaves a finishing issue. How to finish the edges.

So I was thinking, I can make up the trim pieces in a cold molded fashion, and leave a dado, or groove joint that a 1/4 piece of material can sit it. By laminating the top and bottom trim pieces in place, I'll get a spot on fit and the trim will hold the sheet material in the correct shape. This way I also don't need to worry about the trim trying to spring flat and pulling away from the hull.


I'm going to test this theory out. I'll report back.

This is an old picture, but just a reminder of what the goal look is.

I wish I were better at updating this site.
Last week my bottom paint came in and so did a cold snap. It's been really cold, low 40's high 30's maybe. Cold enough that during my ride to work in the morning my hands have been either so cold they're burning or just cold enough that they go totally numb. So, I took the easy out and didn't visit the boat much. It's too cold to paint so I've done a bit of work around the house. More on that later.

Last Sunday I went to my parent’s house and spent most of the day there in the work shop. Todd spent a fair amount of time showing me some of the behind the scenes workings of a cabinet shop. Setting up the machines, the proper way to sharpen tools. Planners 101. We also took a big 'ol slab of wood and ran it through his new sander. I'm sure it has a special name, but I’m not sure what it is. One big drum above, moves back and forth and a lower belt is like a conveyor that moves the material through. It's painfully slow moving, but it makes the job much easier. It was pretty awesome watching the grains slowly come out. The raw edge is not a style I've ever go out of my way to put in my home (or yacht) but it does have a special beauty to it.

While I was over at Todd's we talked about tools a lot. He had an article in a magazine that shows how to make a combo table saw/ router cabinet. So, that's what I've been working on. I cut the rails for the face frame a few nights ago. Today I spent most of the day and got the cabinet about 80% done. I had a mishap and during the assembly, and the cabinet fell off the table I was building on. I cracked a frame. Damn. This is why I need a nice big cabinet saw. The whole process was difficult. Using a small contractors saw to cut tongue and grooves into a 70x28 sheet of 1/2" mdf is no fun. But, the end is near. Yesterday I also picked up a very lightly used Delta T2 table saw fence rail system. I made the cabinet specifically to fit this rail. So, from here on out, if I have come out with sloppy joints cuts, I can't blame my tools.


I've sent out a few letters to local companies looking to talk to with marine joiners. Minimal luck. But one person I heard from said I might want to check with a John Guzzwell. In all honesty I can't say his name rung a bell. Trusty Google supplied a mailing address and plenty of sites about him and his epic voyage with Trekka his 21 foot yawl he built himself and sailed around the world. Turns out he lives a couple miles away from my parents. I sent a letter and promptly checked out a book he wrote from the library. One paragraph really stuck. To summarize, fine woodworking is not what it was 50 years ago. In today’s market it's all about the bottom line. Fine craftsmanship has moved wayside for production and units sold.
I was surprised to find a response right away in my inbox. Not much came of it, but here I am a (sudo)nurse who wants to be a yacht builder and Mr. Guzzwell has a son who is a yacht builders making the transition to a nurse. Sometimes I wish it was as easy as trading baseball cards.

Alia and I came up with a final plan for the bathroom remodel. She wants a spa. So lots of tile, heated floor, custom teak vanity, it's going to be really nice when we're all done. We started to stockpile our supplies and should knock down a wall by Thanksgiving.

I think that's about it.

A bit of a slow week

Last weekend the Northwest was consumed by a monsoon. Good thing I got some cover on over the boat now. Saturday I just knocked around the house, polished some deck hardware and did some house chores and maintenance on the Jeep. I now have heat in the Jeep so this winter will be much more comfortable. Not a bad way to kill a rainy day.
Sunday I got down to the boat and spent a fair bit of time cleaning up and organizing.
I started to prep the cove stripe and waterline for paint. I tried using the profile sander on the cove stripe. It works ok, but hand sanding turned out to be easier. Also, this way I didn’t risk the profile sanded walking out of the groove, which it really wanted to do.

I hope to finish up the sanding on the cove stripe this evening. I’m not heading into work until noon tomorrow so I might be able to get a coat of paint on in the morning.
I bought most of the supplies for the bottom. The West 410 filler, Pettit 4700 barrier coat, and placed an order for the Vivid bottom paint.

I’ve spent a lot of time this week reading about this boat work idea. I’ve had a couple field trips. The Seattle Public Library is a great resource they have a good selection of boat building/ woodworking books. I also went into NW Fine Woodworking. This place blurs the lines between an art gallery and a furniture store. If you’re in the area, I highly recommend stopping in. I walked away with so many new project ideas. This weekend some of thier craftsmen will be in talking about thier work. I'll make time to attend. Tomorrow morning I hope to chat with the yard owner and get some advice/ opinions on working out of his yard.

Not much to show, so no pictures this week.

A nagging idea

I’m trying to work out this idea I’ve been kicking around for awhile; working for myself, on boats full time (and not starving). Something like Lackey Sailing.

I have to say that my fine wood working skills are lacking. I want to talk and visit with people who do interior joinery for a living. I’m fortunate that my step-father is a fine woodworker/ cabinet maker, so I have someone I can learn the skills from, but I’d like to talk with a few people who are working on boats specifically.

Right now I’m thinking it’s feasible to have a shed/ work shop in the boat yard where I can turn out 2-3 smaller boats a year while working part time, some evenings and weekends. The yard space is cheap and the boat mover is reasonable so my upfront costs are fairly minimal seeing that I own the most of the tools I need. Also, South Park has an abundance of neglected boats that could be had for next to nothing. Keeping the boats to smaller, 25 feet and under, helps insure quicker turnovers. After some time the project should prove whether it can be self sustaining. This can also be a showcase for my interior refits, which I’d like to do as well.

So far I’m just in the information gathering stage. Delta declined my request to tour their facility due to confidentiality reasons. I’m persistent however, and I’ll find a way. In the meantime, the chance to tour and chat with smaller operations would be very grateful.

If anyone has any connections, please send them my way. I’d be more than happy to lend a hand in the shop while I chat with you.

A long week

Last week seemed extra long.

Last weekend Alai and I went over to Leavenworth for the Octoberfest marathon. We each did the ½ marathon and we both did very well. At some point after the race, my left foot started hurting and by the next morning was barely able to stand on it. I stopped by my office when we got back in town and got a walking cast which, with a cane I used all week.
Thus, little happened on the boat until this weekend.

I started by sanding the black down with 220 grit on the random orbital. The streaks left by the tipping were very noticeable so it was easy to see when you had a smooth surface. This took a couple hours spaced over Thursday and Friday evenings. On Saturday I finished the last of the sanding. When I was done the boat looked super smooth and had the sort of chalkboard black look going on. I forgot the camera so no pictures.
After a good wash and scrub with a soft boat brush, I let the hull dry. (note, I’ve got the oil heater on in the boat now to keep the hull a bit warmer) Once the hull was dry, I used the Ultra Smooth High density Foam Roller and went to work on the finish coat.
I’d start by loading up the 6” roller. Then roll out the area until the roller was pretty much dry, then very lightly roll over the area again and again to flatten out the bubbles. I would vary the direction of the roller and again, use a very light touch, only the weight of the roller itself. I did find the rolling fast killed the bubbles better than rolling slow. Even still, this was not a fast operation. The roll and tip with two guys took an hour, the roll/ roll working solo took 5.
However, in the end I’m quite happy with the return, I'm also happy to be done with that section. Time for some pictures! From 10 feet the hull is super shinny:













From 5 feet you can see a orange peel effect, but I'm of with this. Its better then average.














On Sunday I decided, being that we’re into October now, I’m going to need some shelter. I bought one of those Costco car shelters. It’s not tall enough so I built two 25’ saw horses that stand just about 4’ tall and built the shelter on top of them. Being in a industrial area is great for gathering scrap wood. I found two pallets that were 14’ long. The runners were built out of 4x4 hardwood, oak I think, and weight a ton! I used 2x6’s for the legs and lots of framing nails. The thing is plenty strong, and pretty heavy. Even still I’ll add some concrete blocks or something to keep my shelter from becoming a kite.

Now I can get the final coat on the decks, and paint the bottom even if there is a threat of rain.



















PS, I want to visit Delta Marine’s cabinet shop. I’ve stopped in and left a nice letter/ request for the manager. If anyone reads this and has a contact, I’d just love the chance to get to see how they create such amazing interiors.