October 27, 2018
The deconstruction phase is rapidly drawing to a close, and what lay behind it is vastly more exciting and rewarding - rebuilding, improving, and realizing the beauty of the lines of a classic sailboat. I used my time today to address the areas still requiring attention, and as a result I was bouncing around the boat hitting the odds and ends.
My first target was removal of the old ice box. At the request of the owner, the old ice box had to go. The ice box really held no purpose given the many variations of portable coolers one can transport on and off the boat. The space revealed, by removal of said ice box, would surely be used in the most efficient of ways. I began by removing the outer lip of the ice box, providing me with a better idea and visual on how the construction of the ice box engaged the cockpit well.
With the outer lip removed, I started making strategic cuts in the ice box to essentially fold the box in on itself. This strategy took three to four different cuts, as well as a follow up trimming here and there, but the ice box did succumb to my charm and finally relented. I used an oscillating tool with a carbide tipped blade throughout the removal.
With the ice box removed, I suddenly had a lot more volume to work within...or contort my body within as I sanded the interior (misery to come next week).
Surprisingly, the removal of the ice box yielded a fairly stout pile of debris. In the picture below, the void in the lower left is the old top-entry to the ice box. I will be closing this area up, using a sandwich construction of fiberglass and core material - in this case, the core material will be balsa.
Next, I moved on to removing the deck drain through-hulls. Because the decks slope inboard from the rails, the Allied Greenwich 24s were constructed with two deck drains to port and two to starboard. Water collecting on the deck, wether rain or from taking water over the rail, would drain through these through-hulls to plumbing taking the water to the bilge. A bilge pump would then send the water out of the boat.
The process of removal included securing a pair of vice grips on the backing nut from below, and then using a through-hull step wrench to unwind the hardware. I began on the port side, removed and stored the through-hulls in the coaming boxes to keep track of them.
With the port deck through-hulls removed, I then flipped over to the starboard side.
The through-hulls all came out without issue. I will be reassembling the deck through-hulls in the rebuild phase, but will likely create a better path for the water to find its way out of the boat.
With the deck through-hulls removed, I went below to finish removing the various trim pieces. The trim requiring removal were the port and starboard settee fiddles, the shelf faces, and a few other odds and ends. I collected the various components of the cabin trim and carried them over to the workshop for safe keeping...and future work.
I jumped up to the bow of the boat next. I placed vice grips on all of the backing nuts for the stem fitting (forestay), and proceeded to remove the bolts securing the forward chainplate. All four of the bolts snapped off in the attempted removal. I applied a socket wrench to each of the bolts...snapping each in the process of attempting to back out the bolt. The backing plate, a strip of fiberglass was easily pried off of the interior of the bow. For reinstallation, I will build up the area with thickened epoxy and 1708oz cloth to allow a flat surface for mounting of a new backing plate.
With the backing plate removed and the forestay/chainplate, I moved back outside to focus on removal of the two through-hulls serving as water in and grey water out for the head. The previous owner had removed the installed head, and had then opted for a portable head - a better choice for a weekender boat of this size. I applied through-hull step wrench to the hardware, and also applied a locking vice grip to the backing nut on the interior, and then tapped the wrench with a hammer to loosen the hold.
she eventually relented, and I removed the through-hull.
I repeated the process for the starboard side of the boat - the head discharge. I will glass these holes in a future work session, thereby removing two potential points of water ingress. The owner's plan for the boat is to be a weekender, not a voyager, and so a portable head will provide the necessary facilities for the boat.
I then turned my attention to removing questionable core from the boat. With a significant
amount of balsa en route to the shop, I wanted to reveal as many of the areas that required core work...as possible. I began in the aft deck, and pretty much guaranteed myself a wet core upon removal of the topskin around the aft deck cleats.
As imagined, the port core was wet and deteriorating. I cleaned out, re-cut topskin, and then cleaned out again the bad core.
I eventually was left with solid core material from which I could tie-in the new core material and topskin - 1708oz cloth.
I repeated the process for the starboard side of the boat.
Next, I moved back to the cabin top, and removed more damaged material. The process was to lay out cut lines that progresses outward from the original work area. There is no sense in removing non-compromised core material...not to mention the challenge in removing material in good condition. I first laid out the new cut lines, to starboard...
...and to port.
I then began cutting and removing the starboard topskin, chasing out the bad material
What I was left with was a fairly significant hole in the cabin top, but also solid material that I could build upon.
I repeated the process on the port side, and made a few progressive cuts as I chased out bad core material.
In the end, I had a larger area for which would require new core and topskin, but making this boat stronger and better looking is what the project requires!
Total Time Today: 5.75 hrs
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