Trip 151-152-153 - Tue/Wed Evening - Friday - May 19/20th 22nd

This, the week the marks "The Last Gasp of Summer", I felt compelled to do two tasks I have ignored all year.

Painting the V-Berth underside with gelcoat and, putting new nuts and bolts on the keel studs.

Neither were "necessary" but, I wanted the underneath of the tanks to be -clean- and gelcoat is the best way to do that. Properly applied it forms a chemical bond to what was. And, should never peel off - as paint might.

And, them rusty nuts and washers in that crappy old bilge of thirty years. Excaberated by the paint stripper I slushed down there which did not help The Cause - at all.

Of all I have read and discussed with others, getting them nuts loose and off, was always a job for a cold chisel and a mallet. And a First Class Backache. I thought of using a nut splitter to see if that would work. A much less violent solution.

Tom told me to try a deep impact socket instead. Later, I did.

I came down Tuesday and Wednesday to get the nuts off. The pix are a little bit out of sequence.

 

Back to looking like a Boat Repair Guy.

 

GelCoat

The hardener is in the smaller bottle and one measures it by the drop. Can be applied down to about 60 degrees. And today was 70.

 

Work in progress. The gelcoat is actually quite thick and when brushed out does not run. This represents two four ounce batches. It took five in all. I still have a small area left, but will do that when I cut into the notch area for the left side panel. Will be much easier to paint the innards at that time.

 

All finished. By the time I left, all was cured and hard and "dry".

 

Tonight's Instruments of Terror

 

The original Catalina 27's from 1974 used steel L-Bolts, nuts and washers. By the time they got to 1978, the L-Bolts embedded in the keel were Stainless Steel but the nuts and washers were still mild steel.

They attempted to help the cause by slobbering gelcoat all over inside. A valiant attempt, but after thirty years of freeze-thaw cycles, this is what the result was.

I used a chisel to get the blobs off the washers and floor of the bilge. Plus danced all over the threads a bit to knock that stuff off as well.

A word to the wise. Use good safety glasses/goggles and, gloves. When the gelcoat blobs get smashed with hammer and chisel, they can slice your fingers open as they go flying past.

 

Note how corroded the nuts are. In all my mechanical wanderings, when using a wrench or socket on something this rusty, one normally rounds off what is left of the corners and then resorts to very strong language and very strong drink. Both applied quite liberally and extremely close to the moment at hand.

 

A Nut Splitter works by forcing a chisel point into the softer steel using a screw arrangement. Here is the before and after.

I experienced the same issues as my brother Randy. The splitter digs in and does the job, but only on the top half of the nut. The chisel does not get down far enough to have coverage for the entire side of the nut.

 

Let's try the socket and wrench so we can practice more new cuss words.

 

I found the 1" socket was the "correct" one, but with all the corrosion, the 15/16" would go on with a little help from Mr Hammer.

I went to the Dollar Store and picked up some "Liquid Wrench" - just like WD-40. Now, you folks from Loma Linde might attach the small tube to the spray schnozzle and let'er have it. But remember, the bilge area is nice and dry and - "Free of oil".

I sprayed some in the cap and used a Q-Tip to apply 4-5 drops to each nut. None got on the fibreglas. And all the nuts were so corroded and porous they soaked the stuff up like a dry sponge.

 

First one done. Once cracked loose, they came off with little fuss.

 

I bought a new chisel so I could get way down deep alot easier. $7 well spent.

 

To get the washers off, I danced all over their surface with hammer and chisel. This kinda knocks'em a bit loose. Then, get under one edge and pound pound pound.

 

This is a Fein Detail Sander. It can get into spots nothing else can. And, it has the power to knock any stray gelcoat down to size in no time at all.

I will also use this at home on our windows this winter.

 

All cleaned up with an indoor-outdoor vacuum.

 

The next Instruments of Terror.

 

I scrounged some cardboard and made templates. I traced them onto the glas cloth with a Sharpie Marker.

 

Fibreglas comes in mat and woven types. Mat is useful to build up thickness in an area rather quickly. Boy, does this stuff soak up epoxy.

Here the right end is done, and I have started the second area.

I wanted to build up the area beneath the nut and washer a bit and achieved that with an overlap with the mat and woven glas. Four layers in all. This will help smooth out the underside for the washers.

I laid the mat down first on the bottom, then using cloth, did each side with a 1" overlap across the bottom, followed by cloth on the bottom again. This should make it a snap to clean the bilge in the future.

 

All done. I started this about 5:00pm and finished at 8:00. I --forced-- myself to do it as, this was indeed the last weather window we would have to a) do it in a warm enclosure and b) do it so the gelcoat and epoxy cures a bit more normally.

 

Empty Pockets has been restored to its Construction Site state.

Again.

 

I wrapped a tarp over the entrance to help keep the wawa out.

 

All is well.

Marcia and I will drive down on Sunday to fetch tools (Next I need to repair the washing machine) and, simply go for a Car Ride to check the final result.

+++

While there I will do the final measurements for a Winter Boat Cover we will make.

Material Costs of about $5-750 or so. Have one made by a Pro? About $1800-2000 or maybe a bit more.

I think, with a little luck, I can tackle the job.

Stay Tuned ...

Later ...