Well, today was the big day! The boat hauler loaded Solstice on the trailer at 8:30 this morning and by 11:30 he was backing into the yard at our house in South Thomaston. It is amazing how much filth is on the boat and my brain is doing cartwheels trying to figure out what NEEDS to be done vs. what I WANT to do. I guess the first thing to do will be to take EVERYTHING off the boat and pressure wash the deck and exterior followed by a good scrubbing below decks to make a nice place to work. The keel repair is the only structural issue I have found so far and it is almost at the top of the list but I think I want to start with the engine and systems.
The engine work should be pretty straight forward and consist of draining the fuel, cleaning the tanks and lines, putting in new filters and refilling and priming the system. I truly expect the engine to start right up but I wouldn't be surprised if I had to put in new impellers for the water pumps and maybe change out the fuel injectors. The engine comes with a service manual so I have all the specs on it to rip it down if I need to. That will be fun compared to glassing...
I never look forward to fiberglass work but I will need to break out the 8" grinder for this job and grind away the bad repair done by a previous owner. Once I am down to sound glass I can start building up layers of 1708 biaxial cloth and mat to fair in the repair. As near as I can tell, she went aground at some point and some one tried to repair the keel with 6 oz cloth (far too light) and "boatyard resin" like you would find in a hardware store. Time has taken it's toll on the repair and it needs to be done right. There is a BIG difference in the resins used for boat building. Solstice was built with polyester resin in the early 70's and I could use the same type for the repair but I think the best resin to use will be epoxy resin. Polyester resin is the cheapest but weakest resin, it also smells super nasty. Vinylester is a hybrid form of polyester resin which has been toughened with epoxy molecules within the main molecular structure. A little better but still not ideal, given it's tendency to not cure completely if the atmospheric conditions are not right. It also has difficulty in bonding dissimilar and already-cured materials and smells super nasty too. Epoxy on the other hand sticks to other materials like, well, glue. A well done epoxy bond comes in with 2,000-p.s.i. stickiness vs. only 500-p.s.i. for vinylester resins and even less for polyesters. Epoxy resin will also bond dissimilar or already-cured materials which makes repair work that is very reliable and strong. Epoxy actually bonds to all sorts of fibers very well and also offers excellent results in repair-ability when it is used to bond two different materials together. It also does not smell NEARLY as bad., it is just as bad for you (use a respirator) but it smells a little like peanut butter. I lean towards a brand called West System but a friend recommended using Maas as it is easier to wet out the fabric with. The jury is still out on what brand I will use. I'll post pictures of the grinding so you can see how much fun I am having!
Here is a shot of Solstice in our yard next to our 25' Morgan "Biscuit" so you can see the difference that 7' can make.
I will post some deck shots after I shovel the leaves out of the cockpit and pressure wash the deck!
Be well,
D
Hooray! And what a cute little transom. Can't wait to visit.
ReplyDeleteLet's not forget to mention the hornets' nest in the interior by the companionway! That did not come home with her, thank goodness. She'll look less derelict with a good scrub.
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