Grinding the Keel

On March 26, I spent a brutally cold afternoon grinding away on the keel.  The trusty 8" random orbit sander continues to impress me as having been a good purchase.  My goal was to finish removing the anti-fowling paint from the keel, and then do some light grinder fairing of the fiberglass work on the keel-hull joint.  Both of these objectives were met, and I'm very pleased with the results.  The smooth glass work looks a million times better than the messy 3M 4300 job it replaced.

The only thing I'm debating now is whether or not to repair the minor, but long stress cracks in the gel coat right above the keel-hull joint.  They run almost the length of the keel on the port side.  All are tiny spiderweb sized lines which I think the barrier coat would fill.  Interestingly, there are no cracks at all on the starboard side.  I have requested an estimate from the composites specialist at my boat yard.  He did amazing work on the topsides and decking, so if the cost is reasonable I may have him do it.

My next project will be to apply fairing compound to the keel-hull glass work and smooth out the fabric texture.  I'm thinking two thin coats ought to do it.  My only problem now is waiting out the battle between Winter and Spring.  Temperatures just aren't quite warm enough for Epoxy, so I'm in an anxious holding pattern.

At the point all I should need to do is re-install the rudder and I'll be ready for barrier-coat.  Now THAT will be a dramatic improvement!

2011 Spring Launch Announced!

I received a letter from my marina's service department today informing me of Ravat's launch assignment.  Any day during the week of May 23.  With that, I have reset the launch countdown on this site.  After last year's totally missed season I have taken a more realistic approach to the refit for this spring.  Primarily I will spend time only on activities critical to making the boat float, or engine run.  I will not be doing any activities which can be performed from the water.  I'm going to make this date!

So what's left to do on that critical path?  Oh, just a few things...

1. The rudder bottom was in rough shape, and showing some signs of fiberglass delamination and fuzzing (technical term!).  I also discovered a small crack on the back of the rudder.  So, some grinding, patching, and fairing will be necessary.  This is almost done as I write this.
2. All through-hulls to be installed (yes, ALL of them are out right now!).  I'm not so worried about the plumbing, but the holes need to be plugged.
3. New instruments must be procured and their transducers installed.  My old instruments were shot, and their transducers are out.  Again, the holes need to be plugged!  I'm researching the use of a 20-degree depth sounder from Airmar to avoid the need for fairing blocks.  That would save me a little time.
4. Mast electronics.  I need to order and install an anchor light (leaning towards the Bebi Owl).  Also need to install the combo steaming/deck light, pull a new VHF wire, and install a new VHF antenna.  Need to get this stuff done before the mast it stepped.
5. Reinstall all stanchions and temporarily install the old life lines.  Yes, they are to be replaced as well, but that's not as important as the other activities.
6. Reinstall all miscellaneous deck hardware.  This includes cleats, mast step, bow casting, and more.
7. Replace steering chain & cable.  The old one is badly frayed and a serious hazard.  This will be easier to do now since the rudder is off the boat.
8. Reinstall the batteries and wire them up.  I'll re-do the electronics later while she's in the water.
9. Install the new graphics on the stern, the NYS registration letters on the bow, and the NYS registration sticker.
10. Barrier-coat hull and rudder, apply anti-fouling.
11. Dig mandatory safety items out of storage and stick them on-board.
12. Buy new dock lines (old ones were scary, and I have no faith in their integrity).

That ought to do it!  Yes, that will keep me busy.  Now, I have some fiberglass to grind...

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.