49 year old rig? Lookin' pretty good!

Over the weekend I worked on pulling the standing rigging off the boat so that I could do a visual inspection.  This was somewhat of a challenge, as then top of the mast sticks about six feet off the front of the boat, about ten feet in the air.  What makes it more difficult is that the ground is snow covered, and I do not have a step ladder.  I managed to overcome these difficulties without too much difficulty. 

 The picture to the left is the top of the mast.  This is where the majority of the standing rigging connects to hold the mast up.   This was also the logical place to start in taking the rigging off.  As you can see, it was labeled before being removed, as the wires and fittings are generally identical when removed.  Since much of the rig will probably be reused, it is important to know where the individual wires came from. 

To the right is the cast aluminum fitting on the top of the mast that is the connection point for the forestay, backstay, topping lift, and shims for the halyards.  What the picture shows are the topping lift (to hold the end of the boom up when the main sail is not raised) and the shims (pulley wheels) the allow the halyards (ropes/wires to lift the sails) to run without chaffing.  The top shim is broken, and in need of replacement.  The bottom one is in pretty good shape, but will be replaced anyway.  If I am going to the trouble of replacing one or two of the shims, why not replace them all as cheap insurance against chaffing?  Plus, the ones on the other side of the mast-top fitting are corroded into place and do not turn.  This is a sure sign that replacement is necessary. While I was banging away up on the top of the mast, I noticed that there were spiders crawling around.  Spiders on boats are not unusual.  When we would go sailing on my dad's Kalik 40 on the Chesapeake Bay, we would spend the first five minutes or so on the boat clearing spider webs from the standing rigging and squashing whatever we found for spiders crawling on deck.  The standing rigging makes a great place for webs, since the wind blows through it, bringing the spiders food.  What was surprising about seeing them over the weekend was that it was about 20 or 25 degrees.  Generally insects are not out when it is that cold.  I guess they did not take to being disturbed from their winter sleep. 

When I talked to Jim from Port Rigging, he was very concerned when I mentioned that the backstay had ceramic pieces in it.  To the left is one of the ceramic pieces.  As you can see, the piece is crimped between two lengths of wire.  This is a very poor way to secure the back stay.  Jim said that this kind of connection, with the tight wire bends and crimp connectors, could fail in as little as 20 knots (approx. 22 mph) of wind.  I am not okay with that!  The reason for the ceramics being in the backstay in the first place is to isolate a length of the backstay to be used as an antenna for say, the onboard VHF radio.  While having a permanent antenna without having to buy one is great, but at the risk of losing the entire rig and the safety of those aboard is unacceptable.  I happen to like to sail on heavy wind days.  I used to race dingies in the fall and spring, and sometimes we would go out on days that there were small craft advisory warnings by the US Coast Guard.  This meant that it was determined that the wind was too strong for small boats (25+ knots of wind speed) to operate safely, so they should not be on the water.  This was directed at boats bigger than the 14 foot dingies we were sailing, as well as boats that had more than just human ballast.  My point is, sailing in heavy wind, when you know what you are doing, is a lot of fun!  When you have an inherent (and fixable) flaw in your rig, it is unwise to sail at all, let alone in heavy wind. 

Since we are talking flaws  in the rig, take a look at the next two photos.  What you are looking at is one of the lower shrouds.  More specifically, you are looking at the swaged (crimped) on fitting that connects the wire to the hull and mast.  This is a very structural part of the rig, so it is important that it is in good condition.  As I am trying to show here, this fitting is cracked.  The second photo shows a crack on the opposite side of the same fitting.  The cracks mean that the fitting is no good and needs to be replaced. 

I wanted to go with mechanical fittings on the ends of the rigging, but it is not practical for the moment.  What the mechanical connectors do for me is give me the ability to replace just the wire, or just the connector, in the rigging.  The most important thing is it is something I can do myself without buying an expensive swage tool.  Here is the catch: each mechanical fitting (Norseman or Staylok brands) cost about $100 per fitting.  That means for replacing the lower shroud, it will cost $200 for just the fittings, and not including the wire to bridge the gap between the fittings (approx. $3/foot).  To replace the pair, as rigging should be done, it would be about $500 with wire.  That is $500 for the smallest set of shrouds/stays on the boat.  With the swaged on connectors like the ones in the pictures (approx $20 each), both lowers could be replaced for about $100 in parts.  While I would like the ability to change the rigging on my own, the cost at the moment is impossibly high for such wants.  Also, I am not planning on cruising into the 3rd world on this boat, so the need to be able to fix all of the systems on the boat is not as important.  The other consideration is that I might not keep this boat for very long.  I might decide it is too small for my purposes, and need something else.  Then I have just spent a whole lot of money for someone else to benefit from.  Not that that is a bad thing, but I would not see the return on the investment.

In general, I have a hard time believing that this rig is original.  Unless this rig was pulled down at the end of every season and stored indoors, there is no accounting for the generally great condition of the standing rigging other than it was replaced not too long ago.  In any case, rigging is supposed to only last about 20 years (as the standard goes, but always with exceptions), so having a 49 year old rig in wonderful shape is dubious.  Plus, the ceramics used in the backstay are prone to solar/IR degradation, so they should not be in that great of shape either.  In any case, it is nice to know that the rigging is not bad, in general, and my replacement costs are not going to be huge.


 Several weekends ago, when it was in the 50's and I did some glassing on the boat, I was able to glass over the third through hull hole for the head.  Instead of trying to use a plastic sheet to achieve the same hull curve, I decided that masking/painter's tape would do just fine.  This is NOT a racing boat, so extreme accuracy and fairness (smoothness) are not necessarily warranted.  It turns out, I should have used masking tape on the other holes, as this one turned out perfectly smooth, so no sanding is required.  I never said my efforts would be perfect or go correctly the first time. 


I am not sure what to do next, more destruction or more construction.  Please chime in with your thoughts as to what I should do next!  Pull the port bunk out, or build hatches so I can enclose the cabin? 

Standing or Running?

I had a very enlightening conversation with Jim from Port Rigging this evening over a nice frosty beverage (silly, since the temperature has been in the single digits and teens all week!).  If you need a rigger in Portland, Jim is your guy.  We talked about the standing rigging on the sailboat, which is the wire that holds the mast up.  When I mentioned that my back stay (wire running from the top of the mast to the stern, or back of the boat) had ceramic pieces in it to isolate it as an antenna, he immediately told me I have to replace it because it is a safety risk.  Good to know, since I do not want my ignorance to be the cause of someone else being injured.  We also discussed the prospect of upgrading the back stay to an adjustable one made of super strong synthetic fibers and a 6 to 1 block and tackle system.  He also mentioned that it is a great idea to make sure that all of the connection points between the rig and the hull are up to par, as it is foolish to buy new rigging if their attachment points are going to rip out when there is a decent blow on.  I have to extend a huge thank you to Jim for taking time to talk to me and offer to take a look at my rigging once I do a preliminary look into it.  His expertise is infinitely helpful to me and my project, and "thank you" does not even begin to cover my gratitude for his assistance.

In other news, I was unable to work on the boat last weekend.  I injured my back at work, so had to take the weekend off and rest so that I could get back to work for this week.  I am hoping to get the rigging off and assessed this weekend, and I might also get around to making some progress on hatches this weekend too!  In any case, stay tuned for more updates!


PS- Sorry, no pictures.  I know you all love pictures!  More this weekend, I promise!

Some Itch and Scratch (Also, 3M™ Scotch-Brite™ Grinding Disc Kit product review)

There was another beautiful day in the State of Maine yesterday.  Sunny and 55 in January is not normal, but I will take it!!!!  It allowed me to do the fiberglassing that I did not get accomplished on Sunday.  Even then, I did not get all of it done, but I made good progress, and at least have the bulkhead tabbed into place, but I am getting ahead of myself here.

This is a technique that I saw in Don Casey's This Old Boat, and I thought that it looked like it is a good idea.  What you are looking at (left) are the tabs that I cut out of the bottom of the bulkhead.  This allowed me to pass fiberglass tape (1 and 1/2 inch fiberglass fabric) through the holes and have a solid, mechanical connection of the bulkhead to the hull.  This means that the bulkhead has more strength in place.  When it was tabbed into place by Columbia Yachts, they only ran a piece of glass cloth about 2 inches up the side of the bulkhead, and 2 inches were on the hull for the entire length of the hull-bulkhead joint.  While this is adequate (it lasted 49 years) and cost effective for mass production, the strength factor is not as great as it could be.  I did realize that after I had started tabbing the bulkhead into place that, should I have to do this again, it is going to be a COLOSSAL pain to get it back out.  The hope is that I will not have to do this project again on the same side of the boat.

Before I started to glass the bulkhead into place, I had to make fillets along the base of the bulkhead.  Fillets, if you're curious, are some sort of filler material (in this case, Bondo) that softens the angle between the bulkhead and the hull to something less than 90 degrees.  The reason for doing this is because the fiberglass fabric really, REALLY does not like to make sharp bends, particularly 90 degree bends.  The fillets make the transition from plywood to hull a softer, more easily conformed to shape.  The other benefit to doing this is that there is more surface area where the bulkhead meets the hull.  Sometimes when fiberglass boats get old, they begin to show hard spots, or places where bulkheads, fixtures, etc,  have made marks or have deformed the fiberglass because of stress and time.  These areas are less structurally sound than the surrounding fiberglass.  Luckily I have not found any hard spots on the boat, which is amazing for a 49 year old fiberglass boat. 

I had to do the tabbing in sections because I could not effectively mix large quantities of epoxy resin and have time to use it all before it started to harden.  I did two through tabs at a time, which was pretty effective.  I pre-cut the glass tape, as it would make a mess trying to cut glass tape from the roll with gloved hands covered in resin.  I had to wet out the tape (completely saturate with resin) to get a good bond to the hull and other layers of glass.  I also had to take the time to make sure that there were not bubbles between the layers, as this ruins the strength of the bonds, as well as allowing for the potential for water to be trapped in the bubbles.  The final step in the process was to lay a piece of tape along the seam of the bulkhead and hull.  While I did not have the daylight, energy, or glass prepped to do this piece of the puzzle satisfactorily, I did get one piece in place, and for the time being, it will have to do.  When it gets warm again, I will take the time to cut pieces of fabric that will give me at least a 2 inch surface on both the bulkhead and hull.  I figure if 2 inches of glass was good enough for 49 years, that is what I should do in the repair process. 

PRODUCT REVIEW: 

3M™ Scotch-Brite™ Grinding Disc Kit

I do not have a cordless sander.  I was going to try to buy a corded sander, and see if I could bum some electricity off of my gracious host, but decided against it.  When I was at Napa picking up some other supplies, I noticed a 3M product.  They were drill mounted sanding pads, which looked like exactly what I needed.  I picked up a box of the sanding pads, and went on my way.  When I got to the boat, I realized my mistake.  I had not picked up the piece that the pads mount into.  I tried to fit them into the chuck of my drill anyway, but it was hopeless.  The pads, because they were threaded on the back side for the mount, would not seat in the drill chuck in a square manner, thus making the sanding pads difficult at best.  I had to go back to Napa to see what I had missed.  I found the kit, and what I thought was going to be a great kit for $20 turned into a kit for almost $50.  Not such a great deal, BUT I do have to say, for my purposes, and not having anything but a cordless drill, they were just what I needed.  Also, $50 is still quite a bit less than a corded sander would have cost me, let alone a cordless one!  The only issue I had with the sanding disks was clearance.  I was trying to sand in and around a cabinet that had been mounted to the bulkhead.  Because the cabinet was there, I could not get into some of the places I needed to with the drill/sander because it was too big.  Everywhere else I used it though, it was pretty good.  I still would have preferred to use my pneumatic orbital sander, as that is an amazing piece of equipment!!!  If you're in a pinch, only have a cordless drill (or Dremil tool or similar) then this is a pretty good product.  It will never replace a dedicated sander, or even the feel from a sanding block and piece of sand paper.  I know, I have spent a lot of time sanding fiberglass by hand.  This sanding kit from 3M was helpful, but if would have been nice to see a label on the package telling me I needed the chuck piece, rather than figuring it out the hard way and wasting some of my time.  Maybe they just expect their customers to open their eyeballs and use their brains, which is understandable, and what I should have done.  Thats what happens when you're in a rush though.  

VERDICT: 

If you can get a real sander, do it.  If not, this is a pretty decent substitute so long as you have the space to maneuver it into the places you are sanding.  Would I buy it again?  Yes.  Will I use my eyes and brain next time I go to buy a new tool?  Maybe.  We will see!  ;)

Something constructive to talk about!

I wanted to say thank you all for helping me reach 1000 page views.  I know, there is no real reason to have that as a goal, but what makes me excited is that people are following what I am doing!  Thank you all for continuing to view my blog!!!

Okay, so, earlier in the week I ordered and picked up my sheet of marine plywood for the bulkhead.  I was hopeful to get more done today than I did, but isn't that always the case.  What I did get accomplished was some new construction.  I talked a while back about my Tacoma pickup that I got.  I found it to be very useful today.  Who needs sawhorses when you have the rails of the pickup bed to support your work on?  I have also found that the tailgate makes a very useful work bench.  The verdict on the truck is this:  it was ABSOLUTELY the right choice for where I am in my life!

As you can see, it took many attempts to fit the bulkhead into the space, but that is okay, because I was actually able to put it in place as one solid piece.  I was worried that I would have to cut it into two pieces to make it fit, because this could have compromised some of the strength of the bulkhead, but also could have made a nice, ugly seam across it that would be visible to anyone entering the boat.

I had made a template for the bulkhead, and that was my starting point for how big to cut the piece.  I second guessed myself on the template though, and cut the bulkhead bigger than what was traced from the template.  This translated into many more fitting attempts.  In the end, it was a relatively straight forward process of fitting, trimming, fitting, trimming, fitting, etc.  My dear friend Jeff asked me yesterday if I was interested in doing historical boat restorations, and after today, I am certain that I DO NOT have the patience for that kind of work on a regular basis.  For "small" projects such as this, I can manage.

I even took the time to drill and through-bolt the bulkhead to the cabin top, as the original bulkhead was.  As you can see, the cover piece for the nuts was also added to the backside of the bulkhead.  The plan for today was to fiberglass the bulkhead into place, but unfortunately I ran out of warm temps and daylight.  I will be back bright and early to get started on the glassing project since it is supposed to be 50+ degrees tomorrow.  While I love winter and am upset that winter in Maine in the last few winters has been disappointing, I am very greatful to global warming for allowing me to fiberglass in January without the use of indoor spaces or heaters.

As a side note, as I was leaving, I tightened the stand that was under the bulkhead.  I had loosened it because the pressure from the stand was causing the hull to flex inward, and I did not want the bulkhead to be permanently skewed inward.  When I tightened it with the bulkhead only wedged into place, the hull did not flex.  This is a good thing for two reasons.  1) Flexing of fiberglass causes it to crack and break, allowing water to penetrate.  2) A hull that keeps its shape in the water (aka- the hull does not flex) is going to be faster in the water than one that has a poorly supported and therefore flexible hull.  No, this boat is not going to ever be a real performer or a racer, but having a very structurally sound and stiff hull is important regardless.

AC/DC Baby!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wish I was talking about the rock band.  I am actually going to be talking about AC and DC electric systems and how NOT to wire them.  First, however, I would like to mention that it is indeed winter in Maine, even if they are projecting 50 degree F by the end of the week.  If you would take note, I have had to shovel paths around the boat so that I can place my ladder and untie the tarp to allow me access to the boat.  I have also noticed that the cold and warm alternating the weather has been doing has caused the boat and stands to shift.  There have been two or three times when I have arrived to work on the boat, and one or more of the boat stands are not touching the boat.  It makes me nervous, but that is why I have 5 stands.  I've seen the boat supported on only three (when being offloaded from the trailer), so I know it is possible, but it still worries me.



It was also Christmas recently.  My parents have a sense of humor.  Because I work in the shipping industry, I saw more Amazon boxes than I care to think about.  So my mother decided to be funny and put my gifts in Amazon boxes.  Not funny mom, not funny!  The gifts from my parents are quite useful.  I got a wind up flashlight, which was used extensively for the work I did this weekend.  I also received rubber work gloves, which also came in handy when working in 20 something degree weather with metal tools.  I also received money from my grandparents that will be used to buy some much needed marine plywood, but that is next weekend's project.  Thank you all for your gifts and support in the project!  It is needed and much appreciated!!

Now, on to ROCK AND ROLL!!!  I mean, AC/DC.  I mean..... electricity?  The previous owner had put in an AC (alternating current) shore power system.  Think: wall outlet in your house (120v).  I knew I needed to remove the system not only because if it's age, but I suspected it of not being up to marine spec in terms of components and installation.  The twist on caps used to wire some of the system are acceptable in house AC systems.  Generally in houses you do not have to worry about pervasive and persistent moisture, nor do you have to generally worry about dangerous gas build up in enclosed spaces.  Both are issues on boats for the following reasons: 1) The boat is in water, so no matter how dry you keep the inside, there will always be high humidity.  This can lead to corrosion of the connections because they are not sealed (heat shrink tubing, etc) which can then lead to excessive heat being generated by the poor connections.  This, with 120v AC systems can very quickly lead to fire, which is never good.  2) Boats generally have inboard motors (gasoline or diesel) and or stoves (propane, alcohol, gas, diesel, etc) that, with the exception of diesel, have the possibility of having their fumes pool in the low points in the boat, making for an explosive mixture needing only a spark to ruin your day.  This is why ALL wire connections are supposed to be sealed in one manner or another, even on the DC (direct current) system. 

I was hopeful that the wiring the previous owner used was going to be re-useable, unfortunately it is not.  Basically, it is extension cord wire, and that is not really good enough for doing the AC system on the boat.  It is not terrible, but it is not up to spec.  The wiring in boat systems, AC or DC, needs to all be tinned.  What this means is that EVERY SINGLE STRAND of copper wire is covered in a thin layer of tin to prevent corrosion.  That makes it very expensive, which was probably the main consideration when the previous owner installed their system.  Thankfully, I will not have to install an AC system until late summer or fall, so I can put off the costs and that segment of the project for the time being. 

Now, we come to the DC (direct current) 12v system that most of the boat systems will run off of.  A 12v system is by no means as dangerous as a 120v AC system, but is can also pose a fire hazard.  This is why the 12v DC system needs to be constructed with as much care as the 120v AC power system. Many of the same issues that I outlined above for the AC system are true for the DC system also.  Corrosion, poor connections, and sparks are all issues.  The panel and the battery switch (in my hand in the picture) are the brain of the system.  They are necessary to power the systems, like navigation lights, bilge pumps, and radios, and be able to turn them off when not is use.  This means that because it is the control center, it needs to be somewhere easily accessible.  The fuse panel and battery switch were mounted to the V-berth in the front of the boat, meaning that when you wanted to turn something on or off, you had to traverse the entire length of the cabin.  That does not sound that bad, since the boat is only 26 feet long, but when you're in a hurry, and have to climb the companionway ladder also, it makes the extra steps and stooping steps that could be avoided by placing these components in the main cabin, and closer to the companionway.  This is the goal for me and my retrofit.  

As you can see, the back of the fuse panel is a mess.  If I have learned nothing over the years working on cars, motorcycles, boats, and everything else, I have learned that when you have a mass of wires, LABEL THEM!!!!!!!!!  I also sometimes do that with hardware too, when it is very specific to a component.  It makes the rebuild process much faster!  When I started to remove the wires from the fuse panel, I noticed that they were all wired with those darn twist on caps that the AC system had been done with.  I am glad that I found this, if for no other reason, so I can fix it so it is correct.  I would have preferred that it had been done correctly in the first place, but what do I expect from an $800 boat?  Sometimes too much, that is for sure.  

I have ordered my 1/2 inch plywood for the main bulkhead, so I think that I may be able to get that cut out, put in place, and maybe screwed into place so that I can work on bunk deconstruction.  I decided that I needed to put the bulkhead into place before removing the bunk.  The bulkhead and the bunk hold the galley cabinet in place, and I do not want to have to try to figure out where it goes if it moves out of place.  More on that next week though!

PS- If you made it this far and find my post somewhat incoherent, it might be because I am sleep deprived.  My bad....  :)

Its days like these.....

I know its been a while since I posted.  I have been working extra shifts for the holiday season, both to make money for the boat, but also because both of my jobs are incredibly busy during the holiday season.  However, on to boat related things.

It is days like today that make me wonder if I might be making a crazy mistaken decision.  It was 0 degrees F this morning when I was at work.  I was cold in my apartment, and wondered on my drive to work this morning past the steaming ocean whether I am making a mistake.  My thoughts were something like this:

If I was cold in my apartment, how cold would I have been on the boat?
Do I really want to do winter in an even smaller space than I already live?
What am I going to do if I get to the end of summer and realize this isn't for me?
How well am I going to be able to heat the boat?
What happens if it does not get warm enough for me to finish my projects before my lease on my apartment runs out?

In case you are wondering, I do have my doubts, and they were many this morning.  I am not inhuman.  I cannot just power though the project without wondering if it is going to work.  I am willing to voice my doubts.  Honestly, if I did not have doubts about this endeavor, I would be worried that there was something that I was really missing as a key piece of information!  This is a big project, but also a big change in my lifestyle.  No longer will I have copious amounts of space to fill with stuff.  I will have to temper every purchase with the question "Do I have space and a real NEED for this purchase?"  If I cannot answer yes to both parts of the question, then I can't buy it, which is something new for me.  I think it will be a good thing, but new and, therefore, will take adjusting to. 

In other thought processes this week, I have determined that I will probably be living on a mooring this summer rather than in a marina at the dock.  That means that I will have to be self sufficient in terms of power for lights and electronics.  This means I need solar panels because wind generators are too expensive!  Fortunately I am happy to experiment with off the grid living, as it is also one of my life goals.  Even better, I think I found some marine grade solar panels at a very low price.  I am a bit skeptical because you generally get what you pay for, but when you are on a budget, sometimes you have to go with the cheap alternative because you cannot afford the good stuff.  On the other hand, when you buy top quality equipment, it last longer, saving you on replacement costs and repairs.  The solar panels are an unusual size (long and narrow), so that might fit into the price factor.  Who knows.  I hope Monday I can get some things done for the boat, but we will see.  More updates to come.