Almost... There...

I took Wednesday of this week off work to try to grease the skids for a solid toe rail installation this weekend.  As usual, my ambitions were far in excess of my accomplishments.  However, I did make enough progress to keep all this within the realm of the possible.

I spent pretty much the entire day cleaning out the starboard deck to hull joint.  It's a really grueling, time consuming, and non-rewarding activity much like grinding bottom paint, but fortunately without the toxic dust.  Using a heavy cat's paw (small crowbar) and the biggest screwdriver I could find I pried up the deck to about a 1/4" gap.  In some places I could do better, but within 4-6' of the bulkheads it's very hard to lift.

With the deck lifted I slipped in a fairly stiff 1.5" wide putty knife and scraped out as much of the old butyl sealant as I could.  The only way to really seal things up would be to scrub it off with mineral spirits, but there's just no way to do that without breaking the tabbing at the bulkheads.  

So, I have to be happy that I could remove the large amount of dried / failed sealant, and hope that I get a somewhat decent gasket out of the 3m 4200 I will be pumping in.  Perhaps not an adhesive, but a gasket.  I expect the seal between the toe rail and the hull / deck to handle the bulk of the waterproofing.  I feel confident that while not perfect, I am indeed making things better than they were.

While I was cleaning out the butyl, my Dad was prepping the toe rails by scraping off the old residue and thoroughly cleaning them with mineral spirits.  The remaining prep work is as follows:

• Acetone cleaning of the toe rails
• 1 coat primer, 2-3 coats Rust-o-leum flat black paint. (a few hours to dry...)
• Re-drill deck holes from the inside to open up deck holes which were made invisible during the core repair.
• Clean inside of deck-hull joint with mineral spirits.

I'm going to try to get this accomplished Saturday afternoon in a last minute sprint to the finish.  Sunday I have my family lined up to come out and help raise the rails and get them secured back on the boat.  So, if all goes well Ravat will have made some amazing strides toward structural integrity this weekend.  All I need is a few hours of dry weather on Saturday, and a full day of dry weather on Sunday.

AwlGrip is Amazing, and Gelcoat is Great!

Take a look at the SHINE on Ravat's new transom!  WOW!  And there's no more sign of the old "Cap N Crunch" logo which drove me insane.  The topsides are looking just as good.  Sort of like looking into 3 feet of milk on a sunny day.  It's just stunning.  The job was a lot more money than I wanted to spend, but I have to say, she looks like a new boat above the water line.

If you're anywhere near Rochester, NY and need paint or glass work done, talk to Chad at Shumway Marine.  He is a real master of his craft, and from the moment you speak to him you feel confident about his ability to deliver.

Not only is the topsides looking new, but the gelcoat job on the side-decks is fantastic. 

It has noticeably more traction than the old non-skid, but it doesn't really stand out in its texture - it blends perfectly.  The only difference is that it's very white while the rest of the decks are oxidized pretty badly.  But, after wet sanding an area I think the match will be prefect once the gelcoat is buffed out.  A

gain, a fantastic job by a real professional.  I managed to get it a bit dirty before taking a picture, but it sure is nice to see white again rather than the epoxy filler!

Now I just need to get the windows installed and the toe rails & jib tracks back in place so she's water tight again.  The storage compartment under the starboard settee was almost completely full of water.  Not fun.

2011 Launch Goal Set

Yes, that's right.  I'm throwing down the gauntlet with a goal of having her in bristol shape by April 15, 2011.  It's official, I've documented it for the world to see.  I am NOT missing another season, even if I have to power this boat with a canoe paddle.

As the AwlGrip draws near...

I've finally reached a decision on the hull restoration and have outsourced the painting to Shumway Marine.  I'm having the hull prepped, primed, and then painted with AwlGrip.  I'm keeping the same color confguration, just making it shiny again.  I will still complete the barrier coat and anti-fouling below the waterline.  Shumway Marine will also be laying new gelcoat on the side decks I repaired.

I debated about spending the extra money to have the decks AwlGripped as well, but decided against it.  For one thing it was really, very, very, very expensive.  For another thing, I still think I may make tweaks to the deck hardware configuration.  Gelcoat is more forgiving to reconfiguration than paint.

And so it is that I have purchased a can of gelcoat, and I will be performing my own repairs of some stress-cracks as well as a bunch of minor chipping, mostly in the cockpit.  When that's all done I'll pick up a polisher and compound the whole deck to see how much life I can breathe back into it.

When does all this happen?  Next week they will begin work, and it's estimated to take them approximately two weeks.  During that two weeks I need to prep the toe rails and get the windows ready so I can get it sealed up.

My last act of defiance will be a mad dash to rewire the mast and get it stepped so it doesn't spend another winter on the saw horses.  We'll see if the budget holds out for new halyards or not...

Exciting times!

Cutting out Backing Plates

I've managed to cut out the backing plates for my new through-hulls.  I had NO idea how hard it would be to cut 1/2" FRP sheets.  I'm using 20 TPI bi-metal blades in my jig-saw, and I can cut about two 4" backing plates before the teeth are ground to nothing.  The normal wood blades last about 30 seconds.  When the blades are cutting, it's very slow going as well.

At this point they are cut out and ready to be drilled for the bolts and through-hull.  I need to pick up some hole saws for the drill press next, and find the length I need for the bronze bolts.  Today I was able to get the hull ground clean in the areas these will mount, so I'm making good progress.

Now I can only hope that I won't blow through hole-saws the way I did jig saw blades as they are a lot more expensive.

Blister Repair: The Saga Continues

After finishing all the grinding from the first coat of Six/10 I scrubbed the hull with a Scotch-Brite pad to remove any bottom paint residue, and to clear any amine blush.  Today I returned with my final tube of Six/10 and filled the minor depressions which were left when I used the spreader to smooth the repairs.  Not my idea of a good time.

In hindsight, I am absolutely certain that I should have sanded the hull down, used traditional fairing compound of some sort (Interfill, West, etc.) and then re-applied the barrier coat.  While I am certain my current track will end with a solid repair, it is a horribly time consuming process to apply and sand the Six/10.  Live and learn.

Next step will be re-sanding the hull to fair the blisters.  This time it should go quicker as I have applied much less epoxy.  My last task will be determining whether or not to reapply a barrier coat to the whole hull, or to spot repair.  The areas I sanded occasionally broke through the barrier coat, so at a minimum they will need to be repaired.  It was isolated though, so I'm leaning towards repairing only as needed.

Stay tuned and we'll find out which path I choose.

Blister Repairs III - Still Going

Another long day of sanding, although I have definitely continued to improve my technique.  First of all, I have switched to using my nice Porter Cable 5" random orbit sander.  No more screwing around with that little palm sander.  Second, I'm now using 80 grit paper rather than 100 grit.  Big, big, big, difference!  I may even be able to use 60 grit to knock down the epoxy then hit them with 80 for a shorter duration.  But the bottom line is that I'm now making solid progress on the fairing.

My experiment in skipping the spreader and just building up the Six/10 was partially successful.  The blister are definitely more filled than when I used a spreader, but in many cases they still need a subtle touch up to become truly fair.  Less touch up than the holes where I used a spreader, but I'm not going to be able to get away without two coats.  The good news is that by not spreading the epoxy to surround the blister I'm saving a lot of time.  There may be a way to do this with a spreader, but I didn't find it.

I have about another  three hours of sanding to go at this pace, then a re-coat, then probably a day of sanding.  I have removed so much bottom paint at this point that I may just sand down what little remains and throw down a new layer of barrier coat to even everything up.  Not sure yet...  For now I'm just pleased to have made some solid progress.

Fast Blister Repair Using West Six/10 Epoxy

I finally got around to trying out the new method for fast blister repair which was published in Epoxyworks Magazine #30.  I worked this spring to get the gelcoat blisters opened up with a 3/4" counter-sinking bit.  I needed two of them to get through everything, and probably could have moved faster with three.  Fiberglass dulls them very quickly.  Fortunately, all of my blisters were superficial, and none would need laminate grinding.

Today I loaded my caulk gun with a tube of West Six/10 Epoxy Adhesive and went to work on the voids.  I used a typical West yellow spreader to smooth the epoxy after injecting it into the hole.  I tried to build it up a little higher than necessary, although I'm not 100% sure whether or not I was successful.  I'll have to wait until I sand the hull to know for sure whether it worked or if I'll need a second coat.

This process is of great interest to me because it, in theory, eliminates the need for a complete strip of the hull, and it eliminates the need for a barrier coat when done.  Six/10 is thickened with fumed silica which works similarly to a barrier coat additive, thus saving a step.  I also really appreciated not having to keep going back to mix up new batches of epoxy.  Finally, there's no way I could have kept as much control over the repair slopping epoxy on with a spreader.  The caulk tube allows addictive control of the placement and quantity.

My first working observation was that it is really, really, hard to see how much is built up.  It's nothing like epoxy thickened with silica, or fairing compound.  I was surprised at how thin the Six/10 was, but I'm glad as I could see it has saturated the material in the void so I know I was able to get a strong bond.

A tip if you are considering doing this repair:  Spend a little extra money and buy one of the heavy duty caulk guns that has more leverage and more ergonomic handles.  I used a cheap gun, and while it worked fine I could barely move my hands when I was done.  It takes a fair amount of force to keep that static mixer charged (although it does work great!).

At the end of the day I had completed about 2/3 of the boat and used two tubes.  You can see the volume of blisters in the photo, so I'm not at all disappointed with the coverage.  This stuff is more expensive per once than other epoxy options, but wen you compare the cost savings of a DIY blister repair, the price is a drop in the bucket.  The only thing that I'm a little nervous about it whether or not I'll be needing a second coat on any of the blisters.

My next step is to finish the remaining parts of the starboard hull, and begin sanding.  I plan to knock down the initial layer with 80 grit paper on a 8" random orbit sander, then go back over it lightly with 120 grit to smooth everything out a bit more.  Epoxyworks recommends wet sanding, however I am not interested in hand sanding this much surface area, so I'm going to carefully substitute a machine and deal with the mess.

Read Part II of this topic next.  In it I describe observations made during the sanding of the repaired blisters.

Fairing Compound and the Evil Tarp Monster

After a long morning of filling blisters I began fairing the side decks with a mixture of West 105/206 and 407 low density fairing compound.  I chose the 407 over 410 because it's made to be stronger, and the decks take some abuse.  Using a large spreader I worked the compound into place.

It's very messy stuff to work with when you're not yet an expert because you need to apply it over large areas with a wide spreader.  In my case, the work was made more difficult because it was insanely windy this afternoon.  Not only were the gusts driving me nuts as I worked on the narrow side decks without lifelines, but every now and then it was blowing thin whisps of compound off the spreader and onto my decks.  Messy!
   

407 filer is unbelievably fine grained.  It actually flows like water as you stir it into the resin, and if you stir too quickly it will float into the air in puffs.  I ended up finding a rhythm using four pumps of the epoxy then filling it to somewhere between ketchup and peanut butter consistency.  It was hard for me to get it applied and smoothed out fast enough to work with significantly more pumps.  Not as efficient as possible, but it worked out fine becuase I keep a good stock of mixing containers, spreaders, and sticks.


Eventually I was able to get an initial coat onto 100% of the starboard deck, and 75% of the port deck. I ran out of time before I could finish the last short segment, so that's for next visit.  The picture isn't a very good one, but it gives the idea.

By the time I finished I had a very smooth surface a little thinner than what I'd need, but about 90% of what I expect it to be.  It looked fantastic to see a solid color and solid surface after all these months of jagged fiberglass.

Unfortunately, I had stretched the clock (as usual) and really needed to get the boat tarped up so I could make it home for dinner.  There isn't a lot of time between the end of school and my son's bed time, so I didn't want to miss more than necessary.  As I begin the next phase of the story, keep in mind my earlier statement about the wind conditions...

As I began wrestling the tarp from the bow back towards the stern the wind of course picked up.  It filled the tarp like a baloon.  I was holding on, but it took quite a bit of effort to keep the tarp from sailing away along with me.  As I worked it over the stern rail a gust slapped the big blue monster and caused it on both sides to snap in and out of the fairing compound a few times.  I was nauseated at the sight.

The good news is that this is the first coat.  I will need to sand it, and a few ridges or dents will be easily remedied by the second coat.  What I'm so, so, so not happy about is the tarp picking up fairing compound and no doubt spreading it on my tposides, and eventually ending with the condition of my tarp being epoxied to my hull.  I'm sure it will pull away easily since the tarp is so worn out, but I expect to have to sand the hull in a few spots to get rid of the mess.  Not what I had in mind, but with the windows out I absolutely HAVE to keep the tarp on the boat.

I'm dreading my next trip out, but maybe I'll get lucky.

24 Hour West Marine?

My goal last night was to finish up the remaining 6" of deck core on each side.  After some head scratching I decided that I could use balsa for most of it and still have the sealed, reinforced area by the stanchion base.   Because of the countour of that section it was like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle with lots of work for my Dremel.

After piecing both sides together I went into the cabin to mix epoxy.  While I had plenty of resin and hardener, I did NOT have plenty of colloidal silica.  I had just enough to get a slightly-too-thin mix, but thick enough.  Not enough for the starboard side though, so I'll need another trip to finish that off.  If only there was a 24 hour West Marine I could have finished it!

When this last balsa job is done I'll have a tiny section to laminate which is only about 1/4" thick, so not bad at all with the 10 oz. cloth.  Oh yeah, and a whole lot of grinding and itching.  Yuck.

The other job I completed last night was removing the windows from both sides.  I'm going to bring them in to a local glass store that does replacements.  I have too many projects going right now, and I need to get it done, so I'm outsourcing some of the work.  Hopefully they will be able to finish them before its time to paint, and it can all go back together efficiently.

I think I'm seeing light at the end of the tunnel... Or maybe its a mirage...

First Section of Deck Installed!

I had a half-day off of work this afternoon, so I ran down to West Marine to pick up some West System Slow hardener.  The fast I bought was great in the fall and spring, but it's a bit too aggressive for the 70 degree days we're seeing now, especially considering I am not always super-efficient.  The extra pot-time is nice.

Exercising great self control at West Marine I made it out to Ravat in short time and un-tarped her.  The wind wasn't too bad, and I'm starting to get quite good at tightly rolling the big blue beast in between gusts.  Once it turns into a giant sausage tube the wind isn't so brutal.  With a little set up time I pieced back together the balsa sections and did some trials to make sure everything was ready.  When I was confident of the jigsaw pattern I went below to mix the epoxy.

I mixed up 105 resin with 206 slow hardener in a dixie cup and added a few teaspoons of 406 Colloidal Silica to thicken the goop to about a mayonnaise or ketchup consistency.  After cleaning the laminate with acetone I made a sort of fillet around the entire area to soak up imperfections in the balsa fit, then laid down a thin spread over the entire bottom of the deck laminate.  Ideally, this would be done with a notched spreader, but I didn't have one available.  This layer was just thick enough to float above the minor imperfections in the laminate surface, but no more.  I then pressed the deck core into the laminate and aligned everything.

The final step was not easy.  I pressed slowly and with great force (maximum thumb power!) to press the core into the bottom and ensure it was bonding to the laminate, not just floating in the epoxy.  I definitely think a notched spreader would have taken much of the effort out of this step.  I worked my way from the center outward, and from fore to aft.  This stage was where I really appreciated the slow hardener as it took a good 15 minutes to work the excess epoxy out.  When epoxy finally stopped oozing from the joints I spread a thin layer across the top of the balsa to provide a minimal seal until I would be able to lay down glass atop the repair.  My well worn tarp definitely lets in some rain, and I didn't want to let the new balsa go into sponge mode.

It took longer and was messier than I'd anticipated, but I'm very enthusiastic about the finished job.  It looks very clean, and the thickened epoxy did a great job (with the help of a spreader) filling the gaps.  I'm anxious to get back out there and finish this up now that I've stuck my toe in the water and tasted success.

@!%%#$# Sick

The weather didn't cooperate at all today.  It was windy and unseasonably cold, with even a touch of snow.  What sucked the last wind of ambition from my sails was a full blown respiratory and sinus infection.  I'm knocked out of the game for a few few days while I recover.  The weather better recover at the same pace I do as I intend to get back on schedule as soon as possible.

I've been working on adding a lot of pictures and background to the site, catching up many projects to where I am today.  It's been too much to detail each addition individually, but you should be seeing a lot of content coming on line each week...

!%#$#$! Weather

I tried to get some work done today, but the wind was beyond brutal.  The tarp was getting whipped around like a spinnaker in a hurricane, and everything I needed to do would require me to squeeze between the boat and tarp.  To make it worse, it was raining hard at times, which meant I couldn't remove the tarp.  I don't even want to think about how hard it would have been to get it back on.

What really irked me was the amount of rain that had found its way into the boat since I was last out.  I hand-pumped about 20 gallons of water from the cabin and forward bilges.  Not too bad considering how hard it rained, but more than I like.  I really need to finish up the fiberglass work and seal those decks.  If only I could get a few weekends with cooperative weather.

Tomorrow I plan to regroup and try for a few hours of progress.  It's supposed to be below ideal epoxy working temperatures tomorrow, so my big goals all avoid stirring the magic glue.  I need to get the remaining aluminum fittings off the bow, and finish up fitting the starboard balsa core to the deck.  If I can do that I'll be ready to get it all glued down when the first chance presents itself.

Wish for nice whether - I'm going to need it!

Christmas in May

The big box from Jamestown Distributors came today.  I now have the Six10 tubes I need to start filling the hull blisters I ground out.  I also have about half of the pieces I need to re-do the through-hulls, and a nice Groco step wrench.  I can also begin removing all of the through-hulls excepting the cockpit drains.  I don't want to disable them until I'm ready to immediately replace them as that's the one part of the boat that can really scoop up rain.

Unfortunately I need to send some stuff back.  They sent me black 3m 4200, and I want white.  They also mixed up my 1" through-hulls and sent stainless steel rather than bronze.  No big deal.  Jamestown is very good with customer service and I'm confident they will help get it all sorted out.

The real bad news is that the upcoming weekend is looking like it's going to be really lousy weather, so it may not be conducive to getting these projects done.  It's frustrating not to make big leaps each week, but I can only work with what I've got and be thankful that I have a boat.  I do, and I am!

Deck Core Progress!

I snuck out after dinner to steal a few hours of remaining daylight.  In that short window of opportunity I managed to fit the rough cut template into the deck with the help of my trusty Dremel tool and a small sanding drum.

It actually fit almost perfectly, which was a surprise to me.  A little forming here and there, and it slid into place.  Next I need to do the same thing for the starboard side deck and I'll be ready to start mixing epoxy and laying down sand bags.

I was lucky tonight that there was almost no wind, which saved me having to do jiu-jistsu with the tarp.  That can easily add a half hour to an evening of work when it's shifting direction.  Not fun.

It also dawned on me tonight that I need to pull the windows really soon and start figuring out my strategy for replacing the acrylic in them.  It's crazed and cloudy, so I need to put some new pieces in there.

The good news is that I spent two sessions this weekend looking at a white boat rather than a blue tarp.  It was refreshing to feel like I owned a boat and not  the worlds largest blueberry.  

Finally, as I looked off my stern this evening I was treated to a nice sunset over the other boats.  Life is good.   

(Forgive the picture quality, I only had my iPhone along, so they are a bit grainy in the low light.)