The head is behind us now...Part deux

Another handy piece of advice, one I learned after the fact, Do not set the toilet back in until all of the woodwork is back in it's place. There are certain pieces that were a bear to put back on with the toilet in the way.

Speaking of toilets, after filling and then re drilling the holes, I used life-calk and stainless steel lag bolts to reset it. I also added the mahogany trim to the water lines for the toilet as they were barely screwed into place with some drywall screws.


The shelf inside the bottom cabinet was also pulled and refinished while I had everything apart.

This is the fore hose that is behind the upper cabinet in the head...It's for the main bilge pump

This is the aft hose behind the upper cabinet in the head... It's for the shower bilge pump

I also replaced the bilge pumps thru hulls as they were nothing but a tube sticking out of the side.

Done for now. After the holidays I will continue working on the cabin woodwork and the next major project until the spring/summer haul out will be redoing the galley. So stay tuned...

The head is behind us now ..Part one

We finished the restoration of the head on our Hunter Cherubini 33. What a job, the results are fantastic and well worth it.

Here is a blow by blow recount of the job:

Here is the reason for the redo. The bottom of the inner bulkhead was rotted out at the bottom. The damage was probably from the integrated shower, and the fact that the wood is 31 years old. I doubt the tree the wood was made from was that old when they cut it down. I took out the three main walls to the bathroom and redid them with marine grade plywood. I do some pro bono work for a cabinet maker. He lets me use his high grade tools, and I give him free labor on some of his jobs he needs help with. It's a win-win situation for both of us. I followed his advice and we finished the plywood with an acrylic paint, like car paint, designed for cabinets. I will update the long term results in a few months to get a initial determination on the longevity of the idea. I finished the edges of the plywood with epoxy to seal the end grain to inhibit any water getting the wood.

This is what the head area looked like without any walls. The only wall I did not remove was the fore wall that is part of the main cabin. To remove that wall would mean I would have had to dismantle the drawer area. The plywood on that wall was fine and there was no damage to it at all. If you look close, I was also working on the engine cover and I redid all of the wood in that area also, while I had everything apart. I word of advice to anyone trying to tackle the project, To remove and replace the inner bulkhead, you have to cut it in half to get it out of the boat. The replacement piece was cut just below where the top of the engine cover screws onto that wall. I used the old pieces to make templates for the new ones. The inner wall was a guesstimate due to the bottom of the old one being rotten. It took some trial and error to get it just right. I also had to remove the toilet to get the walls out. It was a good thing I did, because the toilet was bolted down with galvanized lag bolts and they were almost rusted through.

This was where the toilet was bolted. It looked like it had been moved once before.

Don't use galvanized anything on a boat. Here's why.

 The holes where the toilet was located were filled with epoxy and the re drilled to ensure they were sealed properly.

Here is the cut I was talking about so the wall could make it into the boat. It's just below the screws.

The walls went in without any major issues. I had to trim a couple of the trim pieces so they would fit correctly.

I also fabricated a new trim ring for the sliding door area.

Here is the trim board I made out of mahogany to cover the cut on the head side. I still have to finish it out on the cabin side.

Head almost done

I finished the bulkheads for the head today. We are going to try something to see how well it works in the long run. A friend of mine owns a cabinet shop and I have been using his stuff to do a bunch of the woodwork. He brought up the idea to paint the walls in acrylic lacquer to finish the wood off. I have to admit the plywood looks extremely good.

 A quick update. Head is almost done, pictures were taken but I left the camera on the boat. Heading down tomorrow to do some more work, and i will grab the camera to update the blog.

Whew!!

I did a bunch of sewing with a Sailrite LSZ sewing machine that I borrowed from a friend. I made a new pedestal cover, 3 new winch covers and replaced the sacrificial cover on our headsail. Pictures soon. I see why they charge so much for replacing the sacrificial on headsails. What a pain, but a very rewarding job. I can't wait to get the new stuff on the boat to see the difference. Later this summer, we plan on making a new bimini and jiffy reefing cover.

The head is completely pulled apart. Whoever set the old toilet, secured it to the sole with galvanized lag bolts and they within months of breaking free. The old wallpaper that was in the head is gone and we were at first going to use a acrylic type laminate on the walls that I had laying around, but I don't think it will hold up to regular use. I think we are going to end up using a counter top style laminate from Lowe's or other hardware store.

The bottom job and deck are going to have to wait until spring. They are draining our lake to winter levels and hauling out is impossible due to low water levels. I will get some good pictures this week to show the improvements.

Change in Plans

Work is still continuing on the interior woodwork until I can get the boat hauled out for a bottom job and to split the deck to replace rotten balsa wood.

If you can see the delamination of the balsa in these pictures. I will get better pictures when we haul her out

The bigger news is plans to head to the Gulf of Mexico are on hold until retirement in about 13 years. Looking at the big picture, financially it is the better choice for us. This winter is when the major renovations are going to start (bottom and deck) and I will try to go into fine detail when it comes time for anyone else to have to follow in our footpaths. I will post some pictures here later this week when I can get a chance.

....and continues...

The plans are still on to move us and the boat to the Gulf of Mexico next year. I am heading to the boat tomorrow to continue work on the head area. The plywood had rotted out over the years on the bulkheads. I have two of the bulkheads redone and will hopefully reinstall them this weekend. I also hope to get some decent pictures of the work, before and after, for the blog. I got the headsail webbing resewn back on this week. It's usable again!!! Last week when I took her out without it, she was soooo underpowered in the light winds we had on the lake.

The work continues....

I was able to get to the boat this weekend and shake the cobwebs off of her and take her out. The head sail is off of her, as I am trying to get the sacrificial cloth redone. After getting an estimate on getting the sacrificial redone, a small fortune, I have decided to do it myself. Thanks to our slip mate, who has the perfect sewing machine for the job, it should be a short process. I am still redoing the woodwork piece by piece. Hopefully this winter or the beginning of next year, the bottom job will be done, along with the delaminated decks.

Let the repairs begin

The heat has finally for all intents and purposes broken. I got a chance to get out to the boat and do some more work to her. I got the side decks painted with new non skid paint. I used Interlux's Interdeck. I really like the paint. It flows really nice and covers in two coats. The two areas that I still need to paint, are on hold because there is some work that needs to be done before the paint can go on. I hope to get that done later on this fall.

If you can tell by the last picture, I had to take the lifelines down on the port side of the boat. I had to remove a stanchion to get it re welded. The original weld broke at the base.The headsail has also been removed. I am working on getting a new sacrificail cover sewn on to it. I have to order the new material sometime this week.

The Perfect Boat Dog!

This is "Candy" our 11 year old Toy Pomeranian.  She is our little first mate and she loves being out on the water with the wind in her fur.

Holy Hades Batman, It's hot outside

All work on the boat has been put on hold. It is entirely too hot (103 F) to do anything worthwhile on the boat. No wind of any significance to take the boat out and sail it either. Northerners have frigid winters to slow them down and southerners have oven ready summers. So until the weather breaks here's a very short video of a sail this spring where we are running next to a friend on his Catalina 25.

Let the Fun Begin!!!

The Admiral

This is the beginning. This is the start of hopefully a long, enjoyable experience. But as a Chinese proverb goes..even the longest journey starts with a single step. This is our single step. We bought a fairly neglected 1981 Hunter 33 Cherubini  that we have begun to put back together. She needs a lot of work, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. This gives us a chance to go through every single system, and make any repairs, upgrades that are  needed. Right now the repair list is long and most systems, if not all, need reworked..

Our Hunter 33 Cherubini