Continuing port bow repair

Apologies for the lack of a post last week but I was away sailing for a few days and didn't get home until Friday afternoon followed by a bit of a short week this week however I have been continuing with building up the port bow area the section at the top of the flair has taken most of the time I have been building it up with epoxy and glass tape. It has been necessary to sand this area back  every so often to try and achieve the correct profile.

From the above photograph it can be seen that I am almost at the point that I can begin to fill and fair the repair area but first I need to make a couple of templates up from the starboard side so that I can copy the flair onto the port side, that will be a job for Monday.

While I have been waiting for the epoxy to cure on the bow I finished off the cable links between the sacrificial anode and various underwater fittings namely the 'P' bracket, rudder gland, rudder stock, the engine exhaust skin fitting and the engine. This was carried out in 10awg tinned copper cable.

Links to the anode

Connections to rudder stock etc

The current homework project is the woodwork for the aft cabin, after looking closely at the original woodwork it appears that the ply itself is in reasonable condition it is only the veneer that is peeling off so I have decided to remove all the old veneer clean up the woodwork and then paint it white and then varnish the trim around the locker doors. The original veneer, which I think is real wood with a foil backing, was glued on with an impact adhesive and while the veneer proved to be fairly easy to remove with a wide flat wallpaper scraper the old adhesive proved to be a bit more stubborn eventually I found that the way to remove it was with a tungsten carbide scraper followed up by a good sanding. The internal divider and shelves in the aft cabin lockers have been covered in a red flock type finish which was fairly common in boats of this age it looks as if it was spray applied through the locker doors once the units had been assembled in place so the rear of the front panels will require some work to remove the over spray before painting.

Panels showing peeling veneer

Original veneer showing foil back

First panel with veneer removed

I am not quite sure what to do with the sliding locker doors these are thin ply with the veneer glued to each side and once the veneer has been removed they may be a bit too thin I can think about them while scraping off the old adhesive. I had to remove the door knobs to get the doors out, the knobs are aluminium secured from the back with mild steel screws and after 40 something years of corrosion I had to drill the screw heads off to be able to remove the knobs.

It is the Kent boat jumble this Sunday and one of the more satisfying upsides of a project like New Morning is that I have a legitimate reason to go and with a good chance that I will buy something that I actually will use. 

External cosmetic work

A bit of a short post this week but as mentioned last week I started on the external cosmetic work with a promising weather forecast for fibreglass work in the offing. When I bought the boat I was aware of some cracks in the gelcoat on the port bow they did not look like your usual run of the mill stress cracks so this is where I started.

Cracks on port bow

After a bit of prodding it turned out that there was some delamination in this area or probably more to the point it was not properly laminated in the first place as the gelcoat was easily pried away along with the chopped strand mat immediately behind it most of which showed a distinct lack of resin perhaps this part of the operation was reached on a Friday afternoon anyway I carried on removing the stuff until I got back to good solid laminate.

Extent of the problem

I then chamfered down the edges of the area and removed all the suspect chopped strand mat, gave the whole area a good sanding then cleaned everything up with acetone ready to start laying up some new glass cloth and epoxy resin. I was going to use paper templates and then pre cut the glass cloth to size but in the end I cut the cloth a bit over size and once the epoxy had cured just trimmed off the excess and sanded along the edge. 

Close of play today

I used some offcuts of 4mm ply left over from the headlining panels to produce some templates from the starboard bow as particularly on the sharp edge at the top of the flair requires quite a lot of building up. This sharp edge in my humble opinion is a poor design feature as there was a small void where the chopped strand mat met the inside of the edge this was exacerbated by the shortage of resin in this area. From the photograph there is still some more glass work required at the upper edge of the flair the blue painted area is glassed up to the required level but will require some filling and fairing to give a decent finish the aim is to get the rest of the new glass laid up on Monday as I will be away for the rest of the week.

I also finished the aft cabin washboards this week on the face of it there doesn't seem to be a great deal of progress made but the glass fibre work seemed to be progressing slowly but I did have to take some time out to procure additional materials but that's the nature of these projects sometimes they go forward in leaps and bounds and at other times progress seems painfully slow.

Aft cabin washboards back in place

  

  

Oil leak, washboards etc

I put a third and final coat of  International Woodskin on the saloon washboards over last weekend so that I could put them back on Monday morning this has improved the appearance of the cockpit considerably.

Saloon washboards

My original intention had been to cut down the temporary washboard that I had made fore the saloon companionway to fit the aft cabin companionway however I found some off cuts of ply sufficient for the aft cabin so cut out a temporary set of washboards so that I could take the boards home and refurbish them. Doing the job this way gives me a complete set of temporary washboards should I need them in the future.

Aft cabin temporary washboards

The final job for Monday was to repair the oil leak on the gearbox control valve this was a straightforward job after disconnecting the teleflex control cable it was a matter of removing four nuts and lifting off the control valve. On inspection it was only the joint between the valve and the gearbox that was leaking so just a matter of making a new gasket and replacing the valve. Once the valve had been replaced I started the engine and success the oil leak was no more.

The control valve is the piece connected to the grey teleflex cable just left and above centre of the above photograph.

The current homework job is to refurbish the aft cabin washboards I have dismantled them just required a gentle tap with a mallet as all the glue joints had failed.

Aft cabin washboards dismantled

The next part of the job will be to remove all the old varnish/wood stain and reassemble the boards ready for the application of three coats of International Woodskin.

On Wednesday I began by fitting a plywood backing pad for a new skin fitting for the gas locker drain the existing drain discharges into the cockpit which is most unsatisfactory as the cockpit drains discharge below the waterline which would mean any leaking liquid gas would remain in the cockpit.

Existing gas locker drain

Once this was done and while the epoxy was curing I set too and had a good clean up of the cockpit as a lot of work had been carried out there it was becoming a bit of a mess with glue, paint and varnish drips also a number of holes had been quickly filled to keep out the rain these required fairing. I started by giving all the white gelcoat areas a rough sanding to remove the drips and excess epoxy from the repairs I looks much cleaner now but it will still require a cut and polish to finish it off. The non slip areas still need to be addressed they are a mixture of trakmark and non slip paint the trakmark is not in good condition much of it is peeling off I need to decide whether or not to replace it or remove it all and apply some non slip deck paint.

Cockpit after cleaning up

Today I began by installing the new skin fitting for the gas locker drain and then just a matter of fitting the hose to connect the locker with the skin fitting.

New skin fitting

Drain hose

Once the gas locker drain was completed I installed the discharge pipe from the saloon bilge pump to the discharge skin fitting in the heads hanging locker I require a new strum box and pump overhaul kit so that I can complete the installation.

Saloon bilge pump and discharge hose

Yesterday I obtained some 'P' clips to secure the fuel tank vent hose to the bulkhead to retain a loop to prevent any water running back down the vent to the tank.

Fuel tank vent hose loop

There are two fuel tank vent fittings in the photograph I am assuming that perhaps the boat had two fuel tanks at some time although when I got her they had both been removed.

Next week the plan is to get on with some external cosmetic repairs while the weather is still suitable for such work there are a number of areas on the topsides that require some attention.

Another milestone passed

I did not post last week as I was away on a sailing trip but I did get the saloon washboards glued up and sanded ready for finishing before I left. I used thickened epoxy to glue the parts together after cleaning with acetone and priming the joints with straight epoxy.

Washboards sanded ready for finishing

This week I had decided to get the engine up and running but before I could do that I spent some time trying to get the oil pressure gauge working when switching on the engine panel the gauge went full scale. After checking out the wiring it appeared that there was a problem with connections somewhere so I cut off the end of the cable at the pressure sender and crimped on some new insulated female spade connectors an voila the oil pressure gauge went to zero pressure on switching on. 

After putting some fuel in the tank and venting the fuel system I managed to get the engine to start and run at idle speed I could not let it run for too long as I needed a raw water supply to cool the exhaust however I was satisfied with the way it ran there is a small fuel leak to repair and an oil leak on the gearbox control valve, this engine has a hydraulic gearbox, it looks like a case of new gaskets for the control valve which is as far as I can see a fairly simple operation.

Today I rigged up a water supply to the raw water side of the cooling system and fitted the raw water pump impeller. The raw water supply was a fresh water hose into a bucket with a temporary hose from the raw water pump into the bucket I would not connect the water supply hose direct to the raw water pump as it is possible to flood the engine through the exhaust elbow. The engine started straight away once I had remembered to push the engine stop knob back to the run position. I found that at idle speed the supply hose would fill the bucket so every so often I had to give the engine a bit more throttle to stop the bucket overflowing.

Engine running and pumping water

Again the engine ran well with no smoking I ran it for over an hour and it came up to operating temperature and after lubricating the cutlass bearing with some washing up liquid I tried ahead and astern gears without any problems. The oil pressure gauge went back to showing a full scale deflection again but after moving the wiring harness about it reverted to showing the oil pressure although it reads 87psi which is a bit on the high side the book says 30-60psi at maximum revs and normal operating temperature, in light of the problems experienced with the gauge I tend to think that this is a gauge malfunction sometime I will completely rewire the gauge, it is of course possible that the gauge and sender are not compatible as the sender I believe is original but at sometime the gauge head has been replaced albeit with a VDO manufactured unit. 

The alternator seems to be functioning correctly and charging the battery once the revs are increased above 1000rpm.

Revs increased above 1000rpm battery charging

Apart from a couple of minor leaks I now have an operational engine which is the next major milestone along this project which is very satisfying given that I had not seen the engine run when I bought the boat. In between working on the engine I managed to get a couple of coats of International Woodskin on the saloon washboards I was hoping to get the final coat on today but the weather was not going to play ball so I will complete them at home this weekend.

Saloon washboards awaiting final coat

I have been using International Woodskin for sometime on exterior bright work as I find it is a lot more durable than varnish I doesn't have the deep gloss of varnish but it is a lot less work which I can live with.

Forward cabin

After making and fitting the supporting timbers I trial fitted the port side locker front panels these are an even worse fit than the starboard side unless I am missing something about the original installation. The port side panels are a good 25mm short on height I really cannot see how they were originally fitted with such a large gap at the top.

Port side panels showing gap at the top

I think that I will have to replace the panels on both sides at the moment on the port side the top securing screws will completely miss the support timber even allowing for the lining carpet being wrapped around the panel top and bottom and a varnished timber trim piece at the top. There is still a bit more work to be done before the panels can be permanently fitted the navigation light wiring needs to be installed and there are still a couple of leaks into the chain locker to be sorted.

Over last weekend I made the adaptor for the engine sea water system the nylon came from a company called Direct Plastics first rate service and they will supply small amounts the parcel also contained a small packet of sweeties unfortunately the children have grown up, or so they claim, and left home so I had to eat them all myself. The engine sea water system is now complete so it just needs some fuel in the tank before I can try and start it that could well be interesting as far as I am aware it could well be at least seven years since it last ran.

The washboards to both companionways require some remedial work basically they require taking to pieces, sanding down and reassembling.

Saloon washboards

As can be seen each board is built up and the glue joints to the side pieces have failed they only needed a gentle tap with a mallet before they moved.

I made up a temporary one piece washboard from some old shuttering ply that came with the boat as a temporary cockpit floor while the engine was out it has seen much better days but will do the job and once the saloon washboards are complete I shall cut it down to fit the aft cabin so that these washboards can be refurbished.

Temporary washboard

The saloon washboards are this weekends homework job I have taken off most of the edge pieces all except one which refuses to budge I suppose it is possible that it has already been attended to and if it won't move after whacking it with a mallet I shall leave it otherwise I could end up doing some damage.

All ready for sanding

New Morning has a deck stepped mast the mast step is mounted on a timber cored area of the coach roof similar to most boats of this type. I had some concerns about the possible condition of the timber core, a common problem is that water leaks in and rots the core allowing the mast to drop and although there were no signs of the timber having rotted, cracks in the gelcoat around the mast step, a while ago I drilled a hole up into the core in way of the mast from underneath and the timber appeared to be dry in this area. Today I decided to investigate further one area where water is likely to leak in it is in way of the cable glands for the various cables attached to equipment on the mast as the holes for the cables had just been drilled through the deck and the core. A better way of creating access for the cables is to drill the holes out over size and then fill the hole with thickened epoxy and then re drill the hole through the epoxy once it has cured. To this end I removed the old cable glands and used a hole saw to open up the cable access holes I figured that it would enable me to get a good idea of the core condition at this vulnerable point and if it was in good condition all I had to do was refill the holes with thickened epoxy and re drill the access holes for the cables.

Cable access holes opened out

The ply core was in a good dry condition and so after giving the holes a good clean with acetone I laid up several layers of glass cloth and epoxy on the underside and primed the wood inside the holes with epoxy, once this had gelled I filled the holes with thickened epoxy. To stop any rainwater ingress I shall leave it at that until the mast goes up I will then fit new cable glands and drill the access holes for the cables.

Tea up

I have been looking around for a butane cylinder so that I could get the cooker up and running but there don't seem to be any spare ones about so last weekend I had to bite the bullet and buy one the law of sod says that two free ones will be along shortly but hey ho. The next problem was to obtain a suitable kettle everybody and his dog will sell you an electric one but try asking for a proper kettle that goes on a gas cooker, eventually found one at a local branch of B&M made in China but it's a kettle. Monday morning saw the gas cylinder installed and the pipework tested with soapy water I found a couple of small leaks which only needed nipping up a bit more the cooker works fine and best of all I can make tea on board no more hot water in thermos flasks.

Kettle is on

Gas locker

Now that I can boil water the fitting of hoses is much easier just dip the end in hot water so the next job was to replace the hoses for the anchor well drains the existing hoses had seen better days. The hoses are only short and 1.5" hose is not particularly flexible over that length, I found the easiest way to do this was to remove the drain fittings in the deck first then clean it all then up put it back through the deck and fit the new hose to it then slacken the nut right back and push the fitting up, run some mastic around the sealing face then warm up the other end of the hose and push it onto the overboard skin fitting, the nut for the deck fitting can then be tightened down, fit the Jubilee clips and the jobs done. I think the explanation makes sense I suppose a few more photographs would have been a good Idea.

Existing hoses

New hose on starboard side

Now that the anchor well drain hoses have been renewed I am able to get on with the rest of the fore cabin these hoses are pretty well inaccessible once the locker front panels are in place. For the moment I am fitting the original front panels to see how they fit and if all is well I intend to line them with van lining carpet which should give a nice warm feel to the fore cabin. I managed to get the starboard side in place today the fit was not brilliant but I think that with a bit of fettling and once the lining carpet is glued in place they will look quite presentable. 

Starboard side lockers temporarily in place

I have not decided on a colour yet I was thinking of possibly a darker shade of grey to that used for the head lining.

This weekends homework job is to produce an adaptor to connect two different size hoses so that I can complete the engine sea water system I have sourced a piece of 32mm nylon rod which arrived today the minimum order was 500mm so there will be a bit left over but these things are always handy to have.  

Back to work

I have been off sailing again which has meant two short working weeks so this post will be somewhat short, before going away I finished up in the battery locker I had a couple of ratchet straps handy so I shortened them down and used them to secure the battery I used one for the service battery and the other one will be for the engine battery when it is installed.

Space for the engine battery

Service battery secured

Battery locker

The crocodile clips on the battery are for the small solar panel that I use to keep the battery topped up the plan is to install a much larger panel before the boat goes in the water.

The other project this week has been to remove some of the bolts from the stemhead fitting for inspection I removed a total of four bolts which were all in good condition there being no signs of crevice corrosion I did however replace them with new bolts. This was a particularly awkward job as it meant crawling into the chain locker and reaching round the anchor well but it was worthwhile doing giving some peace of mind.

Stemhead fitting bolts replaced

The stemhead fitting still requires cleaning up once the mastic has cured I will give the whole thing a good clean up. There is a bit of making good to be carried out on the port bow some of the cracking to the gelcoat can be seen in the above photograph the bow has obviously had a bit of a clout at some time as far as I can see this is superficial damage to the gelcoat there is no evidence of damage internally.

The rest of the time has been spent clearing up some loose ends in particular the engine sea water pipework I was not happy with the first attempt with the pipe clipped to the port side of the engine space there is little enough room down the side of the engine as it is so I moved it so that it runs under the engine. I have also installed the anti siphon for the sea water system  but I still have the final connections to make to the exhaust elbow. I really must bite the bullet and get on with getting the engine running the installation is almost complete just a couple of sea water hose connections to make and put some fuel in the tank.

Finally I obtained some more Jubilee clips so that I could finish of the waste pipe for the galley sink and heads washbasin