BOAT MAKEOVER 2005 - 2008
When we retired in 2005, it gave us time to do a major upgrade on the boat which was now 28 years old. The motor had only got 2,500 hours on it, but as it was direct saltwater cooled, we were concerned that it would have limited life. Our paint was tired, as were some sails, rigging and other things. Our cockpit was also not very user friendly - too small to brace your feet apart, and little protection from the elements. So we began the makeover, doing everything we had always wanted to do, and fortunately getting some part time work to help pay for our expenditures. The following pictures give some idea of what we did to improve the boat.
The before picture: Long low cabin, small cockpit, no roller furler, no dodger.
We built the new cabin top over the existing one to keep the rain out. Marine plywood, grooved to make it bendable, then epoxy filled & glassed each side. Thanks for your help Roland & Cher!
The old cockpit cut out
More work with the 9" grinder - thanks for the loan Hans! The new cabin top and sides sits in the background. It has been glassed inside and out to make a strong sandwich construction and is ready to place over the cut off cabin top.
The new top is bolted, glued, and epoxy glassed into place.
The flared coamings give us a cockpit a bit wider than the cabin sides.
New cabin top, cockpit coamings, dodger coaming and hatch cover. The hull paint has been sanded back above the waterline, and sandblasted completely off below. We filled in some of the scuppers on each side.
More epoxy and foam enable us to reshape the propellor aperture to give better water flow - see the same detail in the original construction photos.
Laminating layers of e -glass for the top of the compass binnacle.
A new engine box fabricated in foam sandwich.
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THE EXPEDITUS MAKEOVER.doc Size : 18.5 Kb Type : doc |
The after picture: Raised aft cabin top, bigger cockpit, roller furler, extendable bowsprit, MPS sail, solar panel etc. etc.
I forgot to wear safety boots and dropped an electric jigsaw on my foot - 2 cut tendons.
9" grinder cutting off the cabin top in sections - Note I am wearing safety boots!
Yet more cutting - the condition of the existing ferro cement was fine. The new cabin top sits above ready to drop into place
The cockpit coamings now flare out from the cabin sides, giving us an additional cubbyhole for storage.
We construct in foam sandwich construction as well as plywood & epoxy glass. The hatch cover takes shape.
Epoxy, epoxy, and more epoxy.
We got rid of external chain plates, and carry rigging loads through stainless deck fittings, and an internal stainless steel framework bolted to concrete webs.
The new binnacle takes shape over the top of our old 4" plastic pipe binnacle - more filling and fairing to follow.
The finished result again, Constitution Dock, Hobart, Tasmania.