Fuel Tank Support Framing

I removed the alignment jig for the two pieces of white oak being framed in. 

The below picture show the results. One of the four corners needs some epoxy injected into a void, and the all could use a quick pass with a grinder. 

Forward framing. Starboard side on top, port side below.  The flange on the left side of the picture was cut back today also. 

Aft piece of tank framing,  starboard side on top, port side below it.  Lower photo show the air pocket. That will be drilled and filled with epoxy. 

Generally, you don't want air pockets, except perhaps between bulkheads and hull tabbing, to avoid hard spots.   Typically I will grind out air pockets and re-tab, or occasionally I will drill holes and inject epoxy.  In this case I will probably drill it out, fill with epoxy and after grinding decide if I want to add more fiberglass to these tab.  Each of these had a fillet of torn up mat, followed by a layer of mat and two layers of stitched mat.  That makes for a solid bond and a prepared surface. 

Fuel Tank Mount

I spent most of the afternoon figuring out with Ron how to mount the fuel tank. Ron suggested white oak cross members. I felt a plywood platform would work better. The solution?  Both with a plywood base on top of two white oak frames. I followed Ron's suggestion to hang the white oak frames on a frame to place hem at exactly the right height. I put them 1/4" lower than necessary to allow for fiberglass tabbing.

While Ron was cutting the f

White Oak, I made a clear out of a piece of plywood and used it to bond two bulkhead panels into a common plane.  I cut a couple of other blocks if wood to hold the outboard side in plane also.  So this is ready to tab.

Back to the tank support:

Here is the frame support the two white oak pieces at the bottom. When the frame comes out tomorrow, I'll measure the size and Ron will cut it out of  3/4" plywood and cut out the center to provide access to the hoses. 

Next I hit the areas to be tabbed with a grinder and then wiped it down with acetone.

I precut 4 pieces of mat and 8 pieces of stitched mat, along with breaking a piece up mat for a fillet filler.  I cut the pieces in a trapezoidal shape and made a slit on the narrow side to better conform to the shape of the angled White Oak and the turn of the bilge, and put a bit of mat over the slit.  Finally I used plastic to force out the air pockets and used clamps to pinch it all in position. 

Here is what it looks like when I left it.

The angled board is pushing a hose out of the way.

After this I tabbed two bulkhead panels together--the ones I lined up earlier with the cleat. Then I tried using up done excess epoxy mixed with West Systems 403 as a fillet, which did not work all that well.  The gap was too big and it is probably unnecessary if the tabbing is curved at the junction and sufficiently thick.  If followed this up with a layer of mat and a layer of stitched mat tabbing on the aft side if the bulkhead. 

Once the other side is done ill probably beef up both sides with more mat and roving. 

My immediate goal is to not slow down Ron.  That means finishing the tabbing on the galley and aft head bulkheads, providing measurements for the tank mount, tabbing in the upper tank mount when I get the plywood, and finishing off the saki settee work.  

The salon Settee needs lots done:

1) a few mechanical fasteners, 

2) some filler in a joint between floor sections,

3) a few fillets and tabbing along the fronts of the settees,

4) epoxy painting if the panels and boards,

5) final sanding 

6) Priming

7) sanding again 

8) painting 

9) hoses run

Once that is done, the tops of the settee can be screwed down.  I will probably wait on tabbing these in, in case I need access for something like wiring. I'll need to be careful not to let epoxy get all over my fresh paint. 

When this is done I should be able to keep up with Ron as he builds stuff it will be back to painting again.

If I have any free time it will go to working on the aft bulkhead, auto pilot mount, and the floors and the forward lockers,

Aft Upper Bunks Removed

Ron has been measuring for the next plywood purchase, while I was vacuuming up dust, and ripping out the upper bunks and tabbing.  

Here are some pictures. They are off to be replaced with new  panels made out of marine plywood.  These old pieces will be pattern. However, these bunks were longer than needed. The new bunks will still be long at 89" but not quite so long. It turns out these were added later and built on top of lockers. So there was extra stuff to rip out. Even with the new watertight bulkhead all of these aft bunks will be long--around 89". Perhaps I should build a locker at the forward end. 

Port side--aft to the left, forward to the right.

Starboard side--aft to the right, forward to the left in this photo.  

After this I reorganized the boat some. Moving tools to the forward hanging locker and I cleaned up my work bench. 

Two full trash bags later and I started grinding again.  

--ground the upper bunk area

--ground the area above the aft bulkhead to prepare for raising that up still higher.

--ground another area where I plan to install some storage behind the footwell of the upper bunks. 

--ground out all the loose tabbing on the galley and aft head bulkhead above where I recently tabbed them in. These are the areas covered by the old cabinets and bunks. For the aft head, I did both sides. 

Sone issues:  The port side bulkhead was two pieces of plywood without any tabbing joining them and now is held on by some roving at the top.  So I ground the edges of these two butting panels so these could be tabbed together tomorrow.  I'll cleat them flush on the other side, tab them, remove the cleat and tab the other side.  I'll do the same thing with a filet applied on one side to prepare for tabbing, and once locked into place, I'll filet and tab the other side.  I will have some strong bulkheads after this. I may use fast hardener as I'd like to filet both sides in one day.  

It was a long day and even wearing protective gear my firearms are itchy. 

I started measuring the space for the fuel tank and discovered that I really need to build a frame to mount the tank, which would also provide the even surfaces and straight lines I need to measure for a tank. All the curved surfaces just make it difficult to make the tank as large as possible. Tomorrow I'll work on that to.

I also decided to tab in two ledger boards to screw in the tank cover boards. That way I can remove the tank in the future, but unscrewing the boards unscrewing the flange on the tank and then cutting the tabbing on the outside edges.  This can wait until the tank frame is installed. 

My priority is to keep Ron busy.

1) Tank frame so I can finalize and maximize the tank size and Ron can start building the plywood top.

2) Tabbing the two aft head bulkhead panels together--so Ron's wall skins can be painted and glued on.

3) Fillet everywhere I can to prep for the final tabbing, priming and painting--so Ron can screw down the salon seat tops and begin on the seat back. 

Good news!  It looks like Marco can work with me this weekend. I plan to get him started prepping the topsides for paint an maybe starting the paint job. 

My goal is to have all the tasks above complete so Ron is playing catch up to me, and I can go back to finishing off my water tight bulkhead and other tabbing jobs.

One final note. I really like my DeWalt Jigsaw. The only issue I have is there is no light and the blades are hard to lock into place. 

More Grinding

Spent the day grinding the aft head and starboard side under the bunk. 

No pictures. 

Up next, removing the upper bunks, grinding that area, grinding the last of the floor, grinding the forward locker, and vacuuming up all the dust.  

I might take a hose to the inside of the boat and mop it real well. 

Demolition of Aft Head and Aft Cabin Bunk Supports

This post is for Friday. I can't change the date even though I started this post on Friday I finished it just after midnight.  Saturday I will be sailing with Ron out of the Navy Base in New London.  It will be a day off 

My plan for the day was to cut out the shelves and dividers supporting the aft bunks, and remove much of the aft head.

I started by cutting these wooden pieces out with a Sawsall and a Jigsaw.  It worked out fairly well, athough it took longer than expected. I revisited the tabbing with the Sawsall to remove as much tabbing as possible t save on grinding later.

After cutting out the aft bunks I moved on to the aft head. Here I initially wanted to preserve as much as possible. What I found was most of the tabbing was already broken.  The deeper I got into it removing pieces here and there, the more clear it became than more had to come out.  Pretty soon it was obvious almost all has to come out. Trying to save any of it would have meant more work. Just as I prepared the aft bunk area by grinding everything down to bare glass, the same holds true in the aft head.  When that is ground down clean, I can tab in anything, anywhere.

Given that the bulkhead tabbing looked pretty bad higher up on the aft side (I've already repaired the lower portion), and the head side all needed to be replaced, I am happy I tore it all out. Now I can start by strongly bonding the existing bulkhead in, and then add whatever platforms or cabinets I'd like. Each with a strong bond .

I was considering moving several seacocks and thru-hulls to make them more convenient to open and close.  While driving home it occurred to me that perhaps I should move the head forward and place it over the sea cocks. That might be easier than moving the seacocks. I'll have to look that over in the next few days and think about it. It might be a good option. 

I am also debating moving the two battery chargers. Placing them farther outboard or aft might be prudent. 

One advantage to moving the head forward a few feet is there is a dead-light above that area-- a non opening lexan panel that lets light in.  It would be nice to have that as a feature of the head. I could also install a small hatch above or a ducted fan on a timer for ventilation at some point.

Next I moved on to grinding. I wore my wrists out doing that. I used up all the sanding disks I had. I was able to grind the port side from the upper bunk tabbing down, and all the way back to the new aft bulkhead. Much of the later area was already done.  I used my last two sanding disks grinding the starboard side area adjacent to the aft bulkhead forward as far as I could. I'd already started that area while working On the bulkhead. The last two grinding disks finished off all but 5% of that area.  The remainder of the port side will be more difficult as it is hard to work on a sloped hull.  That should go quickly on Monday as I bought out the complete stock of 24 grit disks at two Home Depot's.  I now have 48 disks and can take back what I don't need. 

I also touched up the aft bulkhead I just installed and ground out an area that popped out and did not bond well. I dressed up the top tabbing but did not crawl into each lazarette to clean up the rough edges in those areas. I was pleased to see the bonding with the cockpit went well. 

After that I still have to grind out the aft head, which will be easier as most of this old tabbing pulled right off.  

Then I will need to clean up the port salon lockers, and the floor up forward.  These last two are to prepare for more tabbing followed by painting. 

Some photos:  

Port side upper bunk with supports and cabinets removed. This photo is a bit cocked. The oak trim piece defines the edge of the bunk. There are loose boards piled on top that make this picture confusing. 

Starboard side with cabinets and support removed. You can see the white horizontal tabbing still in place.

Aft head partially deconstructed. The wall panels were removed and I was cutting around the wires to remove the last of the horizontal piece here. I was still thinking I could keep the portion on the left. Some of the plywood had delaminates, which I could have repaired. The clincher for me was the poor state of the tabbing. I was pulling it off with my hands.  The upper piece above the yellow paint broke out with a screw driver in less than 30 seconds. It was not a good bond. The lower part can out even easier. Almost nine of it was well bonded. 

Here nothing is Kraft except for the head platform. This broke out fairly easily. 

A close up.  I didn't want to ruin the support structure for the platform, do I cut from right to left with a Sawsall to preserve the mount. I may take that out anyway, but it would be nice to keep something.

Same area but with a view from forward. I vacuumed up the saw dust and debris. The tabbing around here was all removed with a screw driver or my hand. Very little remains.  My conclusion was that Ericon did a very poor job with the tabbing. I don't think the hull surfaces were prepared at all. Much of the tabbing was at right angles with no fillet to make a smooth curve. Fiberglass cannot make shape bends like this--it will break. While it it fine for holding a panel in place, a follow up fillet and some heave roving is important. That is what I plan to do here. 

Here are three pieces of tabbing I took out in 30 seconds with a screw driver and a hemmed to tap it in. These are the pieces above the yellow line in the earlier photo

While I hoped to save some of this I am happy with the decision to rip it out. I will be able to tab in the bulkheads better. I may have to remove my charger inverter to access the top forward cover of the head. That is something to think about moving.

I also noticed the tabbing on the bunks is very poor also. Of course my tearing out its support structure did not help. Still these will be easy pieces to replace, although it means grinding out more tabbing on each side. 

Will this be the end of deconstruction?  Not quite. I will be removing the shelf above the galley, both galley countertops, and possibly the refrigerator.  That will come later. 

A word about taping. While the tape I use is actually pretty strong for making sharp bends, it will break because that is what fiberglass does with repetitive stress over time. The solution is to apply a fillet and more tape in a smoother curve. The more important the bond, the more layers and the wider the tape should be. Right now I'm considering reinforcing all my bonds more strongly. I will be using roving on top of a fillet to spread the loads out over a broader area and to reduce 'hard spots' on the hull. Taping of furniture seems adequate, but after all the failers I've seen, I plan to add a fillet on much of these, along with another layer of stitched mat tape.  I don't want my bonds to fail. So while it seems like overkill, that is what I will do. 

Next up:  Removal of upper bunks and completion of grinding tasks.  After that I will be doing more tabbing, followed by priming and painting--the salon lockers and settees, along with the floors.  

Port Side Settee

Port side settee is completed and tabbed in.  Some touch up grinding and it is ready for paint. 

Sorry no pictures of this.

Tomorrow may be a demo and grinding day. 

Bulkhead Tabbing--the aft side

I tabbed in the back side of the upper bulkhead today with a double layer of stitched matt tape. I am debating whether to use some fillet and roving on this side also. I am not sure if it is necessary given that pressure would be against the other side.

I also tabbed in the top of the bulkhead, on the forward side against the cockpit sole using some form wood to hold it in place.

While is like to finish the exhaust system, friend Ron is nearly done with the port side settee and ill probably tab that in next. 

Tomorrow will be a grinding day.  I'll be cutting out parts of the aft head and aft upper bunks, and grinding away all the old tabbing.  Plus, I need to finish grinding the forward locker, and forward floors. 

Port side looking forward from lazarette.

Starboard side looking forward from lazarette.

Lower Hoses in; Upper Bulkhead Panel In!

I purchase more hose to today to complete the bulkhead pass though connection. Still to do--complete exhaust  and manual bilge pump (which requires a better pump).

Next I trimmed the upper bulkhead panel and fitted it. I began tabbing it in on the forward side edges and seam with lower panel. Still to do--tab in top against cockpit sole, aft side, and then a fillet on the forward side followed by a heavy layup of roving from top to bottom.

Originally I planned to make this a cofferdam, but instead I think I'll take it up higher and close if off except for wire pass throughs, which I can seal with silicone. In the event if a rudder failure, or aft collision, any water that makes it through to the middle of the boat will be manageable. 

Some photo's:

Test fitting the upper panel.

Upper panel tabbed in place.  I used up the excess epoxy painting the marine plywood. 

The gaps on either side I plan to fill with small pieces of marine plywood.  The port side houses the shore power connectors.  The starboard side has the cockpit shower connectors.   In each case there is shape for more in there. 

Some ideas--use port side for a spare emergency power battery for emergency lighting. Starboard side might be good for storing motor oil and a oil change pump. 

Bilge Pump and Exhaust Hoses

I am short about 8' of hose to complete the bilge pump hose reinstall.   I need 8' for the aft bilge compartment drain and 8' to connect the manual bilge pump. 

The manual bilge pump is a replacement someone bought and they also glassed over the old mount because this one won't fit. I'll need a 90 deg elbow fitting to mount it where it belongs, or else a whole new pump. I'd rather have one with a removable handle. I'll investigate that. 

Here is the aft side of the bulkhead with the exhaust hose connected. I still need to fabricate mount for some glass tubing and a means to secure the other anti-siphon loop in the transom.  Plus I need a few more 3" diameter hose clamps. 

Here are the two electric bilge pump hoses securely connected.  The other side is temporarily attached. Ill need the bilge drain secured, then the exhaust hose, and then the three bilge pump hoses attached on the other side. 

This side needs one more hose and then I can install the upper half of the bulkhead panel.  Once that is in, these four hoses will be difficult to reach. 

The bolt sticking out needs to come off. It is a remnant of a prior steering system. 

This is a photo for the record of the steering system. The cable are removed at the moment and a lamp illuminates the bilge. 

Air Conditioning

It seems rigging those tarps was a smart move and today I stopped in a Home Depot and saw a pallet of air conditioners. I grabbed a 10,500 BTU into and used the box, a garbage bag and some shrink wrap tape for ducting. Temps dropped 2 degrees on a short time so I decided to take a break and hydrate. 

This is in addition to the 5,000 BTU already installed that was ineffective alone.

I also moved my power feed to a different pole to shorten the power run. 

Making space

I realized I needed to empty ECHO for two reasons:  1) access and 2) cleaning. Two may tools parts and materials just provide for places to collect dust.  I want to work on the middle if the boat next so I decided to start unloading things.

Before starting I put up two more tarps. My plan was to allow space to walk around while shielding the deck and arches from rain and sun. I installed one 9'x12'tarp forward evenly spaced over the  spinnaker pole with enough space to walk around the namaste.   I placed the other 9x12' tar aft overlapping the existing smaller tarp and leaving fiancé to walk down the starboard--less sunny side. It worked out well. 

From the cockpit looking forward 

Side view. 

From the mast looking aft. 

From the mast looking forward.

Aft quarter shows the tent effect better. 

I also noticed some other tabbing that is breaking loose. Of forgotten about this portion. I bumped it up on my list of things to do. His is the bulkhead adjacent to the aft head.

Here is my truck. I cut two new 2x12's for dividers and loaded up as much as I could from the boat. I threw out my plastic drop in bed liner last sunmer and sprayed in a U-Pol bedliner and pit a rubber mar on top--much easier on the knees. However my old divider boards are now too short. I cut up one of my two. Scaffolding boards since it looks like I'll be able to borrow some scaffolding. The weather looks good for painting lasted in the week. If I can find a helper it should go fast. 

Here is a picture of my truck loaded with thing i removed from the boat. I'll have to remove much of this at home and only carry what I really need.  Many if the tools will be needed soon for upcoming work, but I either have to store it here or else secure it under the boat some how.  I don't want it in the way. So perhaps ill build a workbench in the cockpit and get a water tight box for storing tools. 

It will be a lot more work getting this organized.  I am debating buying some steel lockers and possibly framing of my ladder platform for concealed storage for epoxy, paint, and fiberglass that will help. Then I can store only tools in my truck. 

I tossed some wooden pieces under the boat. 

With all this out of the way I was able to vacuum more of the interior. That is important as I want a dust free interior as much as possible. My new vacuum cleaner attachments are working well.  I have a spare filter but haven't needed it yet. I duo a full load of dust out yesterday. It felt like 20 lbs.  it felt good to be making ECHO a bit lighter. 

Prepping the cabin sole for priming and paint

Today I did some more grinding. As the floors are almost entirely done with respect to the structure, I am nearly ready to paint. I decided to grind off all the old layers of paint and do the final prep work for priming and painting the cabin sole.  I can do this the same time I paint the port and starboard settees and lockers. 

So on went the mask and goggles and I wet crazy grinding the floors. I also cleaned up, with the grinder, the rough edges on my recent tabbing work and while i was at it, hit the rough edges of the tabbing inside of the starboard settee lockers. I don't want to be reaching in their for something and cutting my fingers on sharp edges. 

Here is a view the port side bulkhead tabbing adjacent to the aft head.  This bulkhead had no tabbing at all prior to this!  It now has a layer of stitched mat, followed by a fillet and then a layer of mat and a layer of roving. To the right is the newly exposed floor--the tan colored bits.

The starboard side did have some tabbing originally, but it was broken and the 'repair' someone made was a thin layer of fiberglass cloth--completely useless except to prevent cuts.  I ground it all off and laid it up like the other side with a fillet to smooth the curve.

In the background here to, you can see the tan base layer of the floor exposed after all the paint was ground off.   The lines are breaks in the non skid for decoration. 

I may add one or two more layers of stitched mat tabbing to these two bulkheads. It would be easy to do now and add a bit more strength.  I will probably overlap them at the elbow so I can both go higher on the bulkhead side and add more thickness to the elbow area. I might have to grind off a little more paint to do this take the bond up higher. 

Back to the cabin sole (floors). There is only a tiny amount left to grind off in the forward cabin and forward passageway--15 minutes work.

I will also need to fill some areas of the floor to fair it some. These would be the areas I repaired which in a few spots are not as flat as is like.  A random orbital sander will identify those areas and some easy sand West 410 filler added to my epoxy mix will fix those. 

It makes sense to me to priming and painting the lockers, at the same time as the floor.  I can protect these from epoxy drips with wax and/or lay down some plastic sheeting covered with paper, which will also make clean up work faster. 

Once painted, I can also use a hose after vacuuming the inside of the boat to eliminate all dust.  One of my goals is to be able to keep the boat clean as time goes on.   It would be nice to overnight on it a few nights a week to save on my commuting and allow me to work longer hours. 

I started grinding the companionway bulkhead. 

There is Kokini wondering what all that noise was. I had this hatch shut while I was working.

I started countersinking the exposed bolt heads that are used to support my two isolation transformers and the engine anti-siphon loop.  I'd lake to cover this with either white laminate, white epoxy paint, or a nice wood veneer.  

The bulkhead on the right will be removed and replaced--probably with 3/4" plywood, and shortened to make the teak hand grip more comfortable. 

I spent a lot of time vacuuming also to control the dust.

My final job of the day was sanding the boards that drop in the floor.  Next I put a coat of epoxy on those I had not finished--the two water tank cover boards, and the two mast base access boards.  It is even more important for these to be sanded primed and painted along with the floor because wood is not as durable as fiberglass. 

Tomorrows plans include cutting one of my 2x12's into dividers for my pickup bed. My truck is full of rolls of wire, tools and boat parts. I want to organize it into three sections placing the things I won't need right away close to the cab, the things I need near the tail gate, and everything else, like tools, in bins in the middle. 

The idea being to get everything off the boat that I am not using so it is easy to keep clean and dust free. 

Also, the area where all the tools and things are stored, the aft upper berths may all be ripped out soon. Getting everything off the boat will make room to work. 

Once the aft bulkhead goes in, I will have to enter and leave that aft compartment from the lazarettes.  I'm thinking about setting up tarps for shade and to protect the deck.  I need a small work bench to allow me to mix epoxy on deck. 

Today I rigged one tarp for shade  I plan to rig a few more.  One forward for shade, and one aft for both shade and protection for my fiberglass materials and epoxy.

Another Hot One

I added a bit more tabbing on the galley and aft head tabbing.  I added a fillet to round the corner of this seam.  This time a layer of mat followed by a layer of roving. Both of these were done with slow harder and it was anything but a slow set up as the eploxuy and hardeneder was 95 degree when I started.  I began to set up immediately, so I worked very fast.  I used up the remaining hardener painting the new boards at the mast.  Even so I the epoxy started to cook off, so I quit.  I also painted the new support for those floorboards with epoxy--did that first. 

So I need one more session to complete the boards, and then I think about sanding, priming and painting them.  I am keen on painting the whole floor to make it look nice, but it is too soon for that. 

I'm heading over for another session today.  I'd like to run some hoses and attach these to the aft end of the bulkhead so I can start attaching the upper half of the aft bulkhead.

Today will be hot and things begin to cool off some soon.

Grinding, Tabbing, and Floor Boards

I ground away all the surfaces under the two lazarettes.  Each side had a thin board glassed to the hull that locks in a triangular vertical board which prevents things in the lazarette from falling into the steering gear.  One side was already broken out. The other side looked sloppy so I cut I out and cleaned up the surface in preparation for replacing these.   It is now ready for new wood strips to be tabbed in. Then I can decide how to secure new triangular boards--I may make a few changes on the port side which will have the auto pilot. 

I'd like to build some shelves, hooks for rope, mount for fire extinguisher, a shelf for deck gear, and place a fenders.  The starboard side is larger and should holld my dinghy when it is rolled up.  in any event, a few carefully placed pieces of marine plywood tabbed in will increase my storage capability tremendously and keep things organized.  I want to use the space under the cockpit directly behind the rudder post for things like motor oil.  I can box that in easily enough on two sides and a hinged flap for the access side.

I am giving thought to building a custom mount for my large Danforth anchor, although I may sell that and buy a Fortress--which is a awkward size, but lighter and has better holding.  It would make a good anchor if I can find a place  to mount it--either inside or locked tight on a stern rail. Inside would be best.  

I also noticed the tabbing had broken away on the bulkhead on the aft end of the galley. It was covered up with a thin piece of cloth tape that did nothing. I ground that out and tabbed in some stitched mat tape. I'll fillet and add roving on top next.  The opposite side had nothing holding it in place. I ground that out and taped it. It will get the same treatment with roving. 

This was brutal work in 96 deg temperatures when I started. Running fans brought the temperature down and since I started late in the day, temps continued to drop.  Fortunately it was dry.  Even so I was completely soaked when I pulled off my environmental suit. 

The last boat near me finally went in. I am thinking about spray painting or tip and rolling my topsides.   I have some 600 grit sand paper and I will start with wet sanding the hull soon. I would like some help with that. I may hire a helper. It is possible wet sanding and buffing might be all that is needed. There is one spot my helper repaired when he used the wrong color white paint. I might have given him the wrong color. That will need to be sanded smooth in preparation for painting. 

While I repaired all the fiberglass portion of my cabin sole, there were a few little things left to do around where the wooden boards drop in at the mast.  My friend Ron is making me new boards.  Those should be done Friday--tomorrow. 

I repaired the lip that supports those boards and Ron is also building a new underfloor support for this. 

Note the left side is a little low. I may have to space that up a bit as it does not want to come up, even with wedges.  The brown filler covers countersunk bolts on top and fills some gaps on bottom. I used bolt do clamp it together wen glued and for strength. It will need some grinding and another application of filler to finish.

I am mighty tempted to sand, prime and paint the cabin some (floors).  While dripping epoxy would ruin it again, I found a huge roll of 3' wide construction paper in the dumpster, so I could cover it easily enough to prevent drips. It would've very nice to have the floor completely done.  And it was be easier to sweep up.  I may start up forward and begin prepping it for paint. All this will be covered with synthetic teak flooring when the interior is completed. 

I've discovered that a powerful shop wet/dry vacuum with lots of attachments is my best friend. I made a huge mess grinding in the last few days and that tool removed most of the dust without stirring it up. I have a new filter for it and plani to go back to Home Depot for their best Hepta filter.  The narrow attachment with the brush on the end works fantastic.  I was able to vacuum the walls and get almost everything.   Only water and hose would work better. If I can finish the dirty work grinding fiberglass I can think about overnighting on the boat which would save fuel time, and speed things up.

Finally, I have been removing everything from the boat and that has helped in keeling things clean. 

Today I will be grinding the inside of a locker, vacuuming it and tabbing it up prepping it for priming and painting.  I look forward to the end of the fiberglassing and the beginning of priming and painting. 

Grinding Away

Starboard side settee bottom is pretty much done. I still have to paint this and it will be getting done teak trim. 

Meanwhile, I have been working aft grinding the lazarette and aft bulkhead area prepping for some tabbing. I ran out of sanding disks. I have more to do as I found a two bulkheads that need tabbing and the inside of one locker. I emptied more things off the boat to make it easier to clean and work.  I also need to grind the area under the port lazarette. 

I would dearly love to finish the grinding so I can overnight on the boat and save on the commuting.

I was unable to attach the hoses as I needed to heat them up to fit them over the tubes. That is my priority after I finish grinding tomorrow and vacuuming up the mess. 

I also need to stop by the machine shop to drill out my bronze tiller arm, and later this week the sheet metal guys to fabricate two galley counters, and a few other pieces. 

Bulkhead Pass Thru Tubes

Finished glassing inthe bulkhead pass they tubes. These are mount pretty strong. So much so that I worry they could break if something puts lateral pressure on them. I may fabricate a cover plate to protect them. I still have a little clean up work to sand down globs of epoxy and random fibers on the tubes, ANSI want tone sure the other side is sealed better do water can't in between the layers and cause freeze damage.  I will be filling some voids and giving the aft side a extra layer of lay up.  The other side also needs a board above it to protect the tubes. After this I can start tabbing in the upper bulkhead fitting. 

Tabbing in bulkhead fittings

Lucky me. It was cool enough to wear a suit working today.  I was unable to complete the tiller arm as my drill bit was dull at the tip. Tomorrow I'll try again with a new drill bit.

I cut out the holes precut in the plywood. And water started coming through as there was no way for it to drain prior to this. 

All the holes cut and ready for epoxy. 

Test fitting the fiberglass tubes. I decided to cut the smaller ones shorter. 

Tabbing it on will be a multi stage process. The lower 1.5" diameter tube is just a drain and will be connected to a hose with a ball valve at the main bilge to allow this aft part of the boat to drain and also allow it to be blocked off in case of a hull breach aft.   The 3" tube is for the exhaust.  The top three holes are for bilge pumps--two electric and one manual.  Once these are tabbed in on both sides.  I may wrap some tape around the all to stiffen up the whole assembly. It would be really bad if one broke off flush. 

One or two more sessions should complete this tabbing and I can attach hoses and attach the upper bulkhead section. 

Progress on the interior

These are a few photos of the new wall panel Herreshoff style interior--white panels with teak trim.  This provides a brighter interior.  These panels suffered some subdued spotting as it rained after I sprayed them. I will be touching them up as I repaint other parts if the interior before the teak trim goes on.

Looking forward. 

Looking aft. 

The yard is clearing out. Space to take a photo and size up repainting the topsides. 

I cut a small piece of plywood for the bilge.  I precut a drain hole and a portion of the exhaust port. 

Then I tabbed it in on both sides.  I'll be cutting the holes out and glassing in the fiberglass tubes next.  After that I will tab in the upper half of the bulkhead apply a filler on the bevel and several more layers of roving on this the forward side to make it very strong.  

I  located a tank welder to fabricate a new fuel tank, which is the last step for this task.

Now for the good news.  My friend Ron came over with the starboard settee.  After trimming and fitting the supports I ground the hull to smooth it out and prep it for tabbing. Then I tabbed it in!  I didn't waste any time as I plan to prep it for priming and painting.  I'll have to bolt in the water heater soon and make a few minor plumbing changes. 

While I cleaned the boat from one end to the other it needs it again.

Finally, I drilled the bolt hole for auto-pilot tiller arm, but my drill bit was a few inches short so I'll need a longer drill bit to finish it up.