Back Up Against a Wall - Bulkheads Fixed

One of the many casualties of continual water leakage in Harmony was the rotting of bulkheads in the galley/dinette area.  On the starboard side, both forward and aft bulkheads were compromised.  On the port side, the aft bulkhead which separate the dinette from the engine room was damaged, as well.

Starboard Side - Aft Galley Bulkhead removed

After verifying that the structural integrity of the vessel wasn't lost, the focus shifted to the removal and either replacement or repair.  The galley bulkheads needed to be removed, but the dinette bulkhead, thankfully, just needed repair. 

Port Side - Aft Dinette Bulkhead with damaged area removed

The bulkhead between the dinette and engine room was a major component for supporting the cockpit, and while cut into at many spots, the dry rot and delamination was confined to where the previously mentioned holding tanks was installed.

Once removed the Galley bulkheads were solid enough to use as templates to create the replacement panels.  I used 3/4' Merranti plywood procured from Boulter Plywood in Somerville, MA, a Valhalla for a hardwood addict.  The Merranti plywood, while not possessing the beauty of other mahogany panels is resistant to water damage and takes a better paint finish than standard marine plywood.

Forward Galley Bulkhead replaced with 3/4" Merranti

One the forward side of the galley, I needed to accommodate a teak post that serves as a deck support and a hand hold.  On the aft side, I had to interface with the navigation station and the underside of the side deck. 

Aft Galley Bulkhead of 3/4" Merranti tabbed and glassed to the Hull

Once the patterns were scribed and cut, it was a simple process of sistering, tabbing, and glassing to the hull.  The strongest tabbing was made with a smooth fillet of foam and epoxy followed with 10 ounce glass tape and West System epoxy.

The Aft Dinette bulkhead required a different process.  Since I didn't need to remove the bulkhead, I needed to install an overlay.  However, this overlay needed to be tabbed and glassed to the hull.  By bonding the overlay panel to the existing bulkhead with screws and epoxy coupled with the tabbing to the hull, the new "laminated", if you will, bulkhead would act as one.  Later on, I would through-bolt this laminated bulkhead to 1.5 x 1.5 inch mahogany studs in the engine room between and upon which I installed Soundown sound proofing and wall panels, respectively.

Aft Dinette Bulkhead installed - cables supply an electric Lewmar winch

The critical action with this bulkhead was the scribing to the hull shape to give the foam and glass fillet/tabbing a consistent surface for strong bonding.  I used regular marine plywood because the surfaces would be hidden within the dinette furniture.

Teak post back in place at the forward end of the Galley

When all the panels were install, I only had to re-install the teak post.  It was an amazing transformation when I looked at the repaired area complete with new decking in the galley/dinette area.

Looking Aft from the Salon into the "new" Galley/Dinette area

While there is a long way to go with many things to still do, seeing the progress gives a huge lift to one's spirits.

Fair Winds and Following Seas!

Leaking Deck Fills - Issue Closed

 

One the more obvious culprits in the leak caper were the deck fills.  While the deck fill for the diesel fuel seem to be as tight as a drum, the 2 fresh water fills were open sluice gates for rain water.  It is fairly clear when one watches a torrent of water cascade down the water hoses!

At first, I thought this was the issue that accounted for all of the damage.  Not a bad assumption since the majority of the dry-rot was in the vicinity of these deck fills.  However, nothing is ever that easy on an old boat, and I found out later that I had just begun my water immersion!

To fix these leaks, it was not enough to just re-bed the bronze deck plates.  I needed to ensure that the deck core was not saturated or rotten:  this was my biggest fear.  However, I was much relieved to find that the 3/4' plywood deck core was as solid as could be.  However, I noticed that the holes cut into the deck and the holes for the attaching screws were much larger than needed and could never be thoroughly sealed.

So, the game plan was to remove deck fills, seal and patch the deck, and then later install new deck fills in a new spot on the deck.  The last step would be fairly easy once I bought new deck fills and drilled new holes, but more on that later when we get to it.
Steps 1 and 2, however, would require a bit of creativity and aesthetic magic.

To simply patch and forget wouldn't work.  The deck was a fiberglass sandwich of 3/4' marine plywood covered with 13/16' teak decking.  The fix had to be watertight to prevent water intrusion into the deck core, and had to be a reasonable blend with the existing teak decking.

The first piece was to seal the underside of the deck with epoxy and fiberglass cloth.  Not a big deal using West System epoxy and 3 layers of 10 ounce cloth, BUT this was on an overhead surface.  So, care needed to be taken to not overdue the epoxy to cause drips.  Using the fast cure hardener kept the process quick.

Next, the exposed plywood core needed to be sealed so that a plug could be inserted to fill the roughly 1.5 inch deep hole.  The cutting of a 5/8' marine plywood plug allowed enough room for epoxy and 2 layers of bedding cloth to get the surface up to the original deck level.  I then used a hole saw  (sans the pilot drill) with a diameter about 1/4' less than the diameter of the hole to cut a plug out of 1" thick teak.  This teak plug was set into a slurry of epoxy and adhesive filler.


Teak Plug with seam compound in place - diesel fill to the left

Once the epoxy had cured, I was able to fill the gap around the teak plug with a appropriate black seam compound.  When that cured, I took a belt sander to reduce everything to deck level.  The finished product blended fairly well with the existing teak decking.

Starboard deck fill completed

The best thing was that the deck fill holes no longer leaked!  I knew that I had to eventually re-bed the seams on the entire teak deck, but that could wait until later.  For now, I could move onto other project areas!

Fair Winds and Following Seas!

I'm too old to be a gymnast!

Well, after spending a lot of time removing and plugging the leaky deck fills, putting new gaskets on the galley/dinette ports, and rebedding stanchions, I was confronted with the biggest offender in the leak department.  Cowardly hiding behind his lesser associates, the godfather of leaks was caught when he had nowhere to hide.

Yes, it was the failure of and/or complete lack of caulking between the caprail and the hull/deck joint on the bulwark.  Not that this wouldn't have been suspected after some 35 years of weather, but it was not as obvious as one would expect.  Anyway, the major culprit had been caught red handed during a rare visit of mine during a rain storm.

So, what to do?  I mulled over several options:  (1) remove all of the caprails and glass over the joint and re-install the caprail; (2) inject epoxy resin between the caprail and hull/deck joint and let the epoxy naturally flow to the holes and seal them; (3) inject epoxy caulking into the gap between the caprail and the hull/deck joint.  After rejecting (1) outright, I consulting both West Systems and System3 technical support to get some expert advice.

Both companies rejected option (2) because the fluid epoxy wouldn't flow enough before it cured, or, if it did, the dripping uncured epoxy would be more of a mess than a solution.  So, option (3) was the best method.  System3 offered the best response and their support folks were more than helpful.  I ordered their relatively new epoxy caulk and gave it a go.

The Caprail runs down both sides of the boat

I spent a couple of days scraping and vacuuming out whatever old caulking was present.  I chose a nice dry and sunny day to attack the caprail.  I washed the area with acetone and got started.  I had both inboard and outboard sides of the caprail to caulk:  roughly 4 x 45 feet of a caulk seam.  I should be done by lunch!  Hmmm, we'll see.

Outboard side of caprail on port side

The outboard side was relatively easy since all I had to do was move the ladder after each pass.  I did about 12 to 18 inches at a time:  inject caulk, smooth out the bead, wipe up any excess, move on.  My thought of being done by lunch was blown away as the outboard seam took until 1:00.

Inboard side of caprail at the stern

The inboard seam would not require moving the ladder, but it presented other challenges!  The caulking gun and caulk tube was about 20 inches long which made getting the tip into the seam a gymnastic event.  I had to contort my old body in ways I didn't think I could.  Imagine caulking 25 bathtubs while standing on your head and you'll be close!

Inboard side of caprail near cockpit where the bulwark changes height

Well, I finished at about 6:00 pm.  It was a long day filled with exercises I would regret for a few days!  However, the entire caprail was now caulked and sealed.  After a 24 hour cure period, it looked great.  The System3 product worked great!  It rained a few days later and we had a leak free vessel!  I guess even as an old gymnast, I stuck the landing!

Fair Winds and Following Seas!