A bit of fill and antifoul will sort it out.

[Slacko]

Entry steps complete and the engine box painted/varnished.


There is still a piece to fill in over the raw water filter that is peeking out.

Today I glued up the basic frame of the towel rack.


It needs to be trimmed around with some Kauri left over from the delayed hatch project.
I also got the lid off the water deck filler and the tank filled up.
The pump when I tested it didn't work, which turned out to be the pressure switch being faulty.
New pump for now, and get a replacement pressure switch, to keep as a spare.
I topped up the diesel tank, and put the second stern anchor, chain and warp into one of the side lockers in the rear deck.
This was possible due to getting rid of the under deck tanks a few years ago.
I fitted some catches to the dinette table to keep it in place when underway.

Slowly ticking my list off.

[Slacko]

Today I got the sliding towel rack mounted and glued the Kauri trim around the box in place.


I also;
got the chain and anchor onto the bow and chain locker,
emptied out and cleaned the rear locker,
fitted a brace to hold the top cooling hose from the engine to the heat exchanger,
adjusted engine belt tension,
fitted cover panels over wiring chases and the rear of the engine controls,
cleared the port quarterberth side bins of general stuff,
mounted and tested the fresh water pump,
tested the cooker (the auto ignition circuit needs attention),
fitted a kwila trim to the entry step,
moved sails to storage lockers and some into shed,
cleaned and stashed the BBQ under a berth.

I brought home some of the berth squabs for recovering.

[Slacko]

Today I sanded the towel nook and got a coat of varnish on it.


I then started on a unexpected job to repair some rot in the ply of the cockpit seat.
The water got in between the teak trim and the ply.
I attacked it with the multitool, and the rot disappeared!


My first exploratory cut away from the edge hit clean wood so I took it as good. The edge support was fine.
This area is getting hatches in the future, so this is a medium term solution.
I sanded the paint and glass down to the ply, so I fitted replacement wood with some epoxy.

Today I also;
Filled the spare gas bottle and stashed,
tested the oven ignition system by cooking my lunch (working fine today),
pulled out and inflated the dinghy,
went to the chandlery and got a PVC repair patch for the dinghy,
loaded the inflatable kayak and some deck chairs,
tidied up the shed including getting the SOF kayak on pulleys up into the roof.

Donna covered and brought down one of the squabs for trial fit!

[Garret]

You've been busy & it's looking great. Isn't the multi-tool a wonderful thing?

[Hugh MacD]

Great progress! I'm jealous!

[Slacko]

Thanks for the encouragement.
I've had a Fein branded multitool for a long time now.
It was still under patent, so no competition was available.
The battery operated Bosch one is awesome, you can change from sander to cutting blade without having to remove the sandpaper.
Doesn't sound much, but is nice when I'm chopping and changing between.

Yesterday, I got the cockpit repair sanded then laid 3 layers of cloth to bring it up to thickness ( the original ply is imperial size, so is more like 10 mm whatever that is).


I did a bunch of other stuff including;
varnishing the towel storage thingy,
repaired the inflatable,
can't remember other stuff.
Photo of the fridge in place


Gratuitous shot of Kayak up the the roof, and inflatable waiting for patch.

[Slacko]

Today, I sanded the glass (which I also filled over the top yesterday while still wet with the medium weight fairing compound. It is stronger, so can take traffic better than the lightweight stuff.)
I then added a bit of filler to a couple of spots to bring it up to flat for a final sand tomorrow and first coat of epoxy primer.

I also,
put foam tape around the covers on the engine box,
put a final coat of varnish on the towel storage rack,
then I pulled up the sole boards and cleaned the bilge.
2 1/2 hours later, scrubbing from front to middle, then back to middle.
There was a time layer of silt through the whole thing. I thought before I started that it was greasy, but it just needed scrubbing and then sluicing down the the bilge pump.
The pump got a bit cranky about the high solids content, so it needed cleaning out a few times as well.
I then got the bilge boards back in and started cutting some carpet. It is just for the holiday, and will come back up for normal use.
A reasonable comfort request from our small person.
It looks good if not very salty!

I've got a bit more to do with that job.

I also finally fitted a fishing rod rack that I bought probably 10 years ago!


They should be out of the way there. The red one had lost the tip from incidental damage, so that's added to the job list too.

[Hugh MacD]

only ten years?!? You're a speed demon compared to my rate of progress! Lookin' good!

[Slacko]

Today;
I finished the fridge install and ran it for the day to see how much power it was going to use, seems OK at this stage,
did some more carpet laying, one piece to go,
all the contents of the galley came home for a wash,
squeezed up under the cockpit to clean up after repair demolition, 40 years of repairs and dropped screws etc,
and, the squabs got installed after recovering.
No photo's sorry, but it's looking pretty tidy.
I didn't have the epoxy primer in the boatshed (must be in garage at home), so no progress on the cockpit repair other than a quick sand to make sure it is ready.

Off to New Plymouth tomorrow for Paper Tiger national champs for 5 days, finally some sailing.

[Slacko]

On Tuesday I was sitting on a club mooring in a cove in Tory Channel having grilled cheese on toast and fresh coffee for lunch.
Contemplating a swim, the full reality of the fact that I had to be at work the next morning hit me!

The 2 handed Cook strait crossing that afternoon, as predicted was a lovely sail up the channel and out the entrance into the strait, then motor sailing into a light southerly for the next 4 hours with the tide turning against us for the last 2 hours.
It peaked at 4 knots on the nose for about 30 minutes before we turned a little around Sinclair head, and we pushed 1-2 knots of tide across to the harbour entrance.
We picked up the home mooring in twilight, and we were home.

All the prep getting the boat ready was well worth it with awesome weather for the whole week, and glassy water each night.
We anchored overnight twice, 2 club moorings, 1 resort mooring, and 1 night in a marina to meet an early ferry the next morning.

We were welcomed into one bay for the night by dolphins playing with the wake, but an Orca matching our speed breaching within 5 metres alongside for a minute was the highlight of the trip.

Hammock time at Lochmara Lodge.

[Slacko]

There is a couple of spots where you can walk to Pelorus sound over the Ridgeline in about an hour.
This is the view from the saddle,


and the track across though the Beech forest.


Bay of Many Coves Resort seems to get more swanky every time we visit.


The new fridge, combined with new house batteries and the 120 amp alternator on the engine transformed the holiday with no concerns about flat batteries.
We didn't have to run the engine on the mooring to top them up once. The day to day engine use moving about was more than enough charge.
We sailed in the sounds quite a few times, which doesn't always happen either.
No major problems raised by the boat, so everyone was happy and relaxed, Whew!

[Slacko]

It's coming into summer now, so the maintenance plan for leaving for the sounds is to get the rear deck ripped out and hatches fitted.

As a warm-up I got the opportunity to help move one of my race crews yacht from Northland to Wellington.
The boat had been moved to Tauranga already, so we were planning to do a 450 nautical mile coastal trip from Tauranga to Wellington over the long weekend.
The boat is quite something;
62 feet, Steel hull, teak decks and cabin,
36 tons apparently!
It was built in Italy in 1977, was chartered in the Med for a while, then did a couple of circumnavigations.
She was abandoned in NZ at the start of the covid lockdown by the Italian owner and sold.
3 double cabins and a bow crew cabin, all with ensuite!

We had to Sort out a couple of things out before leaving Tauranga
IMG20221021103721.jpg

Looking back at White Island, which is an active volcano.
IMG20221022135903.jpg

In Napier alongside dock.
IMG20221024160245.jpg

The boat is super comfortable, but needs a good going through for the maintenance issues.
They mostly seemed to be with anything that wasn't original.
We had to stop in Napier as the wind wasn't playing nicely (it needs quite a bit to get going!), and the engine was overheating if we pressed it above 1/2 throttle.
We had dolphins, whales and albatross around the boat, which was cool.
The rest of the crew stood at the bow as we approached Napier, so I got the dubious honour of berthing in a 20 knot cross breeze, with 1/2 a metre of water under the keel coming in the channel.
Not my boat, so i was waving to the crowds gathering to watch her coming in.
Gotta love bow thrusters (it made me look like a pro), and steel hulls (if I got it wrong!)
The experience made me happy that Haumuri is ONLY 45 feet, and is a simple as possible as far as bling goes.
This boat is going to be all consuming for the owner as far as maintenance goes, but the rewards are prodigious if he can get on top of it.

This weekend isn't looking good for the final leg, so hopefully he can get her home soon.

[Garret]

That's a whole lotta boat to maintain! Quite the stern platform as well.

[John B]

I've seen that boat, I think I raced against it in a classic event.

[Zane Lewis]

That's a beautiful looking boat. One I would love to sail on and then return to someone else.
Just looking at that hydraulic backstay tensioner makes me cringe, (Is the vang hyd or just rope)
Had a few through the shop and a lovely mix of Alloy & S/S all containing a gas spring can be enough to make me decide to send them down the line to
KiwiYachting or DBF rather than touch them ourselves.

[Slacko]

Yeah that rear platform may be the first thing to go.
I would have hacked it off in Tauranga if it was my boat. she won't be stern mooring in the Med for a while again!

It was in Opua for a couple of years, which is where you probably saw her John.

The raw water circuit has been de-gunged this week apparently, and a general engine service performed so the rest of the journey south will be a bit quicker!
Napier is a bit shallow for this girl as mentioned. I stopped looking when I saw 0.1m on the sounder coming in on Monday.
He touched bottom going across the channel to the haulout pen where she can stay until a weather window opens up.

[John B]

I did read an ad at one stage but I didn't recall she was steel. I bet she has a nice motion at sea, 170...180 mile days... a bit more.
Too light for her this day, we had legs on her, she wants 20 knots..
20190112_123525.jpg

20190113_095024.jpg

[Slacko]

I've picked up the rear deck project that I deferred this time last year.
Looking at the stuff I did get done, I was correct to not start this job as well.

I removed the hatch that gave access to the transom and the rot had started at the edge of this.


All the muck is from working on the mooring chains. Not much point cleaning up if it's all going anyway.

No going back from this point!


All these hatches are history too!

[Slacko]

All gone now bar some tidying up.


The demo only took about an hour!

This locker was sized to take the liferaft, which was last tested in 1997!
I've been using it for a gas locker as it had a separate drain over the stern, and the spare anchor.


It's a bit big to fit in the dinghy to row ashore!

There was a socket in the transom from a previous timber, so that set the size of the under deck timber.

[Slacko]

I reinstated the diagonal support that went to the front of the liferaft locker.


I'm going to put a ply bulkhead in to separate the space down the middle and support the deck/hatch.

There is a bunch of scraping/sanding/painting in my future but I'm focusing on getting the hatch surrounds in first so water isn't going to pour in from the deck when it rains.
Which it did last night massively.
The bilge pump would have been busy, and I'll check on the status of the batteries after work today.

All this work shown was done on yesterday, including installing the deck down the centreline last thing yesterday.


This last photo shows where I am up to now.
Once the hatch edges have been installed and I have the final size of the openings, I can manufacture and paint the lids in the shed while getting on with the inside repaint and fitout.

[Slacko]

I've changed tack with my cover to work under.
The rain has been regular as clockwork for the last week or so, every night usually for a few hours.
Perfect for growing grass and stuff. Not so much for outdoor boatbuilding!

Some of the tarp eyelets pulled out in wind a few days ago as expected.
I have a roll of carpet protector when you are doing renovations left over.
It is reasonably heavy and sticky!
OMG does it love sticking to itself, which I used to my advantage by putting it on both sides of the rails and stanchions.
I then put multiple layer across the top with some ropes to the boom to support the centre.
As soon as I got 3 layers on the "roof" it settled right down in the wind and is pretty secure.

The old box for the life raft is still in the cockpit as it is a bit big for the dinghy.

I got the centre hatch lips glued on and clamped in place on Saturday.


I also glued some supports underneath, which will support the bulkhead I've measured and making.



The plumbing is a bit of a rats nest that will take some sorting.
The valve on the exhaust is frozen, so I'll probably delete it. The exhaust from the engine is above the waterline, so I've not had any problem with following seas filling up the engine when sailing.
The cockpit can start to backfill up sometimes when we are hauling with the kite up. We've had a rooster tail off the stern doing 15 knots a couple of times!

Today in the rain I cut the deck back to the under deck side cleats where the 2 side Lockers had been. I then glued in some 12 mm patches ready for the rest of the hatch lips to be installed.
At that point I will be a lot more watertight, and any water that gets on the deck will go out the scuppers rather than down the hole.

[Slacko]

I'm getting a couple of hours an evening to work on these hatches, so I've been installing the edges around the deck.
It's not happening very fast at the moment, but I am getting there.
One side is now done, but there is a heap of tidying up, coving, glassing etc to do yet.


The cover is holding up well so far, the area is still dry after some pretty heavy rain at times.

[Slacko]

Progress has been made!
The hatch deck penetrations have now been done.

Sanding the coving was a fun job. I used epoxy and glue powder that was left over to cove the central board to the deck, so made a tough job for myself. It will be strong though!

The multitool was a timesaver (yet again).



I installed 9mm ply central spine to separate the 2 halves and support the deck for suck large openings.



The plumbing of the stern skin fittings is finally finished so they will be below the grating that will sit on the stringers to protect them.

[Slacko]

A final shot of the skin fittings and spaghetti connections. Hose clamps still to come on the bilge pump connections, although they all required hot water to get them on and are very secure.


I patterned with 3mm MDF the openings for lids and have assembled them at home.



The are both now glued up and the edges routered off at 6mm radius.
Taking to the boat and dry fitting will be the test of my measurement and assembly skills.
Then glass the outside, and paint.

[Slacko]

I've started construction of the gas locker from 12mm meranti.
The first job was to remove the exhaust valve which was in the way.
I was cutting the rubber hose off the valve with a sabre saw and the stainless steel pipe which was connected to the bronze valve fell off!
Dodged a bullet there, and I can't really see how it was connected. It was like it was glued in there, no threads or sign of welding.
I then scraped, sanded and painted under where the box will be as it will not be accessible after construction.


That plywood in the bottom of the shot is rotten and below the waterline.
I'm not touching it any more until I'm out of the water.
It was either to protect the hull from stuff being put in the hatch that was there or is an old dodgy patch to cover punky hull timber.
There is at least one strip that don't look good, so will need remediation when I come out of the water.

The base for the gas locker was then installed.



The hole for the gas locker drain is shown on the transom. Skin fitting to be installed.

I've also been distracted building a tree house for my daughter in the bush at the back of our section.

[John B]

There's a good Kiwi bloke in his redbands.
I can't make out the tree variety, ...first thought Puriri, but its a guess really.

[Slacko]

Not sure about tree either. Puriri is a good guess, I'm no expert.

The box is constructed, sanded and a bit of coving put into the corners.


I've taken a pattern of the top to make a lid at home. Almost finished the construction aspect of the job, onto the hard part now. Sanding and painting.

[Slacko]

I had a busy day today.
I took the lazarette lids into the boat for a trial fit. They fitted great, which was a huge relief!



There is quote an expanse of beanbag space there!

So I took them home again and cut out some 200gsm cloth and peel ply to cover them.


I then went to the shop snd got some more peel ply.


I spread the resin onto the bare wood with the 4" scraper, then laid the cloth on and filled the weave the same way.
Way faster and less resin floating around.

[Slacko]

I then impregnated the cloth around the corners and down the sides of the timber, laid the peel ply over and stapled it to the inside of the lids to hold the cloth on around the corners.
This technique worked well for the hatch I made for Upcycled a few months ago, as it's hard to stop the cloth lifting off when it goes around tight corners like that.



Both lids are now going off in the shed. It was quote a big session, but having all the gear ready to go made it go smoothly.


I've also got the parts cut out ready for assembly of the gas locker lid.

[Garret]

You move right along on getting stuff done, don't you? Nice work.

[Slacko]

Yep, there's nothing like a deadline to focus the efforts.
Trying to negotiate a haul out around Christmas holidays is my challenge at present

[Slacko]

I got hauled on the 29th of December in the end.
Prior to haulout I got the new hatches, covers and the gas locker sanded and a couple of coats of Epoxy primer applied.
After removing that chunk of rotten plywood I had a poke around with a chisel at the strip planking.



A bit more digging and this is the view from underneath.



An hour or so later this was the extent of the problem. I was pretty brutal and went after wet wood, not just spongy.



The planned departure date to the Marlborough Sounds was in doubt at this point.
It was the day before New Years Eve, so NZ was shutdown for 4 days to recover.
Getting some timber was the problem. I had some, but nowhere near the amount required!

[Slacko]

On New Years Eve, I had replaced the ribbands and one strip with the timber that I had.



Another boatie walking past asked if I had enough timber to do the job.
When I said no, he said follow me.
In the depths of one of the over water sheds in Evans Bay we extracted some Douglas fir strips that were left over from his repair.
I wandered back the the boat with an armload, a much happier man.



This one shows where the deck rebuild is up to at this point.


I took the timber home and ran it through the thicknesser. I ran it at 10 mm so that it could be laminated up to 20mm as required for the hull.

[Slacko]

Yesterday, I cut the scarfs on the boat and made the strips for the first layer. It took all day!
This morning, I got them all glued in place in a couple of hours. The time taken the day before paid off as they all fitted well.
Mostly stapled in place, with a few screws into the ribbands to deal with some twist in the centre of the hole.



I was happy with the job, but there is some clean up to do tomorrow prior to fitting the second layer.

I then installed the hatch lid hinges and located the position of the latches. I need a 2" holesaw for the latches, so will drill them tomorrow.
I then sanded all the hatches and deck openings, and got a coat of 2 pot undercoat on.

[Slacko]

Today I got the hull buttoned up, with the second layer of timber glued in.
It was a big day, but moves the job along nicely.
There is some rain in the forecast in a couple of days, so things may slow down a little unless I can get some tarps to work.