Last entry..... not the end but a new beginning!

Friends,

I have not posted anything for a very long time. I actually did a bit of work -- but mostly
was preparing "Nameless" for her new owner - Tyler Bechel. The boat is now in Wisconsin. Please check out this new blog:

http://westsail32projectboat.blogspot.com/


I had fun and learned a bunch but found my desire to begin ocean sailing did not agree with the time it would take to finish the project. Tyler has lots of energy and is committed to finishing what I started.

 I am now preparing my Cape Dory 28 for sale and just got back from a nice 13 day cruise of the Chesapeake Bay. My plan is to buy another Westsail 32 -- or a very similar boat in a cruise ready state.

Thanks all who followed my blog -- my next one will be my experience in the Bahamas next winter.

Sailor Jim

Making progress......

From last time I had removed the forward bulkhead and then the king post and found foredeck
rot in the core so now it was now time to remove the sprit assemble. First reason is that it had to be done to get to the deck area to repair it. But even more important is the fact that rot in the sprit wood could be very bad - like a potential for de-masting. So here is what it looked like before I started.

There was lots of stuff in the way. Netting was old so it was cut away. Then securing the staysail stay and the lifelines. The final step was to loosen the three large deck bolts before remove the furling/forestay attachment. This allowed me to evenly lift the sprit up off the deck. Once the bolts were clear then the forestay was tied off to the side stays and a halyard was used to lower the sprit with platform and pulpit still intact. Then into the back of my truck and to my yard for the stripping down.

So now I have the sprit assembly at my house and time to start removing everything. Note litte Scarlet Skiff somehow snuck into the back of this photo. It was pretty easy to remove the pulpit, two anchor rollers, and teak platform. Next came the moment of truth. To sand through 10 layers of paint to find out what the wood actually looked like.

Well -- most of it was good -- actually very good. The area where the mounting bolts are was great. And the end of the sprit where it goes into the eyeband - was also good.

But not perfect. It was very fortunate that I did the strip down the sprit because one of the holes for the threaded rod that holds on the teak platform had the start of some rot. If left unchecked this would have continued until the strength of the spar would have been compromised. So I will be using penetrating epoxy on the whole piece with special attention to this area above. There is a little wood missing but compared to the cross section - I don't think it will be any problem. The threaded rod going through this hole has minimal forces on it.

So looks like I can move these pieces indoors and tomorrow I might try to attack the foredeck .. weather permitting.

Sailor Jim

It has been a long time........

Hello Everyone,

No I did not abandon this project. I had thoughts of it but I made up  my mind and I am not turning back.

Back last summer I had the yard peel her bottom. They did a pretty nice job and I was thrilled to see almost no damage into the actual fiberglass of the boat. There are a few spots to repair but it will be very minor. I will need to sand down the ridges left by the peeler and sand around the hard areas like the thru hulls.

I am planning to replace all of them so once I have them out the final sanding will be easy. The barrier coat is planned for late next Spring.

Just recently I found rotten wood on the bulkhead. I thought at first that I could just cut a bit of it away but this was not the case. The entire wall in front of the V-berth needed to be removed. Not a fun job but  with the right dremel tool, the fiberglass holding it to the hull was cut. This was almost a necessity of another repair job - the replacement of the bobstay fitting. This fitting is buried under a layer of fiberglass in the very peak of the bow. Now with everything open, I should be able to get to the fitting relatively easy.

The two post that set on either side of the sprit were removed to check for rot. Fortunately they were fine but the deck plywood in front of them was soft. At this point I'm not sure how extensive the deck damage is but I am planning to repmove the sprit  next. Once it is out of the way I can see what needs to be done. I am also planning on adding a windlass so now is the time to determine what may need to be modified to mount and carry the load of it. The fun never stops right?

Ok - this is the major stuff. I have been removing head and water tanks along with a few more odds and ends. Whenever I run into something I think I might leave alone, I think about it and then decide to take it out just is case.

So - I'm still plugging away and soon I'll need to attack sanding of the hull.

Till next time

Sailor Jim

It's Spring!

Well it looks as though I went into hibernation this winter - and maybe I did.

I did do a little work on "Nameless" - but my attention did switch to the sneakbox - which is nearing completion. I will give you an update on her later but let me fill you in on "Nameless".
I had that moment of doubt slip into my mind and thought maybe I would back out of this project. I offered her to to anyone to pay me exactly the cost I had in her - $5,500 to adopt her. This would allow me to purchase another Westsail 32 which did not require the extensive overhaul.

I did not want someone to part her out. The parts would be worth probably more than double my asking price. So I had a number of possible candidates but none could really accept the challenge. I am going to re-list her again on the WOA for sale board and if no one grabs her - I'm in it for the long run.
Ok - so let's see - what has been done. Well I did get the diesel control panel rebuilt and re-installed.

It took a little re-design and I still need to calibrate the tach but all buttons and warning lights work and it is nicer to push a button to start than to hold a bare wire to a battery terminal.

While inspecting the boat a possible candidate for adoption - found some delamination in the cabin top. This concerned him and me as well , but I did a core sample and was pleased to find the core to be quite dry - that actually surprised me. The cabin top is made of 1/4" fiberglass - 1/2" marine plywood - 1/2 " fiberglass. It was the 1/2" fiberglass that had come loose but it by itself is very strong so it was hard to notice. Well - the plan is to drill some holes - inject laminating epoxy and then weigh it down like crazy. I plan to use many 90# bags of cement - and believe that it will work out quite well. The actual cause of the delamination appear that the first layer of fiberglass was not wetted out with resin  that well - as dry strands of fiberglass can be seen laying on the plywood. So - this is an ideal situation for me - un-saturated fiberglass cloth - bonding to dry plywood. In the end - if I can get 50%
bonding I feel that will really do well - and the top layer is almost strong enough by itself.

Now another new twist - I am planning to have the bottom sand blasted - and leave bare to dry - and then follow by a new barrier coat. The boat had this done it 1990 - and the coat has numerous blisters. They all appear to be between the inner layer of gelcoat and an out layer - but I will take it down to the bare laminate to let her breath for 6 months to a year.

I did just play around a bit with some of the teak over the winter - and some of it is cleaning up very nicely. A little bleach and a little sanding and it is ready for finishing - here is an example with just one coat of sanding sealer.

I also got a jointer/planer to help finish the hundreds of batten which make up the ceiling. I have not done many but it looks like it is going to do a good job.

I end now -- but I will say that if anybody out there is looking for a challenge -- I'm still actually sitting on the fence. In one month, I'm going to jumping in full force and not look back.

Oh, I forgot to tell you that I did get Entropy II de-winterized and I sailed her once already this year. I plan to to take a week long cruise in her up to Annapolis around the first of May. May will also be the relaunching of sneakbox after long sleep of about 40 years.

I try and not be so long next time.

Sailor Jim

December is here and it snowed!

Well there were a few flurries and a little dusting to the ground but the real change in the
weather was the temperatures. Very cold sub-freezing at night and barely breaking 40 during the days.

So my boat yard has cut off the water for the winter. I had planned to run the diesel a little more but that will have to wait. I will try it with water from the fresh water tanks at least once more in a week or so to suck a little anti-freeze in the raw water side of the cooling system. Then it will be time to drain those tanks.

Most of my work this weekend was removing the final ceiling battens from the V-berth area. They call this "ceiling" but it is not overhead - but on the side walls. The first step is to dig out the wood plugs hiding the screws in the trim - not a hard job but a little tedious. Next is the 100+ unscrewing job for both sides. Most came out easily - but some needed the aid of a screw extractor.

The area behind the battens was a little grungy but nothing too bad.

If you do look at the top of the picture above you can see a white glassy thing. It is a deck prism - something boats used hundreds of years ago to get light below deck. And it works really well.

So my plan is to refinish the batten at home, clean up the area behind them and add some urethane foam insulation to the hull before reinstalling the battens. Now I have about 90 or so battens plus the drawers, doors, floorboards, and other wooden items to keep me busy through the winter.

Let me jump back to one of my earlier successes - the propane stove/oven. It is a nice Shipmate - but not exactly designed to be left underwater for 3 weeks. I did remove it the second weekend after salvage and immediately torn it down. I removed the propane tank, regulator and solenoid from the boat. Assembling everything in my shed - I found the solenoid and regulator worked and the two top burners did as well after cleaning the jets. I didn't even think about trying the oven as it will definitely need a new controller.  I do like the Shipmate construction  - it is well made. Note the nice blue flames.

Ok - enough for now - but I have progressed nicely with wiring of the Vetus Diesel control panel so I will write about that next time.....

Sailor Jim

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi Everyone,

Yes, I am a little late with my greeting but better late than never. I also noticed that it had been 10 days since I last posted and had told myself I would like to make this close to a weekly deal so I'm just plain late.

I did have a nice Turkey Day with my kids - Liz and Michael visiting along with my sister from Charlotte, NC. I cooked a 20 pound turkey and it came out great!.

Now back to the Westsail. I have been busy working on it, but unfortunately nothing too exciting to report. On Thanksgiving morning I cleaned the storm jib and the main sail. The jib had been in the boat underwater - full of salt.

While the main did not go underwater - in was inches away and the salt did need to be washed out. It had been home to several mud wasp nest -- leaving a nasty yellow muddy stain.

A couple of weeks ago I had the drifter, cruising spinnaker, and tri-radial spinnaker all washed in my bathroom whirlpool tub. Those light fabric worked well in the tub. After washing, I hung them from a third story window to dry. The cruising spinnaker is huge!

I have continued to remove wood from the boat. After removing all the easy items (drawers, shelves, doors) I moved on to the more difficult. The cabin walls were made up
of horizontal battens, which are screwed to vertical stringers. Most of those screws came out easily but the end trim had to come off as well. They had their screws behind wooden plugs which had to be dug out. At first I struggled with that process but now have a small chisel and a method that works rather well. I know I have plenty of more hidden screws like that to come.

I did attack the plumbing in the bathroom as well. I removed all the hoses, sewage transfer pump, and head to be kept in storage till later. My plan is to remove all hoses and wiring. Most of the hoses will be reused but the wiring will all be replaced.

So next time I will tell you of my progress with the engine control panel. It is coming along nicely and I may have taken it for a test run by the time I write again.

Sailor Jim

Let's Catch Up!

Ok, let me use this post to update you as to where "nameless" is right now. Sorry - I will name her but I just haven't found the right one yet.

After raising her, the salvage company towed her to a local repair yard in Deltaville on Fishing Bay. It was at their dock that I was able to get my diesel running and then they hauled her and power washed the exterior grim off.

So this is how see looked straight off the bottom -- remember she was under for 3 weeks.

and then after power washing......

The biggest surprise is that the teak decks cleaned up very nicely.

So what have I been doing so far?

I've spend a fair amount of time playing with the diesel - running it and changing fuilds. All the electrical controls, indicators and wiring will need to be replaced. I will not be using the OEM replacement unit that cost $1000 - instead I'll make my own custom unit.

On the interior I have been ripping out the headliner - and underlining plywood. I have removed every drawer, door, panel - that could be removed and have them in my garage.Those made of solid teak look great and will refinish pretty easily. I'll done a fair job of getting the muck out
but the water tanks will need to be removed and all hoses and thru hulls reconditioned.

So that is where I am now -- more after this weekend.

Sailor Jim