December 5, 2011

First Gelcoat on Pec, Small Repairs and Fairing

Richard the welder was an early riser and he delivered the second hard top frame just after sunrise, reminding us that we had yet to fabricate tops for these frames.

Transom Scratch Repair

Dennis was coming to start spraying gelcoat, but we still had a few details to wrap up first, such as one last repair on the inboard side of the transom on Pec. There was just a small defect in the skin, but to fix it properly we had to grind the area down to plywood core and build it back up again using chopped fiberglass putty and mat. Picture at left.

That repair was done first because it was important that it have time to cure before being sprayed with gelcoat. The other minor fiberglass repairs done that morning were on Fluke, so we had more cure time available. That's probably just as well, since one of my photos shows Gene pointing a heat gun at a repair, a sure sign it was not kicking off.

Pec Solvent Wipe

The final transom repair and the sanding that followed when it cured meant that Pec had to be vacuumed out one last time before Homer could wipe down the interior with acetone. We put masking tape around gussets and other areas where overspray was likely to occur and the masking tape was also used to define the line separating the painted upper sections of the gussets from the lower sections to be sprayed with gelcoat.

First Gelcoat Spraying

We were still finishing up parts of the masking process when Dennis started spraying gelcoat.

Spraying Gelcoat Under Gunwale

Starting at the bow, Dennis worked his way around both sides of the boat spraying gelcoat up under the gunwales. While he was at work on this side, Homer was finishing up the masking tape on the opposite side.

Gelcoating Deck on Pec

This shot of Dennis spraying gelcoat on the deck of Pec gives a pretty good view of his custom-built gelcoat sprayer. Because gelcoat is thick, an ordinary venturi type spray gun will not always suck it up and spray it smoothly. To compensate for this, Dennis added a separate air line off the high pressure hose and connected it to the lid of the paint bottle. When spraying gelcoat, a small valve allows him to control pressurization of the spray tank. It's a bit of a delicate balance and the pressurized tank can lead to unwanted drips between spray blasts, but overall it seemed to work pretty well.

Fuel Tank Mixing Table

The old fuel tanks made a handy scaffold for hull work and this one served pretty well as a mixing table. At right Homer was mixing up more fairing compound as Gene mixed up a fresh batch of gelcoat for Dennis.

Painting Conference

Dennis got through spraying the first coat on Pec fairly late in the day and Gene wound up the day with a conference about the coming paint jobs to be done by our neighbor, Jim. Only Scott had the presence of mind to salute the camera.

Fluke Interior Final Sanding

December 6, 2011
Gelcoat Spraying Fluke, Non-Skid on Pec, Blue Tape Shoes

The day began with final sanding of the small fiberglass repairs completed the previous morning on Fluke. A picture from the day before shows Gene in the same position, but holding a heat gun. The sandpaper in his hand shows that the heat worked once again and the resin cured. The boat was already clean and partially solvent-wiped at this point, so he tried to keep dust to a minimum with the shop vac. A final solvent wipe and the interior would be ready for gelcoat.

Dustless Sanding on Fluke

Clean is a relative term, especially working on boats outdoors. Our standards were pretty far from a clean room where computer chips are manufactured. As Gene was cleaning up inside the boat prior to gelcoating, Colton was using the dustless orbital sander to do finish work on the topsides. The shop vac attachment did significantly reduce the amount of dust generated.

Starting Gelcoat on Fluke

As Dennis was starting to spray gelcoat up in the bow of Fluke, Gene was still cleaning up after sanding a few final repairs back in the motor well.

Thinning Gelcoat

Thinning gelcoat for spraying and setting Dennis up with a fresh pot of catalyzed mix when needed was my job for the day.

Sanding While Gelcoating

Colton had to resort to an organic vapor cartridge on the respirator to continue sanding the topsides on Fluke while Dennis sprayed gelcoat inside. In addition to being bad for you, gelcoat smells terrible.

Gelcoat Touchup Sprayer

Dennis has a small touch up sprayer that he used for areas like the motor wells where the bulky pressurized sprayer was unworkable.

Nonskid Glass Beads

After finishing the first coat on Fluke, Dennis returned to Pec to apply the non-skid and finish coats of gelcoat.

We created the nonskid surface on the decks using glass beads, but not the beading necklace kind. These nonskid beads just look like very fine sand. The directions on the can say to sprinkle them into wet gelcoat and then cover them using gelcoat with wax. The wax additive in the final coat protects gelcoat from the air while it cures, allowing a full cure.

Sprinkling Glass Beads

Sprinkling the glass beads evenly in the wet gelcoat was accomplished using my wife's kitchen strainer. I'm pretty sure we told her we borrowed it. If not, she'll find out now!

Dennis' Blue Tape Shoes

Because Dennis wanted to apply the finish coat of waxed gelcoat immediately after the coat containing the glass beads, he had to walk across the still-tacky gelcoat he had just sprayed on the deck of Pec.He was being very careful to keep his feet clean while working aboard the boat, but we were concerned that skin oils or sweat could contaminate the tacky gelcoat, leaving behind visible footprints in the final finish.

Tape Shoes Close-Up

Our solution to the problem: blue tape shoes!

After cleaning his feet, we taped the soles with blue masking tape so that only the back side of the tape contacted the deck as he walked around. It worked very well!

Cleaning Gelcoat Sprayer

When he was done spraying for the day, Dennis went through an elaborate disassembly and solvent cleaning ritual with his gelcoat spray rig. Every trace of gelcoat was removed from all pieces, making the sprayer look new. He told me it is actually a very old sprayer, but I never would have guessed by looking at it.

Sunset December 6, 2011

Sunset down on Shell Creek that evening was beautiful but the red blotch below the sun eliminated this picture from my Facebook sunsets album.

Colton Mixing Gelcoat

December 7, 2011

Finishing Gelcoat Spraying, Sanding and Fairing Hulls

I had to go help a friend launch a boat in the morning and by the time I came back, Colton was mixing gelcoat for Dennis to spray in Fluke as Gene and Homer worked on sanding Pec.

Homer Sanding Pec

We were pushing hard to get the boats prepped so that Jim could spray primer the following day. At left, Homer was working the orbital sander hard, smoothing out fairing compound.

Final Fairing

Later in the afternoon, as shadows started to grow long, Homer could not resist taking one more pass with the fairing compound. The dropping temperature and/or inadequate hardener in the mix resulted in some of the final fairing patches causing later problems in the paint.

Final Sanding on Pec

Gene and Colton were both at work sanding hulls and gunwales until late in the afternoon.

A great deal more work would have been required in order to come out with a perfect, mirror-smooth paint finish on both boats, but these were work boats with a job to do in just a few weeks. It was time to start spraying paint.

Gelcoat Spray Cloud

Dennis kept me pretty busy mixing so I got few opportunities to take pictures of him spraying gelcoat, but I did take this one attempting to show the shafts of sunlight lit up by a fog of gelcoat spray. It turns out that fog does not come out very well on camera. It really stood out in person, almost like the spray coming directly from the sprayer does in the picture.

Blue Tape Sandals

The blue tape shoes evolved into blue tape sandals in an effort to get them to stay on longer.

A short video of Dennis in action with his pressurized gelcoat sprayer and touchup spray gun:

Pec Ready To Prime

December 8, 2012
Spraying Primer on Pec and Consoles

The whole team was at work early covering the insides of the boats with plastic and taping it off so that my neighbor, Jim, could spray primer on Pec. I had moved our sailboat from the adjacent tent so it would not be covered with overspray and was doing some final sanding on the consoles when this picture was taken.

Primer Spraying Started

Jim got started with the primer coat on Pec. The boats had been multi-colored and under blue tarps for so long, it was strange to see one exposed and turning a uniform color.

Finishing Primer Coat on Pec

Colton was mixing up primer to keep Jim busy with the sprayer as Homer mixed up some fairing compound to use on Fluke. We used the tarp that had been over Pec to form a spray barrier between the two boats.

Finishing Console Prep

Gene took one last pass over the consoles with the orbital sander, then wiped them down so that Jim could move on from the boat and spray them with primer.

Fairing Primer Coat

The primer coat revealed many flaws in the surface that were previously obscured by the different colors and layers of dust. Jim was not happy and pointed out that the same flaws would be even more visible in the finish coat. He and Colton went to work with some fairing putty to smooth some of the worst ones out.

Final Sanding on Fluke

Knowing that the surface on Fluke would not look any better when it was primed the following day, Gene and Homer were at work with sanders and fairing compound to do what they could to smooth things out. I was up in the boat taping up the plastic to protect the new gelcoat from overspray.

The day ended with one boat primed and re-faired and both consoles primed, the other boat ready to be sprayed with a primer coat the next day.

Second Primer Coat on Pec

December 9, 2011
Priming Fluke, First Coat of White on Both Boats

In the morning, we quickly sanded down the orange fairing putty on Pec so that it could be re-sprayed with primer, then Gene and Homer moved on to last-minute sanding on Fluke while Colton mixed and Jim sprayed primer. I used some fast-curing epoxy to fill a couple of holes in the dodger and along the gunwale on Fluke, then quickly cleaned and sanded the repairs before Jim came along with the spray gun.

Finished with Blue Tarps

This was a pretty big moment: the blue tarps were being folded up and put away. I was surprised they had lasted through thunderstorm season. Click the picture to enlarge and you can see Jim spraying between the shed and Fluke.

Pec Topsides Tented

After priming Fluke, Jim moved on to finish priming the consoles and put a coat of primer on the access hole cover plates. While he was doing that, we tented Pec from the rub rail area down using lightweight plastic so that the first coat of white could be sprayed. Once again the old fuel tank came in handy as a work scaffold, this time with a concrete block as an extra booster in the taller bow area.

Fuel Tank Spray Platform

The other old fuel tank was being used as a platform for spraying the consoles and access hole cover plates. We took over the tent that ordinarily shelters our sailboat for the purpose. The day before, resting the consoles on boards on the ground resulted in the spray blast kicking up dirt onto them. That was not a problem to sand out of the primer coat, but with the first coat of white going on, dirt would have been a big problem.

Spraying First Coat of White Paint

The first coat of white paint being sprayed on Pec! Jim was engulfed in a pretty thick cloud of paint spray as he worked inside the hard dodger. Homer and I put a plastic skirt around Fluke and Jim sprayed white paint almost until sundown.

Spray Paint Moustache

This picture should serve as fair warning to those using respirators to protect themselves from paint spray mist. Some of it gets in around the edges of the mask, and it can really add up if you are spraying a lot of paint in a confined space.

Plastic Bagged Hulls and Dodger

December 10, 2011

Orange Fairing Putty and Spraying White Paint on Glass Beads for Nonskid

The order of the day was to be spraying the rest of Fluke in white and then masking off the plain white areas and applying glass beads to create a nonskid surface where required. In this picture, Pec already has a plastic bonnet over the hard dodger to protect the finished paint from getting nonskid beads blown up onto it by the spray gun. The dodger on Fluke was not quite finished at this point, so it is still showing gray primer and the beginnings of a coat of white.

Fairing Putty on Pec

The order of the day got a bit longer when some of the piano-building perfectionists on the job site decided that the boats were not as smooth and shiny as they should be. My solution would have been to ignore this problem, but Jim was having none of that and Gene seemed inclined to agree with him that we could improve the appearance a bit before moving forward.

The new plan was to smooth over any problem areas with some orange fairing putty, sand, then re-paint those areas. At left, several spots along the side of Pec were being sanded back down after the putty application.

Fairing Putty on Fluke

Over on Fluke, even larger areas got the orange fairing putty treatment and Gene and Homer were starting to smooth them back down with the orbital sander and Jim's pneumatic DA sander. It would be hard to have enough power sanders and people to operate them in a situation like this one.

Glass Bead Nonskid Surfaces

After a little detour, we were back onto our main project for the day: applying nonskid to side decks and the forward deck areas around the hard dodgers. At left, Homer is taping off the boarding area on Fluke as Gene and Jim work on the opposite side of Pec.

Nonskid Glass Beads

Gene spreading glass beads over wet paint using a kitchen strainer.

Spraying Over Nonskid

Jim spraying paint over the glass beads to hold them in place and create the final non-skid surface.

Painting Foredeck Nonskid

Both boats got nonskid on the side decks aft, where divers and boat drivers have to climb on the sides of the boats, and on the side decks forward, where passengers board. The forward patches of nonskid continue all the way around the hard dodgers so that crew and guests can safely go forward to sit on the dodger bench or handle lines. In the picture at right, Jim is spraying the finish layer onto the forward nonskid on Pec.

Nonskid on Fluke

Toward the end of the day, Gene and Jim were applying the nonskid to Fluke. The first order of the day wound up taking up the whole day, but at least it was done at the end.

The post Rebuilding Whale Watching Tenders Part 16 first appeared on Tropical Boating.

November 27, 2011

Minor Fiberglass Repairs

All the grinding in recent days finally came to fruition today as we went around and applied fiberglass to several minor repairs. To reinforce and smooth the gunwale edge where swimmers will exit Fluke, a fresh layer of mat was applied to the inside face, wrapping over onto the side deck. The extra fiberglass over the holes will be cut out later.

Sealing Faceboard Core Edge

Gene moved on to apply a bit of tabbing to the forward bulkheads then used the last of that batch of resin to paint the plywood core edges of the holes on the opposite side of Fluke, where we had previously replaced the wood. (See Part 12.)

Forward Bulkhead Tabbing

After cleaning up on Fluke, we moved over to Pec to more or less repeat the same process. At right, Gene is putting reinforcing tabbing on the forward bulkhead. Both gunwale faces got a skin of mat like the one on the port side of Fluke.

Motor Well Fairing

There were also a few minor patch repairs on both boats. At left, the motor well did not quite join the transom properly on Fluke so it got some chopped fiberglass putty and a layer of mat to fill and fair the joint.

Pec Port Forward Repair

The bows of both boats still had a few battle scars and scratches from years of commercial operation. We had already replaced some core in this side deck on Pec, discussed in Part 8 of this series, and covered the repair with fiberglass, discussed through section 11. There was still a section up forward that had to be ground down and fiberglassed over again, shown at right.

Fluke Port Forward Repair

Fluke had a minor gash in the same area but underneath the rub rail repaired, along with a few others not pictured.

Sealing Transom Holes

November 28, 2011
Patching Transom Holes, Fairing, Sanding, and Grinding, Cutting Mat for Decks

Many projects were under way simultaneously this day, starting with patching the upper engine mounting holes in the transoms. We mixed up some epoxy and painted the insides of each hole, then added structural filler to make a thick putty. We pressed the putty into the holes from the outside until it came through on the inside, then smoothed over inside and out with plastic scrapers.

In the picture at right, Gene is painting the core inside the scupper drain tubes. The engine mounting holes filled with epoxy patches can be seen above his brush.

Finishing Face Boards

After the transom work, Gene moved on to cutting away excess fiberglass from the face boards we glassed the day before and grinding the edges smooth enough for the sanders to take over.

He was pretty fed up with being the subject of grinding photos by this point, so I snuck in a picture while no one was aboard the boat.

Fairing Pec Hull

Homer and Colton showed up to work and were put on hull fairing and sanding detail. Homer went around with the white fairing compound again.

Sanding Hard Dodger

Colton was sanding areas that needed no further repair or fairing before painting. In the picture at left, he's working on the hard dodger on Pec.

Luke at Fiberglass Cutting Table

While they were at work on the boats, I was cutting fiberglass to re-skin the decks on both boats. We planned to put two layers of mat on each boat. At right is the cutting table with makeshift extensions and Luke the Supervisory Cowdog.

Fiberglass Mat Rolls

Under his helpful guidance, I was able to produce some of the needed pieces of fiberglass mat and start a stack in the shop.

Underneath the rolls are some other square pieces of mat that I cut an labeled for some repair or other, but I can't recall what they are.

New Hard Top Frame

November 29, 2011
Sandblasting Boats Finished, Cutting Fiberglass Mat for Decks

One of the new hard top frames arrived from the welder's shop early in the morning. The legs were made in two sections so that the tops could be lowered for shipping and storage. The bottom parts of each leg were created in place aboard the boats to ensure that each leg rested properly on the appropriate bracket.

Sandblasting Pec Transom

Dennis was also at work bright and early, finishing up the sandblasting on Pec.

Polishing Aluminum Seat Rails

I spent most of the day cutting pieces of fiberglass mat for the decks. Each piece was made to be rolled out from the center of the boats toward the edges and was cut to form a continuous edge with adjacent pieces, with relief cuts to allow the edges to ride up the gusset bases, motor wells, driver's decks and other obstacles. Many were almost, but not quite, square, and each needed to be marked at the center and labeled so we could see which end was supposed to be forward when we went to roll them out.

Gene was working on trimming the brass scupper tubes to the proper length and angle so they could be pressed into the transom, then went to work on the aluminum seat cushion rails. The rails and cushions were salvaged from the old benches and he had the cushions re-covered. The old rails had various layers and colors of old paint on them and though serviceable, they would look terrible on the brand new benches he had ordered. In the picture at right, he was polishing the surface back to bare aluminum with a wire wheel.

Sandblasting Cloud Over Truck

Dennis raised quite a cloud with his sandblaster, covering his truck with sand and obscuring Gene. When he was done and took a look at what Gene was doing, he pointed out that cleaning off those aluminum pieces could be accomplished better and faster by sandblasting.

Dry Fitting Deck Skin

November 30
Gene's Birthday, Pec Gets a New Deck

Gene started out his birthday by cleaning up the deck of Pec so that I could dry fit the various pieces of mat I had cut to make a new two layer skin. We got an early start to take advantage of the limited daylight at this time of year. With a long day of lamination ahead, we wanted to ensure that the first batch of resin was mixed as soon as it was warm enough for it to cure and the last batch of the day cured before the temperature dropped in the evening.

Fiberglassing Deck on Pec

Colton was helping Gene lay down the fiberglass on the deck while I mixed resin and kept the tools fresh and flowing. The boards across the boat were needed because it was impossible to reach the middle of the boat any other way when the decks were wet.

Second Layer On Deck

Gene found that the two boards were a bit precarious for working over the wet deck and augmented the scaffold with a piece of plywood. Homer showed up to continue the hull fairing.

The roll of fiberglass mat was 50 inches wide, so the default size for our rolled-out sections was 50 inches front to back. To get two layers without overlapping seams, one layer started with a 25 inch piece. In the photo, Gene was starting to wet in that second layer while Colton continued ahead on the first layer.

Bubble Rolling From Scaffold

The wetting in part goes faster than the finishing up part, so when it came time for the layers to be bubble rolled, Colton got up on the scaffold with Gene to help out.

Finishing Deck on Pec

Toward the stern, Colton could reach almost everything from the motor well using a roller on a pole. Gene finished up the areas that could only be worked from the scaffold.

Homer Acetone Wiping

Homer showed up to do some more fairing and sanding on the hulls. He was fairing the topsides on Fluke. In this picture, he's wiping a small area down with solvent prior to applying fairing compound.

Pink, Bubbly Fiberglass Resin Cure

After the deck on Pec was fiberglassed, we had a relatively small amount of catalyzed resin left over. We tried to have a project on standby, prepped and ready for fiberglass, so any leftovers did not go to waste, but inevitably there is some waste along the way. This amount of resin would be enough to finish a small job, if we had one ready. We did not, so it was left to kick off and harden on a table.

We returned to find what you see in the picture at right. Cured resin always stayed the same tea-brown color when it hardened off, but this batch turned pink and was filled with little bubbles. We were all mystified by this, and I still am. Anyone who knows what happened here, please comment below and tell me.

Working on Details

While Homer was fairing the hull on Fluke, Gene and Colton were cleaning up the couple of dozen cover plates that go over the access holes in the gunwales. Like the other parts of the boat, each cover plate had several layers of different kinds of paints on it, so they all needed some sanding and grinding.

Third Fiberglass Mat Roll

Putting a new fiberglass skin on the deck of Pec took a big bite out of our fiberglass supply and a note from this day says we killed the second roll of fiberglass mat. The same note also said that putting two layers of mat on the deck of Pec consumed 5 gallons of polyester resin.

Cutting For Fluke Deck

The rest of my afternoon was spent cutting the rest of the pieces of fiberglass mat for the deck of Fluke. Fiberglassing that deck was the main agenda item for the following day.

Sandblasting Fluke Scuppers

December 1, 2011
Crew of Four Helps Gene on Boats, Making Seat Base Cleats

Dennis showed up early to finish off the bit of sandblasting needed on Fluke. The scuppers were set in little depressions in the decks on these boats, which is nice for containing any puddle in a small area but tedious to sand for refinishing. The sandblaster saved hours of work in those areas.

Fashion Trainwreck

By way of explanation of the picture at left, I can only say that it was cold and dark when I was grabbing clothes and dressing that morning. And safety glasses are needed when operating a table saw. And Crocs with socks are very comfortable. Ah heck, might as well face up to it: I'm old and married and no one cares what I look like any more, unless I look so ridiculous that a picture must be taken.

Bench Seat Base Cleats

In the previous part, we discovered that the old benches were not going to be reusable and two new back-to-back aluminum bench frames were ordered from the welder. The plan was to fiberglass small plywood cleats to the decks of the boats and install threaded inserts into those cleats so that the benches could be bolted to the deck. To accommodate film crews and others with a greater need for open deck space than seating, the seats could be unbolted and removed easily, leaving the decks open and unobstructed, except by the little cleats we fiberglassed onto the decks.

My job was to cut out 16 pieces of 3/4" marine plywood to be used as the bench seat bases. The angled edges make these pieces easy to fiberglass and unlikely to stub toes, but making them all exactly the same size was surprisingly difficult, even with a table saw. After cutting out those pieces, I made three layers of mat for each one with relief cuts to allow them to flow down the sides and out onto the deck. Each cleat also got a square piece of mat to be used on the bottom side between wood and deck skin.

Prepping for Paint and Gelcoat

Gene wanted some extra hands to prepare the boats for paint and gelcoat so Colton and Homer put him in touch with a couple of other guys. We were running behind schedule to say the least and paint preparation is notoriously time consuming work. At left, Gene is supervising Jesse. Outside the boat, Austin was shining up the bow and stern towing eyes and their stainless plates.

Checking Connections

When he could get everyone else busy at work, Gene broke off to do some research on engine controls, cables, wiring harnesses and gauges. Sometimes all the internet research in the world will not answer the question But which one do I have? as well as just going out and looking at an engine.

Deck of Fluke Ready to Glass

The last picture of the day shows that the deck of Fluke was ready for us to apply a couple of layers of mat the following morning.

Sandblasting Aluminum Rails

December 2, 2011
Fiberglassing Deck on Fluke, Odd Jobs

The next day, Dennis moved his sandblaster over to a concrete pad where it would be relatively easy to recover used sand and blasted off the aluminum rails that hold the seat cushions on the benches. The welder planned to have these seat rails powder coated along with the new bench frames, so all old finish had to be removed.

Fiberglassing Fluke Deck

Gene and Colton moved a bit faster on this second deck application, having refined the techniques for working from the scaffold doing the deck lamination on Pec.

Fiberglassing Fluke Deck

After weeks of preparation, the actual lamination of the deck skins went very quickly on Fluke. We had learned from the experience on Pec just how much polyester resin one piece of fiberglass mat rolled across the boats would soak up, and learned that the whole two-layer lamination would consume 5 gallons of resin. This allowed me to keep the resin flowing freely as Gene and Colton wetted out the layers of mat.

Team Camera Salute

Spare helpers Jesse and Austin were also around this day doing some sanding and cleaning old sealant off salvaged rub rail bolts using the bench-mounted wire wheel in my shop. One of them came out and shot this picture, giving me a rare opportunity to join in the tradition of saluting the camera when photographed on this site.

My fashion sense had improved a bit since the day before. At least I did not look like Santa's Deranged Little Helper any more.

Sanding Topsides

December 3, 2011

Sanding Topsides, Laminating Bench and Ladder Box Cleats on Pec

We had a crew on hand once again to help sand the topsides on the boats. I'm not even sure who all is in this picture, but at least one of them has a respirator around his neck, if not on his face.

Locating Bench Seat Cleats

On board Fluke, Gene was puzzling over the locations for the bench seat mounting cleats. The welder had given us a sample piece identical to one of the bench seat ends and precise measurements showing the locations of mounting holes in the seat frames. We had to lay out the cleat boards and laminate them to the deck so they would all line up with the mounting holes.

If one or more of these were laminated to the deck in the wrong spot, it would create a problem we had no time to solve. Instead of "measure twice, cut once" it was "measure several times, think about it very carefully, measure some more, then laminate."

Cleat and Mat with Relief Cuts

We planned to laminate the wood cleats for the ladder box brackets at the same time as the ones for the seats, so I went over to cut the pieces of fiberglass mat for those. These cleats had a flat side for the ladder boxes to rest against, meaning they needed more complex relief cuts in the fiberglass mat to allow it to lay smoothly over the surfaces.

Attaching Bench Seat Cleats

Gene wetting down the bottom sides of each cleat and painting the deck with resin. Also visible in this picture is a pot of chopped fiberglass putty. We were using the putty and some mat to help ensure a good bond between the cleat and deck and to fill any air bubbles that might form in the layers of mat.

Bubble Rolling Bench Cleat

We were careful in measuring and placing the bench seat cleats, but marked where they should go with a Sharpie. Some of those marks were removed by the acetone wipe and the rest became increasingly obscured as each of the three layers of mat was applied. As long as the initial placement was accurate, this was not a real problem when applying the mat, but bubble rolling takes some pressure. We found that with nothing to stop them and resin-soaked fiberglass to lubricate them, the deck cleats would slide around fairly easily. When this happened, we just nudged them back in place and hoped we were right about exactly where "back in place" had been.

Ladder Box Cleat Lamination

After the deck cleats were all laminated in places that we hoped were right, we moved on to the ladder box cleats. The ladder boxes bolt onto the gunwale face and to brackets bolted into threaded inserts in these cleats. If there is ever a problem with the threaded inserts or they cause rot in any of the cleats, removing them from the decks and replacing them could be done fairly easily without penetrating the skin of the decks themselves.

Laminating Wood Cleats on Pec

December 4, 2011
Deck Cleats on Fluke

Gene was measuring catalyst for the second batch of resin as we laminated the plywood cleats onto the deck of Fluke. My eyes are no longer good enough to see the little lines on the measuring cup, so I would hand it to him to measure out catalyst. If pressed, I could probably see the lines well enough to get by, but this method also provided an extra check on the mix ratio as we would agree on the amount of resin we were mixing up and the amount of catalyst required.

Bubble Rolling Cleat Lamination

At left, Gene was finishing up the bench cleat lamination on Fluke with a bubble roller.

Fluke Ladder Box Cleats

The ladder box cleat laminations on Fluke being bubble rolled. The fancy relief cuts worked pretty well at allowing the mat to lay flat on all faces with smooth seams and no bubbles.

Dodger Edge Repair

After the ladder box and bench mounting cleats were installed, we moved on to a minor repair where the hard dodger meets the deck, then called it a day.

The next day, Dennis was coming to start spraying gelcoat. Finally, an actual finish coat being applied!

The post Rebuilding Whale Watching Tenders Part 15 first appeared on Tropical Boating.

November 16, 2011

Fiberglassing Decks on Both Boats

We got an early start and were out on the boats doing final preparations for fiberglassing the decks over the new fuel tanks before our young helpers were really alert. After doing a final dry fit of the layers of mat we intended to lay on the deck, Gene sanded some of the rougher edges smooth while I went around and stuffed small bits of fiberglass mat into places where the deck panel seams were a bit wide.

Respirators On, Ready For Resin

After a final pass with the shop vac and an acetone wipe down, we were ready to replace the fiberglass on the deck of Pec at last. Adam and Lane were up and about, helping us to gather slop boards, mixing buckets, rollers and such. We planned to laminate as a team, with Lane constantly mixing resin and handing it up to the boat where Gene, Adam and I would be laying down the mat. We had a lot of square feet to cover!

Lane Mixing Resin

This is an early batch to be used for wetting in perimeter strips, so Lane is not mixing up a full pot of resin this time around. Once we started on the bigger pieces of mat, the batches got bigger. I think we went through that whole stack of mixing cups in the course of the day.

Starting Deck Lamination

Before the big pieces to cover the deck could go on, we had a bit of detail work to do. Gene was applying the piece that was cut to wrap around and under the edge of one inspection hatch while I put a little extra fiberglass in places where the old deck skin was thicker to help blend in the new with the old. Adam was refilling resin trays and helping wet out pieces that we put down.

Fiberglassing Deck on Pec

This was a big step for Pec! The three of us were wetting in the top layer of fiberglass mat over the new fuel tank deck panels. Once these pieces were soaked and hit with bubble rollers, the deck would be watertight once again. I was starting to have thoughts of hosing all the dust out of the boat, but we still had a ways to go before that could be done. Still, it was nice to have the deck intact and protected once again.

Rolling Resin Into Fiberglass

A deck-level view of the process, showing a rather beat-up glove on my hand in the foreground, Gene and Adam rolling away in the background.

Team Bubble Rolling

Once the last layer of the lamination was in place, the three of us made a team bubble rolling effort to smooth and blend the layers and get out any bubbles and then left it to cure.

Pec Deck Fiberglassed

The finished product. When Gene started cutting up the decks, I never imagined it would be the middle of November before we replaced them, but there we were!

It's amusing to recall that early in the project, I had visions of a mid-November test ride before taking December off and then shipping the boats to the Dominican Republic in early January. It did not quite work out that way. "In your case, Mr. Flipse, it's going to take a little longer and cost a little more..."

Final Vacuuming on Fluke Deck

After lunch, we moved our operation over to fiberglass the deck on Fluke. Gene made a final pass with the shop vac with Lane in the unsung but heroic role of shop-vac and cord tender. In the background are the rolls of fiberglass mat, ready for a final dry fit before we start mixing resin.

Masking Off Fuel Tanks

They went off to reclaim mixing pots and clean and prepare our rollers and trays while I climbed aboard the boat to drape some pieces of plastic over the fuel tanks and tape them in place. Getting the fiberglass to wrap around the inner edges of the inspection plate holes is a messy process and bound to cause some drips.

Lane Self Portrait

I asked Lane to take over photography duties since his hands would remain cleaner in his mixing role. I guess he got tired of not being in any of the pictures he took! In the background Gene, Adam and I are wetting in the first layer of fiberglass.

Adam Busts A Move

Adam busts a move while bubble rolling the second layer of mat.

Wetting Last Layer

A shot of the three of us rolling the resin into the top layer of fiberglass on the deck of Fluke. We were still a long way from having finished decks on the boats, but a day with great visible progress was a morale booster for all of us.

Tom Looking Dazed

Gene was finishing the last of the bubble rolling as I got out of my gloves and stepped off the boat. A day of rolling polyester resin can certainly put a dazed look in the eyes! We wore respirators with organic vapor cartridges all day, but the fumes were thick with that much exposed fiberglass curing at once.

Sandy Faced Cowdog

November 17, 2012
Minor Fiberglass Projects, Installing Cleats and Hard Top Brackets, Console and Ladder Box Work

The day began with a dog comedy show. Gene and I were talking as our dogs Libby and Luke the Cowdog were chasing each other around the yard. As they ran in an arc that approached the pond, Luke wound up running at full speed between Libby and the pond. Libby weighs in at around 80 pounds, while Luke is under 60. Libby hip-checked Luke, who went flying several feet sideways before landing ungracefully in the pond.

I was facing away from the action and it took Gene most of a minute to stop laughing long enough to tell me what was so funny. Luke knew we were laughing at him, and was not amused. He decided to dry off by rolling on the ground, but chose a sandy spot and covered half of his face with sand. I thought this was hilarious and took a picture. Again he was not amused.

Ladder Box Cleats

My project for the morning was cutting out these pieces of wood that will be used to mount the ladder boxes. These pieces will be fiberglassed to the decks after we put the final fiberglass skin on them and will have threaded inserts for bolting on angle brackets to hold the bottoms of the ladder boxes.

When searching for whales out on the Silver Bank, Gene often perches on top of the ladder, putting quite a bit of stress on the ladder box mounts. If the stress of service allows water to penetrate into these cleat boards, they can be easily replaced and no water should get through the skin below and into the deck core itself.

Minor Fiberglass Repairs

While I was working with the table saw, the rest of the crew were over working on Fluke. Gene was doing some minor fiberglass work on small gussets and the forward bulkhead with Lane mixing resin and assisting.

Dry Fitting Stern Cleats

Colton and Adam were drilling holes in the boats and in aluminum backing plates and then dry fitting the stern cleats on both boats.

Fuel Fill and Vent Fittings

Gene and Lane finished their morning lamination work about the time that Adam and Colton finished their work dry fitting the cleats and backing plates. Here Gene and Colton are shown working on installation of fuel fill and vent fittings so that the hoses could be hooked up before the fiberglass shroud was laminating in place in the boat. Lane was preparing the lamination pieces.

Sanding Pec Corner

Over on Pec, Adam was sanding down the repairs done to transom corners a couple of days earlier.

Cutting Starboard Console Faces

I was busy working on consoles. After fairing some previous repairs, I started cutting the King Starboard plastic face plates for the consoles. Equipment installations over the years have resulted in a patchwork of holes in both consoles. Our plan is to solve this problem by covering the console faces and tops with 3/4" plastic panels and cut fresh holes for the controls and gauges.

Fiberglassing Hose Shrouds

Lane was helping Gene laminate the fiberglass fuel hose shroud in place on Fluke. These hose shrouds were very cheap and easy to create (see section 11 of this series) and once laminated in place they were secure and nice looking to boot! A great improvement over the old plywood and fiberglass boxes they replaced.

Dry Fitting Hard Top Brackets

I spent part of the afternoon clamping the hard top brackets in place on gussets and drilling holes to dry fit them with bolts.

In the background some of the drips from Gene's morning gusset lamination project can be seen.

Sunset November 17, 2011

The day ended with another sunset that was nice, but not quite ready for prime time.

Glassing Pec Fuel Hose Shroud

November 18, 2012
Adam Grinds All Day, More Fiberglassing, Consoles Coming Together

We removed a lot of stainless steel screws and bolts from the boats in the course of taking them apart and repairing them, and we saved any that seemed reusable in case they were needed in reassembly. A sign of the slowly changing tide in the rebuild project came when I decided to scrounge up the screws needed to attach the console doors and face plates from our inventory of spare stainless hardware. Instead of taking something apart and saving scraps, I was rooting through the scraps to put something new together!

Gene and Lane were preparing to laminate the fuel hose shroud in place on Pec, with Gene doing a bit of final shaping with the grinder and Lane preparing the tools and supplies.

Grinding Day for Adam

Meanwhile, Adam began a long day of grinding on board Fluke. 

The two fans helped a bit, but he was soon inside a thick cloud of fiberglass dust.

Enlarging Mounting Holes

The screws that I scrounged up to mount the console doors were a bit large for the existing holes, so I drilled out the holes and enlarged the countersunk area around each one so the screws would sit flush with the door frames.

Console Door Dry Fit

Once the mounting holes were adjusted, I drilled the corresponding holes in the consoles and did a dry fit with the screws in place on each console.

Fiberglass Shroud Laminated

Over on the boats, Gene and Lane finished laminating the fuel hose shroud on Pec and put a couple of work lights on it, most likely to kick off a slow cure of the resin.

Adam Grinds On...

And on Fluke, Adam ground on...

It was starting to look like it snowed on the deck!

Console Face Drilling

After the console storage doors were fitted in place, I moved on to drilling the holes for the new face plates.

Consoles with Faces and Doors

The consoles were starting to look more presentable with the new face plates and doors.

Large Hole Saw

Among the miscellaneous projects of the day, Gene used a large hole saw on a drill to make the round inspection holes at the ends of gunwale face boards where we had replaced the boards. These holes and the rectangular ones are not used for under-gunwale storage access, though they could be. The holes are for access to the rub rail bolts and are covered with fiberglass plates when the boats are in service.

Adam Still Grinding

Adam was still grinding on Fluke when the last photo of the day was taken. He finished up under the dodger and vacuumed up all the dust, then set to work grinding the deck to prepare it for the final skin of fiberglass.

November 21, 2011

Opening New Yamaha 90 Four Stroke Outboards

New Yamaha 90 Outboards

I guess one is supposed to do an "unboxing of" video for these kinds of things, but I just took a few pictures when Gene decided that the day had come to have a look in the four boxes he bought and make sure that they actually contained Yamaha 90 hp outboards in undamaged condition, along with the few parts that were supposed to come with each engine.

November 21, 2011 Sunset

Checking on the outboards was the only boat project related activity, but there was yet another nice sunset on the creek. The sky was confused with nearby storms and the picture does not really do it justice.

Dual Compressor Rig in Pickup

November 22, 2011
Dennis Sand Blasting, Scraping Old Benches, Sanding Consoles, Fairing

Both boats had been pretty thoroughly ground and sanded where possible in preparation for gelcoat, but there were still nooks and crannies that were inaccessible to power tools where various layers of old paint remained. We could not be sure all of those layers were going to be compatible with the new gelcoat, so Dennis suggested that he could sandblast the problem areas.

He showed up with two large air compressors in his truck, along with the sandblaster and a big, blue bucket of sand.

Loading Sandblaster

The sandblaster mostly consists of a metal pressure tank, so it is sort of heavy. The big bucket of sand was very heavy. In the picture at left, Dennis is loading sand into the blaster. The boat has been cleaned and vacuumed so that the sand can be recovered from the deck and reused.

Dennis Sandblasting

Dennis filled the air with a cloud of sand and dust, with most of the sand falling back into the boat and most of the lighter paint and fiberglass dust blowing away.

Homer Fairing Pec

Outside the boat, Homer was making every effort to stay far from Dennis' activities as he faired the topsides on Pec. Dennis was working down by the transom by the time the picture at left was taken.

Gene Grinding On Fluke

Despite Adam's full day attack with the grinder, there were still places on Fluke that were not yet ready for gelcoat. Gene spent a good part of the day sanding and grinding once again. We also spent some time scraping the old bench seats. Layers of material that had seemed attached before were coming off a bit too easily all of a sudden. It was a real cause for concern.

Routed Console Face Edges

Plastic snow on the stairs that I use as a work bench. I went next door to borrow a router from my neighbor to round off the edges of the console face pieces. A sharp, new router blade eats through Starboard plastic so easily it can barely be felt.

The rest of my day was spent sanding the consoles with a pad sander. At the end of the day, my sanding had revealed a few surface flaws in the fairing on one console and Homer had a bit of fairing compound to spare at the end of a run, so he gave it one more wipe with the fairing compound. Once those patches were smoothed out, the consoles would be ready for fine sanding and painting.

Drilling Transoms

November 26, 2011
Epoxying Transoms, Death of Old Benches, More Grinding

After a little Thanksgiving break down in Captiva, it was back to work!

I was unable to detect any major problems in the transoms of the boats back in April in the Dominican Republic and a surveyor friend with a moisture meter could not find problems once we got them here. Still, when the engines came off, a bit of probing revealed that there was some rotten core around the engine bolt holes at the waterline. We also found that the transom had been rebuilt taller than the original at some point and it was done by essentially adding a taller transom onto the existing one. The boats now have double transoms.

The plan for the day was to extract any rotten core from around the holes and inject the transoms with epoxy to seal the remaining core and fill the holes. Hammers and moisture meters can only reveal so much, so the first step was to find the full extent of the problem in the only definitive way: drill even more holes in the transoms to find out what's inside!

Fluke Transom Perforated

This went pretty well on Pec, where I found only minor rot around a couple of holes. I used the drill and air pressure to clear them out and nearby exploratory holes came up with clean core inside. The situation was a bit worse on Fluke, which had two areas of a few inches or so each that were rotten and minor problems around other holes. I kept on drilling until exploratory holes came up clean then used the drill at various angles to interconnect all the holes behind the skin. This removed most of the core material and a bit of probing with sharp instruments and air pressure took care of the rest.

Grinding Pec Bow

While I was working on the transoms, Gene was suited up and grinding on the bow of Pec. He was pretty tired of grinding by this point and even more tired of having me take his picture while he was grinding. I probably snuck this one when returning from a break and I'm not sure what he was doing.

The old fuel tanks made really handy work scaffolds!

Transom Epoxy Injection

Once again the transom on Pec presented fewer problems than the one on Fluke when it came time to inject them with epoxy. Drips are visible on the starboard side where the masking tape "dam" failed to hold back the liquid epoxy but that hole was mostly filled anyway. Each hole was taped off from the inside, filled with epoxy and taped off on the outside, then topped off via a small diagonal hole drilled down into the large hole. The diagonal allows air venting and prevents and bubble and once it is topped off there is just a minor dent to fill later.

The process did not go as smoothly on Fluke, where the masking tape over the larger system of holes failed badly. In an effort to stem the flow, I wedged a flat piece of fiberglass against the repair while it cured, but still had to go back and do it again to completely fill all the holes.

Grinding Out Holes

The upper holes on both transoms had no core problems, but we had decided to patch all holes and drill new ones when it came time to mount the new engines. I used a burr bit on the drill to shape each hole into an hourglass shape on both sides. The idea was to give the epoxy patch a fresh, rough bonding surface and to ensure that the epoxy plug could never come out if it broke free, being thicker at both ends than the middle.

Chainsawing Rotten Core

While the epoxy was curing, we started seriously looking into restoring the finish on the old bench seats and reinstalling them in the boats. Gene wanted to avoid the expense of new benches and the old ones were still strong and usable. We decided it was time to flip them over and have a look at the plywood core inside. The news was not good. There were significant areas of rot visible and I took a little electric chainsaw to the core and found the damage went pretty deep.

Gene was not happy at the prospect of yet another core replacement repair, but it would be necessary to at least replace some parts to re-use these benches. He decided to call Richard the welder and order new aluminum benches for the boats.

Touchup Grinding

The sandblasting was effective at removing old layers of paint but Gene still spent a good part of the day grinding fresh repairs and touchup grinding to minimize further work that would be needed with the sandblaster.

The post Rebuilding Whale Watching Tenders Part 14 first appeared on Tropical Boating.

November 11, 2011

The day started like many others: with someone running a grinder. This time it was Adam preparing the pieces of marine plywood deck for installation. The undersides were previously coated with resin but drips and areas that would need to accept more fiberglass needed to be ground down a bit.

Micah and Gene were dry fitting the deck pieces in Pec and measuring for the deck plate holes.

Cutting Deck Plate Holes

Once they located and traced the hole positions, the pieces were passed off to me for cutting.

Micah Cleaning Up

Adam had been doing touchup grinding in preparation for putting on the deck on Fluke and blew away most of the dust with the air pressure hose. Here Micah is taking care of the last bit using an extended shop vac hose and air pressure.

Fuel Fill and Vent Hoses

Gene ground pieces of fiberglass to line the hole in the deck where the fuel fill and vent hoses come up then ran the new fuel hoses on Pec.

Fuel Fill Fitting Installation

Gene installed the fuel fill deck fittings. Running the fuel fill and vent hoses and connecting them to their respective fittings had to be done before the fiberglass shrouds were glassed in place to cover the hoses.

Hawse Pipe Bolt Holes

While he was busy on Pec, I was over on Fluke drilling holes for hawse pipe mounting bolts. To prevent the deck core from rotting out around the bolts again, each hole would be sealed with epoxy and then redrilled to size after the epoxy had a chance to soak into the wood.

Lane Acting Goofy

Apparently, while I was distracted with hole drilling, Lane got hold of my camera and started goofing off.

Adam and Lane Goofing Off

These guys should really have considered the fact that once this is on the internet, it's out there forever.

Making Deck Stand Pipes

Micah and Adam were finishing up making the PVC stand pipes that would allow the bilge pump and fuel hoses to pass through the decks. The boats came with one in each corner and at some point one had been added in one corner of Pec, but the new plan for twin bilge pumps and improved fuel hose routing meant that one more would be needed in Pec and two in Fluke.

Glassing Stand Pipe

To make the pipes stand at the proper angle, PVC couplers were trimmed at an angle on one end. The pipes will stick through the deck and the angled ends will rest on the deck, then the whole assembly will be encased in fiberglass. Polyester resin does not bond to PVC pipe but the coupler will ensure that a lot of fiberglass has to break before the stand pipe could move or slide up and down.

In the picture at left, Micah is laying fiberglass on and around one of the stand pipes.

Transom Edge Patch

The end of the day was spent doing little projects. The fuel tank well and deck on Pec were cleaned up to be ready for deck installation the next day. Gene was dabbing some resin on stringers and deck beams over on Fluke. I was putting a small piece of marine plywood encased in fiberglass into the edge of the transom on Pec.

This little patch was not really structurally necessary but made the transom look a bit neater when it was smoothed out and painted. The real purpose for it was to add an additional layer of waterproofing to protect previous repairs in this area.

Sun Melting

At the end of the day, we were treated to the sun melting into Shell Creek. Another one that was not quite good enough for the Facebook Sunsets Album.

Running Bilge Hoses and Wires

November 12, 2012

Lane must have drawn the short straw this morning. He wound up cleaning out the shop vac while Adam helped Gene run bilge pump hoses and wires down the deck pipes.

Fishing Bilge Pump Wires

Each boat now has two PVC pipes through the decks in each aft corner. Four are needed to accommodate two bilge pump wires and two bilge pump discharge hoses plus fuel lines coming from the tank. The bilge discharge hoses almost completely fill one pipe each and Gene really wanted twin bilge pumps on both boats.

Console Holes

Back at the house, I had the consoles out and was doing what I could to patch some old holes and seal the core edges around the rest. These consoles have seen quite a few installations of equipment over the years, some of them apparently using stone knives to cut the holes. We were planning to use some of the same holes again for things like throttles, steering wheels and gauges, but some just needed to be filled.

Grinding Deck Panels

Repairing the boats up to this point has involved quite a bit of drilling of holes and the project absorbed a couple of drill bit sets. They were old ones, typically missing a bit or two and with dull ones throughout. The picture at right marks the first appearance on the job of my most recent complete set. I must have been pretty frustrated in searching through the other bits to bring that one out.

Micah was doing a bit of touch-up grinding on the sides and bottom of the deck panels we were about to install.

Vacuuming Tank Well

Gene and Adam were continuing the process of snaking bilge wires and hoses through the deck pipes while Micah cleaned out the tank well on Pec with the shop vac one last time.

Gene Documenting Locations

Before the new tanks were covered, Gene laid out a couple of tape measures and went down the length of Pec with still and video cameras, documenting the locations of under-deck beams, hoses, tank corners and other details that we hope will never become important again.

Trimming Console Holes

Some of the more irregular holes in the consoles got the strange bits trimmed off with a jigsaw in preparation for sealing the plywood core edges.

Vacuuming Fluke Tank Well

While the other guys were getting ready to install the deck panels on Pec, Lane was over on Fluke giving the tank well and bilge areas the final pass with the shop vac.

Rusty Fuel Level Sender

We took the opportunity to remove the electric fuel level senders from the tanks. Gene had opted to install mechanical gauges in the tanks instead, in part for the increased reliability and in part to avoid running a wire to the console. The large deck plates over the aft end of each tank will allow access to the gauge and the supply hose if needed, but as a rule the boats burn about the same amount of fuel each week and are refilled prior to the next week. There is seldom any need to check the actual level.

It was just as well that these rusty senders were replaced. Although "new" in the sense of never having been installed in a boat, these surplus fuel tanks are 11 years old and the moist environment had gotten to them.

Caulking Team On Pec

Everything was prepared at last and Micah and Gene set about laying down a bed of 3M 5200 caulk on the deck beams and stringers. This must have been the day that I decided we were going to use whatever tools it took to finish up these boats. That's my good caulk gun in Micah's hand. Gene got stuck with one of the junky ones we had been using.

Recaulking Panel Seam

When the aft deck piece was laid in place, we found that the end of the board just barely contacted the bead of caulk run across the deck beam. Adam picked it up while Micah put a bit more 5200 on and spread it across the mating surface.

The bead of caulk used would have been fine where the deck panel was laying across the beam. It would be squished flat across the surface. The lesson: we should have put extra caulk on the pieces where plywood panel ends would meet in the first place.

Checking Deck Panels on Pec

Once the plywood panels were in place, Gene and Micah took one last look at positioning of the panels and access plate holes before screwing the deck down. A mistake at this point requiring the removal of any of these pieces would be a disaster.

Satisfied that the pieces were in their final position, Micah ran around with the drill screwing them down and we moved on over to install the deck on Fluke.

Forming Top of Bulkhead

There is always work to be done before the work can begin. In this case, Gene had his cameras out again to document below-decks parts of Fluke before they were covered up and Micah was using some resin and Cabosil putty to form up the gap in the top of the fuel well bulkhead around the PVC fuel line conduit.

The putty was mixed thick enough to nearly stand on its own and he used pieces of plastic to hold it in shape while it cured.

Filling Console Holes

Back at the house, I had taped up the back sides of all the holes in the consoles. In the picture at left I'm injecting epoxy into the holes that were too small for a brush. The edges of the bigger holes were painted with liquid epoxy to seal the plywood core.

Caulking for Deck on Fluke

Micah was running caulk where the deck panels would lay on Fluke while Gene finished up taking pictures. The white square around the PVC conduit is the bulkhead top section that Micah was making in the picture above.

Screwing Deck Panels on Fluke

Because Fluke did not have the damaged deck sections forward of the tank well that we saw on Pec, there were only three deck panels to install. At left, Micah is screwing them down.

In parts 2 and 3 of this series, I talked about cutting up the decks and removing the fuel tanks back in the beginning of August. Since that time, we were working around big holes in the decks and I had gotten accustomed to walking around over and in the holes. The decks seemed a bit like they did not belong on the boats at first, but I was eager to make them waterproof.

Pond Picture

There is another picture of the consoles I was working on, this time with the holes filled and core edges sealed, but it looks pretty much like other pictures of the consoles. For some reason, someone took a couple of pictures of the pond this day, so I decided to include one of those here instead.

A peaceful pond is a useful amenity for a boat project.

November 12, 2011 Sunset

Another sunset that did not quite make prime time, but was darn nice to see.

Console Shelf Core Replacement

November 14, 2011

The morning started with replacement of the thin plywood core in the console shelf. Holes were cut to match the holes in the shelf for passage of control cables, hydraulic steering hoses and electrical wires so that the plywood core edges would be sealed during the next step and would not require a separate operation to cut and then seal the holes.

After prepping both surfaces and scarring them a bit with a grinder to give more bite, I covered the plywood and the fiberglass with epoxy. In the picture, the console is inverted and leaned against a concrete column and we have placed concrete blocks and an anchor inside to hold the pieces together while the epoxy cures.

Adam Flapper Sander

Wandering over to the boats, I found Adam laying down aboard Pec with a flapper sander on a drill.

We were trying to simultaneously prepare a list of small lamination projects on both boats and I think he was prepping the area of the fuel fill hose shroud.

Grinding Gussets for Brackets

Gene was also suited up to make dust fly and was working with the grinder over on Fluke. The metal pieces on the deck are brackets to hold the hard tops and I believe Gene is smoothing the gusset face to fit the bracket.

Also on the grinding list for the day were areas around the fuel fill and along the port side of Fluke, transom patches on both boats, and small repairs up under the dodger on Fluke.

Extra Long Cutting Table

Lane and I were working on cutting the fiberglass to cover the decks over the fuel tanks. We had to steal an extra table from the job site and bring it over to our cutting area because some of the pieces needed were up to 14 feet long. Most of our prior repairs involved much smaller pieces. When we started cutting the long ones, I was surprised by how quickly the roll of mat began to disappear.

The picture shows the fiberglass mat draping over the side of the table, something that made it hard to roll up. We used a few plywood "slop" boards to extend the edges of the cutting surface so the pieces could lay flat for rolling.

Using Drywall Square for Cutting

A cutting tip for anyone who may have to take large pieces of fiberglass off of a roll: a drywall T-square makes a very handy tool for keeping the cuts perpendicular to the edges of the roll.

A piece of plywood is underneath the mat in the picture, but since plywood sheets are 48" wide and the roll was 50" wide it can't be seen. It was positioned very close to the right hand edge of the mat and hanging off the table a bit so that a large hand clamp could be used to hold the T-square, mat and plywood still for cutting.

Ensuring that the plywood did not protrude from underneath the mat allowed us to align the edge of the square with the edge of the mat, slide it to the cutting mark, clamp it off and run a razor knife along the square's edge. For a neat cut, finishing both ends with scissors was required, since there was no plywood backing for the razor knife to push against at either edge.

Test Fitting Mat on Deck

Lane and I cut the large pieces of mat to cover the fuel tank deck areas at slightly different sizes to taper the edge of the lamination and blend it into the existing deck edge, which was also ground to a beveled edge. In the picture at left, he is checking one piece for size on the deck of Pec.

Cutting Long Taper Pieces

Once the large pieces were cut, checked, labeled and rolled up, Lane and I launched into the area of fiberglass sculpture. The problem we faced was that the existing decks of both boats varied quite a bit in thickness. We had made the plywood panel patches level with the old plywood, but if we just put a few layers of mat on each deck, the unevenness would remain and be quite visible.

We cut a bunch of pieces to help taper the edges of the old deck into the new section. It is a lot easier to blend the uneven levels together than to try to make the problem invisible later with a grinder.

Vacuuming Respirator Filters

While we were busy with the cutting and organizing of fiberglass, Gene and Adam were over on the boats raising a cloud of dust, grinding and sanding surfaces in preparation for lamination. The last picture of the day shows them using a Shop Vac to clean the dust out of respirator filters.

Cutting Console Door Holes

November 15, 2012

We had found a couple of doors for the console compartments at the marine surplus store, but they were a bit too large for the existing holes. The doors we found were almost too big for the available space. In the picture at right, Gene is cutting out holes of the proper size.

Grinding Console Holes

The picture at left shows Gene doing some final shaping of the holes with a grinder to allow the doors to drop into place and remove any sharp fiberglass edges.

Grinding Bulkhead for Tabbing

He then took the grinder over to continue the preparation for various fiberglass projects. In this photo the bow area of Fluke is lit by a work lamp so he could prepare the bulkhead tabbing for reinforcement. We were unimpressed with some of the existing tabbing on the forward bulkheads on both boats.

Lane Cutting Fiberglass Mat

Lane and I had measurements for various needed pieces of fiberglass mat for the upcoming laminations and were busy cutting and labeling them.

Console Shelf Holes Taped

After taping up the holes in the console shelf and a wipe with acetone, the new plywood core was ready to skin with fiberglass mat on the bottom side.

Console Shelf Core Sealed

When Gene, Adam and Colton mixed up a batch of resin for their first repairs of the day, they mixed extra for me to use on the console core. I wound up with a little more than needed, but not enough to really be useful elsewhere. I poured the excess into the two holes and around the edges of the wood to help seal the core edges.

Fluke Port Side Repairs

The depression in the deck for the fuel fill fitting needed a bit of filling and fairing and a short section of the port side of Fluke got a few layers of mat. The picture at right shows Gene smoothing in the repair with a bubble roller as Adam looks on. My pictures show another fairing type repair on the starboard corner of this boat at about the same time and Colton helping out Lane at the mixing table.

Glassing Under Gunwale on Fluke

There was also some glassing left to do underneath the gunwale on Fluke. This is the area Gene was grinding earlier so he could be patching or fairing the gusset or possibly reinforcing the area where the ladder grabs the side of the boat when deployed.

Pec Starboard Corner Repair

The starboard corner of Pec got a few wraps of fiberglass to smooth and reinforce it.

Pec Port Transom Repair

And the inside port corner repair done previously got smoothed in with some mat.

The post Rebuilding Whale Watching Tenders Part 13 first appeared on Tropical Boating.

November 7, 2011

Another leap forward in time has occurred and I am returning to writing about this project on September 22, 2012, almost a year after the events unfolded. The pictures will have to tell the parts of the story I have forgotten.

When I finished putting away the pieces of the Sun Cat Nationals and returned to the job site, I found Gene preparing to bend the PVC fuel line conduit pipe for installation in Pec. He took me over for a brief tour of work accomplished in my absence on Fluke.

They had made and installed a new bulkhead in the fuel tank well. The new tanks are quite a bit shorter than the old ones were, so this partition bulkhead was made to hold the aft end of the tank. I assured Gene that putting the fuel tank in this boat further forward than the other boat by a foot or so would not make a noticeable difference in vessel trim. Later tests proved that wrong and this boat is a bit bow heavy, despite the 800-plus pounds of engines hanging on the stern.

They also put a fiberglass skin on the starboard inside gunwale face board and completed the repair of the deck skin in the hawse pipe area. They also put a couple of layers of fiberglass in the fuel tank well on Pec. The focus in the coming days was going to be installing the fuel tanks so that the boats could have decks once again, so prep work was underway.

PVC Pipe Bent Using Torch

The PVC conduit pipes for the fuel lines had to drop down below a 2 x 4 deck support then come back up over the aft-most bulkhead. It is easy to bend PVC pipe if it has been heated a bit, as the one nice curve shows, and also easy to fold the weak part of the pipe by getting it a bit too hot, as the other bend shows.

Adam and Gene with Fuel Tank on Pec

I have no idea what Adam and Gene are doing in this picture. Looks like they are test-fitting the new fuel tank in Pec. The picture does explain where part of my day went: that's my truck and empty Sun Cat trailer in the background. I'm guessing I was on my way to fetch the boat and put it away.

Colton Grinding on Fluke

Colton was busy with the grinder over on Fluke. He had roughed up patches of the new fiberglass in the fuel tank well where deck supports will be tabbed on and was working on cleaning up the bottom edge of the face board.

Lane Cutting Fiberglass Solo

Lane had taken over my usual job of cutting new fiberglass, and was doing well enough that Gene just gave him a list of needed pieces and sent him off. He was preparing pieces to line the motor wells and tabs for the deck supports to be installed the next day.

November 8, 2011

Fiberglassing Motorwell on Fluke

Lane and Gene prepared to put the finishing layers of fiberglass in the motor well on Fluke. The pieces of fiberglass have relief cuts to allow them to run up the sides of the motor well and to wrap around the lip where the hatch will be installed and stick to the underside of the deck. They are test-fitting the dry pieces of fiberglass to make sure they will all lay down smoothly when wet.

Micah and Adam Prep Work on Pec

Micah returned to work with us some more. While Adam was preparing the motor well on Pec and the undersides of the deck in that area, Micah was making plywood scab pieces to join the existing deck to the new pieces. I found a picture of my table saw in the mix at about this point, so I guess I was cutting something. I don't remember what it might have been.

Micah and Adam on Pec

The plywood-cored stringers under the deck had suffered only minor water damage, but there was a fight getting the old deck off and the fasteners tore some chunks out. I cleaned out the water damaged areas and cleaned up the gouges then injected the stringers with West System epoxy to fill and seal the holes. Meanwhile, my photos show Micah dry fitting the half dozen or so scab pieces and Adam wiping down the motor well on Pec with Acetone.

They look pretty pleased with themselves for some reason. I thought this was a better picture than the ones showing them actually working.

Gene and Lane Glass Pec Motorwell

The work shots tend to look like this one of Gene and Lane finishing the new fiberglass skin in the motor well on Pec.

That's Lane down in the bilge, most likely attempting to use a bubble roller to get the fiberglass to stick to the underside of the motor well deck. Gene is wetting out the layer on top. The piece of wood labeled "A1" was used to bring the motor well deck level up a bit so it will drain better.

Micah Dry Fitting Scab Boards

Micah was just finishing the dry fit on the scab boards for the aft end of the deck on Pec as Gene and Lane came over to glass the motor well.

Gene and Lane Glass Pec Motorwell

And in came the fiberglass team. Lane is down in the bilge sticking the wrapped-under flaps of the first layer onto the underside of the deck while Gene wets down the second layer on top with resin.

Tom Coats Scab Boards

With both motor wells glassed, we moved on to finishing laminations beneath the deck. In the photo at right, I'm the barefoot fiberglass guy. I was coating half of each scab board with resin and a layer of mat to help them adhere to the underside of the existing deck.

Lane and Micah Tab and Scab

While I was preparing those pieces, the rest of the crew were tabbing in the deck supports and attaching scab boards as I got them ready.

Adam Cuts Rubber Mat

While that was going on, Adam was cutting pieces of the rubber mat we planned to use to pad the fuel tanks and prevent them from moving. Each tank well was getting a full rubber lining on the bottom and pieces in each corner and between the tanks and deck support beams.

Gene and Lane moved all the lamination tools and supplies from Pec to Fluke while Micah used a razor to trim the nearly-cured edges of the scab boards we had just installed on Pec. Once the pieces were fully cured, Adam removed any rough edges and scuffed them with a grinder to make them ready for decking.

Installing Fluke Deck Supports

At left, the crew is working on laminating deck beams in screwing on scab boards on Fluke. Over on Pec, Adam is finishing up with the grinder and vacuuming out the fuel tank well one last time before the fuel tank installation.

Micah Grabs Tank

Micah went off to the shed to fetch the new fuel tank and came back showing off his own innovative way of carrying it. Those holes add rigidity to the tanks and make decent handles too!

Pec Fuel Tank Installation

And the first fuel tank goes in a boat! We had become so used to working around big holes in both boats, it was going to take a little while to get used to having decks on the boats again. This was a big step in that direction.

Padding Fuel Tank

We took advantage of the stiffness of the rubber mats, wrapping a piece around each end to hold the tank firmly in place while still allowing for it to expand when filled with fuel. These plastic tanks expand by a few percent when filled with fuel for the first time and the rubber corner wraps will allow them to expand while holding them securely in the center of the well.

Gene Taps Tank Pad

The rubber end wraps were a tight fit to install. In the picture at left, Gene is tapping one into place using the Mighty Mini sledge hammer and a piece of 2 x 4.

Deck Beams Over Tank

Once the tank was in place, Gene started tapping in the deck support beams and test fitting the pieces of rubber mat that would go between them and the tank, preventing it from bouncing up in waves.

Epic Lasagna Feast

I think I stopped work a bit early that evening so the work crew could help take down the party tent from the Sun Cat Nationals. The next picture in my camera was the one at left, showing our heroic attempt to eat a lasagna of truly epic proportions. We all did our part and Adam had at least two of those fully loaded plates, but still we only ate about a third of the thing.

Micah Cutting Plastic

November 9, 2011

These two boats were manufactured at the same time, but they are not quite the same in several ways, one of them being the bottom of the fuel tank well. The tank well on Pec had a flat bottom, so we just put a rubber mat down there and set in the tank. The one on Fluke did not have a bottom, so it followed the V of the hull. A tank set in it would only be supported along the long edges.

We decided to support the tank by laying in a piece of plastic on top of expanding foam. The foam would support the plastic and the rubber mat and fuel tank would sit on top. Our plan was to lay a piece of plywood on top of the plastic and weight it with concrete blocks while the foam cured.

Tabbing Deck Beams

While that was going on outside the boats, Gene and Lane were tabbing in the deck support beams across the fuel tank in Pec.

Adam Grinds Bulkhead

We poured the foam mixture into the fuel tank well on Fluke and while waiting for it to cure, Adam ground down the top of the new bulkhead to make it level with the deck stringers on either side. You can see the concrete and a chunk of wood being used to weigh down the plywood and make the foam flat.

Micah Cuts Hawse Pipe Hole

While waiting for foam to cure, Micah used a large hole saw that happened to match the radius of the ends of the hawse pipes to make holes in the starboard deck of Pec. The two holes were later finished off and the excess in the middle cut away with a jigsaw.

Cutting Hawse Pipe Holes

Over on Fluke, I traced the hawse pipes and cut the outlines with a jigsaw. Cutting out the hawse pipes gave me my first real look at the repairs we had done in those areas. I was surprised by how thick and sturdy the pieces that came out were. The repaired areas are overbuilt and would be strong enough if we had used fewer layers of cloth and mat, but I guess that is better than cutting them open to find that they really do not appear strong enough.

First Foam Attempt

Down in the fuel tank well, things did not go well on our first foaming attempt. The expanding foam easily lifted the plywood and concrete block weights and rose up instead of expanding outward all the way to the edges. When we removed the plywood, we could feel that the plastic was resting on a hump. The picture at left shows the foam hump after the plastic was peeled away. Not right. We scraped it out with drywall knives.

Adam Vacuums Foam

Removal of the first foaming attempt left debris in the bottom of the tank well so Adam vacuumed it out and wiped it down again before our next try. We could see that the foam easily lifted the concrete blocks, so a lot more weight was needed if we wanted to force it to expand outward instead of upward.

Crew Weight On Foam

This time, we put the heavy rubber mat on top of the plywood, along with the concrete blocks we had previously used. The aft end was then weighted with Adam seated atop two 5 gallon buckets of polyester resin. Gene was in the middle on another bucket of resin and a bucket of acetone. Micah was on top of another bucket of resin and I was straddling a final one up forward. A video of Micah pouring the foam mixture and all of us weighing it down is below.

Foam Weights Removed

We all stayed in place for a while to let the foam cure, then left the resin buckets and concrete in place for a while after that to make sure it was through expanding. When the weights were removed, the rubber mat was evenly supported and we could see where a little foam had expanded around it at the aft end, running up the blue tape we had put across the bulkhead.

Sealing Hawse Pipe Edges

Gene went back to work with sticky substances, this time sealing the plywood core edges of the new hawse pipe holes.

Moonrise Over Shell Creek

Every evening, we take the dogs down to the creek at sunset. I have a Facebook album of sunsets, but this one does not quite fit, yet was too nice to throw out. A great reflected moonrise over Shell Creek.

Micah Flips The Bird

Micah refused to observe our tradition of flipping off the cameraman while working, but he did show me the bird as he was making a delicious chicken stew dinner.

Micah Trimming Mat

November 10, 2012

The day started with a series of small projects that were needed to accomplish the big project of the day: installing the fuel tank in Fluke. I was cutting fiberglass tabs for the deck beams while Micah was using soapy water and a sharp knife to trim and bevel the edges of the rubber mat that would lay underneath the fuel tank. Gene, Lane and Adam were preparing mixing pots, trays, rollers and such and making sure we had everything ready for lamination.

Gene Grinding Corner

Side projects for the day were to wrap the two transom corners on Fluke with fiberglass mat and cloth, and no fiberglassing can take place without some grinding. In the pic at left, Gene is rounding corners and roughing up adjacent areas of fiberglass to ensure the repair pieces lay smooth and stick to the existing structure. After grinding, the area was cleaned with compressed air or a shop vac and wiped with acetone prior to lamination.

Lamination Preparation

In the foreground of the picture at right are all the pieces of fiberglass for our day's work, along with two scissors and a razor knife. Two scissors because one would wind up sticky from cutting wet fiberglass and it is nice to keep one clean and dry. The razor knife is just faster and cleaner where it can be used. Micah was dry fitting the wood pieces for the inside of the port corner on Fluke and Gene and Lane were suiting up and laying out supplies to mix resin.

Adam Injecting Epoxy

Meanwhile, we had decided that the stringers on Pec drank up the previous epoxy injection a bit too readily, so Adam went over to give them another dose.

Fluke Fuel Tank Installation

Gene was measuring out the hardener for the first batch of resin as Micah and Lane placed the fuel tank in the well on Fluke. Stacks of clean mixing pots and resin roller tray liners are ready to go. On the other side of the boat, the acetone bucket is clean and has a fresh batch of acetone for soaking bubble rollers and brushes.

Team Lamination

The corner Gene is working on in this picture had a lot of different sized and shaped pieces of fiberglass cloth, some wrapping deck to transom, some deck to outside, some in more than one direction, etc. Some had the necessary relief cuts to make the required wraps but on some it was impossible to measure that cut in advance. I was handing Gene pieces of cloth in the right order and orientation, then cutting them as needed so he could smooth them down. In the background, Lane is mixing more resin and Micah is refreshing his roller. He was working on tabbing in the deck beams over the fuel tank.

Lane Wetting Out Cloth

Some of the pieces we were using were biaxial cloth, which is harder to wet and stick on in place. Lane was wetting out those pieces on a piece of plastic as they came up in the lamination schedule.

Micah and Gene Glassing

At left, the corner Gene is working on is nearly built up and Micah is well along in the process of tabbing in the deck beams over the fuel tank.

Fixing Transom Corner

Once the starboard corner was done and the deck beams glassed and sealed, we turned to the repair of the port corner on Fluke. The plan involved a couple of marine plywood filler pieces screwed into the transom and outside edge and then glassed over. The pieces were cut with bevels to allow fiberglass mat to lay over them and we had some chopped glass putty on hand to fill any areas that might otherwise develop an air bubble. At right, I'm putting the wood pieces in place as Micah screws them in from outside. I think that is Lane's hand giving me a brush in the foreground. In the background, Adam is patching holes in the transom with epoxy.

Micah Glassing Inside Transom

I somehow managed to work my way out of upside down lamination duty and a picture taken a bit later shows Micah laying under the railing and applying fiberglass.

While we were working on that corner, Lane was cutting 2" PVC pipe pieces to be used as fuel and bilge hose conduits through the deck.

Micah Glassing Port Corner

Once the inside layers were complete, Micah and I set to work on the outside of the port corner on Fluke. He was laying on pieces as I handed them out and made necessary relief cuts.

Micah Bubble Rolling Repair

Going over each layer with a bubble roller helps to mesh them all together, smoothing the repair and helping it all hold together over time.

Gene Fitting Fiberglass Shroud

While we were working on the corner, Gene was shaping the fiberglass fuel hose shroud he had created to fit the angles of the sides of the boat and deck. Once it was ready to be attached, he turned to trimming rough edges on the deck beams from the morning's lamination and preparing that area for the new deck panels.

Locating Deck Plates

In the evening we brought the new deck pieces out of the shed to dry fit them in the boat and measure locations and clearances for the deck plates. Each tank required a large deck plate at both ends and smaller ones were needed to access all bilge areas for inspection. The holes had to miss the deck beams on the bottom side and be out of the way of attaching the bench seats above.

Corner Repair Baking

The final pictures of the day show our repair of the port corner under a bright work light. This was not to properly photograph our brilliant work. It means that we were concerned that dropping temperature at the end of the day might mean the resin would not cure properly. We had to adjust the mixture for different temperature ranges throughout the day, but the steep drop at the end sometimes created problems. This was one of those times. Use of work lights and heat guns or hair dryers always solved the problem.

Cleanup and Curing

In the last shot of the day, Adam is busy cleaning the cured resin out of mixing pots so we can reuse them while Gene and Micah appear to be trying to give the curing process a little body English.

The post Rebuilding Whale Watching Tenders Part 12 first appeared on Tropical Boating.

Ready to Repair

October 16, 2011

Repairing Port Side of Pec

We started the day disassembling the repair that we dry fit the night before, then Gene went to work vacuuming the pieces of wood and solvent wiping the repair area while I gathered and organized all the fiberglass and other materials we would be using. All the fiberglass and wood pieces in the picture are organized according to where they will be used, from top to bottom and aft to forward. There are at least 60 individual pieces of fiberglass, including tabbing and skin for the gussets, 10 layers of new deck skin, and pieces to secure and waterproof all of the structural pieces. The starboard side of the boat is loaded up with resin, rollers, mixing pots, trays, and all the other needed supplies. It will be a long day.

Assembly started with applying a skin layer or two to the underside and back sides of gunwale replacement parts and the new gusset, screwing the assembly in place, then tabbing the gusset to the hull sides and deck. The main tabs were three layers of mat enclosing a layer or two of biaxial cloth, while non-structural tabs were just two or three layers of mat.

Once the gusset and core were secured from below, we started laminating in the replacement deck skin. The first piece was made exactly the same size as the replacement core, and each successive piece was about half an inch bigger all the way around. In the picture at right, Gene is wetting out piece number 8, the first one to curve and run a significant distance down the sides.

By piece number ten, the repair pieces have run the full 4 to 5 inch bevel that was ground into the old skin on top and the edges wrap over the inside and outside edges by several inches. When it was smoothed and bubble rolled in place, the repair was what I would call "not very noticeable for a workboat" which is our highest standard of cosmetic quality. I was pretty proud of it.

The existing smaller gusset aft of the new one was in good shape, but the exposed edge of it had been battled by the ladder and dive gear over the years and the fiberglass skin was worn away. In the picture at right, Gene is wrapping a new skin around the face of that gusset.

Some of the old tabbing on existing gussets left a bit to be desired, even by work boat standards. I do not mind looking up underneath an old repair and seeing an ugly tab, but some of them were not even really connected to anything important. Gene pointed out that many of these repairs were performed on a tight schedule using whatever limited materials might come to hand in the Dominican Republic, which is true enough, but no excuse for leaving out the common sense element.

October 17, 2011

Mini Gussets and Ladder Board Installation on Pec

The new mini gussets that we made the other day were our top priority this day. These were covered with a fiberglass mat skin and then tabbed to the hull side, the underside of the deck, and the inside of the fiberglass face where the hard dodger attaches to it. Although small, each one used 24 pieces of fiberglass.

The port side tabbing to the deck above required a bit of extra trimming and relief cutting to allow for the scab board we used in the deck repair.

The one on the starboard side was awkward for a right-hander to laminate and Gene wound up laying down with his feet forward at one point when trying to reach the aft inside face.

Cutting and laying in the tabbing was much easier without that darn scab board in the way.

The ladder board that will provide support for the ladder box was screwed to this fiberglass face with a layer of wet mat in between. When we tightened down the screws, it squeezed out excess resin through the screw holes and the box mounting holes. More resin flowed down the excess mat hanging out at the bottom. This one will not rot out or fall off any time soon!

October 18, 2011

Cutting and Grinding Fiberglass, Apparently...

I do not remember what we were doing this day, but I only took two pictures. The one at right is my fiberglass cutting table and I see that I have a roll of biaxial cloth on the table in addition to the roll of mat hanging above. Cutting fiberglass for hawse pipe deck areas, I suppose.

It's pretty obvious what Gene was doing all day. In the picture he is grinding the hawse pipe deck on Pec but one of my notes on the table references the same area on Fluke so it is likely he was grinding on both boats.

October 19, 2011

Team Sanding, Some Filling and Cutting

Scott came back to help out some more, and was promoted from Grinding Troll to Sanding Goon, but the upgrade from working under the boat to working around it did little to improve his attitude.

In other news, this was the first day Gene brought in some hired help. Homer showed up and knocked out a lot of sanding very fast.

I am not sure what else Gene may have accomplished on this day, but when I caught him with my camera he was patching small holes in the bilge where previous bilge pumps had been mounted. A couple of pictures indicate that I was cutting fiberglass to line the fuel tank wells and cutting pieces for a few more repairs. At the end of the day, Homer was blowing off the sides of Pec with compressed air.

October 20, 2011

Fiberglassing Fuel Tank Well, Patching Scratched Deck

We got some more hired help this day and put him right to work. At right, Colton is helping Gene put a new fiberglass skin in the fuel tank well on Fluke.

With three of us rolling resin and working big bubble rollers, we moved on down the tank well reasonably quickly. Although we had laid quite a bit of glass up to this point, this was the first time we attempted such large pieces. The early tendency was to mix too little resin, which cost us extra mixing time. We soon learned how to run larger batches. Because a large batch will tend to generate a lot of heat and kick itself off very fast, we would pour a lot of it out into separate roller trays and sometimes split the rest into oversize mixing containers. We always managed to run out of resin before it kicked off.

After the fuel tank well liner on Fluke was complete, we moved on to patching the scratch I had put in the side of Pec with the backhoe months earlier, along with several other scratches and dents in that area. I had cut pieces to match the beveled edge Gene ground into the old deck skin and some pieces for patching damaged areas. In the picture, Gene is custom-trimming fiberglass mat to fill the deep scratch while Colton wets in the pieces with a resin brush.

Another successful repair, at least by our "strong again and not too lumpy" standard! A little grinding, maybe a touch of filler along the seam, and it should be just fine. Part will be covered by the rub rail and the rest will have non-skid over it, since this is where swimmers board the boat.

I think I had built up a small inventory of cut fiberglass for Gene and Colton to lay up and Colton picked up on our methods quickly. This was a good thing, because the next day my wife and I went up to Tennessee for a week to help my brother with his wood kiln fired pottery.

October 29, 2011

Back From Tennessee, Touring Progress

One of the many little details that had been vexing Gene was how to replace the shroud that covers the fuel fill and vent hoses. Previously, they were rather crude plywood boxes that were fiberglassed onto the sides and deck. Replacing the fuel vent fitting would be almost impossible without removing them and replacing them would be easy enough, so we cut them out. Gene had been considering buying PVC pipe large enough to split in half, but pipe that big gets expensive. We had tossed around various other ideas without coming up with a good one.

While we were gone, Gene devised and built the fiberglass shroud shown at right on Pec. It is a nice half-round made from three layers of fiberglass mat on a mold made from the same plastic sheet that we plan to use for the hard tops. It looks a lot nicer than the old ones, weighs less, and has no corners to stub toes.

Also in the photo is one of the aluminum angle brackets that will hold the new hard top legs. It is clamped in place and another clamp in the foreground is holding another one. These were clamped up in position so that the welder could make a template that would ensure the legs all land in the right places.

They installed the replacement core and skin on the port side of Fluke where the old hawse pipe had ripped out.

They put the new deck skin on the starboard side of Fluke where we had to replace the core.

Fluke got most of the attention while I was gone, but not all. In addition to getting the first fuel hose shroud, Pec got a new skin on the driver's deck and they cut the plywood pieces to rebuild the decks of both boats over the new fuel tanks.

October 30, 2011

Waterproofing Plywood Deck Core

The main project of the day was to coat the bottom sides of the plywood deck pieces with resin. We considered giving each piece a fiberglass skin, but the original deck was treated with resin only and where there were water problems, the water had come in from above, not below. The thick resin coating should prevent absorbing excessive bilge moisture in the humid tropical environment.

After painting the deck pieces for both boats, Gene laid up the fiberglass fuel hose shroud for Fluke. The mold is just a piece of plastic stapled to plywood semicircles. The fiberglass mat pieces are cut with a concave top edge and a convex bottom edge to make the top and bottom edges close to the correct angles. A little trimming and grinding is still needed to get the final shape.

I missed a good portion of the morning boat work because I went over to town to meet an internet friend of ours named Charlie who was passing through on his Meridian 25 sailboat. It's always a pleasure to catch up with him in person, but did not do much for my productivity. I made a small piece to fill and help waterproof the transom repair on the port side of Pec, but other than that I did not accomplish much.

I managed to bribe Charlie into coming out for dinner and to have a look at our whale boat project. Charlie is an experienced boat builder and I figured he might have useful tips for us, or at least tell us if we were doing something badly wrong. He seemed to think they looked like work boats under rebuild with nothing particularly remarkable about them. He was more interested in chatting about sailboats and life and throwing the ball for Libby dog.

October 31, 2011

Removing Fiberglass Shroud From Mold

I do not know what kept us busy on Halloween, but these are my only pictures.

A little prying and flexing was all it took to make these fiberglass shrouds pop off of the mold.

November 1, 2011

Adam and Lane Arrive, Fluke Starboard Hawse Deck Repair

We were really eager to get the new fuel tanks installed and the decks put back down by this time. The giant hole in the middle of each boat and the difficulties created for movement, drainage, and work in general had grown tiresome. Here Gene is test-fitting the new bulkhead to be installed aft of the fuel tank in Pec. Part of my day was to be spent making the skins for this bulkhead and the one in Fluke.

The skins for these pieces had to have notches cut out of the fiberglass mat and relief cut to wrap around notches in the wood.

We really needed more hands on the job to have any hope of finishing in time for the 2012 whale swimming season, and it came in the form of Gene's nephew Adam and his friend Lane. They both took a few weeks off to come and help Gene with the boats, and we could not have done it without them. In the picture at right, Lane is helping me cut fiberglass. He picked up on my process quickly and found little ways to make it more efficient.

Adam joined Colton out in the project yard and they set about grinding old paint, gelcoat, patches and whatever else might be present off of the bench seats. Gene has been wavering on the question of whether to have new seats made or re-use these. It is still not really decided, but to keep options open, these have to be ready to use if needed.

I assembled a replacement core and lower skin sized to fit this hole in the side deck of Fluke back in September (page 8) but it was not on the front burner until today. The piece was a tight fit and had to be tapped in place with a hammer before Gene laminated the underside.

Once the core was glassed in place from below, Gene and Colton began rebuilding the deck. In the foreground is a stack of pieces of fiberglass sized to create a smooth transition from old to new.

When it was time for Colton to go, I took over assisting Gene with the fiberglass layup. There are still a few layers yet to be added to blend this repair with the old deck skin.

I asked Adam how he was enjoying helping out his Uncle Gene with the grinding. Although new on the job, he has already picked up on the proper response to the guy with the camera. They got a lot done, turning the benches from dark blue to white.

November 2, 2011

Port Side Forward Repair on Pec

The day to lay fiberglass over the replaced core on the port forward quarter of Pec finally arrived. Adam and I had cut a five layer beveled and stair-stepped lamination and our plan was to lay up all five layers at once, keeping a wet edge of overlapping cloth on each layer as we went. This would ensure that the entire lamination was chemically bonded as one piece, and that the whole piece had the best possible mechanical bond with the original material. In the picture at right, Gene is doing some final shaping and roughing up of the surfaces with the grinder before we start laying fiberglass.

There was a lot of grinding going on throughout the day, as Adam continued to strip the old benches and Colton ground out the drips and waste from our previous day's lamination on Fluke.

Pec Port Side Layer One

Gene applying the first couple of pieces of the first layer of fiberglass to the repair on the port forward quarter of Pec. The procedure was to put on enough of layer one that the first two pieces of layer two could be applied, then put on enough of layers one and two that the first two pieces of layer three could be applied, and so on. By doing this, we could ensure that we were always working on a wet edge of each layer as we went along, even though laminating all 60+ pieces of fiberglass would take many hours and each batch of resin starts to cure in 30 minutes or less.

In the foreground of the picture, the numbers show layer number and piece number, so the 5/2 means layer 5, piece 2. By the time we got to the end of the fifth layer of lamination and Gene was bubble rolling the last few pieces, he was sagging against the boat and about to fall over from exhaustion. Colton was assisting him from inside the boat, mixing resin and handing out clean rollers, while I was keeping all the layers of cloth laid out outside the boat and applying each one when called for in the lamination schedule. Even with assistants helping out, this was just a long haul and we could not stop at any point along the way without losing our wet edge.

After the main lamination for the day was done, we moved on to coating these pieces of 3/4 plywood with resin. These will be scabbed onto the existing deck and used to attach the new deck core over the fuel tank wells.

Extra resin was used to paint the plywood motor well core where it is penetrated by large holes for control cables, hoses, and wires.

At the end of the day, Gene went home to Naples for a brief visit. The next day, Adam and Lane helped me to set up the welcoming party for the second annual Sun Cat National Championship Regatta, which I would be participating in and hosting at our place November 4-6.

The post Rebuilding Whale Watching Tenders Part 11 first appeared on Tropical Boating.

October 7, 2011

More Lamination and Sanding on Pec

To take the picture at right, I stuck my camera up underneath the deck pointing aft toward the new gusset. You can see the different layers of fiberglass underneath the core replacement and the seams of the tabs on the gusset.

Pec Gusset Replaced

The new gusset from the outside, where various layers of glass have molded it together with existing deck and faces. The round hole will be cut back out to allow access to rub rail bolts. In the upper left of the photo is the raw core where the new hawse pipe will go. Today that will be covered over with a new fiberglass deck skin.

Scott On Station

Scott came by again to assume his station underneath the boat with a grinder in hand. Everyone needs a friend like this.

Steve Body Sanding on Pec

I took this picture from my fiberglass cutting station across the yard and did not really know what was going on until Steve told me. He was body sanding! Using his body to hold the orbital sander against the hull of the boat. Notice the right arm flapping free by his side. He is right handed. This is what happened when he had sanded until his arm just couldn't hold up the sander any longer and needed a break.

Hawse Pipe Deck Skin

Gene and I replaced the deck on top of the new core while Steve sanded the hull almost underneath us. He was using the dustless sander and we had a fan blowing to help the prevailing wind carry his dust away. The new skin consisted of several layers of mat increasing in size to match the bevel ground into the existing skin. At the bottom of the lamination we used a layer or two of biaxial cloth to fill in and strengthen the skin patch.

Nice Steaks

These might have been the best steaks ever, and are worth remembering. The only other thing of note that happened this day was that Dean came back to buy the last 90 hp Mercury four stroke for a parts engine. I think the steaks were really more notable.

Port Forward Gusset and Tabbing

October 8, 2011

Glass Cutting and More Grinding and Sanding on Pec

I think this was one of those days on which we started to lay up some fiberglass, but discovered that some grinding really needed to be done first. Here are all the pieces to tab in the port forward gusset on Pec, but the next pictures do not show that happening. I have a picture of Steve sanding the side of Fluke and a blurry picture of Gene aboard Pec. He seems to be grinding, but interpreting the photo is a bit like looking at a Bigfoot picture.

Pec Port Aft Gusset Tabbing

The only thing that is pretty certain is what I was doing: cutting out all the pieces we would need to tab in the port aft gusset and associated reinforcements for the ladder and its box. The lamination would start at the gusset but would extend all the way to the transom, including wrapping the top side. I cut a few of the remaining pieces of wood we would need and all of the fiberglass to tab in and cover it all.

Rainy Day Dust Cloud

October 9, 2011

Grinding and Sanding on Fluke, Wood and Fiberglass Cutting

Wind and rain forced us to tie the tarp down tight on Pec and stop all work, so Fluke got some attention this day. Looking across the yard as I was cutting some fiberglass pieces, I saw this cloud of fiberglass dust drifting slowly out from under the tarp.

Boat Parts Cart

The starboard side gusset on Pec needed a scab board above it, so I cut out that piece and started on the tabs that would tie it to the boat. I also cut out a few small pieces of wood and some more fiberglass that would be needed for the rest of the port side repair on Pec.

Fluke In Rain

I went over to Fluke when the rain eased up a bit just to see what was going on. As usual, Gene had his grinder going and Steve was sanding. After a while, the rain got too bad to allow sanding, so Steve came over to help me cut and label fiberglass.

Boat Parts In Shed

By the end of the day we had all the needed pieces of wood and fiberglass for remaining gusset installations and other repairs. We put the labeled pieces in the shed on top of the new fuel tanks to keep them free of dust and rain until they were needed.

Gusset Installation

October 10, 2011

Gusset Installation On Pec

We started laminating in the tabs on the port forward gusset on Pec early in the morning. The morning sun blazing under the trees and tarp was blinding Gene, so we put a box of supplies up on the side to block it.

Gene Measuring Catalyst

When we needed a new batch of resin, I generally had Gene measure out the catalyst. This was partially because I can not see well enough to do it without glasses, but also because I wanted both of us thinking about how much resin we were mixing and how much catalyst should be added. A minor miss in the mix ratio can be fixed with a heat gun, but if you make a major mistake it can result in a gooey mess that is difficult to remove. I did not want to be the sole creator of any such gooey mess.

Assistant Tom

On a long lamination like this one, I would stand by to hand Gene the next piece of cloth, keep bubble rollers soaking, and keep the resin and rollers flowing. On layers of biaxial cloth, I would wet the cloth out prior to handing it to him. General purpose fiberglass assistant.

Glassing Under Long Scab

This entire area from the gusset forward got several layers of glass. The layers of mat and biax pieces were stair-stepped to maintain a wet edge on each overlap of each layer, ensuring that it all cures as one big piece of fiberglass.

Fiberglass Under Scab

Looking aft down most of the length of the scab board that we used to attach the replacement deck core, the seams where layers of biaxial cloth overlapped are visible. We cut all of the edges of the board at 45 degree angles to allow the fiberglass cloth to lay smoothly over it. Each piece runs from the bottom of the fiberglass face on the left up underneath the deck and back down past the hull to deck joint by a couple of inches.

Port Forward Gusset Face

The shot at left shows the end of the scab board and the top of the gusset. The gusset has overlapping tabbing to all three adjacent surfaces and it was joined to the layers under the scab board and deck when wet for a chemical bond. When I later cut out a hole for the new hawse pipe fitting, the piece that came out was an inch and a half thick. It has a fairly thick skin on top, the deck core layer, a layer of fiberglass we used for spacing, the scab board layer, and a thick bottom side skin. We probably overbuilt it a bit, but both boats showed that they take the most punishment in the forward quarters and on the stern corners. It will not hurt to have these areas overbuilt a bit!

New Outboard Engines

October 12, 2011

Side and Transom Corner Lamination On Pec

We missed a day of work on October 11th when Gene and Steve went to Miami to pick up the new Yamaha 90 hp four stroke outboards. They got back after dark and in the morning we were trying to figure out where to put them. We ended up just putting a tarp and some plastic over them and parking the trailer down in the yard.

Gene Measuring Resin

Engines secured, we dove right back in to laminating where we had left off. In the picture of the scab board above, the top shows where the layers of fiberglass tapered off and ended. This was because we ran out of daylight. With the area fully cured, Gene had to get under there with the grinder and rough it up and then wipe the area down again with acetone to create a good mechanical bonding surface.

Continuing Lamination Under Repair

This was the longest continuous stretch of multi-layer lamination that we did. The pieces of mat and biax cloth were each about 20 inches long and almost that wide, and sometimes they did not want to stick to the ceiling on the first attempt. When the pieces fell on his head, Gene would sometimes emit creative streams of sailorly words. Once a wet piece of fiberglass went flying by my head at high speed.

Layup In Locker

The repair area continued well past the bulkhead that separates the anchor rode locker, so Gene had to dive into the hole to do that part of the layup. Because the repair area narrowed as it went forward, the pieces of cloth were smaller up there, but most required just as many expletives. Ah, the joys of boat ownership!

Biaxial Fiberglass Wetout Area

The biaxial cloth we were using was slow to absorb resin and fully wetting it in place would not have been possible. I taped a piece of plastic sheet to the deck that was large enough to wet two pieces at once. Whenever the plastic wetout area would get too sticky, I just stuck a fresh sheet of plastic on top of the sticky mess and continued. At the end, the whole pile of sticky sheets went in the trash leaving no mess behind.

Pec Transom Corner

Once the layup under the deck repair was complete, we moved on to rebuilding the port transom corner on Pec. The piece shown is shaped to span the hull to deck joint at the transom and will be screwed to both pieces. There is another piece (not in the picture) that will run fore and aft, filling the hole and providing a base on which to lay glass.

Applying Chopped Fiberglass Putty

There were places where existing seams and angles made complete contact with the wood impossible, so to fill those gaps Gene painted those surfaces with resin and then spread in some chopped fiberglass putty in before putting in the new wood core. The wood will squeeze out excess putty when screwed in place, leaving no gaps, or at least that is the idea.

Corner Side Piece

The first piece to be installed was the one that runs along the side to fill the hole. This piece got a fiberglass mat skin and was then bedded into a layer of chopped glass putty and screwed in place.

Applying Chopped Fiberglass Putty

The filler piece for the transom got a thick layer of chopped glass putty. This was concentrated near the bottom edge to help fill the rough seam behind the filler wood.

Screws Through Transom Flange

The piece was pre-drilled and we had done a dry fit, but when the actual installation with wet putty came, driving the screws all the way home was very difficult. Gene struggled to get them all down flush and in the end one of them had to be hit with the grinder to lay flat.

Glassing Inside Corner

Once the two pieces of wood were in place, Gene started laying fiberglass around the inside corner. The wood reinforcements were encased in glass wrapped around the four surfaces of the inside corner.

Glassing Outside Corner

After the inside was encased in fiberglass, it was time to do the outside. To create a smooth, beveled seam between old and new fiberglass some pieces were custom cut on the spot and a bit of chopped glass putty was used.

Curing Inside Corner

Properly catalyzing polyester resin in the evening can be a bit tricky. The temperature drops quickly when the sun goes down, but mixing in anticipation of those temperatures may cause the mix to kick off too soon. Mixing for the warm afternoon temperatures will mean it will not kick too soon, but may also result in no final cure at all. For this small repair, a solution was to keep a work light under the area for a couple of hours as it cured.

Backlit Repair

The work light inside the boat shone through the fiberglass of the hull in areas where there was no wood or paint to block it, creating a pleasant orange glow in the fading evening light.

Starboard Aft Gusset Tabbing

October 14, 2011

Starboard Aft Gusset Installation On Pec

I am not sure why no boat work happened on the 13th, but on the morning of the 14th we were setting up to install the starboard aft gusset in Pec.

Deck Reinforcement

Although not in as bad shape as the other side of the boat, the area of deck above the gusset did need a little reinforcement. This scab board will ride on top of the new gusset, distributing any loads on the deck to a larger and stronger structure. It is cut out to fit behind the old SCUBA tank rack inside the gunwale.

Bubble Rolling Gusset

Using a bubble roller on the gusset face skin and tabbing to smooth and strengthen the bond between fiberglass and wood.

Tabbing Under Gunwale

Tabbing underneath the gunwale encapsulated the scab board and secured the gusset to all available surfaces. There is a bit more room in this area on Pec than there was on Fluke, so Gene was able to keep his organic vapor mask on during the layup.

Gusset and Scab Aft Side

This is the aft side of the gusset and the back end of the board we put in above it. The inboard edge was cut at 45 degrees to allow fiberglass to follow the wood without wrinkling, but it resulted in a small triangular hole above the gusset itself. That was filled with chopped glass putty. The darker areas show where the gusset is tabbed in and where the edge is reinforced. All tabs are at least three layers of fiberglass mat and many have one or two layers of biaxial cloth.

Front End of Plywood Reinforcement

The forward edge of the reinforcing board we scabbed in above the gusset was hard to reach. In the picture at left the side of the boat is on the left and the round back of the SCUBA tank rack is on the right. Access to the area is through the rectangular holes on each side of the old tank racks, so this was done by feel. I stuck the camera in there to see how it went and we could see that some of the mat laying against the old tank rack was still dry. Wetting out areas like this one was done with a disposable metal-handled small paint brush. The brush handle was bent as needed for the job at hand.

Morning Grind

October 15, 2011

Pec Port Side Repair Prep

This day started off like so many others - with Gene up under the side of a boat with his grinder. In this case, preparing the area where we will install the small mini-gussets that help to distribute loads on the deck created by the hard dodger. The old ones in this boat were not worth saving, so we cut them out. My job for the day was to cut new ones out of 3/4 inch plywood and cut all the needed pieces of fiberglass to tab them in place and encapsulate them.

Pec Port Mini Gusset

The one on the port side of the boat was a bit trickier to create because of the scab board overhead that was part of the larger side repair. At the top of the picture at left you can see the notch cut out to accommodate that scab board. The curve of the hull had to be ground out a little more on this one, then it was ready to install.

Ladder Board Prep

The fiberglass face that Gene is peering under is under quite a bit of load in ordinary use and had been reinforced with a plywood strip running along the back side. That strip rotted and was removed. One of the replacements is under Gene's elbow. There is a smaller gusset near Gene's head in the picture, and the ladder board will be tabbed to that one and screwed to the fiberglass face. When we are done, the ladder will hook around and under the fiberglass face and board when deployed for use.

Ladder Board Skin

To help protect it from rotting out again, the ladder board was given a two layer mat skin on what will be the exposed inward face and the edges. Once again the nail board came in handy to raise the piece up so that we could run fiberglass all the way down the edges.

Pam As Mold Release

We mixed up a bit more resin than was needed for the ladder board skin so that we could run another test of our hard top plan. The white plastic sheet we bought at Home Depot seemed like something we can use to make a large, flat mold, but we were not sure how tenaciously the fiberglass would cling to it, if at all. As a test, we laminated three sheets of mat onto the surface on the left and three more within the blue tape lines on the right. Inside the tape, the surface had been sprayed with Pam cooking oil and then lightly wiped. The results were mixed. The Pam did not seem to really help much, but even the piece on the untreated plastic pulled away fairly easily. We figured we would probably be able to just lay fiberglass on this material and then pull it back off.

Port Side Dry Fit

When our experimental pieces were curing, we moved on to a dry assembly of the entire port side repair on Pec. The deck core patch, gusset, ladder board and other pieces were screwed together and we wanted to make sure that all the holes were properly drilled and countersunk, all adjacent areas were ground and ready for fiberglass, and we that we knew the order and methods we would use to assemble it all with resin, glass, and putty. Once the catalyst is added to the resin, things have to go smoothly and there is no time to do remedial grinding and drilling.

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