Repairing Hunter 40 damage from Hurricane Matthew

[B757Captain]

I'll be interested to get your impression of the sonar after you've had the opportunity to give it some real-world testing. BTW - what "paint" did you use for the bilge. I'm sure you mentioned it earlier, but I just didn't scroll back far enough to re-check. It sure looks purty!

I'm sure there's a learning curve associated with all the new stuff, looking forward to it!

I used Interlux Perfection for the bilge (same as the hull exterior). I think the 2-part urethanes are much tougher and goo resistant than the 1-part, so that's why I don't use regular bilge paint. Time will tell if the additional work was worth it. I agree - it is purty!

 

[B757Captain]

Beauty!!!!!

Shiny new stuff....... OHOHOHOHOHOH

Thanks!

 

[B757Captain]

Why I haven't updated in a few days:

Sorry it's been a few days since an update - I have made some progress but something else has taken most of my time

We lost one of our sweet little kitties Wednesday and it's been a rough week:

This is Lola - she was just shy of 15 years old and the last of our cats from the liveaboard days. She had a rough patch a few years ago and we pulled her through that but she started declining a few months ago. Long story short, several missed diagnoses (not the vet's fault, just difficult to define symptoms) but she really went downhill starting last Friday and by the time I finally figured out what she had - chronic kidney disease - she was already in organ failure so we had to let her go.

Fair winds,

Mark

 

[kappykaplan]

So sorry for the loss of Lola. I have three cats, so fully understand your pain.

 

[Mikem]

Why I haven't updated in a few days:

Sorry it's been a few days since an update - I have made some progress but something else has taken most of my time

We lost one of our sweet little kitties Wednesday and it's been a rough week:

This is Lola - she was just shy of 15 years old and the last of our cats from the liveaboard days. She had a rough patch a few years ago and we pulled her through that but she started declining a few months ago. Long story short, several missed diagnoses (not the vet's fault, just difficult to define symptoms) but she really went downhill starting last Friday and by the time I finally figured out what she had - chronic kidney disease - she was already in organ failure so we had to let her go.

Fair winds,

Mark

Our cats all have our last name. Same with our horses. Part of the family. I feel for you, Mark.

 

[HMT2]

My sympathies I lost my first mate Aubrey the golden retriever in July. Still miss her.

 

[B757Captain]

So sorry for the loss of Lola. I have three cats, so fully understand your pain.

Our cats all have our last name. Same with our horses. Part of the family. I feel for you, Mark.

My sympathies I lost my first mate Aubrey the golden retriever in July. Still miss her.

Thanks guys. On the whole i'm pretty low-key, mild emotion kind of guy but I have a big-ole soft spot for furry critters. It's been tough but I have found that an hour or two working on the boat every day helps keep me centered.

 

[B757Captain]

Working in the V-berth:

I did get some work accomplished in the v-berth. The plan is to convert the space previously taken by the water tank into usable storage but still have full bunk capability. So first things first, test fitting the old pieces to pattern the new ones:

As soon as I got the measurements I needed, these old pieces got taken to the dump - a very satisfyingly cathartic process!.

Before I fit the new forward head bulkhead and bunk platform I cut new pieces here:

This covers the old forward holding tank (a completely useless setup in my opinion, I will be redesigning the whole new system). I will repurpose the cavity as an additional storage area.

Next up is fitting the new bunk platform pieces:

I had to have the bulkhead in place to fit the starboard bunk piece since its aft edge will be anchored by the bulkhead. I'm going to have a removable center section (with corresponding cushion) that will make accessing the storage lockers below easier.

Stay tuned for a little color!

Cheers,

Mark

 

[B757Captain]

V-berth rebuild, Part II:

Next up was to pattern the bulkhead that will partition one of the lower storage lockers. It also serves as support for the bunk. I used my newly acquired method of 1/8" slats and hot glue to make the pattern:

Dang, I wish I had learned about this a long time ago! Here's the new piece installed:

I will cut the hatch opening after I get the sides installed and add a shelf to bisect the compartment. Next up I need to pattern the side bulkheads but the port bulkhead will match up to a cabinet aft of the bunk so I needed to rough the cabinet out first. So out with the old crusty pieces:

to test fit fit and to see what I want the new setup to look like. This area from the factory is a big bulky hanging locker that I removed and redesigned a long time ago. I'll probably not change it much from what I built before. About this time the other day things got interesting (and colorful!):

In making the new pieces for the cabinet I checked through my stash of previously cut plywood but, alas, I didn't have anything big enough to cut the new pieces. So, time to break out a full sheet of ply. I was alone at the house, but no problem, I got the full sheet out and maneuvered it to the saw horses. Ok so far. But in my never-ending zeal to keep usable space in the garage, I noticed a few sheets of old crappy plywood leaning up against the wall. These pieces of ply had been used as covers for the bulk shipment of good plywood I got last year and had just been sitting around ever since. They really are junk, not good for anything else so I decided to get rid of them. The first few pieces no problem, but the last one was a full sheet of OSB. Now, I think I have expressed my opinion about the use of OSB on boats before, which is: No, no, no no no NO! Don't do it, maintain at least a 100' zone of terror around your boat and ANY piece of OSB!

Well, now I have another reason to hate OSB - in the course of moving it around I managed to drop the full 4 x 8 sheet (close to or more than 100 pounds) edge on onto my big toe!

Um, ouch.

Ok, let me rephrase and expand on that: it was not a little ouch. It was not a gradual ouch. It was not a - hmm - and then a fade in to the ouch. It was OUCH! OUCH! OUCH! OWWIE, I want my mommie! Then more adult words came out of my mouth - like being at a Tourettes convention. And the garage door was open. And neighbors were walking down the street. Hoo, boy, take a deep breath (or 20) and try not to puke. It hurt that bad!

Thankfully nothing broken, just a technicolor bruise on a grotesquely swollen toe. I can even walk on it - sort of

I'll end today's update by taking a little survey: anyone want to see a picture of the toe?

Cheers,

Mark

 

[DayDreamer41]

Survey Says?????? Yes for the toe pic in living color or .......... its a yes for me just as a reminder not to ever use OSB....

 

[DArcy]

Mark, great progress! One thing that having an integral water tank right in the bow gives you is a water tight bulkhead under the waterline.
And yes, I want to see the toe

 

[kappykaplan]

I want to see the toe

Me, too, having just jammed my big toe into something a few weeks ago! Such pretty colors - sorry, no photos..

 

[B757Captain]

The Toe:

Ok, here it is:

The toe is doing much better, swelling is down and whole foot turned red thing is better. Still black n blue though

Cheers,

Mark

 

[B757Captain]

Mark, great progress! One thing that having an integral water tank right in the bow gives you is a water tight bulkhead under the waterline.
And yes, I want to see the toe

Hmmm. I guess that would apply if the water tank was empty, though if it's full the benefit would be negated or be worse since fresh water is slightly heavier than salt water plus the added weight of the tank. I'm shooting for two benefits from moving the water tank - first is to move the 800+ pounds of weight from the bow to midships. Should make trimming the boat more consistent. I am adding part of that weight back with cabinetry and that area will become my tool storage area but I don't see replacing the entire mass of the tank + water. Second is to get the weight closer to the centerline to reduce the pendulum effect and get the weight truly under the waterline. The bulk of the tank in its original location was above the waterline.

 

[B757Captain]

Working in the v-berth update #2:

Work continues in the v-berth with fitting the cabinet side and top:

Pretty standard though I did have to rough cut the cabinet openings to get to the back and underneath sides of the cabinet to fit the supports. The plan is to have two drawers in the upper part of the cabinet and an open space beneath. I used to have sliding acrylic doors for this locker but I'll add a regular latched door this time.

All that work fitting the cabinet was really to template and fit this piece:

I needed this piece in place to anchor the left side of the bunk platform. With that done I could work on the cabinet face under the bunk. I gotta say thanks again to Madds in Denmark and his videos on rebuilding Athena - his method for making templates has cut my fabricating time down to almost nothing! Here's the cabinet face in place:

Everything back in place to check for fit:

I have to do some thinking before adding the starboard cabinet side - the corner just forward of the head bulkhead will house the forward holding tank and I have to do some measuring to calculate what size (volume) tank I can fabricate to fit the space. I do not intend to go too big with the holding tanks since my intent with the boat is offshore cruising - the tanks might be just big enough to prove I have them and big enough for a few uses when necessary.

It's been really nice and warm the last few days, enough to pop open the forward hatch while working up front. This inevitably leads to - BUGS! So I dug out my Oceanair hatch screen (24" x 24") for the forward hatch. I removed it during the initial tear-down and forgot about it. After looking at what a replacement costs - I have been spending some quality time cleaning up mine! Holy moly those things are expensive now .

Cheers,

Mark

 

[B757Captain]

Prepping to install the sonar transducer:

Taking a break from cabinetry today. I started the install for the sonar transducer by first figuring out where to mount it. Not too hard but I did measure the width of the travel-lift slings to make sure there's enough space at the forward lift point. Never hurts to double-check!

With the location fixed it was time for some sanding to get rid of the old bottom paint:

I ran a string from the centerline at the forward edge of the keel to the bow to get the boat centerline. Next up is placing the fairing and marking its location:

After that I drilled two holes - one at the cable pass-through and the other the rear "anti-rotation bolt". This is to positively locate the centerline inside the boat to affix the backing block. Drilling these holes was a little tricky since the transducer has to be mounted parallel to the horizontal axis of the boat. The holes through the hull are not parallel to the hull! I used my digital level to check the angles of the drill and proceeded very carefully!

Next, a little grinding to expose fresh glass, then locating the backing block. With the block epoxied in place and some fillets on the sides:

I added three layers of 1708 to seal everything up:

Tomorrow will be a few layers of paint to make things pretty then I'll finish up the transducer install.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[Will Gilmore]

Captain, your work looks excellent. This whole project is impressive. I'm sorry I'm just discovering this thread.

if it's full the benefit would be negated or be worse since fresh water is slightly heavier than salt water

I thought the same thing, except freshwater is slightly lighter than saltwater, not that it would make much of a difference as far as floatation goes.
It could be, however, an additional water tight bulkhead in case of collision with something that might breach the hull at the bow tank.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[B757Captain]

Captain, your work looks excellent. This whole project is impressive. Im sorry i'mI'm but discovering this thread.


I thought the same thing, except freshwater is slightly lighter than saltwater, not that it would make much of a difference as far as floatation goes.
It could be, however, an additional water tight bulkhead in case of collision with something that might breach the hull at the bow tank.

-Will (Dragonfly)

You're right, fresh is lighter than salt water but I'm guessing there's only about 25 pounds or so difference if the tank is full, and though I didn't weigh the tank I'm thinking it was at least 75 pounds, so if it's full it will sink. As far as acting as a watertight compartment, kind of a moot point since the tank is gone now.

We did see a survival example during Matthew though - an -80s Beneteau got it's bow chewed up pretty badly by the dock, opening it to the elements. The boat was found sitting on the airport runway a few miles away, the interior dry as a bone. The bow was sealed off as the anchor locker. I thought about that with EV when I rebuilt the anchor locker but there was going to be too much of the liner removed and I wasn't comfortable doing that.

 

[JRacer]

Are those your steel toed tennis shoes?

 

[B757Captain]

Are those your steel toed tennis shoes?

Don't I wish!