Weta refit

The missing 5 months

2011-07-06T15:44:00.000+12:00

I have been spending a lot of time in the cockpit recently. Unfortunately, not as most Peterson owners spend time in their cockpits - reading, sailing, socialising, sleeping. No, I have been sanding and painting - crawling, crouching, kneeling and bending. And the worst thing - it isn't finished yet. Close, but by no means close enough. One of the biggest things I have been dealing with lately is the weather. After 3 years my home-made cover is showing very distinct signs of wear, mainly by leaking, you guessed it, right into the cockpit. So now we have covered the entire deck and coachroof in plastic to protect it from overspray, access to inside the boat is not possible and if the weather is wet and windy, progress comes to a halt. Autumn in Auckland is not particularly dry either so progress has been very slow. Winter dries out a bit so hope springs eternal (great unintended weather reference there...!).

We have managed 4 coats of Interprotect and 2 coats of YRA600 so the end is in sight. 2 coats of Interspray 9000 and we are all done. The cockpit floor can go down finally and stuff can be finished! I have been busy otherwise bolting stuff on permanently. This is the genoa turning block which is through-bolted on the bulwark. If it doesn't end up being strong enough I do hope no one is in the way!

Most of the plumbing is finished, I have used John Guest and now have an extensive collection of new incorrect fittings to add to my plumbing collection... I have a few more bits to do as soon as the deck plastic is removed.

We have also been busy on the stainless front, this shows the new bow cap and forestay fitting. The lip on the top of the bow cap sits on top of the bulwark and has yet to have the anchor roller fittings located on it. They will be removable in case of damage. The new forestay fitting is slightly more contemporary than the old one, which showed cracks and corrosion after I had it electro-polished. I feel you need some confidence in this area! The tie-rod from the bow cap to the forestay is now a 16mm solid rod, removable for inspection. The lump visible right at the front of the bow cap is the plug that the pulpit will fit onto.

The chainplates have also been fitted, this shows the external view with the covering plate screwed down. I chamfered a "V" into the fiberglass plate that is glued to the deck, as well as the 5mm cover plate. This allowed me to get a good bead of sealant into that join. I am hoping never to see any water around this area, although when we tighten the mast down I might need to reseal, depending on how much the chainplates move when the strain comes on. Resealing them is only a matter of removing the 2 cover screws and it is all there.

I fitted carpet below, instantly transforming the boat to look considerably more finished than it did. It feels and sounds much better as well.

Getting there

2011-02-27T13:26:00.000+13:00

There always seems so little to show for our efforts, it has been a struggle to get some pictures of anything worthwhile! Oh well, maybe its a symptom of nearing completion... This shot shows the newly installed window glass above the chart table and in the head. After a couple of years with nothing but a hole there I am still getting surprised when trying to pass things through the window.

I resanded the vanity top and we repainted it, so that is now finished. Although I have fitted the tapware the fresh water plumbing is still to be done but first I have to visit the plumbing shop and buy another assortment of fittings, which in my experience will be all the wrong sizes....

The hard top for the dodger sitting roughly in place on its stands. We had the tubes bent with the lower ends 50mm too long, so we could cut them down and get it all to fit correctly. The cockpit teak has been sanded down and has received 1 coat of Uroxsys. Once we have completed fitting the dodger top and painted the cockpit, I will give it another 5 coats of varnish.

All but one of the headliner panels are finished, I can't believe I was 2 metres of headliner material short. Hopefully I can still get the exact same material! This shows how it looks in the saloon with the headliner panel fitted.

Something is in sight...

2011-01-20T21:33:00.001+13:00

But I'm not too sure what it is. Christmas was a time of celebration for some, for me it seemed to be time to sand the deck. Last week we finished that job and got some paint on, first 3 coats of undercoat sprayed on then 2 coats of top coat. We sprayed all 5 coats and added beads to the 2 top coats to give a non-skid finish over the entire area. It was pretty stressful as we had a couple of minor issues - on day two the spray gun we were using decided to detach from the paint can, while the compressor was overheating some days and fine on others. There's nothing like a crisis to ramp up the stress levels!

This week we have been bolting stuff on for the final time, all the hatches are on and most of the portlights. Grabrails, windlass, staysail stay fitting - it is exciting dusting all this shiny stainless steel off and admiring the finished product. Inside the boat looks better with the trim rings around the portlights in place. Woohoo!

The gas bottle locker in the aft deck is going to work really well I think, the lid fits and there is lots of room inside.

Come and help, Santa

2010-12-21T19:11:00.002+13:00

I have taken a few snaps to show the process involved in attaching the headliner, as that seems to be all I've managed to do lately. The first step is to survey the deckhead and decide where the velcro needs to go. I have had to allow for lots of bumps, remember to allow for wrapping the vinyl-backed foam around the edges of the sheet, and work out how much you need to hold it all up. I use 2" masking tape to get a good visual, then mark around the edges and measure it all.

Next the hook side tape is stuck on to 2" ply strips, stapled and the staples bent over to ensure everything stays together. Then these strips are used to mark the position on the headliner ply, which is then given a sand to key up for the loop velcro.

The loop velcro then gets stuck down and stapled, staples bent over and we are nearly there.

The hook strips are then pushed on to the loop and we are ready to glue it up. I put dabs of epoxy every 20-30 mm along the hook strips and push the whole headliner up into place. Toms are used with ply offcuts to spread the loads and once the epoxy hardens, we can peel the headliner away from the hook strips and proceed to add the foam-backed vinyl. Done! It is quite a simple process, the most onerous part being bending the staples over to ensure a good, solid bond to the plywood.

Hard Top

2010-11-25T16:27:00.003+13:00

Bill has been working away at creating the hard top for the dodger. First he made a former out of MDF, then the foam was bent over that and glued together. Two layers of 20mm foam will give us a top that will be thick enough to recess some LED lights into, mount 2 GPS aerials on, and be strong enough to walk on. At some time in the future I might add solar panels so we have added sufficient conduit for that as well.

In the last couple of days we have routed out the foam to allow us to glue in the plastic track for the zip-off clears. These will have a surround of some vinyl product, running through the track at the top and clipped down on the bottom. Stainless steel legs will keep it up, hopefully!

Also nearing completion is the headliner for the saloon and aft cabin. Way back we tested our headliner concept in the forepeak, now we are working through and doing the rest of the boat. I just sealed all the liners this afternoon and the next part of the process, gluing the plywood strips to the deckhead, should be pretty close. I've also nearly finished re-varnishing the interior and I just have a bit around the galley to do.

We decided to lose the piano hinge on the back of the cockpit lockers, in place of more robust (and shiny) chromed hinges on the top of the locker lids. To do this neatly Bill has filled in the watertrap area outboard of the lockers. This will now get glassed over and will be nice and strong. It should also channel water down the gutters on the sides of the lids and keep that area drier - time will tell!

A prayer

2010-10-25T10:48:00.004+13:00

Forgive me Colin for I have sinned, it's been a month since my last blog.... Hopefully I will be forgiven by those who follow the blog and eagerly await the next installment of the Weta saga. I would love to think that there are not too many blogs left to go until completion, reality has a way of asserting itself though. Anyway, enough of the rambling introspection, lets look at progress. I have been re-varnishing the interior trims, a slow job with a small brush. That should give us at least 5 coats, probably more. I have been able to put things in place for the final(ish) time, this shows the view down the walkway.

Outside we have been busy with a host of little details and the most recent visible result is the addition of a teak rub rail on the gunwhale. We have only done 25% but I think it will look good, giving us something that will look fair around that part of the boat.

We have also been working on the cockpit teak, plugging holes and sanding. We removed the teak planking overlay at the forward end, this has had a fibreglass backing added and all the holes plugged. The underlying deck has had all the remaining screws removed and has been faired in preparation for the gluing down of the teak. What a mess, the entire cockpit molding is a very poor job. Bill, who has a lot of experience in these things, can see what went wrong and how they bodged it to make it look semi-decent. The only part we haven't faired is the outside of the port coaming, which still has a big bow in it.

Bill prepped the cockpit hatches and I have used Uroxsys to varnish a primer and 1 top coat. It looks fabulous and will improve once I sand the dust off and do the recommended 6 coats - fortunately you can add another coat after about 2 hours so it will only be a couple of days total.

I was rudderless

2010-09-26T17:29:00.005+13:00

But now I'm not! Bill has been beavering away with foam, glass and a planer to finish the rudder. My last post showed the start of the process, with a couple of small infill pieces in place. Once the whole thing was filled and glued in place, he glassed over the flat sheets, using extra tape over the stainless web.

Then, on went a few more layers of foam to build the thickness to the required width.

Once it was in the ballpark he started fairing it to the correct dimensions, which means we had to offer it up a couple of times to add a bit here and take off a bit there.

When it was the correct fit he glassed over the whole thing again, adding extra layers on the trailing edge and around the clamp. A big layer of bog over everything and he is ready to do the final fairing tomorrow.

Nearly there!

2010-09-06T15:15:00.005+12:00

I will be finished with the painting in the walkway and aft cabin tomorrow, at long last. It has taken me longer than I expected, basically the job was bigger than I thought, with a lot more surface area than was apparent. That will be good though, it will really be a shot in the arm to see the last light fittings, switches and plugs in place. Next will be getting some guys in to fit the hull liner into the forward cabin, saloon and aft cabin. Bill has been doing a few smaller jobs, one of which was adding 10mm fibreglass plates to the chainplates. This will hopefully keep them up out of the scuppers a bit. My plan is to make stainless plates to fit over the top of the chainplates, making a secure sealant-filled gasket.

On top of the cockpit coamings we have added a lump of teak which will hold the lower end of the dodger. The thinking here is that water should be kept out of the "watchkeeping" seats at the forward end of the cockpit. Hopefully one day we should be able to actually put that to the test!

The nav station is complete - not wired up yet though! I haven't bought the Fusion marine stereo yet, as you can see by the hole. I had purchased a CD player and stacker when I was in Hawaii but I think MP3 technology has really taken over from CDs and this will save a truckload of space. I will put a remote stereo control in the cockpit, the unit also deals with the different requirements in saloon and cockpit, without having to use the Fade controls.

Bill has just started on the rudder and I want to take photos of each stage of the process. I built the stands to allow him to work on the rudder easily, his first step is to fill the internal holes and create the overall shape using 12mm higher density Divinycell. Then that will get a pretty serious layer of glass, and then the outside layer of foam and glass to produce the finished product.

Life in a paper suit

2010-08-17T10:20:00.004+12:00

Hopefully I have now lifted the engine for the final time! I am sure I said that last time, however that was before we realised I had used the wrong coating in a few areas. Unfortunately on one of my shopping expeditions I had picked up brushable gelcoat instead of Flocoat, without realising. Bill found the problem when he went to use a bit and actually checked the tin! At least now I have a reason why some of my work was not looking as shiny as it should do - the gelcoat is not designed to be a surface coat and remains porous and soft. It is designed to be the first coating over a mould and normally would be over-coated with polyester. Live and learn!

I have been trying to get the aft cabin ready for painting, it is a very unpleasant job and one I need to keep kicking myself to achieve. However, today should be the day so with a bit of luck I should get some paint on this week and the aft cabin will be finished! The weather recently has been cold and wet, not very conducive to sanding or painting. Yesterday afternoon the sun actually appeared so I raced around and slopped a bit of Interprotect over the foredeck. It is interesting to see the difference it makes after the sanded and patchy look of the last 18 months or so.

The cockpit coaming is all done, this picture is a couple of weeks old. Bill has now sanded all the bits smooth and added some teak to the tops of the cockpit side. That will allow us to attach the dodger clips and will hopefully prevent water from running into the wet-weather watchkeeping position. I will get some photos of that at some stage. Bill has also cut the holes for the instruments, speakers and switch panel, we are happy to confirm we can get our hands in behind these to tighten fasteners!

Midwinter

2010-07-25T17:49:00.002+12:00

I have been busy completing the plumbing for the head area, which is now only waiting on the fresh water line to the vanity sink and the breather for the holding tank. There isn't much to see however for a lot of contortion work...

I have been trying my best to keep everything as tidy as possible but I am not completely happy - I wish pipes bent 90 degrees more easily!

Bill was doing his own stuff for a while, but has added the plinth for the binnacle. That is foam and glass, glued to the cockpit floor. I still need to get the binnacle painted but I am considering powder coating it, I need to check that it won't blow the epoxy bog off the aluminium when they heat the powder.

Looking a little like a Star Wars fighter, the forward cockpit coaming is coming together and should be finished soon. Bill has cut out the speaker holes and added a wiring conduit so we are ready to go!

And then?

2010-06-26T13:12:00.006+12:00

There's a movie where one of the characters just keeps saying "and then?" until chaos ensues. Just how I feel! Progress appears incredibly slow currently as we do a host of little jobs. Geoff the sparky has almost finished this phase, he will need to return once the painting is finished and we have laid the lining on the exposed parts of the hull. I am painting the aft cabin but the weather has been cold and damp lately so that has been slow. Today looks good so I'm into it in a moment!

Bill is rocking on with the forward cockpit coaming. It looks high until you put the instruments in place above the hatch, which then brings everything into perspective. Construction is quite simple but I am glad he is doing it, there are a few tricks of the trade he brings along which make it look easy.

The foam is glassed inside and out, he is doing that in the garage before the final attachment onto the boat. We will be making the hatch turtle strong enough to jump on, so there will be a bit of trial and error there. Elsewhere in the boat I have mounted the cabin lights, 12 V sockets, switches and some of the fans. Parts of the boat look finished - if you hold your head right and concentrate...

And then?

2010-06-17T09:22:00.007+12:00

Work on the electrical system continues and Geoff is making great progress. The main areas are finished - the main distribution area under the stairs, the main engine panel and the 12-switch panel etc. I have been pretty happy as all the work we have done during the build has paid off, with regards to adding wiring access and gluing in conduit. I think I have most of the switches, lights, fans and sockets that we need so hopefully I don't need to shop around as I have been doing. It has been hard to find attractive (to my eyes) and practical light fittings, in the end we just said "whatever" and went with our first choice.

Bill has started on the forward cockpit coaming. There has been quite a lot of standing round talking about it, working out some parameters and different ideas. It is a difficult thing to build with no drawings so hopefully our discussions are worthwhile. It looks quite high so far but I think that is because I am so used to nothing there - I keep needing to put the old teak boards in place so I can remember the scale. We decided to centralise the instrument panel and leave the hatch looking offset, time will tell if that is the best look.

I have had the backstay chainplates made and polished. They are pretty chunky as it is what Sam had lying around in his workshop, but I don't think they will disintegrate! The photo shows I have drilled the holes and they are sitting in place. I was on my friend Cedric's KP44 over the weekend and I ran a line to see how much room it created on the aft deck. I believe it will be really good, with a lot more headroom and space than the existing central backstay. I might not have guessed the angle correctly but we are able to bend them around a bit if they are not close enough.

Go Sparky, Go!

2010-05-27T17:51:00.003+12:00

Geoff the electrician has joined the crew and it is amazing what is visible after only a couple of days on the boat. I hope that all the effort we (well mostly Geoff) put in with the design work pays off as the actual implementation goes ahead. So far so good, only a couple of questions that we have had to make up answers for as we progress. The whole thrust of the electrical install is simplicity, with no main switch panel and only a couple of minor distribution panels. I have taken delivery of the second alternator which will be attached to the main engine. This is 150A which matches the generator output and has made the system design easier. I will get an electronic version of the wiring diagram at some stage, I need to convert from Autocad to PDF.

Elsewhere, Bill has finished the gas bottle/storage locker on the aft deck, it looks very cool - photo doesn't do it justice. He has also built all the doors and has fitted the first one in the forepeak, unfortunately I wasn't quick enough to snap a photo before it was removed for painting. It is very weird, after all this time, to see a door at the forward end of the saloon!

Engineering work has slowed as I have been occupied in helping Geoff, but we are pretty close to being finished in the engine room. The main engine needs a fuel return, but once that is connected - and the fuel tank filled - it should be a runner. The generator is nearly there too, just fuel to and fro and the rest of the exhaust connected. Watermaker plumbing has progressed as well, the next stage there is to plumb in the RO filters and connect it all to the paner.

We've been scuppered!

2010-05-08T17:09:00.004+12:00

So, Bill has started on the gas locker and very exciting that is too. We will build the surround from foam and glass, the lid will be 12mm ply, glassed over for strength and hopefully stability. I have not had any experience with building with foam but it seems quite good, at least Bill makes it look easy!

Otherwise, when not in bed recovering from the early winter round of flu, I have been punishing myself with plumbing in the generator and main engine. I took this photo a few days ago, every day I try and get something added, although by the time I have a) worked out what I need to do, b) shopped for the parts and c) taken them all back at least once and got the right size, progress can be a little uneven.

The scuppers are all in and glassed, not a major job but interrupted by Christmas so it is great to have them all finished off. They look excellent and will look perfect when painted. Bill also tidied up the 2 original ones as they had not been done that well - who would have thought!

What?

2010-04-21T18:13:00.003+12:00

3 weeks flash by in the blink of an eye. What I have been trying to focus on is getting some painting finished, I managed to do the head but will wait for a day or so when Bill isn't around and then knock off the rest of the stuff in the saloon. Then I need to get cracking on the walkway and the aft cabin/shower. Bill has almost finished this area, we should be able to glue in the last 4 portlight surrounds in the next few days and then it is done. This shot shows the under-deck ply finished and the Kauri trim - above the bendy-ply coachroof sides -glued on.

The locker under the companionway continues to have stuff added. I have had some stainless brackets made to support the engine start battery off the floor, and fitted the universal voltage A/C battery charger. When connected to shore power we will run an extension cord to the battery charger and that will keep all systems topped up.

This final photo shows the bracket built to support the generator at the aft end of the engine room. This will have a plywood sheet at its aft end, to both stiffen the bracket up and to enable pumps etc to be bolted on for the generator and watermaker systems. Did I mention how much I don't love plumbing? The other day I came to the realisation that all my watermaker plumbing has been supplied in NPT - WTF? As the rest of the boat is all BSP threads I will replace what I can. I guess plumbing was the reason that bad language was invented - the first incident of a swear word was a plumber realising that his 3/4 hose barb won't screw into a 3/4 female elbow because it's not %$&^%$ tapered....

Progress and a Change Of Plan

2010-03-30T17:54:00.007+13:00

Progress has been made steadily and we have tidied up some jobs that will allow me to proceed when Bill is not here. We added the wood trim and the ply headliner in the walkway, so I can finish all the outstanding painting forward of the engine room bulkhead. We also sprayed the head counter top and the companionway shelf and that came up well.

I fitted the Chatfield Marine Blue Water Shaft Seal, the picture shows the old prop shaft sitting in place through the Vesconite cutless bearing. The Vesconite bearings were very simple to fit, I just put them in the freezer overnight and they just tapped into place.

The engine is sitting down on the modified beds again, it looks like it will line up well this time. I have now removed the rusty old RSJ from the boat and it looks a little less industrial.

The additional scuppers have been cut and I have sealed them in preparation for the PVC pipes that will be epoxied in. As we have come to expect, there were large voids in the hull/deck join, I have poured in quantities of thin epoxy glue so I hope it will all stick together. I am less surprised as time goes on, with regards to the amount of movement in the boat prior to refitting. Hopefully we will not hear any large cracking sounds when we float! The stanchion bases are all fitted now and we are ready to glue the rubbing strake on when the time is right.

The shower is getting closer to completion, we have nearly finished fairing the coachroof. We decided to simply use epoxy fairing compound as there will be no possibility of any rot in this wet area.

Lisa and I have finally woken up and smelled the coffee regarding our cruising plans,
making the decision last week to postpone our cruising until our son Will has left the nest. He starts secondary school next year and is heavily involved in team sports, playing cricket in summer and soccer in winter. He has achieved rep status in both sports and still maintains his dream of being a professional sportsman, so who are we to argue! Making the decision now means we can spend a bit of time fixing our house up so it is livable, and we will have the boat finished by Christmas in readiness for a summer cruise. Then I'll have to find something to do...

It's in!

2010-03-07T17:30:00.008+13:00

Well, finally got my act together and put the engine in. It was delayed a bit by the need to line bore the shaft log. I had long been suspicious that the cutless bearing at the aft end was not aligned with the shaft, judging by the various damage marks on various bits. I was also disappointed by the fact that the forward end was not round. The supplier of my new cutless bearings suggested I line bore the shaft log to ensure a proper fit and I think it was good advice. I was at school camp with my son Will when the guy turned up to do the job, but he sent me some photos - along with the bill! The aft OD for the bearing is 2", the forward one is 1.75". He also lined up the hole in the aft engine bulkhead and that will help us in aligning the engine.

Putting the engine in place was pretty straightforward, although I had to cut a hole in the roof of the shed/tent, as the hiab that I had to put the engine in was much bigger than the one we used to take the old Perkins out. I have had the exhaust riser modified to fit, however I need to cut the modified engine beds down a bit as I managed to make them too high... hem hem! We will be able to use a chain block to lift the engine out of the way, I have a 3.5m length of RSJ that will fit across the cockpit. Hopefully more soon, maybe not much this week as Will has 3 games of cricket for his school and we will be going along on Thursday to see New Zealand play Australia.

Doldrums

2010-02-23T09:18:00.003+13:00

Just like waiting for a wind in the horse latitudes I have been waiting for fair breezes of chance to blow our way. My fantastic boatbuilder Bill was stricken with a melanoma before Christmas and is still recovering from the op. I have been muddling along but I am pretty disappointed with progress. Once I recovered from sanding the coachroof I have been trying to focus on getting the engine in. Fitting the through hulls was a job I kept putting off again and again, hoping that Bill would be able to supervise. In the end I just did it, time will tell if I have done a good enough job.

This photo shows another angle of the engine room with forward to the right of the shot. The seacocks are: cockpit drains port and starboard, generator inlet, main engine inlet. The waterlift muffler is just sitting there at present, I will screw it down later.

This is the "pump space" under the floor between the head and galley. Looking aft, the seacock on the right is the galley sink drain, while the two on the left side of the photo are head outlet and a combined head sink drain and head inlet. The idea of combining the head sink drain with the toilet inlet may not work - the head inlet may suck air from the sink drain, but I will stick another through hull in if it doesn't. I am hoping that it will be ok as it will allow me to periodically flush the toilet system through with fresh water (and any chemicals) by just turning off the seacock and filling the basin with water. Hopefully that might avoid that "boat smell".

Call me Sandy

2010-01-14T18:08:00.005+13:00

A beautiful day and what am I doing? Sailing? Relaxing with a coldie? Well I'm doing what I've been doing for some time - sanding, sanding, sanding. Summer is here and the dust sticks to the sweat.

I have finished the coachroof, that paint was very hard. The sandpaper (40 grit) loses its bite after a few minutes so I have been just burning through it, taking the attitude that a $25 roll (10 m) is cheaper than my time. Once Bill gets back, we will cut another 2 scuppers per side and then glass over the top of the bullwarks. Once that is done, along with the new cockpit wavebreak, I can get some paint on. Can't wait!

Today I was working along the inside of the bulwarks, as well as spot-sanding the hull and fine sanding the binnacle. I slapped on some epoxy filler and it has come up pretty smooth, much better than it was following sandblasting. In the foreground you can see the granny bars (mast pulpits) that we made using the KP44 group design - thanks for that guys!

What, not Christmas already?

2009-12-21T17:12:00.007+13:00

I need more time!!! Bill has been working on another job for a bit and I have been holding off posting because there never seems enough to write about... Anyway, yet another year slips by and what are we up to? When is the boat ready? A recurring theme that I think about when I sit down to write is that stuff has been finished but there is nothing to show for it - well, the good news is that some stuff is finished and does not have to be removed again. This mass of piping is the fuel transfer system, located in the locker under the stairs. The actual pump sits in the engine room, you can see the pipework disappearing through the bulkhead to port.

Engine room doors are finished and painted. They are on lift-off hinges so will remain off until we are ready to close the door on the engine room - a little way off I think. The configuration is a double bi-fold door, so the center 2 sections fold back against the outer doors, which can also be opened to allow access. Any time serious work needs doing, we will lift the doors off and move them out of the way.

A few more finishing touches are appearing, here is the sliding door that covers the starboard side hanging locker in the aft cabin. Bill worked out some nice touches with some plastic sheet so when open or closed it will not flop sideways as we roll.

I installed the main gas line from the gas locker aft, right through to the engine room forward bulkhead. I used some proper rigid gas line so it should last quite a while. Terrostat was used to goo it up into the hull-deck join.

Sanding and painting

2009-11-22T16:09:00.005+13:00

A very unsatisfying time, I must say. Sanding white paint off and painting white paint back on, I am starting to dream about white paint. In reality, it couldn't be much simpler as I have gone for a pretty simple plan. I got over my panic about brush marks and am just happy to have it looking clean and not-so-smooth. I have been rolling 3 coats of Interprotect on top of the epoxy sealer, then sanding that down smooth. The top 2 coats of Perfection Undercoat then get brushed on, within 3 days. So, in effect I am only sanding it once. If I could get self-sanding paint I would.

Bill has been on another job for the last two weeks, hence the focus on paint. I can't really paint while he is here so I have been putting it off.

The photos show the engine room painted out with brushable gelcoat. I have now bolted on a few items and won't be unbolting them - yippee! It is a little pathetic but it gives me a big boost to see things in their final place. One shot shows part of the exhaust system - stainless pipe that I had electro-polished to help against corrosion.

Memo to self

2009-11-04T21:20:00.004+13:00

So, I have finally worked out that going off and doing deliveries for other people does not get my boat finished, especially when I am helping Bill deliver a boat and neither of us is here. Last month I helped bring a boat up to Auckland from Wellington, then helped Bill bring a boat down from New Caledonia. Enough! I really need to sand!

Progress while I was away the first time was good, the aft cabin has really taken shape. Overall the layout is the same, with a hanging locker/cupboard space to starboard and storage to port, forward of the bunk. We have tried to keep it really simple, however Bill was scratching his head to work out how to put the port side locker together, it is a bit of a Lego kit. Looks good though.

We took a collective deep breath and cut the top opening for the new gas bottle locker. The weight of the section cut out is astounding, 10.5 kilos for the hole you see. This works out to 26 kg/m2, no wonder these boats don't bob around like a cork!

Very heartened to see that we haven't managed to kill the entire neighbourhood population of insects off with our nasty chemicals, here you have a weta (family Anostostomatidae) crawling over Weta.

Spring is here

2009-09-23T10:31:00.004+12:00

Another "OMG it's been nearly a month since I posted last"! I keep looking around for new things to write about and it is all a little uninspiring. We are very busy but the list of things to show is small. However, a number of items have been resolved, some finished and the end is definitely in sight! I rebuilt the back end of the boat shelter so we can access the transom area. The last section of the old cap rail has been removed, showing some large cracks in the join. If you look closely you will see a putty knife handle, the blade extends down into the fibreglass.

My fuel transfer system is basically complete, it should work...??!! I have since cut all the holes to allow hoses to pass through to the side tanks. It will look good I think.

This space just aft of the mast location will contain most of the pumps and seacocks associated with the head, sinks, watermaker and fresh water tanks. I get very frustrated with plumbing - why is everything a different size! My pile of spares is growing, as a result of visiting the plumbing shop nearly every day and buying the wrong stuff. I will be able to build another boat with what I have left over - on second thoughts there is no chance of that happening.

The steering flat is pretty much done, rudder stops have been fabricated and attached. Rudder line blocks have been bolted on for the last time (hopefully). I have worked out the exhaust run and await Bill's return from his Vanuatu delivery to finish that off.

While the cat's away - again

2009-08-26T17:30:00.003+12:00

Very happy to get back home after an abortive attempt at bringing a boat back from Vanuatu. We made it to New Caledonia but with a broken forestay fitting and a fried gearbox, we weren't going much further. I needed to get back and ensure my project was on track so took the 400-knot-to-windward option. Very heartened to get home and see the progress that Bill has made in my absence. The bones of the aft cabin are all now present and we have spent the last few days developing the plans for the remaining work.

The steering department is becoming more and more complete, just waiting for Sam the stainless guy to finish a couple of turning blocks. We plan to use pvc pipes to run the steering lines (8mm Vectran) between the aft and forward turning blocks, it will keep things very tidy. The old aft head teak grating will be altered and re-used in the shower.

Starboard Tank

2009-08-02T14:23:00.008+12:00

The bulkhead aft of the engine room is now in and Bill is finishing off the starboard fuel tank. We have left a channel of 150mm at the front of the tank to allow us to run wiring and fuel pipes, hopefully we will have enough space.

The port fuel tank is finished and Bill has built the floor for the cockpit locker. I am hoping we can fit the watermaker membranes between the tank and the locker floor, I have been fitting some PVC pipe for ventilation (in and out) but I have also been spending some time just staring and working out where everything will run. It would be really good if it all looked like it was planned!

I collected the engine from the dealer who was holding it for me, it was a real job getting it off the trailer without killing ourselves, but it now has pride of place in the corner of the garage. It makes it much earier to size plumbing and to plan wiring and piping runs.

I have been busy sorting out the fuel transfer system. As we will have the engines feeding from and returning to the center tank, I have worked out a system where we can fill the side tanks, and transfer from them to the main tank. It all sounds complicated but I like the idea of a "day tank", where I can monitor fuel consumption etc. I have built in some ability to create a fuel polishing system in the future.

It makes the center tank access plate a little more complex, but the payoff should be a simplicity of use - i.e. no valves to change and no chances of a misdirected return overfilling a tank.

Tanks

2009-07-18T12:33:00.003+12:00

Well, one more completed tank - the fuel tank located to port of the engine. I made the decision to go with the new ultrasonic fuel tank sensors from BEP Marine, it will be interesting to see how they work.

We have also sorted out how the headliner goes and it has come out really well. So far we have done just the forepeak, more of a proof of concept than anything, however it is amazing how "finished it looks with it in place. The rest of the boat should be easy!

As part of the headliner process we have had to add a few bits of trim, this example is the deck collar trim. We had to guess where the mast goes through - quite a challenge!

Midwinter

2009-06-27T15:29:00.006+12:00

Things have been pretty cold recently, I did contemplate wearing shoes one day. It has just warmed a little and the keel attracted so much condensation the water was running down it. Sanding the bottom is progressing steadily with me doing a little each week.

The rudder has been fabricated and is now ready to add the foam and glass. There has been much discussion but I hope that we have made it strong enough. I did not dismantle the old one to see how that was constructed so we did a little guesswork, erring on the more substantial side.

Interior work has been focussed on finishing touches. This shot shows the forepeak hatch surrounds and the Kauri trim, which will separate the headliner from the coachroof sides.

The galley is finally all together and is now awaiting my varnish brush to fill in the gaps.

The headliner trim in the head and above the chart table. It is pretty near straight!

Torment of the longboard

2009-06-08T17:42:00.009+12:00

I will be able to crack walnuts with my manly chest soon, longboarding the hull is a real workout. Basically sanding above my head with a meter-long length of sandpaper attached to a plywood board. As I have mentioned before we are attacking it one small section at a time. First of course, I need to grind the high spots off with the big grinder. Thank heavens for cold beer.

Finally the stainless bench tops came back from the metal workers, we glued them on with Ados F38 (High Temperature) glue, which we left to set over the weekend. There was a bit of concern because there was a little heat distortion around the edges of the sinks but thankfully the glue seemed to handle that and everything has pulled down OK. Bill is now fixing these in place, which will allow us to finish off the trim. Then I can follow on with my painting.

We made a little box to hold the engine stop/start. This is located under the companionway and can be reached from the cockpit. It should be a nice dry place, even though it is a waterproof panel. The box will also hold the switches for the nav lights, mast lights etc.

There are a few things on the go, Bill has also started on the bulkhead at the aft end of the engine room. This is the first pattern made, just sitting in place prior to being taken down and transferred to the 12mm ply.

The engine beds have also been raised to allow for the new engine. The bilge underneath has been smoothed off and re-glassed, once we have it all painted things should be nice and clean, making it easy to keep dry. I don't mind dust in the bilge!

Little things

2009-05-20T18:46:00.004+12:00

... and lots of them! In the last couple of weeks we have completed the chart table, added the first bulkhead in the aft cabin, created an instrument box for the engine panel, done the final preparation of the engine bay, and probably more that I can't think of right now.

Bill has started the hull fairing process. It is going to be a long and painful job. I need to find a fit young thing who is happy to longboard above his head, for next to nothing. Is anyone that desperate for work?

The engine bay has been an interesting exercise in working out how the boat was constructed. What we have found is that there was a ply dam built about halfway along the engine beds, extending down into the keel. Once the cast metal keel was lowered into the keel, fine concrete was poured around and on top of thekeel. The lifting rings for the metal keel were cut off (badly) and the void aft of the keel was then filled with polyester bog. Bill's guess is that they used talc as filler. Unfortunately the top of that was never covered by a protective fiberglass covering so over time, water soaked down the sides (and through) the polyester bog. After sitting out of the water and being kept dry for a year, this bog is still damp if you chisel it out as we have been doing.

The first aft cabin bulkhead! I know, its only a little one, but it is something else to celebrate with a cold beer. Sometimes you need to look for things to be excited about....

A month?

2009-05-08T17:28:00.008+12:00

I can't believe it is a month since I posted - time flies when you are having fun I guess. Colin and Nichola on Emerald will be feeling good, having posted more than me! This picture shows the varnished galley, with the fridge fitted (its the black bit). It is a Waeco 30l compressor fridge drawer, the compressor can be moved off the back of the unit and we have mounted that away from the fridge compartment.

Having had a dose of the flu, just when the swine flu was breaking, was less than exciting, I lost about a week of work. Bill made me wear a mask all the time - which he had decorated as a pig's snout. While I was flopping around wishing I was somewhere tropical, he was making progress on a few time consuming but worthwhile jobs. This shot shows the chart table, tucked into the corner between the head and the bulkhead on the forward side of the engine room. It should work well, lots of space to throw junk!

I cut the 108mm hole for the rudder bearing and have had the rudder stock machined. We left it in one long piece so we could align the top bearings with the shoe on the skeg. One cold morning last week we had a panic when I couldn't get the stock to turn after I bolted on the shoe. We found that the skeg had bent quite a few mm as there was lovely warm sun on one side, while the other side was frosty cool. Once I hung a cover up and allowed the hot side to cool off, all was well.

So the rudder shaft is now in place, our stainless wizard Sam will turn up next week possibly and we will tack the frame of the rudder in place. Hopefully nexct blog we will see a rudder hanging off the boat!

Bill has also fitted the door surrounds to the head and the forward cabin. I am trying to follow up with varnish and paint in the weekends, with a little success.

Galley has arrived

2009-04-06T18:15:00.004+12:00

The aft cabin has seen a little action, I removed the aft chainplate the other day. Just a bit of dry rot, so glad to be rid of it. We will add split backstays which will enable 2 radio aerials as well as allowing us to have a gate in the middle of the pushpit.

The poorly glassed over area on top of the shaft log got opened up and smoothed out. I cut grooves in the top with a grinder and then chiselled the rubbish out with a scewdriver. As we have come to expect, there were numerous holes and the overall standard of glassing was extremely poor. I poured thinned epoxy done the holes first, followed by several layers of thinned out microballoons. Bill is now building this area up so any water drains forward, and so we can glass over the top to create a nice clean finish.

The rudder post is becoming more and more real, I sourced a lump of 2" prop shaft off a friend and passed that to a machinist. They will mill a 32mm square on the top and ensure the finish off the shaft is good enough so the 2 lip seals on the rudder tube will work, without letting water in. I will be disappointed if this area leaks, to put it mildly.

So, the galley arrived! Bill has spent two days so far fitting it into the boat, as the manufacturer left excess on certain edges so we can soak up the exact shape of the space. I spent all weekend sealing with thin epoxy and varnish.

This shot is looking forward from the companionway and shows a little of the final finish. It is all solid wood (except panels which are ply) and has a very professional look to it. Worth the money I hope, the Chief has given her stamp of approval and specified stainless steel for the benchtops. The finished product will be good to use.

Head

2009-03-21T14:25:00.004+13:00

It has been one of those periods where time seems to slow down, with seemingly little progress. We have finally finished the glassing of the hull, after waiting for unseasonal weather to move on. As we have decided to build a new rudder, I realised that I needed to buy the new propeller, so we can design the rudder around it. After getting recommendations from most of the leading manufacturers, the consensus was a 20 x 15" 3 bladed feathering prop. With the requirement for 20% of diameter as tip clearance, I needed to grind more of the aperture out to give 24", or 12" on each side of the stern tube. It was a surprisingly easy job and gave us another opportunity to admire the craftsmanship of the original builders (not!).

Inside the boat the head has been progressing well. This shot shows the painted area prior to final fitting of the front panel.

Then the vanity unit was attached and the inboard bulkhead was glued in place. I have been painting after work and in the weekends to try and keep ahead of Bill. The paint (InterProtect) is pretty smelly so we try not to work around it as it dries.

We have worked out the dimensions and position for the chart table, and Bill has fitted the first part - the top. We should be able to use full-sized charts, folded, which is ideal I think. The boat is beginning to lose that "large" feel!

The aft cabin is ready for grinding, which I will do when Bill has a couple of weeks on another job soon. Then one last bulkhead out and there will be no old boat left! Can't wait.

A little purchase last weekend, a rowing/sailing dinghy. Haven't had a chance to float it myself yet, maybe tomorrow. We will probably work out a system to attach a 2hp as well. I also need to get it up onto the boat somehow to ensure it fits on deck!

Glassing the hull

2009-03-03T17:21:00.004+13:00

We have had 3 sessions now, adding 2 layers of chopped strand mat and 1 intermediate layer of cloth. We had a couple of extra helpers for the first session - thanks Callum and Mal! That got the back half of the boat done, the following 2 sessions with just Bill and myself have completed the front half. Just the keel and the skeg left, sounds easy!

Bill made paper patterns for some areas, where there was quite a lot of shape. The midship areas were simply measured and the cloth left square.

The view from where I sit to write this has changed, it looks slightly more finished.

The - almost - finished hull. Next we get to the hard part, longboarding! As if the glassing wasn't a workout...

Where did the month go?

2009-02-22T10:24:00.004+13:00

I don't see much of a result for all my work lately, I have been mucking around under the boat, filling and sanding in preparation for putting some fiberglass back on. We have removed the aft cradle props in readiness and should be able to glass up to the forward props. We are aiming to do this tomorrow and I have a couple of mates coming around to help out, we have had a lot of rain recently so we will have one eye on the humidity.

We have cut up all the glass we need, Bill sorted this so things should run nice and smooth. I have 60 litres of vinyl ester ready, gloves, masks, suits etc etc. It is quite a production!

Work inside the boat has been focused on the head compartment. Bill and I have worked out the final layout and Bill has created the plinth for the head, the vanity carcass and the rear bulkhead.

Yesterday I worked out the layout for the pump and plumbing system, I am reasonably happy with it and fingers crossed it will prove practical. One issue is the height of the anti-siphon loops as the deck in this area is quite low. I am trying to keep the loops as far inboard as possible, hopefully we won't sink on port tack!

In another one of my many jobs in progress, I am excavating the last hold-out of nasty rotten wood smells, the aft cabin. Most of this is now sitting on the trailer waiting for its last voyage - to the tip. It is good to see this disappear, it is the last cabin to construct, paint, wire, etc etc etc - maybe I shouldn't start cooling the bubbly for the launching party just yet!

Back in business

2009-01-21T21:01:00.011+13:00

After an excellent week away after Christmas, it was back to boat-rebuilding reality. We have had nearly 2 weeks of work and the galley/head floor is glued down, following many discussions with Bill and I regarding placement or pumps, wiring and plumbing conduits etc etc etc. I sealed the kauri steps and they are now assembled and are clamped in place. They still need to be electropolished and varnished, but we need them as we are getting close to ripping out the remaining "old" boat, in the aft cabin.

Bill has fitted the remaining chainplates, which like the others, are glassed right down to the floor and connect through to the sub-floor web. The boat should be a lot stiffer than before! He has strated to fit the next partial bulkhead, which ties down to the front of the holding tank, forming the aft side of the toilet compartment.

We have also cut out the double ports in the aft end of the coachroof, ready for some toughened glass. There was a lot of rot around the edges so we have been forced to build up the inside edge with some double bias cloth, to provide something to stick to.

My last couple of days have been spent drilling holes in the keel and pouring thinned epoxy into the gap between the glass and the concrete filler. This has been draining for the last 6 months or so and is a lot drier, so we are hoping the epoxy will cure and hold everything together. I wasn't going to bother with this but Bill convinced me, it certainly removes the hollowness from large portions of the keel. I set up this little rig and screw a brass nipple straight into the glass, works a treat!

Heres another shot of the main companionway steps, it is a departure from the usual Peterson steps! They will look good when they are all shiny.

2008 progress

2008-12-24T22:09:00.008+13:00

Looking back through the posts for me is always a good time, when you are on the coalface every day it is hard to see how things are progressing and it always seems to be moving forward at snail's pace. That is one reason why I wanted to keep the blog, as well as being able to keep our friends overseas updated. This week has been pretty slow as we wind down to Christmas. Here in New Zealand Christmas is really the start of summer, lots of people take a few weeks off to hang out at the beach, get away from the city, swim and maybe catch a few fish. So Christmas parties are a combined wind-up of the year and the start of holidays, so lots of us go hard at party time! By the time the big day comes around there is no more shopping to do, kids are out of school for the next 6 weeks, (hopefully) the sun is out and the business suit has been hung up on the floor for a while. Yippee!

The last couple of weeks of Weta work has been tied up with mocking up the new galley layout (again) to allow us to work out the cutouts in the floor. I have made reasonably detailed sketches and made lots of measurements for the galley making company to quote on. One of the major things behind that whole planning process is the need to be able to get the completed units into the boat. This affects the way each unit is built. No good having a great galley in the cockpit...

I have finalised the location of the stove and was very happy to find the new gimballing system works! It swings sideways and has saved a lot of really useful space.

The other thing I have been playing around with is improving the cockpit coaming storage. It has always been a dark, cramped area and stuff as always disappearing. With larger access holes I will now be able to tidy up the waterproofing and give the area a decent finish. This photo shows the new holes marked out and one cut.

This shows the completed cuts. It really does make the cockpit seem a lot bigger. I have found some poorly stuck fiberglass so it will be a nice little grinding job, Tyvek suit in the middle of summer. Can't wait!

December already?

2008-12-03T19:41:00.003+13:00

We lost a week recently as the weather turned good - too nice to work on the boat after a wet cold winter. So, not as much visible progress as one would like but you have to remain positive and keep chipping away at the coalface. The tanks and battery storage area under the galley/head floor is coming along. I made the comment to Bill recently that the first bit - cutting out the ply, goes really quick and unfortunately always make you feel it is nearly finished. However, then the real work starts, glueing, glassing and fitting the cleats for the floor.

Tonight I tested the new cockpit plan by standing the binnacle in place. I think it will be great, we have moved it back so there is room for one person aft of the wheel, which of course means that the area in front of the wheel now feels like a dancefloor!

I can sit on the aft hatch and reach the wheel, a great improvement. It will also mean that when we are standing looking forward over the top of the dodger, people can get past you to the other side of the boat.

Up front I have been plugging away, pouring heaps of epoxy into the voids that existed between the top and bottom skin. I have begun to sand the deck, it is very exciting! Did I mention I can hardly stand up?

Another week another bulkhead

2008-11-15T11:11:00.006+13:00

We have finished preparing the area between the forward end of the engine room and the mast. This involved another unpleasant afternoon grinding back to clean fibreglass but we were a lot better prepared than last time and it went far more quickly.

Once that area was ready we glassed the keel over with chopped strand mat and vinylester resin, ready for diesel, water and holding tanks.

Then Bill cut the new bulkhead out and this has now been glassed in place. Before we could do this we needed to cut the forward ends off the engine bearers and we filled the cut-outs in the front. The engine beds will be self-contained and any spilt fluids will stay in there and not be rinsed over any other parts of the boat.

The hole for the old engine instruments has been stripped back and the new bulkhead is now attached to both the front end of the cockpit and the engine bearers. It will be a great improvement over the old bulkhead that was not attached to the deckhead.

While I have been scratching my head and working out where the new tanks will fit under the floor, Bill has been rebuilding the cockpit floor, which was extremely flexible. The 6 layers of new glass and 24mm of plywood should provide some sound insulation as well as providing somewhere to screw things on above the engine.

Stage 2

2008-11-01T12:44:00.004+13:00

Well, how exciting! The last 2 days I have spent with my number 1 tool, a crowbar, removing the next stage of the boat. It went from this:

To this at the end of day one

To this at close of play yesterday. I found that working in jandals/flip flops/slippers around the job to be not that clever, as the ring shank boat nails stick really well in flesh and need to be pulled out. Back into my safety boots!

I have cleared back to the aft end of the engine room and our first 2 jobs will be to seal off the top of the keel with vinylesterand chopped strand mat, then we will fit the bulkhead at the forward end of the engine room. That we can fit floors with tanks under. Sounds easy!

On deck I have fitted the front two portlight covers and I am really happy how they have come up. It is completely sealed and the only way it will leak will be under the Lewmar portlight flange.

The lids off the paint...

2008-10-22T18:43:00.003+13:00

The main effort over the last couple of weeks has been the settee berths. We have made these wide enough to be comfortable bunks, about 700mm. This is 80-100mm wider than the old starboard settee berth and the few times I have tested them out, they seem excellent.

Up forrard I have been Interprotecting all surfaces prior to finishing with Perfection Undercoat. It is really stinky stuff and a good vapour mask is essential. If you don't have a fan going your eyes start watering! It is starting to feel more like a boat again, in parts, rather than a demolition site.

On deck, we have glued the fiberglass flat bar into the routed part of the bulwarks and I have been sealing holes by the dozen. Next on the program is adding a layer of filler on the top edge, sand it flat, rout a radius on the corners and fiberglass tape over it all. Can't say I am looking forward to the longboard!

Watertanks and chainplates

2008-10-06T17:59:00.009+13:00

So, the last few weeks have seen the watertanks finally completed, new chainplate members glassed in and the torture of the gunwhale routing finished.

The tanks took a little longer than I had thought, but I believe the results are worth it. My measurements show we should get about 270 litres per side (I think that means about 120 Imperial gallons total, or 135 of those funny US gallons). Breathers will exit up the mast, which should work nicely. There will be another, smaller tank installed to take watermaker production, which in turn will cascade down to the main tanks when full.

The forward and cap chainplates will connect to laminated plywood which has been bonded to the hull, reaching down to the top of the tank and more or less lining up with the tank baffles. This area of the boat should be a lot more rigid than the original, especially with the new bulkheads which are close to the cap chainplates.

The forward cabin has had sealed plywood glued to both the deck and to the sides of the coachroof. We used bendy ply, especially useful for the coachroof sides where we needed to fair the roof into the sides. This has given us a surface that is able to be painted, it won't be completely fair but it will look OK we think. Time will tell.

The forward end of the coachroof was the most difficult and we had to put a few judicious slits in the ply to accommodate the multiple curves. It will require a bit more fairing but should be the worst part of the job, everything else "should" be easier.

The bulwarks under where the genoa tracks will be have been routed out and the fiberglass bar has arrived. Routing out a 20 x 25mm slot 3.5 m long was not pleasant and I blew up one Ryobi router. Still, with the price difference between that and a new Makita, I will be able to blow up another 4.5 Ryobi routers and still be ahead. We are ready to epoxy the bars in place, with LOTS of spare glue to force down the large voids in the bulwarks, where the hull and deck were supposed to be joined (but weren't).

Pretty close to epoxying up the fairlead areas, after I removed the damp and/or rotting wood. I need to look at the original method of securing the fairleads in place as it is not particularly effective. Many of the screws holding the fairleads in did not actually land in anything, which has led to water getting in.

Spring is coming

2008-09-09T22:53:00.007+12:00

With the expected delivery trip from Brisbane to the Seychelles now not happening (a long story), it is now a little easier to get stuck into the job. Main construction work in the forepeak is now finished - finishing and lining yet to do - and our attention is now focused in the saloon area. The next step is constuction of the water tanks, which will be glassd into the hull beneath the floor. We have already covered the top of the keel and the relevant bilge area with several layers of chopped strand mat and vinylester in preparation for this and here you can see Bill has cut out the ply in readiness for glassing in. Yes we have remembered to cut holes out of the baffles!

This shot shows the starboard shelf above the v-berth. It serves to strengthen the panel (quite a large flat surface) as well as provide a little storage.

We have also been busy cutting out holes for the additional deck hatches and portlights. There are two small hatches on top, above the galley and the relocated head, and a portlight on each side of the companionway.

Portlight surrounds are nearly complete, the next step will be to cut the flange down to size and then they will be ready to attach. I have a portlight sitting in place so we can work out how much flange to remove.

While the cats away...

2008-08-22T17:19:00.027+12:00

Very happy to return after a month spent delivering a 109' sportsfishing boat (not my idea of a boat in the slightest), to find progress aplenty. The forecabin has taken shape and we have prepared for the next major bulkhead to be installed, which will be the forward end of the head (starboard) and the forward end of the galley (port).

At the aft end of the bunk there are open-fronted lockers on both sides.

The v-berth has been raised about 80mm from the old level, which should increase it's size as well as improve the stowage beneath. All bulkheads and significant furniture is glassed to the hull, deck and cabintop where posible, so the boat should be a lot stiffer and quieter that the old soggy egg carton.

After stripping off the old glass layer from the top of the keel and allowing it to dry out, we have relaid several layers of chopped strand mat.

This has given a nice smooth area on top of the keel and up the bilges, where the 2 main water tanks will be built in. We used vinylester resin for this as it is the best tank coating.

The Grind

2008-07-15T21:33:00.006+12:00

A great but totally unenjoyable job done recently was to grind the interior of the hull, in preparation of adding bulkheads etc. Three of us worked solidly for about 3 hours, then I finished off over the weekend with about another 12 hours grinding. The dust was incredible, inches thick in the bilge and requiring hours of cleaning up. In preparation for grinding we removed the fiberglass layer over the top of the keel. This revealed a stinking black layer of ooze, made up up of who knows what.

Once the keel started to dry it started look look (and smell) a lot better.

As part of the grinding exercise I cut the backing off the chainplates, leaving a facing that we will tie into the boats structure a lot more effectively. As I did that I was horrified - but not particularly surprised - to find the wood filling in 3 out of 6 chainplates to be past salvaging. One was eaten by termites, the other 2 were wet and rotten. This one shows the termite residue, unfortunately not great detail.

This one shows a screwdriver hanging out of the bottom of the wood, after being pushed in very easily.

Up forward we have added a laminated plywood beam to carry the new Maxwell windlass, with a cross member to support the staysail stay. These are shown still covered with peel ply, which allows us to carry on glassing, painting etc, without sanding, once the peel ply has been removed.

The engine room bilge has had the fiberglass removed to let the underlying cement dry out. I think we need to come up with some ideas about a sump in this area.

A Start at last

2008-06-26T20:03:00.012+12:00

Well, it finally happened - Bill the boatbuilder turned up at my house and we began working on the boat! I had been helping him on another job for about a month, then we raced to Fiji together, which was great as we got to discuss the job a little. Anyway, one of the first jobs that Bill did was to cut a hole in the foredeck. This will be the hatch for the anchor locker, so the bulkhead on the aft end will be watertight. The locker will drain overboard and there will be an empty void under the floor.

One of the unpleasant things we have found (not totally unexpected) is significant rot under the deck. I think the main point of entry was under the forestay fitting, as back in Hawaii we found that the threaded rod connecting the forestay to the stemhead was broken. The fitting had lifted at some previous time and let the water in, rotting the plywood pad under the forestay as well as allowing water to wick back through the plywood core. The centreline appears to be OK, while it is quite rotten along the outboard edge. We have been cutting 73mm holes in various places and heating the inside of the boat in an attempt to dry the area out but I think we might have to be more aggressive with our treatment, maybe more holes and more heat.

The anchor locker bulkhead is all ready to fit and that will make me very happy - it is very exciting to be putting stuff in rather than taking it to the dump!

We can even say something is finished - Bill gelcoated the inside of the locker today and there is nothing else to do to those two surfaces. A small but very satisfying victory.

It has taken me quite some time to finish the cover over the boat, there has been some difficult engineering created to ensure we can park cars, access the garage etc etc, while trying very hard (well a little bit anyway) not to piss the neighbours off. We have had some pretty windy and wet days and it is still in place so fingers crossed it will stay there.

We have also removed the two forward hatches, which both collapsed as soon as the were lifted off the sealant. There is a raised fibreglass lip which is very lightly screwed on to the back of the teak base. We will need to cut these flanges off for the new Lewmar hatches.

Hello Beta

2008-03-20T11:58:00.002+13:00

It seems like a cargo cult at present, still waiting for the boatbuilder to finish on his current job and make a start here. To fill in the time I have been shopping, always a little dangerous. Anyway, my first major purchase has arrived, a very shiny new Beta BV3300 75hp engine. I'm impressed!

Goodbye Mr Perkins

2008-02-25T18:04:00.005+13:00

Well, finally got a friend to help direct the hiab and we removed the engine. It came out very easily, even with the gearbox still on. I have sold it to a friend who has a Peterson 44 with a dodgy motor.

Below the engine was a foetid mixture that would probably resemble the time long ago when life began. I have bailed out about 20 litres of stinking black stuff. I am looking forward to having this area cleaned out and newly painted.

The saloon floor came out with a little struggle and exposed the 2 "stainless steel" water tanks. It was hardly "stainless" and full of holes, someone had attempted to patch it with fiberglass. It was quite a job to pull these out of the walkway hatch by myself!

So, the next stage is to clean up a little!

Engine room work

2008-02-09T12:56:00.000+13:00

Removal of the floor has started. I am leaving the bearers until the boatbuilder advises I can remove them - something has got to hold some shape together!

I have removed the generator and the main engine is now ready to be pulled out this week. I needed to remove the generator before I could access the shaft coupling, which was firmly rusted in after 30 years of neglect. It took a long time to remove two of the bolts, lots of cursing the designers of the thing as there was not enough access for a socket or ring spanner, and the bolts are some weird size so my metric or imperial open-end spanners were not a perfect fit. So after two of the four bolts rounded off I was forced to grind the bolt heads off, finishing that process with my Dremel tool. Engine mounts were next, I managed to unbolt either the main top bolt or the lag screws into the bearers. Thankfully I can say that I don't believe there is too much more serious un-engineering to do!

I have now pulled most of the wiring from the boat, there are only a few wires to the aft cabin still in place. What do you do with old wires, is there any value in the copper?

I am not spending any time with the engine, I have not even removed the new oil hosework which we added in Hawaii (at great expense and trouble!).

My brain hurts

2008-01-31T00:00:00.000+13:00

I had what counts as an epiphany for a refit project two days ago, I realised what was wrong with the thought process behind the galley layout. Eureka! My original plan was based around the fact that you went to the bottom of the companionway, turned left and you were into the galley. If that isn't mandatory, the galley entrance could be moved forward and the whole area opens up to provide the space we seemed to be lacking.

I have mocked up the settee berth arrangements and it all seems to fit, I have been hassling the boatbuilder about a start date (not that it makes any difference but it makes you feel like you are doing something...) and obtained a quote for the new Lewmar hatches and portlights. I will probably order them tomorrow as there is a bit of lead time required for delivery.

Other news is that my Beta 75hp engine is approaching the country. This doesn't make any difference to me (apart from having to find more money to pay for it) but apparently it will be on display at the upcoming Auckland Boat Show. Somehow it doesn't feel like 15 minutes of fame...

New saloon layout

2008-01-15T13:43:00.000+13:00

So, the standing around and talking about it phase is almost finished and I will confess that it has been quite a challenge. I have run the new design past quite a few people and taken on board a lot of input, mostly favourable but some quite challenging viewpoints as well.

The not-so-great photo shows my scale drawing of the new layout. Effectively, the head moves aft and to starboard while the galley pushes forward. In front of the galley and head, a 2m settee berth on each side, forward to a bulkhead that is about 80 mm forward of the existing one (with the door to the forward cabin). The v-berth remains, moved slightly higher to provide more storage. The bulkhead at the front of the v-berth becomes watertight, with access to the self-draining chain locker through a deck hatch. The chart table faces outboard and the aft end is the existing bulkhead where the starboard fuel tank rests - ie. bye-bye to that silly little hanging locker which has aways irritated me!

The bulkhead at the forward end of the engine room will continue unbroken to the port side (I still can't work out why they have that kink in it...). The stove will face forward and I will fabricate a gimbal to accommodate this. This idea really appeals as it utilises the space which is so difficult to get to - outboard and aft of the present stove. There will be a double sink on the midships island and a dedicated (as in no locker lids) benchtop facing forward.

Galley removal

2008-01-15T13:31:00.000+13:00

The idea has been to clear out the interior to enable me to mock up the new saloon layout. I had an attempt but worked out that I needed to remove the rest of the galley so I could figure out where the stove would fit.

Removing the fridge box in the corner was the most disgusting job I have done for a few years. Once I had dismantled the surrounding woodwork I took the 2 cold plates out and dragged the box out. There was no way that it was going to fit out of the companionway so I needed to cut it up. Now every tool I have is blunt - I finally worked out the best way of cutting was a cutting disk on my angle grinder. That nuked it.

Then the worst bit, dealing with 30 years of cockroach life under the fridge box. It was about 25 mm (1 inch) thick, probably enough said.

There is money in boats

2008-01-09T09:54:00.000+13:00

I read somewhere recently the US has something like 13 (or 17 or 30) trillion dollars in cash money floating around the world. Well I know where some of it is - in my boat. I am up to 27 cents and counting. At this rate the refit will pay for itself in a few thousand years, which is a very heartening factoid when you are up to your armpits in rotten plywood and 30 years of filth.

With time off for good behaviour (well I thought it was good) I have only managed a few days since Christmas, but lots of talking with friends and a good few beers under the waistband have helped the project. I have removed some saloon furniture in preparation for the creation of a mockup of the proposed new layout. I should be able to get that together in the next few days and send some photos out for comment.

A bit of a tidy up

2007-12-18T16:46:00.000+13:00

I've been doing a little planning and quickly realised that I needed to empty the boat out a bit. This entailed sorting the garage out so I have somewhere to move the boat stuff into - kind of like the cockpit locker where you need to re-pack it 5 times a day to get it all in. Before and after photos today:

Before

After

More destruction

2007-11-28T19:19:00.001+13:00

Over the last couple of days I have found that there appears to be a lack of connection between the forward bulkheads and the hull of the good ship Weta, above about 500mm from the waterline. Construction seems to have been that the headlining material was added before the bulkheads, as I needed to pull the plywood filler layer and the headlining material out from the gap between the bulkhead and the coachroof.

I have ripped out the forward head and found major rot in the plywood floors beneath the sink unit and the plinth the head sits on. You can see the fiberglass shelf that attaches the floors to the hull, unfortunately the floors themselves have gone missing in action. Who knows what was holding it all together for our trip home, although this does allow me to understand how I could shorten the backstay by 100mm and still not be able to get decent rig tension!

The boatbuilder's answer

2007-11-25T10:14:00.001+13:00

Well, my mate Bill who will be doing the boatbuilding work on the boat visited and we discussed how far we should go back into the remaining ply. Bill tapped around and found that the plywood I thought was solid was actually not - so we go a chisel out and cut a hole back to the underlying glass. Then we decided to lose all the plywood completely, as you can see from this shot.

Another major decision that I have made is to replace the existing opening portlights, with either new, modern opening ports or with fixed ports. As we are removing the interior plywood that packs out the old ports, we would need to cut the outside lips of these down as they would protrude through. As well as the extra work involved, we would also then be back to trying to make them watertight - an uphill job. New ports usually fit from the outside in, so immediately you have sealed the port surround and reduced the leak potential.

The teak trim simply unscrews, once you have removed the teak plugs. You can see again here how the headliner is wrapped over the top of the teak veneer ply, then the solid teak trim attached.

This shot gives a wider view of the forward end of the coachroof, with some trim removed.

About 3 minutes later, with trim removed and crowbar utilised to pull the screws out that hold the layers of plywood on. We will refinish with the modern method - flowcoat, coving, painting. It should give us a clean, light and spacious feel.

Oh yeah I have also removed a lot of the wiring and rubbish from the engine room.

This shows the headlining partially ripped off, with the deck beam exposed. You can see the amount of water damage on th eteak which gives you an indication of how much this boat leaks.

The covering piece of thin teak has been levered off and the retaining screws removed. The headliner can then be peeled off the deckhead.

The start

2007-11-18T11:00:00.000+13:00

The hull has been gel-planed and 3 mm was taken off. This was done a few months ago and it is quite noticeable how much drier the glass looks.

Another view

Last weekend I removed the caprail from the front half of the boat. Lots of the screws had rotted out so it was relatively simple to unscrew the remaining ones and prise the rail up. Interesting, one side was bedded on a silicon-type material, the other was on putty.

A couple of shots showing the hull with no cap rail. We probably won't replace it as it was.

A shot of the forepeak looking forward from the doorway. The white patches are the remains of the fiberglass strips that held the teak backing pads. The bulkhead at the aft end of the chain locker was completely rotten.

I have removed the teak trim and pulled the delaminated plywood off, removing the portlight in the process. The headlining material is covered by the teak trim, which is just screwed on and plugged.

Detail of the forward end of the coachroof. The remains of the plywood are visible, but you can see how that ply is glued over the packing plywood, which appears to be screwed on. I am trying not to go any further!

A view of the foredeck with windlass, bow roller, headstay and cap rails removed. I need to move some rubbish!

The trip home

2007-11-17T12:26:00.000+13:00

After 3 months in Hawaii we were ready to go, considered mad by some folks we met - you know, the kind that has been living in the marina for the last 10 years "working" on the boat getting ready for the big trip... We picked up a crewman who owned his own boat and had a little experience and moved to the Hawaii Yacht Club to clean up. The first trip under power was a little nerve-wracking, no sails to fall back on and we had to go outside the harbour!

While at the HYC I re-wired the boat, fitted SSB and VHF radios, finished erecting our hand-me-down dodger (thanks again Jeff!), added lifelines, built the stern pulpit, bolted a liferaft on and finished off a legion of little jobs. We had a couple of trial sails, a very good move as during the first one we found that the tack of the forestay was popping off the deck...

Eventually we could find no more excuses to hang around and off we went. The first leg was to Fanning Island, part of Kiribati. The expected NE trades were sadly more E - SE so it was 1004 nm on port tack, winds on the beam or just forward.

There was not much at Fanning, just a few good sleeps and then we pushed on. With no watermaker and with only a limited number of water jerry cans we were concerned about the 1600 nm trip to Tonga, as we could get no drinking water at Fanning. Fortunately, we were lucky when crossing the ITCZ and had a relatively smooth ride, no calms or squalls. Unfortunately, again the wind was on the port beam or just forward, so we were getting used to where the leaks were dripping.

Tonga was a welcome stop. Neiafu, the main port in the Vava'u group, is well known to us and certainly felt more like home. I was met by my partner Lisa and my son Will who were on a charter boat with friends, so it was the first chance for them to see the boat.

After nearly a week of relaxing and fixing things (nothing major), Vicky had decided to fly the last leg and that left the remaining 2 of us for the last leg to Auckland. Again, we were very fortunate as we had the perfect weather window for the trip, with a big fat high sitting over the northern part of New Zeraland, giving us, well, easterlies. Another 1300 nm of wind on the port beam or forward.... To break that momentum we did have a few windy days and had the storm jib out by itself one night so we could rest a little, jogging along at about 4.5 - 5 knots.

It was fantastic to arrive back in the country, I was really spaced out after going hard for 5 months. We cleared in at Opua in the Bay of Islands and took a few days to cruise down the coast. It was very cold for us (late winter in NZ) so the oven got a workout at night.

Arrival in Auckland was fabulous, good to see friends again and have a nice long hot shower.

The story thus far....

2007-11-16T19:08:00.000+13:00

Weta is a KP44, built in Taiwan in 1977. I am her second owner, having found the boat advertised for sale in 2004. It appeared to be the sort of KP44 I was looking for, totally run down and cheap. It was a bonus that it was in Hawaii and I could (hopefully) get it back to New Zealand for a re-build. I travelled to Hawaii in September 2004 and had the boat surveyed, which confirmed my impressions of a boat that needed a lot of love. Due to the flight schedule I had 4-5 days to inspect the boat and the owner generously allowed me full access. Apart from the day-long formal survey I spent the remainder of the time poking around, as well as a good part trying to decide if I really wanted to do this. It was a very sad and sorry looking "mess" at that stage. Lots of list writing and staring into space, basically. Based on the surveyors recommendations, I made an offer that was realistic for the condition and state of the boat. This was refused but after I returned to NZ we kept "negotiating" (as in I kept saying it was the only offer he was getting...) until reality bit and the owner accepted the offer. I wasn't sure if I was glad or sad - definitely concerned and thinking "what the hell have I let myself into!!".

Once the deal was done and the money paid I started planning, eventually returning to Hawaii in April 2005 with my friend Vicky in tow. She was between jobs and needed a change and turned out to be a fantastic asset for the 3 months we spent preparing for the trip home.

We did a little website for our friends and family while we were there, unfortunately towards the end we got very busy and tired so it took a back seat. You can visit that site here.

The focus of the first "refit" was to get the boat to a safe state to undertake the 4,000 nm trip back to NZ. Any time making things look pretty, or even nice, was considered wasted and so you will see some pretty rough work (but fast...).