Winter projects

[Pegu Club]

What's on the agenda?   
We have been pretty busy so far. We have removed the entire head system, four thru hulls, and more. My wife has an on going blog of the work we have been doing, check it out if you have the time. Would always appreciate any thoughts or advise from anyone who has done a bit of refitting on an older boat, thanks in advance. So what do you have going this off season?

adventuresontheclub.com

[Cruiser2B]

Thank you for posting. Looks like I found another blog t follow when Im not out working on mine. Winter has slowed me down a bit but Im not at a stand still. Looks you like you were making quite a bit of progress yourself through the fall.

Good Luck :)

[lance on cloud nine]

oh, you know how it is....one minute you're drinking coffee and looking at boats on ebay. your mood is pleasantly heightened by the third cup. You throw out a bid.... The next day you're driving Indiana to Michigan with an empty trailer to pick up a winter O'Day 26 project. code named "Fuelless Romantic"

[Pegu Club]

Cold air and rain has slowed us down as well, hope to start the sanding on the port side of the bottom this weekend. Spring is not that far away, can't wait to get her back in the water.
Lance, did you get your new boat home? :)

[Godot]

Winter projects on Seeker include making the pullout double berth a bit bigger, and more permanent with drawers. I need new foam for the bunk (too thin and worn out) and cushion covers (dry rotted after 30+ years) so this seems like a good time for the project. I'm going to make the cushion out of one piece, too, to eliminate the annoying gap between cushions. While I'm at it, custom sized sheets seem in order.

I'll be installing some new carpeting as well. Carpeting used to strike me as a silly thing that made cleanup a bit harder; but now I recognize its' dirt capturing ability helps keep the bed sheets clean.

If time allows, I also have some ideas to rebuild the hanging locker to take advantage of unused space, and build in (actually modify) a toolbox storage area.

[w00dy]

...one minute you're drinking coffee and looking at boats on ebay. your mood is pleasantly heightened by the third cup.

Sounds awfully familiar....

We're working on shortening/fitting a used sailcover we bought a while back and installing a Dickinson diesel heater. Also looking at adding another solar panel or possibly using a wind generator that was given to us. Need to tweak a small autopilot that I put in a few months ago, as well as many other projs.

[Pegu Club]

Adam, we have a pull out double berth as well, what is your idea on how to make it a little bigger? I would be interested in your thoughts.

[Godot]

Adam, we have a pull out double berth as well, what is your idea on how to make it a little bigger? I would be interested in your thoughts.

Easy enough, I guess. I earlier demolished the centerline table in the cabin. It got in the way a lot, and was seldom used, so I removed it, opening up the cabin.

There isn't a v-berth on a Bayfield 29. The only double bunk is a pull out on the starboard side. It mostly stays pulled out and is used as my primary bunk. Since I spend a lot of nights aboard, I wanted a newer, thicker, single cushion for comfort, so this was a good time to make a change. I am simply removing the plywood piece that extends the bunk, and am instead building a permanent cabinet there. Since the table is now gone, I can comfortably widen the head of the bed by five inches or so, AND add some drawers underneath which should help greatly to organize cloths stowage. It's nothing fancy, just a funny shaped box with drawers.

[Frank]

I thought about the previously for one of my boat projects...

Have you thought of buying a half decent "memory foam" mattress?
If you got a queen...you could cut it to fit.....
Probably both cheaper and better than buying 4 inch foam.

You can cut thin underlay plywood...about 1inch smaller all the way around.
Take material and turn it over...wrap the corners...pull tight on the sides as you staple it onto the plywood from undernieth. Use SS 1/4in staples.

Looks pretty good when done...cheap n easy

[Godot]

I haven't come to a decision regards the foam, yet. Still researching. I hear that some people find memory foam to be too hot. I've used it as a mattress topper without trouble. I'm not sure.

I have thought about stapling the cushion to a plywood board; but I think it will become a problem when I need to remove the cushion for whatever reason.

[Pegu Club]

We have a folding bulkhead table so that is not an issues for us, i would have to have a bit of a look at things on our new to us boat before i could make such a change. I don't believe there would be space available to widen our bunk in such a manner, thank you for the info. On to hoping for a forty degree Saturday or Sunday so I can finish sanding the hull, holding onto a sander at below freezing temps for hours is not my idea of a good time. :)

[ralay]

If you do use plywood, you'll probably want to seal it up really well with paint or epoxy.  We stored a big scrap of 1/4" plywood under our mattress for awhile and it quickly became moldy and nasty from all the condensation under our cushion.  I assume cushions made with plywood bottoms would stay similarly wet. 

[Godot]

I wonder if with a plywood bottom using thin slats under the cushion for ventilation would work better?

I still don't think I'll go that way. It would be impossible to bring the cushion home in my tiny car when emptying the boat for maintenance or winter layup (not often). But...maybe I could strap it to the roof. Hmmm...

[Solace]

I had resolved not to do much this winter on our boat. Then while we were away in November, we returned to learn that our broke had been broken into and the vandals had been living aboard. Housekeeping was not their strong suite. Apart from looking as though it had been through a hurricane, the damage was relatively minor. However, the soft headliner around the forward hatch is now torn. After 6 weeks of heartbreak, I am now ready to start tearing the entire soft headliner out. This is pretty much the only thing I have not renewed. I will be replacing it with white plastic panels and teak trim. They look smart and are much easier to remove for inspecting the wiring that runs to the mast.

[Pegu Club]

Thats not a good thing to come home to, Hope the work goes easy for you.

[ralay]

@Godot:  On the topic of soggy cushions, on our previous boats, we had all-cloth cushions and the bottoms of our sleeping cushions were always wet, sour, and stinky in the cold months.  Removing the covers and washing them was a tricky job.  I shrunk a few into oblivion.  Our current boat came with cushions that are vinyl on the bottoms and woven cloth on the tops and sides.  The vinyl still gets wet, but it doesn't stink and it's easy to wipe clean/dry.  If you're planning on making a new cushion for your sleeping spot, it's worth considering making the bottom and sides that touch the hull out of non-absorbent material.

[Pegu Club]

Well the weather in coastal CT looks good this weekend. We hope to continue with the sanding below the water line on the port side, hope the forecast holds up.

[Pegu Club]

Finally got the sanding done for the bottom job, Mother Nature relented, and gave us the opportunity to get it done. Now onto the many other things that can be done before the air temps heat up enough to apply the barrier coat, very happy that it's out of the way. :)

[w00dy]

Thought I would post an update on my two winter pet projects, both mostly finished, though not quite. I will have to knock out the remaining details when I return:

1. Diesel heater install

I removed our Cozy Cabin Propane heater and bought a used Dickinson Newport from a friend. Installation was pretty tricky. I had to cut a 5 in diameter hole in our deck, plumb stovepipe, make a heat shield out of stainless and mineral board, and install a gravity drip day tank for fuel. Last think is to add a small overflow fuel container. Once done, it will hopefully provide reliable warmth in winters to come. Darn it, now that I'm finished, it's starting to warm up again!

Old heater:



New heater





2. More solar power
We bought a second panel to match our old one. Same size, 25% more power. I guess 10 years of R&D will do that. Anyway, I had to make a new mounting arrangement, so I got the local bimini shop to bend a tube and fabri-cobbled some fittings together to make a stainless arch on our boomkin. If you look closely at the pictures, you can see the same old aluminum pieces re-used to make the new dual-panel mount. Still need to run another wire to the new panel and make some prop sticks to hold it all up.

Old panel:



New frame and panels:





It's amazing how long you can stretch a project out if you really try ;)

[Tim]

Nice job! 8)