Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Still filling holes

     I started off today by cutting out a piece of plywood the shape of my cardboard, just a little bigger.  I love my new tool for cutting curves.  What a lifesaver for this project.  I only needed a little bit of trimming when I got to the boat, then screwed it into place.  This covers the hole and will also act as the rear wall of the new icebox when I get around to making it.

   


      I moved back up to the v berth and did some sanding on the pieces to make everything fit properly.  The front piece ended up being a very tight fit, so I decided to just secure it in place rather than making it removable.  If I need access to this area the top pieces lift off.  I screwed in a 1X2 across the back and screwed into this and the top support rail from the front.  All the bare wood needs a coat of two of primer and then will get painted.  I might splurge for a piece of hardwood laminate for the front piece and varnish it up all nice and pretty, will have to wait and see how I feel later.

     I had a little bit of time left before it got dark, so I started playing around with the basic layout of the new step area.  I want to have the counter go all the way across the boat and somehow incorporate some stairs or steps into it.  I think I am going to end up with the front of the icebox running straight over to the galley.  The plan is to use the existing battery box/step as the bottom step, the counter top as the top step, with one in between on the port side.  It looks nice in my head, but I'm going to have to make a mock up out of cardboard and see how well it fits.

     While working back here trying to line up some supports I pulled off the last couple of old supports on the side of the galley.  Of course the last one had to be a real bear.  I put some heft into it, and imagine my surprise when the whole galley pulled out with it.  I knew they were designed to be removable, but wow.  I sure didn't think it would be that easy to move.  This will make it a lot easier to clean up and paint the area underneath.  I just have to figure out how to keep it removable, but "locked" into place by my new additions, which also need to be removable.  Just in case I somehow come up with the money/inclination to put a new inboard in there.  Until then I guess I am just making myself a bunch of storage.

    

Monday, December 27, 2010

Filling Holes

     I got a late start today because of a late night at work.  When I got home I slept away the first half of the day.  At least it was a little warmer when I finally ventured out.

     I cut out the piece to finish filling in the berth at home and brought it out there.  It almost fits, but is going to need a bit of sanding to get it to squeeze in.  Then I need to figure out how I'm going to attach it, I still haven't decided.  Not wanting to tackle this at the moment I moved on to other things for now.

     I spent more time than I wanted trying to patch a piece of the sole that got damaged  when the previous owner removed the old inboard.  Apparently it fell pretty hard on the floor and knocked out a piece.  I think I'm going to have to fill it with some fiberglass because I think that is what the rest of the floor is made of.  For now I just cut a piece of poplar I had laying around to fit and put it in place.

     I got a new tool for Christmas that cuts, sands, and routers.  You can use it like a jigsaw and cut curves, which is really nice for the boat.  Nothing seems to be square or line up properly.  One area I need to fill in is the hole left from the icebox removal, and that definitely has a weird shape.  I filled in the hole with a piece (or 2) of cardboard to use as a template, then measured and marked how much bigger I want it to be.  Now I need to figure out how to install it.  It will be behind the new icebox, so I don't think I will have to worry about making it removable.  Tomorrow I will cut it out and try to fit it.


     The orange funk you see in the top of the photo is a filler foam of some type that someone put it when they siliconed down the hatch for the old ice box.  It is attached to the cover and seeing as how that is probably getting filled in I didn't see any reason the spend time or make a mess removing it.  Hopefully it will just pull out in one piece with the cover.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

V Berth

     I haven't been out at the boat doing much work the last couple of days because a really good friend was in town staying with us.  I know, I know... it seems I have a never ending list of reasons I haven't been getting as much done as I want.  I did get out for a bit today though.

     I started out by filling up my car with stuff and carting it home.  Today was the lockers in the cockpit.  Life jackets, oars, lots of rope, and a bunch of assorted junk I don't even know what it is.  I can't believe how much stuff I'm pulling out of there.  I need to figure out how to get my landlord to build me a bigger shed to put all this stuff in.  Good luck with that one.

     When I got home and unloaded all the crap I got out the skill saw and cut out some pieces of plywood to fill in the v berth section I previously made the cardboard layouts for.  I purposely cut them a little bigger than I thought I would need and then went back to the marina.

     A little bit of sanding and they slid right into place.  I drilled a hole in the (approximate) center of each piece to make them easier to get out.  They need to be primed and painted still, but that is going to have to wait for another day.

     I cut out a piece of cardboard for the opening on the bottom side and took that home.  It was starting to get dark so it just got thrown in the barn with the saw and plywood.  I haven't decided if this piece should be permanently installed or if I should make a track for it so it can slide up and out of the way.  Eventually this is where the holding tank for the head will go, but it is a nice added storage compartment until that happens.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Once Again..

     Once again I planned on spending the afternoon at the boat, but got distracted before ever making it out there.  There I was, minding my own business getting dinner ready in the crock pot, when the neighbour showed up at the door with an offer I couldn't refuse.  Oysters!  I spent the early afternoon shucking, eating, steaming, and eating more oysters.  There may have been a beer or two consumed as well.  Now it is nap time.  Maybe I'll actually get out there tomorrow.

     

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Brrrr


     This is what I saw when I showed up to work on the boat today.  The dog is in heaven, but I am decidedly less enthusiastic.  The heater is running, and the drains in the cockpit seem to be doing their job.  Sounds like enough "work" to me.  I'm going home to have a nice warm, spiked, hot chocolate. 

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Icebox removal

     Oh so cold out there today.  There is ice in the creek but I can't seem to get a picture to turn out very well.  Pretty cool seeing the paths the boats make as they putt along.  I got my chores for the day done (hanging Christmas lights and wrapping presents) so off to the boat I go.

     I didn't really have a plan on what I was doing today when I went out there, but after feeling how cold it is out I decided I needed to work close to the heater.  It is set up under the last step of the ladder blowing into the salon.  So..... icebox removal it is.

     The screws on the molding and support rails and everything else holding the icebox in place were so rusted I didn't even bother trying to unscrew them.  Time for the hammer and crowbar, or so I thought.   Everything pulled apart so easily I felt silly with the big tools in my hand.  How can anything on a 48 year old boat be this easy?  The entire icebox slid right out, as you can see on the left.  The insulation on this was laughable.  I can see why everyone gets rid of this.  I may have spoken too soon about easy though.  It seems that the icebox is too big to fit through the entrance.  Great.  Enter the sawz-all, maybe my favorite tool of all time.  A couple of quick cuts and I was back in business.  I seem to be good at making piles of trash out in the cockpit.  This process left a pretty big hole there to figure out what to do with.  It did make it easier to pull a bunch of wiring out that was running back behind there, so that's a plus.


     I then did a bit of picking up to make everything a bit more presentable.  It is amazing how quickly the boat fills up with crap.  I removed the back of the settee on the port side too.  The boat looks so much bigger inside without the cushions and stuff inside.  The boat is emptying out, and my barn is filling up.

     The last thing I did before taking off for the day was dig through the stuff I had ripped out to see if I could find any more evidence of my hull number.  Score!  I have to think that the same number in two separate places settles that question. 

Friday, December 10, 2010

Both boats today

     I started today by going for my last power boat ride of the season.  It didn't last very long because it is cold out there!  I then pulled it out of the water for the year with the help of my amazingly helpful neighbor.  The dock looks lonely without the boat there.  I then had to scrape the bottom to get rid of all the creatures that decided to take up residence on the hull.  I then had to keep my dog from eating all the scrapings.  Great, now he smells like a fish again.

     I did a little work on the sailboat today as well.  I finished sanding most of the parts of the head and locker I couldn't reach with the power sander and then had to clean up a lot of dust.  Then I got to put on a coat of primer to these areas.  What an amazing difference that made.  The only part I didn't get done in there was the floor of the head.  A sander isn't cutting it in there, I'm going to have to grind it down I think.  No pictures today because I forgot the camera, but I'm sure one will show up eventually.

     On the way out I pulled all the chain off the boat to get it out of the way during the renovation.  I won't need it for a while and it just keeps getting in the way.  Of course it was so rusted together that I couldn't get the sections separated.  Moving two 5 gallon buckets of chain attached to each other is so much fun.  I added them to the growing pile of stuff in my shed and called it a day.

    

Thursday, December 9, 2010

December 9, 2010

     I went out to the boat today, but spent most of my time out there talking to the "neighbors" and getting input about things they would change or upgrade on their boats if they had the chance.  I got to peek inside a couple other boats to get some ideas as well.

     I actually spent most of my boat time today bringing this blog up to date from my notes.  Hopefully I can now just post when I do something instead of doing a bunch of updates at once/

December 7, 2010

     Today was a little bit of everything.  I couldn’t seem to pick one thing to work on.  I did take pictures of stuff I worked on, but nothing exciting enough to post.

      I ripped out some more stuff in the galley and engine compartment and figured out a bit more of the wiring.  When I ripped out a support for the shelf to the starboard side of the sink I found a number scratched in the back of it.  I think I may have finally found the hull number…234.

     I also did some work in the bilge.  I reinforced a bunch of supports for the bilge hatches and wired up the grounding wires I ran earlier.  I just need to get a nut to hold them down and the bilge part of that job will be done.  Suprisingly the old connectors came apart pretty easily.  I didn’t expect that after spending who knows how long in the bilge.  The bilge pump and its wiring appear to need some work, but I didn’t tackle it today.

December 6, 2010

     I intended to start sanding down the head and locker today, but after about 5 minutes I decided that job is on hold until I buy an electric sander of some kind.  I wandered into the salon and started taking off some trim pieces, and before I knew it I had the starboard side emptied out, including the backrest.  I wasn’t originally planning on it, but the supports back there really needed some help.  I have a couple of ideas on how to reinforce this are a bit more, as well as getting some storage out of what was previously just wasted space.  I think I’m going to extend the back rest up to the built in shelf there, with dividers and access hatches of some sort.

     While doing this I pulled back a lot of the wires back to the panel so decided to just keep on going and pulling that out as well.  This is what it looked like when I started.  If you can see, the bottom of the fuse panel is labeled “Pearson Yachts”.  Must be original, but I’m pretty sure this baby doesn’t qualify as a yacht.







     The mess of wire inside the panel was incredibly tangled, frustrating, and confusing beyond belief.  I traced out everything I could figure out, did a lot of labeling, drew up a wiring diagram, and then started cutting. 

     At this point my feet started getting cold, so I wussed out and headed for home.  Maybe working on a boat in December, while it is still in the water, isn’t the best idea I’ve ever had.  I think I’ll try to redo the above masterpiece to make it a bit more readable.  That way I can “work” at home while keeping the piggies warm.

November 30, 2010

     I have been slacking a bit on the boat the last couple of days.  To be fair, life has been a bit busy.  Had the weekend off with the wife, bought and set up the Christmas tree, and got a new addition to the family.  I'm oh so happy to have a cat.  Only took her 7 years to convince me.

   



     I actually got a decent amount of sleep at work last night, so I decided to tackle the dreaded head, and it was every bit as bad as I thought it would be.  I removed the head, holding tank, and all associated plumbing to start.  Kind of a heavy picture day to show what I did.  Here is a pile of trash and the removed holding tank (yes, it is still half full). 


     I have a couple of problems with the two seacocks in here.  Unfortunately I can’t replace either of them right now, because the boat is still in the water.  The discharge one seems to be frozen and I couldn’t get it to budge.  I sprayed some penetrating oil on it and will spray more for a couple of days and try again.  The one for the water inlet to flush with seems to be missing a bolt on the side that allows water to stream out rather than through the hose that was attached.  This made for a lovely mess to clean up when I found out.

     When I got everything removed I had pretty good access to the behind area (I think the was the “hamper”) and discovered some issues that needed to be taken care of.  The biggest one is the wire running from back here down to a connection point in the bilge. I’m pretty sure this is lightening strike protection, and I would kind of like to have it working. The wire is not only corroded beyond belief, it is actually cut.  I figured if I was going to replace it I might as well go ahead and do the other side as well.  Of course this ended up being much harder and more time consuming than I figured.  That seems to be a rule with boats.  I used insulated wire rather than the bare copper that used to be in there, and used water proof connections designed for boats on the end.  The connections were more expensive than you would think, and I didn’t buy enough to finish the job.  Those both seem to be other rules when dealing with boats.

     The next step should be sanding the whole area down to get it ready for priming, but I sure don’t want to be breathing mold dust and other nasty funk while doing it, so I figured I should give it a good cleaning.  Bleach and water will work wonders sometimes.  Think I am overstating the problem?  Check this out…  Can you tell where I have cleaned?


     I cleaned up all the tools I used with bleach and sprayed another layer on the walls and ceilings to help kill off anything I may have missed before I start stripping and sanding.  Then I went home, threw all my clothes in the wash, and took a long, very hot shower.  I’m glad this project is done, and I hope to never have to repeat it.

November 21, 2010

     I didn’t have a lot of time to spend out here today because of work needed on the wife’s car, but I did stop in for a little bit.  I got the supports for filling in the v berth notched out and reinstalled.  I also replaced some rotting supports on the floor to support the hatches.  Love the color combination here.

     While I was waiting for my drill battery to charge (I really need a new drill) I picked up a bit and removed some trim work.  The depth finder tube came out as well.  It seemed to be just sitting on the bottom with an insane amount of caulking holding it in place.  I think the little bit of water that was inside had been there for years.  Most of it had actually congealed a bunch.  I finally bought an extension cord so I could use the sawz-all in the forward part of the boat, so I was able to cut out the locker a bit as well.

NOvember 20, 2010

     I was planning on spending the day working on the sailboat, but the day was just too nice outside.  It may be the last of the good weather for the year, so the wife called in sick and we went out on the powerboat.  Sacrilege!

November 19, 2010

     My parents left today after a nice visit, so I have plenty of time to goof off again.  Back to the boat I go.  I had planned to clean out and start disassembling the head, but that didn’t happen.  I did a little work in the v berth again and started stripping out the locker.

     The ugly purple pieces of wood that held in the cushions had to come out, so I figured they would make excellent supports for the future piece of plywood that will fill in the rest of the “V”.  They were an almost perfect fit.  Really not that surprising seeing as they were just being moved down a couple of inches.  I had to trim off about a quarter of an inch from each side but then they slid right into place.  They are only temporarily installed because I am going to have to notch out a couple of pieces to install some supports running across the opening, but I don’t have any suitable wood on hand right now.
 
     I then started gutting the locker because it looked easier to do than tackling than the head.  It turned out that one of the walls was covered with formica type stuff that just peeled off… after I removed a bunch of screws, bolts, trim pieces and other junk holding it in place.  I also pulled out a bunch of the wiring that was running through there.  Most of it was speaker wire, but some of it was just wire not hooked up to anything.  Sure would be nice to know what they were for.  I’m sure some of it will need to be put back, but for now it’s cleaned out.  I knocked out some of the cabinet covers, but they are in there good.  Going to have to remember to bring the sawz-all out there with me to finish the job.  The next step is to sand this all down and get a coat or two of primer in there as well.  I think I’m actually going to splurge on some of that expensive bilge paint to use back in what will be cabinets and storage area.  I’m going to need the stuff sooner or later, might as well get it now while I can get in some of these areas that will be covered up later.

November 17, 2010

     Today I got a plumber to come take a look at the head and try to explain it to me.  Thanks Dad!  To be fair, Rudolph helped out a bit as well.

November 12, 2010

     I was planning on putting on the second coat of primer in the front berth today, but just couldn’t seem to get myself motivated enough to do it.  Instead I ended up just clearing a lot of stuff out, including the rest of the locker.  Some of the stuff in there had been sitting unused for a LONG time.  The flares were so rusted you could hardly tell what they were.  Off to the dumpster they went.  I also spent a bit of time organizing and trying to figure out what I want to do where.

     One thing I’m pretty sure I will do is to take out the rest of that awful purple trim in the v berth and make a platform so that the bed can lie across the whole area.  This way I can make a larger bed with just the addition of a piece of foam.  This will also give me some more room for storage (which I read is something always in short supply on a Triton) or a new, larger holding tank, and maybe drawers or a bookshelf right in the entry way below the bed.

November 10, 2010

     Today I put the second coat of primer on inside the chain locker and the first coat throughout the rest of the berth.  I originally planned on stripping the ugly purple down to bare wood and staining it, but that isn’t going to happen.  Between the insanely thick paint and all the dings in it, it would take forever to sand down completely, and I just don’t feel like putting that much work or time into this at this point.  Maybe some day.


     After finishing the priming I started emptying out the gear locker area across from the head.  What a disgusting mess of moldy funk and rusted out bottles and cans of who knows what.  I need to decide what I plan on doing with this area so I can just rip out anything I don’t need.  I saw one guy who took out the whole wall here and made everything feel a lot more open and spacious.  I’m thinking this might be a good place to put a holding tank for the head or more fresh water, and put a sink above it.  Will have to talk to the boss and see what she thinks.

November 2, 2010

     I ended up removing the plywood piece under the routered numbers to gain access to the chain locker.  After removing a couple solid lumps of rusted chain and a couple plastic bags worth of rust sitting in the bottom, I cleaned it up as best as I could and gave it a coat of primer.  I also spray painted the inside of the numbers.  The plan is to paint the area a blue (chosen by the boss), and hopefully this will help the numbers stand out a little more.  They were bare wood, splattered with several different colors of paint and old resin leftover.



October 27, 1010

October 27, 2010



          I recently “inherited” a boat from my friend Ron, who I met, worked with, and lived with for a while in New Orleans.  It is a 1962, 28’ Pearson Triton.  He had named her “Firefly”, but had never actually gotten around to putting the name on after painting the hull sometime last year.  While sanding it down he found the origional name, but can’t seem to remember it at the moment.  (Update:  He found some old paperwork, and it seems the name was "Panache")  Before him, she was known as “Kentucky Woman”.  Searching around a little bit I came across a website set up by some previous owners about their work and sailing adventures.  In case you are interested… http://sailingtrip0.tripod.com/toddandemily/  The dinghy on the site is still with the boat, but in need of a lot of work.  I have a feeling it will be used to size out a new one then hit the dumpster. 

          They had her in Pasadena, MD.  I’m not sure if this is whom Ron bought her from, because he told me he bought the boat from someone near Deale, MD who told him the boat was originally from Boston.  He then took it up to Maine for a couple of years, and ended up back in Deale, living aboard for a couple of years.  Strangely enough this is where I now live and reconnected with him.  Now he’s moving inland, so I get a boat! 
  
          Just to give you and idea what I was starting with, here is the view looking inside the entrance looking forward, and then back towards the entrance.

     


























My plan is to strip out the inside and redo most of it without going too overboard.  I’m starting up front because it will be the easiest part to start in.  I know this will be a learning experience and I’m sure I will make plenty of mistakes along the way. The V berth seems like a good area to get some of those mistakes out of the way.

          Here it is, in all its glory.  This is what it looked like when I started.  I have the cushions propped up to get a little bit of airflow underneath there.  I just love the green, yellow and purple. Notice the numbers routered into the bulkhead.  I was told that this was done at the factory and also that it had something to do with being federally registered.  Hopefully it will assist me in tracking down information about her past life and voyages.

          First step was to empty out the berth and start cleaning a bit.  There was some standing water in there, it smelled pretty musty, and there was some mold starting on the bulkheads and ceiling.  After removing all the stuff I could, I cleaned up everything and started scraping, sanding, and stripping off the old (and ugly) yellow and purple.  I saw in the above website that the purple rails were originally nice varnished wood.  Why would someone do that?