paranoia subsides

[Tony G]

For all you that 'felt my pain and anguish' as I worried about delamination in 113's headliner take respite in the fact that the healing has begun (without the aid of heavy medication).  After reading that the headliner is not an integral component of the inner 'skin' and only bonded at the edges I felt much better.  But so much bow and flexing I thought.  The photos I posted earlier just didn't do that huge lump in the aft cabin bulkhead justice.  So upon destruction of that perfectly good cabin I snapped a few more pics of just what was lurking in there.

[Tony G]

...and another

[Tony G]

It was only when I got to this point that I realized the top of the ice box was scribed to match the bow of the cabin liner and... sure enough so was the box surrounding the ELECTRICAL SERVICE PANEL!  Wow!  Was I relieved.

[Tony G]

With the headliner delemma eatin' my dust I just had to find another mild crisis to help maintain some sort of stability in my paltry existence.  And here it is!  Yeah, what am I going to do about it?  The support posts for the mast step beam were replaced by the p.o. and are in good shape.  However, that is serious rot in the main bulkhead.  Currently I'm thinking about digging out the bad, sealing the area with epoxy and then building it up to 3/4" again and maybe even tabbing it in.  Still open to suggestions with the exception of just leaving it and covering it with something.

[Tony G]

If that was the RIGHT side then surely there's a LEFT side to match.(I just HAD to)

[Tony G]

I just took a picture of these because it seems we all have a common illness of wanting to look at each others 'boat stuff' and because not everybody out there has one of these.  113's mast step beam has considerable deflection (1/4") in it even without the mast stepped.  The mast step and  the core under it was replaced by the p.o..  When I picked her up the mast was stepped and the beam had same amount of deflection in it under static load.  So I guess this is just mindless banter!

[Tony G]

This is a forward shot of my major accomplishment for that day.

[Tony G]

And here's the galley.  Okay, maybe I lied when I said it was all without medication(note the 'remains' peeking out of the galley sink).  Next time I'll have to remember to tidy up a bit before taking any pics.  Also not the dumb end of the cable operated spedo lying on the counter next to the pump.  I haven't seen anything like that since my 5-speed, 20" sidewinder with banana seat sissy bar and spider handle bars! (circa 1972)  And of course the first aid kit (also circa 1972)

[Tony G]

Hey!  I see my status has changed from ariel newbie to pearson professional...just for ripping a boat apart?  Folks, you just gotta love this country.

[Bill]

Nice cover on the chain locker.

[commanderpete]

Some nice progress there.

How bad is that bulkhead? Very punky? I think its pretty thick plywood. I probably wouldn't replace it unless I could kick a hole through it.

I've used this stuff called CPES (clear penetrating epoxy sealer). Its very expensive. But, you can make your own penetrating epoxy sealer by mixing epoxy with 10% xylene. Brush it on a few times.

Congratulations on becoming a Pearson Professional.

I thought I would have a new title by now. Instead, it says "Check out my high post count"  I'm supposed to be proud of that?  Makes me sound like an internet weirdo instead of a salty sailor with a beard and peg leg   aarrrggghh

I thought Steve was ahead of me anyway. He disappeared and took half his posts with him. Hey Steve, where you at?

[Tony G]

The plywood is 3/4" there (uh-originally) and it looks pretty bad but as with most things it's probably not THAT bad.  I've ony picked at it 'surgically' with my handy, dandy pocket knife for a couple minutes because I was afraid to: 1)open up another can of worms.  2)expand the job even farther.  3)know the truth.  You pick your answere!  I agree with you when you say don't replace it.  The sealer idea is a good candidate for this instance.  I'm sitting on 10 gal. of epoxy right now so that'll likely be my weapon of choice!  Would you happen to know if that formula is ten percent by volume or weight?  Maybe for sealing it really wouldn't matter that much unless it 'effects a retardation of the terminal curing of the epoxy'.  HA! Pearson Professional, it's such a heady feeling.  Seriously though, I'll probably get a chance to work on her tomorrow and then I'll know more.  I'm looking forward to finishing the destruction phase so I can start working with mock ups of the galley and salon or saloon as I like to say.  As far as Steve goes, who knows, I think he was a submariner for a while so it wouldn't be unlikely for one of those guys to just bug out and disappear for a couple of days or however long it takes.

[Mike Goodwin]

That CPES is mostly thinners , we had 20 gal. or more in the shop I worked in a few years back . We mixed up 36oz and were promptly sidetracked by an emergency . When we got back to it the kicked off epoxy 'plug ' in the container was only 10oz if memory serves me correctly . We had it tested and indeed it was mostly thinners ( a bunch of the 'tones' and alcohols ) .
That makes it the most expensive thinners you can buy .

fgci.com  makes a penetrating epoxy for @ $31 per gal , they also have a G-10 or G-12 epoxy thinner with which you can cut it even further , although fgci does not endorse such action .

I have used both and both work , but I think CPES is too thin and too pricey , I still use fgci and will be today on the old mast step for Commander 105 for Robert.
That special thinner from fgci is a blend of 'tones' & alcohols and works with any epoxy , it is @ $10 gal .

Mike G

[commanderpete]

Here is where I got the idea about the penetrating epoxy

http://www.epoxyproducts.com/penetrating4u.html

You could sand/grind away the real bad wood. Then mix up a batch of sealer and brush it on until it won't accept any more(have another area clean and ready in case you need to get rid of any leftovers.  I've been spreading this stuff all over bare wood)

I would give it a day or so to make sure all the solvent has evaporated. Clean it up and rough it up. Then you could build up the area with alternating layers of cloth and mat. Three layers of each might give you about a 1/4 inch.

I bought my fiberglass fabric by mail order. When I ran out, I found some at Home Depot. The cloth was thin but the mat was thick. The mat soaks up prodigious amounts of epoxy.

Have fun.

[SailorLiz]

Hi Tony,

just thought I would tell you that with rot, just sealing it with epoxy does not kill the spores.  It will still rot underneath. My husband & I ae currently restoring a wooden mariner 40' ketch. It has some rot in the cabin sides. We are totally rebuilding those with new marine plywood. But in the cabin, there is a nice piece of mahogany trim that runs the whole length of the cabin. In order for us to replace it, we would have to tear out the bulkheads, etc.  We decided it is trim and not part of the structure to try and "save" it.  So before the epoxy, you need to kill the fungus (amoung us).  Here is a web site with the chemicals formula and directions. http://home.att.net/~DaveCarnell/rot.html
I've included a picture of the "cooking" process.
;p