Repairing Hunter 40 damage from Hurricane Matthew

[B757Captain]

I did some measuring, the rail has to be under water before the portlight gets there. Good news is the boat absolutely hates heeling that far and will really tell you to ease up. Best broad reach heel still leaves quite a bit of freeboard.

Mark

 

[smackdaddy]

My '89 L40 has the fixed in-hull ports on either side as you can see in the photo (though a good bit higher than yours). But I also have 2 opening ports for the aft cabin on either side of the house...you can see the starboard one just forward of the Hunter logo. In the cabin, these are just aft of the bulkhead there. And there are two more ports on the low walls of the cockpit (forward and port-side), then the two hatches under the cockpit seats. A total of 6 opening ports for the aft cabin - which is a lot of ventilation.

Do you not have these other ports on your L40?

PS - Here's a bit of video showing our setup (FF to about 18:55). Pardon the dirty boat, we were about 600 miles into our 1000 mile run at this point...

 

[B757Captain]

I've got basically the same ports and hatches but I never found that the ventilation was adequate. I never propped the cockpit seats open to fully open the hatches though. I have found that the seemingly always present surprise late night rain shower soaked me if I left the hatches open - they're too close to the drain channels under the seats.

We will see if my solution works for us - the admiral has already commented on how much lighter and brighter the aft cabin is though!

Mark

 

[B757Captain]

With the port secured temporarily in place the reinforcement (plate? ring? thingy?) was glued and screwed in place and left to dry:

After drying, time for some paint:

(this is the opposite side, I did both at the same time).

Next day with the paint dry, getting ready for sealer. I taped the portlight and the surrounding area (leaving an 1/8th" gap for the sealer fillet) just to make cleanup easier:

And installation complete:

I finished the painting in the aft cabin:

Now on to the next project!

Cheers,

Mark

 

[B757Captain]

Working outside in the heat:

I've been slowly working on the repairs to the bow - I got the deck fixed the other day and have been building up the prow. Got it ready for primer:

The little circle is filling in and closing off the old forward holding tank vent. I'm relocating the holding tank so the vent will be relocated. Still working on stripping the paint where all the scratches are. The old paint in this area is just too damaged, I wouldn't trust it as a base for new paint.

Port side, not as much damage:

I also worked the starboard side hull lip and prepped it for the last of the repairs here. That's tomorrow morning before it gets too hot!

Cheers,

Mark

 

[smackdaddy]

I've got basically the same ports and hatches but I never found that the ventilation was adequate. I never propped the cockpit seats open to fully open the hatches though. I have found that the seemingly always present surprise late night rain shower soaked me if I left the hatches open - they're too close to the drain channels under the seats.

We will see if my solution works for us - the admiral has already commented on how much lighter and brighter the aft cabin is though!

Mark

Yeah, as you can see, we've got a bimini so we're pretty well protected from the rain, at least enough to allow me to close them if it starts getting wet. Hasn't been a major problem yet. You're right about the light though. Those topsides portlites definitely help brighten up the place.

 

[B757Captain]

Fixing the hull lip:

This is part three of bow repairs, the other side of the damage caused partly by impact from the other boat and partly from the cleat trying to separate itself from the rail. The damage was in the lip itself and did not extend into the hull anywhere (thankfully!) so I figured the best way to repair this was to add a reinforcing strip. I ginned up a few strips of cloth and epoxy about 1/4" thick and trimmed to size. Next up was to get all the pieces in place:

First task was to insert some plastic between the deck and hull lip to prevent gluing them together!

Up top the clamps and boards, and down below:

Some cloth strips for the length of the reinforcing (plate, strip, thingy?), some cloth cut to short lengths to fill in the gaps where the lip had been pulled out or where I had ground it away, and some epoxy ready to go.

I brushed the heck out of the lip, trying to get as much epoxy into the voids as possible, wet out the cloth on the reinforcement, sized it against the hull lip and piled and wet out the additional cloth pieces where I needed the extra bulk. All this was put in place and clamped lightly, just to hold it. I then used the stir stick to jam the extra cloth into the void areas, then tightened the clamps and went to lunch!

After it dried I removed the clamps and boards and pulled the plastic from between the deck and lip. Next was to grind the extra back and sand off the little bit of epoxy that had escaped. Here's the result:

It still needs a little cleanup and I only got 2/3rds or so of the total repair done. There's a little more damage left, mainly from the toe rail bolts being ripped out. I'll have to decide what to do with that.

I did get more done today but that's for another post.

Cheers,

Mark-san

 

[Jackdaw]

Opening ports is a hull is about as smart as a submarine with power windows. ;^) Just one time wrong.

You say the AYBC is OK with that? Can you quote the part of H-3 doc that says so? Not saying I don't believe you, I've got a bet with a friend but neither of want to spend the $50 to find out!

In any case, your insurance company might go nuts..... oh, almost forgot! ;^)

 

[B757Captain]

Opening ports is a hull is about as smart as a submarine with power windows. ;^) Just one time wrong.

You say the AYBC is OK with that? Can you quote the part of H-3 doc that says so? Not saying I don't believe you, I've got a bet with a friend but neither of want to spend the $50 to find out!

In any case, your insurance company might go nuts..... oh, almost forgot! ;^)

Section H-3:
Definition: 3.4.15 Port light - a fixed or inward opening glazed device that covers an opening in the hull or superstructure of the boat.

Further down: 3.5.3 Hatches and port lights on weather decks, hull sides, and cabin tops, shall be watertight to the boat's interior.

The rest of the applicable parts of H-3 are more for manufacturers, strength and testing criteria, etc.

From ICOMIA:

I meet all of these requirements with plenty of room to spare.

Additionally, CE rating area 1 is the hull side above the waterline and the Lewmar Atlantic port lights are rated for this and all other areas of the boat.

As to your other comments, I find them incredibly insulting. I have answered your previous questions and comments with as much grace and style as I can muster, but frankly, enough is enough. I welcome constructive criticism - yours are not constructive, and have descended to personal attacks on me, my philosophies and beliefs.

Mark

 

[Jackdaw]

Section H-3:
Definition: 3.4.15 Port light - a fixed or inward opening glazed device that covers an opening in the hull or superstructure of the boat.

Further down: 3.5.3 Hatches and port lights on weather decks, hull sides, and cabin tops, shall be watertight to the boat's interior.

The rest of the applicable parts of H-3 are more for manufacturers, strength and testing criteria, etc.

From ICOMIA:

View attachment 140092

I meet all of these requirements with plenty of room to spare.

Additionally, CE rating area 1 is the hull side above the waterline and the Lewmar Atlantic port lights are rated for this and all other areas of the boat.

As to your other comments, I find them incredibly insulting. I have answered your previous questions and comments with as much grace and style as I can muster, but frankly, enough is enough. I welcome constructive criticism - yours are not constructive, and have descended to personal attacks on me, my philosophies and beliefs.

Mark

Not my intent at all. Sorry if it did offend.

I thought that your original rail against insurance in general, juxtaposed with the obvious insurance no-no of opening hull ports would be funny. I miss-read that. Maybe its the heat.

 

[B757Captain]

Red letter day!

Actually yesterday, but close enough. To finish up the day I installed (temporarily) one of the few original interior pieces. Technically I have started building the interior

It's just part of the aft bunk platform but you gotta start somewhere. First up was to add a 1x1" grid for the platform to sit on:

And then to slide the platform in:

Of course it's all temporary for now since it will all come back out for a sealer coat. I mainly wanted it there so I could have something to rest on while I fab up the base for the aux fuel tank (you might see it in the pics - it's just shoved in for now, that's why it's crooked).

On to exterior work today:

Continuing on the bow, this time paint removal. After looking at the condition of the paint where most of the scratches were, the paint just isn't in good enough condition to use as a base for new paint. You can tell from this photo:

The paint can be peeled pretty easily with a scraper. It's gotta go! Now sanding back to gelcoat and trying to find a point where the paint might be good enough to keep.

The eclipse: We were not quite in the prime zone but still got a pretty good eclipse experience. Strangely it was not a life-changing experience though. Maybe I needed to actually be in the zone of totality. Perhaps next time! No good photos, my camera just isn't good enough - this one was shot through a welding lens as a filter. The welding lens (No. 11!) was much better then the eclipse glasses!

That's all for today, time for bed!

Cheers,

Mark-san

 

[Doug4bass]

"Juxtaposed" is a very large word.

 

[Captn Scotty]

"Juxtaposed" is a very large word.

So is wheelbarrow and linoleum!

 

[Jackdaw]

"Juxtaposed" is a very large word.

Just lots of letters. Fewer number of syllables than the word 'actuary'.

 

[B757Captain]

Just lots of letters. Fewer number of syllables than the word 'actuary'.

"Actuary" That's where birds hang out, right?

 

[B757Captain]

Odds & Ends Day:

No photos today, just a short update. The machine shop called, my parts were ready. They straightened the mangled anchor rollers and fabricated the new bow trim piece. Now to finish the hull lip so I can reinstall some parts!

I did finish patching the hull lip and got some primer on it, as well as the parts of the prow ready for primer. One more coat tomorrow and I'll hit the lip with a couple of coats of Perfection - it will be covered by the trim piece but there should still be some paint on it.

After seeing how easy some of the old paint peeled off I am wondering if the old paint is one-part. If so, painting with two-part without removing the old paint will ruin a lot of expensive paint! So this evening I mixed up a dollup of Perfection and painted a few test patches on the hull. We'll see tomorrow what I'm dealing with.

Cheers,

Mark-san

 

[Kermit]

"Actuary" That's where birds hang out, right?

Thats'a funny right there. I don't care who you are!

 

[SFS]

"Actuary" That's where birds hang out, right?

No, it's a funeral home for thespians.

 

[Kermit]

"Actuary" That's where birds hang out, right?

Birds don't actuarily hang out anywhere. Bats do that.

 

[B757Captain]

Another odd & ends day:

Continuing work on some of the various projects ongoing: The platform for the aux fuel tank:

I still have to add some additional supports underneath but it will be ready soon for removal, epoxy coat and then permanent install. After that I need to transfer the fuel in the main tank to the aux so I can remove the main tank to inspect its platform.

Next up is an actual finished project! I got the bow trim piece back from the machine shop and checked the fit, then finished the primer and paint for the hull lip. With the trim piece in place I put in as many bolts as I could to hold the alignment for drilling out the holes that were covered by the repair.

With that done, all the bolts were torqued down. I needed to replace about half of the bolts due to the damage - and a little corrosion on a few so I decided to replace them all. I'm also going to fab a stainless bracket for the cleat mount and those bolts will be too short when the bracket is added. No place in town carries them so another order from Fastenal. Ordered and shipped the same day. I removed the trim piece and pumped sealer into the deck-hull joint then reinstalled everything, loosely placed the cleats and bolts, sealed and torqued the rest, and voila!

Next up is to polish the chainplate and reinstall the anchor rollers.

Here's a pic of the stem repair with primer on:

I've got a few scratches and shallow gouges around the hull I'm working on so I haven't finished all the fairing work around the bow yet. No sense wasting epoxy so I'll fill them all at the same time.

Tomorrow is mast prep day - got all the wiring, a new antenna and windex.

Cheers,

Mark