Fun with plywood - the beginning.

Finally the plywood arrived! Soon I will be done painting and then the "real" fun can begin. I'm looking very much forward to start the rebuild.

To save some money I have chosen to use non-marine-grade plywood. Instead I will be using "normal" Okoume B/BB (WBP) plywood. Please note that I'm reusing the old bulkheads - none of the new plywood is going to be a part of the structural support.

Easiest way to remove butyl tape?

I need to remove butyl tape from a lot of bolts. So what is easiest way to remove butyl tape?

Turns out mineral spirits dissolves butyl tape real easy. I added mineral spirits to a small jar with three bolts in it. Shook it for 30 seconds. As by magic all the butyl tape dissolved.

Before

Mineral spirits

After shaking the jar for 30 seconds 

After

Why progress is slow (herniated disc)

Herniated disc

Thought I would do a quick post and explain once for all why progress on the restoration is moving so slowly.

One year ago I slipped and fell down a flight of stairs. This resulted in a herniated disc between L4 and L5 (see the red box in the picture). In december (2012) I got an operation to remove the nucleus pulposus (the stuff protruding from the disc). The last year I've been seeing a physical therapist two times a week. Unfortunately I still have pains, loss of feeling and slight loss of function. Apparently it's highly unlikely it is going to get better. That would have happened by now according to the doctors.

Luckily some of my friends and my parents have been kind enough to help with the boat. I wouldn't have been able to get this far on my own with my back/leg the way it is today. It's very demoralizing not being able to use my body like I was before the accident.

In short: progress may be slow but it's not due to loss of interest. The boat will be seaworthy again; if not next year then the year after. Slow and steady wins the race :)

Alignmet of holes in bulkheads and hull

Clearly the holes aren't aligned. Panic ensued. 

I wanted to put the bulkheads back in order to do a proper test-fit. Should be an easy job, right? Not quite.

The bulkheads did still fit put all the holes were misaligned by 1 or 2 cm. I spent the better part of an hour searching the web, posting on The Ballad Exchange (post) and finally calling a friend in the local yacht club. Luckily the later quickly calmed me down. Apparently it is not uncommon for glasfiber boats to sag a bit when removing bulkheads. The cure; a car jack and a steady hand (nerves).

A tribute to sticky stuff (removing glue residue)

The problem 

There is some sticky glue residue all over the inside of hull. I need to remove it to be sure that the new vinyl backed foam insulation will adhere to the hull. Even tho the glue is over 40 years old it is still very sticky. I used an angle grinder with a metal wire brush attachment to remove a lot of the old foam and glue. A good friend in the local marina recommended that I try using "brun sæbe" to remove the rest of the glue and foam.

"Brun sæbe" aka "the stuff"

"The Stuff"!

I have been unable to find suitable translation for "the stuff". In Danish it's called "Brun sæbe". Directly translated it's simply "brown soap". I found a forum post that refers to it as "German soft soap", "soft potassium soap"or "crystal soap". Neither of those seems to be correct.

If i had to describe it i would say it has the consistency of jello and has a slight brown color. Apparently it is basic (pH > 7) and is rich in calcium hydroxide. Please leave a comment if you know the english word for "the stuff".

Sanding trim and old bulkheads

Sanding - lots of sanding!

... not!

This weekend I sanded the remaining bulkheads and all of the solid mahogany trim pieces. Very tedious work. The bulkheads are now ready for paint and the trim is ready for varnishing.

I'm going to refurbish the old bulkheads and trim to keep the cost down. If only marine plywood wasn't so ridiculously expensive here in Denmark I would love to redo the bulkheads. Simply put 340 USD per sheet is too steep for me - read my previous post. On all of the bulkheads, except one, there were spots where the outer veneer was worn thru. This is not an issue as I'm going to paint the bulkheads. But it meant sanding - lots of sanding. Luckily I purchased a BOSCH excenter grinder to help make the task more manageable.