2009 building logs

September 2009 Internal works continue

As I said last month the work for a while now is going to be inside the boat. For a long while. I estimate I have various plumbing and wiring to take me a couple of months and then the furniture work starts.  I am deliberately leaving the side decks and the front of the cabin top off the boat to give me more light and air inside the boat. After the bulk of the furniture is in I will than glue and glass these last panels onto the boat to close it up. Then the boat can be faired. But that is many months off yet (probably next winter so that it is more pleasant to do this kind of work). For now back to the plumbing, wiring and soles.

Sept 1 Starboard ensuite sole dry fit

The first thing I do at the start of a new season is check on the pureseal. This check is 2 years 9 months. The theory is that in winter the water is colder and growth is slower, but I have not noticed much difference on the panel over the years between any particular period here. The panel this time had slightly thicker than usual algal slime on it and what looked like fungal type growth here and there, but as usual it rubbed off mainly with the pad of my index finger. Here and there I used my finger nail and I also tried a wet cloth (tea towel) and the panels came out just as clean as they usually do. As I have noted in the past there are tiny scratches on the surface, I am not sure how they got there and I am not sure if they are getting any worse but they don't seem to be effecting the efficiency of the panel in stopping growth from sticking to it and apart from the algae, no crustacean growth has adhered to the plate yet.

With the through sole holes cut in the correct position, de-cored and back filled and sanded smooth again I could glue that section of sole down. I glued pine strips to the hull sides and let them set overnight. The through soles are de-cored because I may get water leak down the side of the pipes rather than down the inside of the pipes. For example the shower drain is going to be siliconed into the sole once the boat is painted but over the years that silicon may fail and a leak will start down the outside of the drain pipe, I don't want that to end up in the core of the sole. I have set up the mini sump under the drain hole so if any water does seep under the sole I have a secondary trapping point and upon realising the silicon has failed I will remove the drain hole, dry out the mini sump and reset a new drain plug into the shower base.

Sept 1 Starboard ensuite sole glued

Today I glued the shower base sole into the starboard hull, closing off the under sole plumbing forever. As I did on the port side, I buttered glue onto the pine stringers and duflex web and carefully placed the sole into position, pulling the vanity sink drain pipe through and then equally careful not to get any glue on it, I screwed the shower drain through the sole into the pipe work below. This was particularly important because if the sole sets even a mm out of position i wont be able to screw the drain in later. I screwed some screws down to ensure the sole could not move and I pushed glue down the sides to complete the filling. I then decided it would be easier to cove the joins now and sand them for glassing over rather than glassing to wet coving. The reason for this is I will have to glass around the through sole fittings and that combined with how difficult and slow going it is anyway and the fact the weather is warming, I thought the less I had to worry about when glassing the mast base the better.

Sept 3 Starboard bedroom sole glued

With the shower base glued in, the next job was to glue in the starboard bedroom sole, or most of it. I have cut the rear third of it off and will glue that in separately. Again I glued in the pine stringers for the sole to bed onto and let it set.

Then today I glued the forward 2 thirds of the bedroom sole in. The rear third will be glued and glassed in once I complete the plumbing and wiring. This section houses the sump and auto float sump pump and will also have an inspection plate on it so that the pump can be accessed for service and to clean the sump. No doubt the sump will accumulate hair. My solution will be to put stocking feet over the ends of the pipes to act as a filter. An elastic band will hold the stocking on and every week or 2 I will take them off for cleaning. Hopefully this keeps the pump clear and prolongs its life.

I have also rethought the shape of the vanity cabinet and top. The reason is 2 fold. First, with the mast stepped on the other side of the rear ensuite wall I figured that I could spread the load from that bulkhead to the next with a full size vanity and top rather than one that ends about half way. The other thing the extended top does is allows me to run some pipes along under the top inside the cabinet from the holding tanks in behind the toilet and through the ensuite (out of sight) and with stop cocks down to through hulls, so with the stop cock accessible I can close off the outlet to store waste in no drop areas.

Sept 6 Glassing the starboard mast base

Laying the 4 layers of mast base glass is a difficult or rather a tricky job. The problem lies with access. Being in the pointy end of one of the hull there is nowhere to stand in order to lay the wet glass without standing on wet glass. Last time (port hull) I laid the first layer then let it go off and keyed it for the next layer. I then found a way to lay the rest of the layers in one working session so I employed that method this time around.

The way I did this was to pre wet out 2 layers of glass and roll them up (like rolling a wet towel up) and carried them to the job, I then rolled out half the first layer before starting the second layer, this allowed me to stand (or kneel) on the bare sole giving me enough freedom of movement to get the bubble out of both layers of glass. I then finished rolling out the first layer and got the bubbles out (with a consolidating roller) then rolled out the second layer and got the bubbles out of that. Prior to laying the first layer (in the 2 halves) I had painted resin onto the duflex to aid in getting a full wet down of the glass.

I then broke for lunch in order to let these layers tack off a bit. This is speeding up now as the weather turns to summer like. After lunch I started the wet out on the plastic sheet of the next 2 layers. I needed to turn the plastic sheet over as the resin on the other side was too tacky to get the next layer of glass off again, and as the shed had heated, even though these next 2 layers of glass were smaller than the first 2, I really had to hustle as the heat of the day was going to have these layers tack off much faster and a layer of glass rolled up (for moving it onto the job) will go exothermic and heat up and go off much faster than a layer left open.

The glass down in the hull already, although tacky was still too wet to just stand on, so I again used planks covered in clear sticky tape to stand on, same process, 2 layers of glass down by only half rolling out each layer, then move back 500mm at a time carefully restoring the glass (taking the bubbles out) as I retreat. Once back on the unglassed section of sole I could reach in and finish the last of the layers.

It was tricky and hot work but a relief to have this structural work done. I had the added complication of needing to cut each layer out for the plumbing through sole fittings, but with a pair of scissors it was not too much of an imposition. I had pre coved the joins and sanded them so there was no wet on wet cove work to do. The last task to finish this day was to run tape the the rest of the sole to hull joins. I still have a section of sole to glue and glass down in the area but I still have sump work to complete on it yet so this will be done at some later time.

Sept 11 Starboard BH4 replaced

The final task in this mast base work to do was replace the removed bulkhead section. The port side went fairly smoothly over a few midweek afternoons and the starboard was not different. Tuesday afternoon I glued the parts back in, coved and glassed them to the hull sides and sole wet on wet. And Friday I ground down any excess glue and glassed the panel both sides to cover any joins and return its structural integrity.

It is satisfying to have the boat restored to the point before I had to cut the bulkheads away. It would have been nice to figure out a way to glass the mast bases in before the bulkhead went in the first time to save having to cut away a perfectly good bulkhead, but there really was not other way, even in retrospect, because the sole needed to be down before the mast base glass and in order to do that, the bulkhead had to be in before the sole could be glued down. Now that the boat is restored and the full structural integrity is back anyway I guess its just one of those things, it seems like poor productivity but in the end the only way.

Sept 12 Vanity rough in

I am coming up to s part of the work that I really enjoy. Freeform construction. What I mean by this is furniture that I dont have a kit for and a lot of the time I dont even have a fully formed idea of what or how I will complete a task. I literally make it up as I go. I have an idea of the function of what I am trying to achieve but in many cases as I go the plan changes or a new and better idea presents itself. In the case of the ensuite vanity, this has gone through 2 incarnations, at first I was only putting a quarter circle vanity into one corner, but then I realised that by extending the vanity all the way between the bulkheads I would be able to accomplish a couple of things, not least of which, completely hiding necessary pluming under it. I was concerned with using up critical space in such a small area but having moved the toilet to in front of bulkhead 3 and the angle of the chamfer panel meant that the floor area footprint was no larger and I end up with a much more functional vanity for no real loss of space.

I had already experimented with various shapes in cardboard and had settled on my preferred option, so now it was time to start constructing. I started by finding a duflex offcut to create the vanity top. This then sets the rest of the work train in motion. I started at the top with the vanity top, I then went to the bottom with the bottom shelf. I decided I want a kickboard. Kickboards add a little toe room. The reason kitchens have kickboards is because we naturally lean against or move right up to furniture causing our toes to "kick" the furniture, Setting them back just a few (20-30mm) cm's will significantly change that. The shelves then create the shape (usually flat) for the doors to butt to. I am having a curved shape so the shelves create that shape for me.

I started by dry fitting the top. Unfortunately I made a cutting (or measuring) error and cut the top slightly to small at the front (I got the angle of the bulkhead to chamfer wrong). I will need to fill that void but I have convinced myself that loads transmitted from the mast would require a ply pad anyway so I will fix it by fitting a ply pad to dissipate the load of the vanity top if any load is indeed transmitted along it. Then I projected that top directly plumb down the the sole and because of the angle of the chamfer panel, the plumb drop in some parts did not make the sole but also fell on the chamfer panel. A plumb bob (a pointy weight on a string) or just a level will tell you where this falls.

With the fall marked on the chamfer panel it gives me the shape that the front needs to be. I will make a cardboard template first then cut that out from polycore, but before I can do that I need to make the shelves that will form a mold for the front. The front of the shelves need to be curved to match the top, but 30mm set back from the front edge so that once a 10mm front is stuck to the front of the shelves the top still has a 20mm overhang.

So using the top as a template I marked out and cut 2 shelves, a bottom shelf that will also have a kickboard set under it and the middle shelf and dry fit them in order to check if a front made from 9mm polycore will work out. The curved mark on the chamfer panel denote where the front will be cut to and when glassed on it will be blended (faired) to the chamfer when glassed on and bogged.

Sept 13 Vanity front rough in

I have the vanity shelves and top temporarily fitted to the ensuite. I attached a rim of duflex to the underside of the top 30mm set back from the front edge, in order form a molding ring for the front before fitting the top (just sitting on blocks that set the height). The rim is a temporary fixture is very rough in!

You can see that the white polycore needs to be trimmed and as I dont want to mess it up and waste the material, I will make a template by using cardboard and trimming it until it fits, then transfer that to the core and cut it out.

Once I had the front cut to shape I dry fit it to ensure that it did fit, it needed a little more trimming. Ironically it bent to shape even easier than the cardboard template. Once I was satisfied with the fit, I removed it, cut a piece of 200gsm plain weave glass to shape and wet it out to the polycore on a table and also applied a shaped piece of peel ply. I then fit it to the vanity unit. I needed to roll out some bubbles that had formed as a result of being bent and cajoled into place, but once I had don that I left it to set.

I then pottered around for another hour, planning my next work and trying to scrounge another piece of 25mm duflex large enough to make a similar sized shelf as the vanity top for the port side walk in wardrobe. It will simarly act to brace the back of the mast to the bulkhead in front. Unfortunately I am now completely out of larger duflex offcuts so I will need to glue smaller pieces together and glass it all back into a large single shelf.

Then I left for the day a little early (it was now 4.30pm) as I was suffering a little heat exhaustion. It is barely the middle of September and we had 32 degrees today, the warmest September day in Sydney since recording began. Whist I endeavour to keep my political opinions from this blog, I have to say that if there are still any doubters that the climate is changing perhaps you ought to get out more. I accept that there might still be some doubt as to the exact causes but I think that we ought to be accelerating our drive for a greener more sustainable energy future, if for no other reason than we at least did all we could to not be part of the problem and part of the solution. I wish our political leaders had more will to fight the deniers and energy industry lobbyists to get on with cleaning up our act.

On another tangent, before I glue and glass the vanity in (the front will have a door in it that I will insert once it is set with glass on both sides) I will first have more plumbing work to install. There is to be an S bend connecting the sink basin (which I dont yet have) to the outlet I have already in place. Also under the vanity will be the black and grey water through hull fittings and as hard as I try I cannot find a modular system of parts that fit each other. I have tried Bunning's and Bias boating and neither have an entire system. I can get parts but a link in the system is always missing. I will try an irrigation supplier and see if they have what I need.

Sept 20 Vanity front glassed and bogged

With the vanity front glass set it could be removed and will now hold its shape enough to glass the inside but it would still need to go back onto the shelves to fully set. The last pic was of it just glassed on the outside. Once it had set I removed the front, it was still somewhat flexible. So of course I glassed the inside and put it back on the shelve molds to finish setting, I did not take a pic because it would not look any different to the existing pic. Once it had set hard (the next day) I took it off and applied a layer of bog to both sides. I have a small dint in the panel that will need to be filled with bog as a result of screwing it back onto the mold a little too hard.

Sept 21 Tanks for the memories

After finally settling on the set up I want in the forward ensuite with regards to holding tanks. I have changed my mind a number of times, including not having tanks, having one tank and pumping both to the same tank, and finally deciding I would have 2 tanks than switching the position of them. There is room in behind the toilet cubicle for the black tank and beside the cubicle (and the hull side) for a wedge shaped smaller tank. I was concerned about having weight forward but then realised that there would only ever be weight in the tanks when I was in a no discharge area and at anchor, so when sailing in open water (when I would be concerned about the weight) I would have the sea cocks open and empty the tanks.

The wedge shaped smaller tank would be the grey tank. I measured the gap between the toilet cubicle side and the hull side and cut some 9mm ply. I started by making cardboard templates. Templates because the hull side tapers in toward the bow so the tank has to match the taper and to make it more difficult to fit the wider section is behind the narrow section meaning I cant make the tank the full size or it would not get past that narrower section. (I actually realised this after I had made the tank and tried to fit it and could not understand why it would not go in! In the end I had to trim it a little, fortunately I had only dry made the tank not glued it.) So with the ply ends cut to shape I made up the sides, just parallel pieces of ply 250mm wide. Then it was a matter of carefully (only 9mm to bury them into) screwing the sides to the ends, butt joined then I coved and glassed the entire inside surface of the tank, and an extra tape over the joins. I attached all sides except the top of the tank which will have the inflow and air vent through tank, I will attach the top last and intend to use the air vent as an overflow and have this just below the top in the side as the top join will only be glued and glassed on the outside, I will use the same method on all the tanks I make including the fresh water tanks. I will insert the out hose attachment before attaching the lid.

The next day I removed the screws, routered the square edges round and gave it a sand before glassing the outside of the tank. It was at this point that I realised how heavy this tank was getting. The plywood soaks up a lot of resin adding lots of weight. It was always my intention to make the black water tank from polycore because I felt it would better contain any smells but having noted the weight of the smaller ply tank, there was now no doubt in my mind. I even considered remaking the tank in poly but decided against it, I might save a kilo or 2 but I will settle for the ply tank. I have not properly worked out the capacity of the tank as it is not a regular shape but I guess it to be 50 litres.

The black water tank was much more straight forward to build, being a regular rectangle shape. I had considered making it with either a pointed or rounded base down to a fine point to aid in the evacuation into the hose but in the end thought it not really needed, the motion (no pun intended) of the boat would clear the tank well enough. I had already pre-glassed the polycore both sides so it was a rigid panel. I cut the sides to the size I had settled on (600mm x 500mm x 250mm meaning just under 70 litres) and the ends and butt screwed and glued them together. I then coved and taped the joins on the inside and back filled the exposed edges of the honeycomb edges of the panels. Once set they will be able to be curved with a router, not as neatly as ply or duflex but still doable.

Once set I attempted to router the edges. Messy. Many gaps that would need to be filled with more filler before applying the glass tapes. I managed and got the tapes down well enough to seal the joins well. I am very happy with the polycore as a working material. The 70 litre tank is about half the weight of the smaller 50 litre ply tank and probably stronger. I gave the inside of the tank a coat of white epoxy whilst the tapes were still green and I peel plied the outside tapes. I also gave the outside a thick coat of white epoxy. I think this will ensure no smells can permeate 2 layers of glass, the poly core and the thick white epoxy on both inside and outside of the tank.

Next step will be to make the tops and fit the skin fittings ready for fitting the tanks in the boat. Perhaps I will also test the tanks by filling them and making sure they hold full of water with no leaks.

Sept 26 Tanks again

The 2 starboard tanks are made. They just need the lids glued and glassed on and the through fittings (skin fitting) put on. Each tank will have 2 skin fittings on the top, an inlet and a breather that will double as an emergency overflow through the side of the hull just under the tramps and an exit fitting through the bottom.

But I still have 5 tanks to make, the 3 fresh water tanks and the 2 main waste water tanks (black and grey) located in the port hull. The starboard tanks are 50 litres for the grey and 75 litres for the black and the port tanks will be double that at 100 litre grey tank and 150 black tank. The main black holding tank will have a third top skin fitting, a vacuum exit point for having the tank emptied at the dock by the pump out facility. I probably wont bother on the smaller port black tank as it is just an emergency tank but I am yet to make a final decision based on how easy it is to fit to the main tank.

I have measured for the tanks, the grey tank will go behind the port dagger case and the space tapers back to front and top to bottom and because I dont want there to be anything left in the tanks when they empty I am trying to make them lower in one corner and fitting the exit skin fitting there, so the bottom of this tank will taper front to back. Only the top is level. The black tank will sit on the chamfer panel behind the shower against the rear bulkhead, under the cockpit seating. The tank could taper to a point but I need a flat section to fit the skin fitting so I will cut off the bottom of the taper and make the bottom of the tank flat.

But before I can make these tanks I need to make more polycore panels. About a year ago Jo and I had some financial problems (we are over them now) but that forced me to explore cheaper options in order to finish the boat, and even though money is not so tight now, I am going to employ many of them because they make sense and work just as well. For example, the furniture kit for our boat is about $15000 and consists of about 30 featherlite panels. Featherlite is a paper honeycomb panel pre glassed each side and the kit would have these cnc router cut. But we dont want the standard layout so the kit would be very much wasted for us. And featherlite is about $300 per sheet. Polycore comes with no glass on (at least we buy it that way, it is available pre-glassed) and it works out at about $150 per panel to glass them myself including the resin and glass. So we worked out that our furniture would need about 20 panels which means we ought to be able to build the furniture for about $3000. So today I spent the day laying up glass on 4 panels.

Once the glass is set I end up with a panel with similar strength to featherlite but with a plastic (polypropylene) core instead of paper so getting wet wont harm it. Of course I am hand laying up so they might not be as well laid up as a factory made panel but when I get to the important furniture panels I intend to vacuum bag them to increase the quality of the lay up. But for the tanks a hand laid up panel will be fine.

I also spent some time sanding the bog on the curved vanity front panel (back and front) but as with every other curved part I have made (forebeam and rear steps) it takes at least a few layers of bog to get the curve fair. So once I had sanded the highs off the front and back I pulled a screed of bog over it again using a flexible batten to get the curve close to right and let it set.

I wont get any work done tomorrow as Jo and I are moving shops for which we have hired a moving van and will spend the day shifting the entire contents of our businesses from one premises to another. Another month where I have barely done 60 hours work. I dont seem to be able to do more than that. I have pretty much averaged that for the entire build so far.