Update on rear bulkhead

Kerm here,
Done.  While I didn't feel comfortable cutting into the boat and especially doing fiberglass work I'm glad I did it and in the end I increased my knowledge base for doing this type of project.

Project Synopsis-
While Chris was painting the back bilge she noticed water standing back by the steering jack shaft.  I kept an eye on it and found out that water was coming out through a pin hole in the fiberglass.  I drilled a few holes around the area and found that the plywood backer was saturated with water and rotted. 

Holes drilled to see how far the rot went.  It took out the whole backer and sill above.

                            Not pretty but at least the structure holding the jack shaft was OK.

First piece bedded in. Note plate with blue on it to keep water from coming in if there was a wave in the marina.  Also through bolts for swim platform were very close to the water line.  Grinding all the paint off was the most difficult part.  I did find that the structure holding the jack shaft was breaking away from the hull so had to glass that also.

                       All glassed up but still have to drill hole for scupper through hull fitting. 

All but done.  The unfinished portion is where I'm going to tie the new sill into the old but it's too saturated with water right now.  It's not critical and will have to wait. Now I can get the steering chain on and throw on a couple of clamps for the new scupper valve.  The old valve was trash.

I still don't know where all the water was coming from that saturated everything.  I suspect it was from the cap rail or maybe from the euro strut base.  It's just another thing to keep an eye on but at least everything below is sealed in epoxy.  If we not in such a hurry to every thing done before pushing off I think it was a great learning project.

Chris here,
Captain Kerm is going strong!

Prepping for a winter adventure

Patrick here,
I am Chris and Kerm's nephew, and have spent almost two weeks on board Southern Belle getting her prepped for the Exumas. In addition to being the ships lackey, I apparently have inherited the duties of blog updater!

Chris posing with the magic scrubbing compound

You can see reflections in the hull now!

The first thing I tackled was the dinghy. The vinyl was well covered in mildew, and the bottom felt like 20-grit sandpaper due to barnacles. Soap and scrubbing took care of that. Thanks to the full moon and northerly winds, we were blessed with an extremely high tide. We were able to pull the motor and lift the dinghy to the dock so we could scrape the bottom. Some acid and the rest of Chris's kitchen spatulas made for a relatively quick clean up. Cooking dinner has become slightly more difficult, but at least the dinghy looks new again.

Dan Wold (Chris and Kerm's son) visited us over the past few days. He replaced the sink drain and surveyed just about everything else on the boat. I got a crash course in radar technology. Dan also fixed a low-idle gremlin in the dinghy motor.

Kerm repairing the transom

The offending bulkhead is at top center

Kerm has spent nearly two weeks replacing a bulkhead in the transom. Water slowly saturated the wood and turned it all to mush. Replacing it required us to unbolt the swim platform (starboard side) and remove/plug a through-hull fitting 1" above the water line. Holes in boats are never a good thing... But, after many many many coats of epoxy and fiberglass, the hull has been shored up, and parts are back in place. Good job, Kerm!

What else... The top of the anchor has been painted bright red so it will be visible in the murky depths. The radios have been rewired so they can act as an intercom between the upstairs and down, as well as control the PA speaker on the bow. Replaced the dinghy seat with a cooler (for keeping our gear dry). Chris and I took a day off and went to Ft. Pierce to get my Local Boaters Option, as well as some boat part shopping.

I had no idea how much work it is to prep a boat for a winter of cruising - my hats off to all who venture offshore!

Sunset Bay Marina at night (time-lapse photo).

Southern Belle at night (time-lapse photo)