Moved the mast forward on the bow to do a dry run looking things over. It gave me a good idea of what I needed to do to get things ready to try raising it myself.
Would still need to go forward another 5-6'
Need to figure a way to lift the spreaders and light over the forward mount.
Mainsheet was 65'(right), new one on the left is 90'
There's a couple things I need to think over. The mast is heavy for lifting myself but I need to think of how the mast will be lifted for the spreaders and the light to go over the forward mount. During the dry run, I put a line over the bottom part to keep it from lifting too high. I bought a longer line for the mainsheet that will be used to raise the mast. I can still keep the shorter one as a working line while actually out on the water.
Not to worry, I've still been plugging away on the boat when I can, so maybe I can say a little about what I've been up to. (and, no Matt, this isn't a 12 part mini-series)
The main reason I haven't posted any updates is that there's little progress going on at any one time. I mean, how many times can I really post "still working to scrape off bottom paint" before that gets old... believe me, it's getting old for me too. Since progress is slow on paint removal, I'm looking to hire someone to finish that part, then I'll do repairs of deep pitting/holes before applying a barrier coat and bottom paint.
Back in December, I signed off on the last paperwork I needed to retire from the military, only my actual retirement date was April. You'd think that now I'm retired, I'd have plenty of free time to work on the boat, right? Nope, wrong. So. Very. Wrong. I'd say now, I have less free time than I did before. Mainly because I have a 1yr old. Wife still works so I'm at the house most of the time watching the little one. She is getting to be quite the handful and SUCH A DADDY'S GIRL. I can't do much without her right beside me wanting to be picked up.
So, I still only get one day a week, Saturdays, to visit the boat. Most Saturday's anyway. Because of my retirement, I had to get a new drivers license and re-register my vehicles in Virginia since I can now no longer keep Tennessee. That ate up a couple weekends getting vehicles inspected & emissions testing. Then another weekend was my daughers first birthday. Basically, it ended up being about a month I couldn't get to the boat. Other weekends it was just slow progress in some part because of the weather (RAIN) but worked on other smaller things instead.
While I was going to wait until the boat launched, I decided to go ahead and get solar on the boat. Nothing setup just yet. Since I can get to the boat only one day a week, which is the only time I can charge the batteries, I figured solar woud be good to use to keep the batteries topped up the rest of the week. I'll post more on that later.
I also got an AIS transponder. I've been testing it the last few visits to the boat using one of the antennas on the truck. Works pretty good and hope to install that in the boat soon as well. I plan to post more on that later as well.
Not much else to it. Just wanted to show that I'm still at it, when I can. Soon, wife and I are going out of town for a couple weeks to Vancouver, BC, so that'll eat into the boat work too. Wife has plans on visiting other places too.
At this point, I'm not sure if I'll launch this year but I'll keep at it.
It's been a little over a month since I visited the boat. One of the inspection ports on the fuel tank, while covered, wasn't bolted down. I decided to bolt it down and saw water drops coming out from the rubber seal. I opened it up and found the tank almost full of water. Surprising as I didn't realize that much water was in there. When I first installed new seacocks for the cockpit drains, I didn't put sealant on them right away. At least, not until I saw a little water sitting on top of the tank. Didn't think then to look inside. While the tank was filled with water, the bilge was dry. So, it'll at least hold fluid. To get the water out, I decided to get one of the water hoses laying around the boat yard to siphon it out. Went to the local hardware store to get a drill powered pump and got it started. once the siphon started, I disconnected the pump so it would flow out on its own. Then went inside to make sure the hose was at the bottom of the tank.
I left the inspection port uncovered so any moisture in the tank could evaporate. Good thing I removed the water when I did. The temperatures the past month has been in the 20s (highs) for quite a few days at a time. don't need that freezing.
The seacocks I installed are now sealed up, but I only have 3 installed. I still have one more to install for the cockpit drains. It'll take a little more time to get that setup as it's next to the little shelf the old water-lift muffler sat. So the backing plate is probably going to be triangular instead of round like the others. The hose on the seacocks are a bit annoying. Every time I try getting them on, they don't go very far and can get only one hoseclamp around it. For some reason, not enough hose gets on the barb for two clamps. I've been using Dawn dish soap to lubricate the hose and barb, but still nothing. They sure are a tight fit.
This weekend, or rather yesterday (20 Jan), I visited the boat and installed the wiring harness on the engine. Finally found a reference in the service manual... on the very last page... for were the wires went. The wires are color coded so that helped. There was a couple things I wasn't quite sure on so I looked at older pictures I took to see where they went. Now, the only thing left is to run a power cable from the battery supply to the engine. I have some 4 ga. wire laying around that I can use, and just need to order connectors. I'll get them from genuinedealz like I did previous times.
Some of the little stuff is what really adds up in getting things ready. So, in addition to running power to the engine, I still need to reinstall the exhaust hoses and new water-lift muffler. I also need to connect the fuel lines, make a vent hole in one of the inspection plates, install new stuffing box, replace cutlass bearing and some other things before I get to working on the bottom to prep it for barrier coat and bottom paint. I hope to launch this year, but like always, we'll have to see how things go along the way.
I recently ordered brakes for the trailer. I was thinking to work on that this weekend but right now I'm looking at putting the effort towards the boat to get ready to sail again first. Until then, the brakes are sitting at the house. I'll post more on that when I actually do the work on it.
Last couple visits to the boat, I was working on scraping the old bottom paint off so I can prep for barrier coat and bottom paint.
The lapstrake hull is one thing that makes this task take longer. Those ridges of the hull takes a little extra effort. Someone asked me recently why I don't just do a little sanding and start painting over top of it. Since I want to use barrier coat, I wanted to start over, taking it down to gelcoat and build up from there. Plus, the paint that's on the boat now, wasn't really well adhered to the hull anyway. It was already flaking off. While some areas are fairly easy to remove, other areas, is a bit more difficult requiring taps to break it up.
Once the old paint is off, then I can sand it down to rough it up for the barrier coat. A little late in the season to work on the bottom, I know, but I can at least do some prep work now, while weather is cooling down. At this point, I may just wait till spring to do the painting part.
Looks like this is going to take longer than I expected. I should have known, it IS a boat after all.
July 7th, I got up early in the morning, still dark out, and put a ramp I made on the bed of the truck and pushed my engine into the bed. This day was to put the engine back in the boat. The engine, a Yanmar 2GM, has been sitting in the garage at the house for the past 1.5yrs.
The marina staff were busy a good part of the day launching three boats so I had to wait a while. Once they got to me, the owner put a boom on the end of the forklift, got the engine out of the truck and into the boat. The engine was set just below the companion way, where it sat for two weeks.
Ramp fittings on end of 2x8 board 10' long
Making sure I got spacing right
Pushed into the truck bed
ready to go at the marina
quietly waiting
Fast forward to 15 July, I left the house early, again. It takes about 1.5hrs to get to the boat. By the time I arrived, it was almost 7am. The tarp I had over the cockpit last visit wasn't doing too well. Water was pulling it down and stretched over the rails, it was tearing apart. I was sure water got in the boat from recent rains.
Once the tarp was pulled off the boat, I got to work. I've been doing a lot of work on the boat for the past couple years so it was getting dirty. I took everything off the boat that wasn't put away somewhere. I vacuumed then cleaned/dusted the galley and the salon/v-berth areas.
that's a lot of stuff
cleaned out nicely
been a while since it was this empty
a glimpse into some of the mess
Next thing I did was having to move the engine. While I can write about it, this video explains how that worked out.
Once the engine was in place, I started to put things back into the boat. I started by vacuuming the cushions. Not only were they dusty, but they also had some fiberglass pieces on them that needed cleaned up. I plan to replace them in the future but they will be usable for now. I started to clean things and put things away, but after a while, the sun was getting low so I just piled stuff into the quarterberths where I will organize during future visits.
One thing I should mention, it was HOT out. The thermometer on the boat said 95-97° most of the day. I was sure I was drinking water about as fast as I was sweating it out. My clothes were getting soaked and my eyes were burning from the sweat and red/sore from wiping it off.
I cut out the old seacocks and hammered out the thru-hulls from the cockpit drains. I used a reciprocating saw I just bought in order to cut through them, then a dremel to cut through the nut holding the thru-hull out. I ended up going to Home Depot to buy some 1.5" hose and using that for now to keep water draining out of the cockpit when it rains. This solution will work out temporarily until I can get the new seacocks installed.
With the engine out of the way, I was able to check the bilge. Turned out, it was full. I routed the hose for the manual bilge pump back into the bilge, went up on deck and pumped out most of the water.
Lastly, before leaving, I decided to try setting up the dodger for the first time. The previous owner told me a little about how it went together, but I haven't set it up myself yet. Trying to get the hand-holds on were frustrating so I left them off for now. I'll try looking at them again next time. The cover was very tight against the frame. I'm looking to replace the dodger canvas in the future to a different color. Right now, it'll work out for now to protect the companionway and to divert rain water away from a couple spots that are a little leaky.
I didn't take pictures of the dodger but will post here when I visit next time.
But here is the dodger laid out in the driveway as I was identifying the pieces.
In total, I
painted three coats of 2-part epoxy paint alternating between white and
grey so I could make sure I had good coverage with each coat. Last week,
I painted on a sealer/liner by KBS Coatings that takes 4 days to fully
cure. No problem since I visit the boat once a week. Looking at the tank yesterday (16 Jun), I'm happy to report the sealer worked out really nice and is a
very hard surface inside the tank. Even has a bit of a gloss look to it
too.
In the meantime, I've been working
to drill and tap one of the inspection plates for the fittings to feed
fuel to the engine and the return. I still need to install a fitting for
the vent but need to make sure I measure what I need first.
The
only other thing I need to do is also install a fill port and this
project will finally be done. It has taken a little more than a year to
work on this one project, mainly because of only being able to visit
once a week. While there have been some very frustrating moments during
this project, I'm very happy now that this project is coming to an end.
Soon, the engine will be back on board and other tasks will be completed
in order to get the boat ready.
I shot this video to show the interior with the sealer/liner painted on
and how hard the material is.
Here's a picture of how the tank looks
today. Inspection plates with fittings installed, minus the fill port.
I know this is a very crazy
idea to have built a fuel tank out of fiberglass and I know of only one
other NS27 owner who did it. Now, the real test will come once the last
pieces come together and fuel is poured into it.
Guess, now I revealed the big project in the last post, I'll try doing some regular updates. Here's yesterday's work on a nice cool rainy day.
Around the edges of the top of the fuel tank, there was a few gaps. It didn't lead into the tank, just some of the layers I added once the top was set in place, didn't lay down or it was just a bit thick. I mixed up some resin, added a lot of Colloidal Sillica to thicken it up. It was a paste consistency, but not quite peanut butter thick. I put it in a gallon size Ziploc bag then cut the corner. Using it like an icing bag, I filled in some of the gaps. Still have some, but for this batch I mixed up, it was plenty to work with for now. I'll continue next visit. Since it's taking time to set, I used a stick with a rounded end to smooth out the resin, which should help keep me from having to do any additional sanding.
This last picture shows the forward part of the tank on the port side. There was a big gap due to the foam and thickened resin that was there from the original build. I was able to fill most of that gap. Having the ziploc bag really helped control the resin into the gap due to this space being under part of the cabin floor. I will still have a little more to add next time in that same spot, and continue toward the front of the tank, perhaps along the edges down into the bilge with a nice rounded fillet to finish it off.
It's been said by other Nor'sea owners the hardest job is replacement of the fuel tank. If you saw my last post about the removal of the old tank, you may agree.
The reason I cut out the fuel tank instead of all in one piece like other owners have done, is because there's a portion of the cabin floor running above the tank. This made replacement a little tricky. Do I install a smaller one-piece tank that doesn't go under the cabin floor (and giving me a larger bilge)? Do I get two tanks made that fill the same space? What about making a tank in the keel using the whole space? Now there's an idea...
I went back and forth with these questions on how I was going to reinstall a fuel tank. At one point, I was thinking of a smaller tank that didn't go under the cabin floor, but many say extra fuel is always a good thing if you're out cruising (motoring). I also thought two smaller tanks could work by dropping one in and sliding it forward, then the second dropped behind it, using the same space. That idea didn't work well either because the bottom of the keel narrows as it goes toward the back. Well, I'm wrong there, it COULD work, just means the bottom would have been narrower and fuel capacity could have been reduced a few gallons.
One of my random ideas popped up. How about fiberglass? A material that doesn't corrode, could be made in place in the keel and maximize the space for fuel capacity. I researched this idea (at the same time I was looking into the tank ideas above) for the better part of a year. In my research, I discovered how not all resins are created equal. Some are better at resistance to chemicals than others. Apparently, many fuel tanks are made of fiberglass. Just one issue that has come up over the years is the use of ethanol in gasoline that can eat through the resin of a fiberglass tank, turning it into a HUGE mess. I just happen to be using diesel. ;-)
I know of only ONE other Nor'sea 27 owner who went with a fiberglass tank in his replacement (photos). His process was a little different than what I decided to go with. The main thing was the type of resin used. He used an epoxy type resin, and I decided to go with a vinylester resin. I found information that vinylester was commonly used for situations involving some chemicals and fuels.
Working with vinylester has been an interesting experience. While West System epoxies have pumps that come out to a measured ratio, vinylester uses MEKP as a catalyst at a very small percentage of 1.25%. In order to achieve this ratio, I used a digital scale that was sold for measuring out food with different scales. I used grams as the unit of measure. So, West System epoxy many boaters are familiar with is about a 3.5:1 ratio. The vinylester I used was more like 80:1 and that's where the digital scale came in use. Most of the resin batches I mixed up were around 400 grams of resin to 5 grams of catalyst.
The lay up of this tank is alternating layers of 1.5oz chopped mat and 18oz woven roving. I have been asked before why I don't use biaxial cloth that is roving and mat stitched together. I didn't need each lay up to have both mat and roving at the same time. Having separate layers have allowed a full wetting of each layer with resin. Most of the fiberglass was placed into the keel, piece by piece. The forward part of the tank and the baffle were initially laid on a mirror coated with PVA as a mold release. 5 layers (3 roving, 2 mat) brought the flat pieces to 1/8" thick. Strong enough for making a cutout and tabbing it in place in the keel. By the way, the flat pieces were not installed until the sides had 5 layers as well. By this time, the tank was taking shape and gaining strength as additional layers are added.
When I started researching this project, I reached out for advice by someone who makes fiberglass tanks. On his suggestion, I was to lay out this tank with a total of 11 layers, starting and stopping with woven roving, bringing it to 3/8" thick all around. While I did add more layers to the front of the tank, and a few more to the baffle, I was considering the sides could stay 1/8" thick. The reason is that the sides wouldn't be as flexible with outward pressure from fuel since it's up against the hull. With that in mind, I'm thinking I could be closer to finishing than I had thought. But still, a little extra layers on the sides that overlap the front, back, and baffle couldn't hurt for strength.
The last two flat panels I made were for the top of the tank. The idea was to cut these into shape, place at the top of the tank to get tabbed into place. Then, I could do some sanding around the top edges so the additional lay ups could reach out onto the hull for added strength and bonding.
Then, there leaves the inside of the tank. Would there be a coating?
Yes.
Along with the suggestions I received before, I was also told that the tank could be coated with several layers of Interlux 2000E barrier coat, then a fuel tank liner. Both of which would seal the inside of the tank providing additional layers of protection of the fiberglass. Then, to finish it off, an inspection access port on each side of the baffle. This will give me a way to look into the tank from time to time to check its condition. It'll also give me a good way to mount fittings to be used for the engine, pickup, return, vent, and possibly a fuel guage.
lay up of flat panel on a mirror
tape holding first layer didn't work out too well. Should have used smaller pieces
Front of tank
trying to keep the glass in place while I wet it out
had to redo part of the bottom
Was getting a little hot, resin set to quickly
PVA peeled off the fiberglass and mirror
template for the baffle
dry fit of baffle
one of the two flat panels to be used for the top
trimming the extra fiberglass
trimmed down
At about this point of the project, I got a bit side tracked with getting the mast ready for some work. While I was going to do myself, decided to hire it out so it could be done quicker and better. Then around hurricane Mathew, a tree hit the boat so another distraction to take care of.
Here, I was checking the space available in the keel to make sure there was enough clearance for placing the inspection ports. At this point, I only had one, to check the size, but would have another one for each side of the baffle.
The first top piece for the aft section in place and able to start seeing how it'll look when it gets closed up. This was cut to shape around Oct 2016.
Jumping forward to the end of December 2016, I was able to get back to work on the tank project, mainly due to the side projects/distractions mentioned earlier.
I made the forward part of the tanks top and had to make a template. A little more difficulty due to additional shapes to deal with but overall, it turned out well. First attempt to cut that piece, it ended up being too wide and had to cut another 1/4" off one side for it to fit. At this point, there's still some fine tuning to take care of, but it's just about ready to start glassing into place to close it up and add additional layers.
visualizing hardware placement
Here, I finally got around to putting in fiberglass tape, just thin strips, around the edges just to hold the top in place. Couldn't do it all at once so it took a few visits. The flat panels had a little twist in them, so I used some seizing wire to life one corner, or something else to push another down. Not exactly even all around, but I think it's close enough for what I'm doing.
seizing wire wrapped around the wrench to help old things in place
Once all the edges were all in place to seal the top, It allowed me to work on the full layers to build up and strengthen the top.
Templating for additional layers of glass
vacuuming never ends
Roving ready
Chopped mat ready
Woven roving ready
dry fit of first piece
additional 6 layers laid down at once time
Trim needed around the edges
trimmed the front edge, that's 5/16" thick
And this is where I'm at as of 28 Apr 2017. The top is set, edges are mostly trimmed and just a little more work to do.
With the way the top is put on, there's now a lip around the edges of around one inch. I had thought of cutting the front edge down more, but now thinking to keep it, just in case any oil or anything else from the engine leaks, it's contained and keeps from going into the bilge, and then pumped out into the water. Probably not a bad idea.
Someone on the Nor'sea owners group asked me about fittings. So this is my reply:
Having a tank made entirely out of fiberglass and vinylester resin, it'll last forever.
A bit more info on finishing this out, there's some spots around the
edges I still need to clean up, and small gaps between the latest layups
and the hull to be filled in with thickened resin.
I intend to paint the engine compartment white. Before I started this
project, I contacted someone who stated they built fiberglass tanks for
other people's boats. It was suggested that I paint the inside of the
tank as well, with a barrier coat, like Interlux 2000E, then the last
coat being a fuel tank liner. While I read vinylester can withstand
direct contact with diesel fuel, the paint and tank liner is just added
projection to fill in any pores of the resin/glass layup.
For connections, (left this part out of the video to keep it from being
too long) I have one (still need a second) inspection port, by Seabuilt with the intention to mount any fittings (pickup
tube, return, vent) on the removable plate. I also have a separate
bulkhead fitting, for 1.5"ID hose, I planed to use for the fill port.
Right now, I think I need to find a welder who can attach the fittings
on the access plates. I just need to also confirm the sizes of fittings I
need too.
Once I do the painting and installation of inspection/fill ports, Then
it's a matter of getting the engine back in the boat and associated
hardware (shaft, muffler, new cockpit drain seacocks, exhaust hose. With
that, I guess there's a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. or
is that the train coming to run me over? We'll see soon enough I guess.
Thanks for sticking with me through this long post. As I was finishing up this post, my wife was looking over my shoulder asking about all the work I've been doing. Looking back, I removed the old tank in March 2016 and for the most part, have been working on this fiberglass tank since then.
Certainly not for the faint of heart.
This is a lot of info, so I may have missed explaining something. So, post below any comments, questions, criticisms.
