Fall 2012 - More Core Projects

Rhapsody was hauled on 19 October 2012 for the season.  There are a bunch of projects that will be done this year.  The forward hatch was replaced by a Lewmar 60 Ocean Series model to replace the one that cracked on the last race of the season.  Previously on my blog I posted the moisture meter survey done in October 2008.  It showed the area around the port primary winch as wet.  I noticed this season that when the winch was under load, the deck flexed and I could see light under the aft end of the winch.

Port Primary Winch Area

I decided to take care of this problem early before the cold weather set in.  So, two days before Hurricane Sandy, I decided to remove the winch and make the cuts to correct the problem. The first picture shows the area under the winch. The holes were not epoxy isolated, but filled with silicone caulk.  The area outline pretty much corresponds to the area shown as wet with the moisture meter.  I decided to try and make an area that I could cut out and potentially reuse the skin with the non-skid pattern if I was successful in removing it without damage.

Outline Cut to Remove C

In the second picture a cut around the outlined area was made with a Fein Multimaster.  I also opened  an area under the winch so the chisel saw on the Fein tool could be used to start cutting core from the skin.  I also decided to leave the genoa track in place and work beneath it.  I pried the skin away from the core a little at a time while chiseling to remove the bond to the skin.

Core Removed

The third picture was taken after I removed all the core.  The core was not as bad as the area where the transom and stbd side below the waterline was recored.  This is where I stopped on Saturday afternoon, then taped up the area with plastic to protect it overnight.

Trial Fit New Core

On Sunday morning I returned with the materials and tools to do the recore work.  A friend gave me a piece of 40 year old marine plywood that was hard as a rock.  I decided to use under the winch and genoa track this since it was free, and readily available.  The remaining area would be recored with balsa I had left over from the transom and stbd side recore effort.  I created the puzzle pieces that would fill the area to be recored.  Once these were cut to shape, I masked off the area with plastic sheet and tape.  I mixed up batches of West Systems epoxy thickened with colloidal silica.  This was mixed to a mayonnaise consistency and injected using a syringe into the void areas along the edges, particularly by the stanchion base.  I mixed up batches of 6 pumps epoxy/hardener in plastic cups, as this gave me enough to work with but not too much so the mixture would kick in the cup.  It required 6 batches to cover this area.  I spread it using a disposable chip brush.

The final picture of this post shows the core and marine plywood bonded.  The B notation indicates bow and C notation indicated center when I made the puzzle pieces.  The map I used is also shown so I could figure out what order the pieces should be bonded into place.  Note that the area outboard was strengthened with fiberglass tape since I wanted to keep the edge by the deck joint structurally stiff.  I made sure to put a skim coat of epoxy over the entire surface so if the plastic taped on for the hurricane blew off, the core would stay dry.  Now if we didn't have this damn hurricane, I could finish the job!  More to be posted after next weekend.

New Core Bonded

Spring 2012 Final Launch Preps

The spring temperatures cooperated allowing many of the items on the Rhapsody work list to get accomplished early. The Rhapsody decals had become chipped since they were put on in 1996.  Thanks to my brother-in-law Larry who owns a laser cutter, I was able to send him a file with the font and desired letters.  This was accompanied by a wax paper tracing of the old letters and a scraped piece of the old decal for color match.  Below shows the new decal squeegeed on with the mastic still in place.  The mastic was removed the next day, and the area waxed.

New Rhapsody decal

The bottom was painted with VC Offshore using a foam roller.  All but the bottom of the keel is done.  This will get done when the boat is put in the sling the night before launching.  I found the roller almost as effective as spraying, but more efficient on pain usage than spraying.  There is more wet sanding using the rollers to get the same finish.

Bottom painted

This is the result of wet sanding with 320, 400 then 600 grit, followed by burnishing with bronze wool.  The brown color is residual sanding artifacts.  The bottom feels very smooth and has a mirror like finish.

Wet sanded and burnished

I've tried a number of things to prevent growth on the prop.  This year I'm using the cream you put on a baby to prevent diaper rash.  It has a high Zinc Oxide content and is greasy as hell.  I remember what a pain it was to wash this stuff off my hands when we used it on our kids.  I'll see how it works on the prop and shaft this year!

Baby Butt Cream on Prop

Here is a nice picture looking down the stbd side of the hull. The shiny finish is from two coats of 3M Finesse wax, all hand buffed, then covered with Teflon finish and hand buffed.

Shiny!

The area in the stbd cockpit that was recored is now finished.  I elected not to do a "permanent" finish since the plan is to redo the entire topside finish in a couple of years.  This was sprayed using a Preval sprayer and a match as close as possible to the existing deck color.  The traveler area was sprayed at the same time. It looks good, but not a perfect color match, which is kind of difficult when you have 30 year old Gelcoat.  Note all the newly finished teak.  Those cockpit toe rails have 11 coats of Epifanes Wood Finish Gloss.  The traveler is greatly simplified since the windward sheeting car is installed.  The outboard cleat is used to lock the traveler in place when the boat is stowed, or is needed in light air chop.

Simplified traveler, finished stbd cockpit & refinished teak

Here is a good view of the traveler with the windward sheeting car.  After I took this picture I noticed the junk on the deck I left from polishing the stainless rails. 

Windward sheeting, refinished teak

The mast wedges were removed and lines tied around the base of the mast to allow positioning so that Spartite could be poured.  I needed to provide lines to pull the mast forward and to starboard.  It was centered using a sight line from behind the boat.  The sight line was a string on a step ladder that was sighted to align the keel bottom, top of keel, rudder pins, with the base of mast and top of mast. I found the area under the mast boot to be pretty messed up, so ended up sanding that area both on the mast, and through the deck.  This was cleaned with acetone and then coated with Vaseline as a release agent so the Spartite wouldn't stick to it.

Setting up to reposition mast

The mast step is exactly 1 inch back from the molded lip at the base.  The front of the mast was positioned exactly at 11 ft 6 inches from the stem per class rules.   This required that the mast be pulled forward at the deck using a block on the bow, and a line run back to the primary winch.  The line on the stbd side was run through the #3 jib block, back to the stbd primary winch.  Note the lip on the deck around the mast. 

Mast exactly 11.5 ft from stem

The mast slot was filled with closed cell foam and covered with modeling clay so liquid Spartite wouldn't run out.  A block was made using modelling clay filling the void around the mast from below decks. A Spartite "mold" was made with modeling clay and masking tape around the top so a new boot was formed.  

Spartite poured

This is the cured Spartite that will eventually smoothed and painted to match the white mast.  There is some cleanup to do at the base of the mast, but overall it didn't turn out too bad.  The masking tape did not peel off the Spartite cleanly, so I'll try solvents or just scraping it later.

Spartite cured

Traveler, Handrails & Chainplates

It's been a while since I posted. I'll start with the traveler. The existing Harken traveler was mounted on a wood base that extended it over the recessed area that the original stock J/30 traveler fit in. This had the problem of the control lines sometimes getting caught in the space between the wood base and the forward and aft edges of the recessed area. The area also collected dirt, grape, cheese, crackers, whatever. The old wooden mount was removed. I measured the recessed traveler area and determined that the void could be filled using a 2 x 3. I ended up using two 1 x 3 Red Oak boards. These were planed to fit and the bottom edge rounded to account for the rounded edges in the recessed area.

I covered the top surface of one piece with fiberglass tape using neat epoxy.  This is merely to seal the wood surface that will be exposed, prior to covering with Gelcoat.

I made an aluminum template to capture the position of the existing holes that mounted the traveler.  This was used to drill the holes in the new wooden base so they would align precisely with the existing holes on the deck.  You can see in the photo below an alinement check of the bolt holes on the template.   I brought the template home and drilled the wooden pieces on my work bench.

Template Trial Fit

All of the pieces laid out on deck can be seen in the photo below.  Ultimately the aluminum template will be used inside to spread the load between the nuts and washers that mount the traveler. 

All the pieces

The photo below shows the trial fit of the wood pieces.  You can also see where I recored the stbd side.  This will be covered with Gelcoat at the same time when I Gelcoat the traveler mount.

Trial Fit Wood Pieces

The chainplates were removed and cleaned up with a scraper and wire brush.  This provides access to the holes in the deck so they could be drilled out and epoxy isolated.  The port side was dry on the deck, but the stbd side required that core be dug out, dried with a heat gun, and injected with thickened epoxy.

Chainplate

Below is a picture of the stbd chainplate hole that has been epoxy isolated and sprayed with Gelcoat.

Chainplate Deck Opening

The area below deck where the chainplates bolted to the bulkhead was cleaned up.  The stb side had no problem even though there was wet core in the deck above.

Stbd Bulkhead

The port side below showed signs of stress cracks and the upper part of the bulkhead compresses when the chainplate fasteners were tightened.  This will be put on the work list for next year.

Port Bulkhead Cracked

Some additional epoxy isolation on deck was done in the cockpit area.  Each of the locker hinge mounts was over-drilled and epoxy filled. The holes were drilled and tapped for a 10-24 that will replace the stainless "wood screws" that were previously into the core.

Deck Locker Screw Holes Epoxy Isolated

New teak handrails were mounted.  I taped of the deck and around the teak so it was easier to build a seal using flexible caulk.  You can see the teak bungs inserted before being cut off and sanded.

New Teak Handrails

 

Winward Sheeting Car Upgrade

I took advantage of Cyber Monday and ordered a windward sheeting car kit from Layline.  They had great prices with free shipping, no sales tax, and when I called Henry Mallard a former J/30 owner answered the phone.  I like giving business to those who support the J/30 class.  Layline contributed stuff for the 2008 J/30 North Americans.  Before ordering, I went to the Harken service place in Newport and met with Mike Lee who helped me determine exactly the parts I needed.  He was able to give me the part numbers based on the car and end caps I brought in.  I ordered the following parts to upgrade my ancient Harken traveller:

• Harken 1637 CB Windward Sheeting Adapter Kit
• Harken 1561 Midrange Car standup kit 
• (3) Harken 1526 5/16" Torlon Balls (qty 25 per pack - 60 balls needed)
• Harken 7875 One Drop Ball Oil

There were two sets of double cheek blocks screwed to the original car.  The screws were Loctite in place so required an impact wrench to break them free.  The car kit comes with a tube of Loctite.  Below is a picture of the assembled windward sheeting car - forward edge shown.

 

Note the blocks on the forward edge allow running 3:1 or 4:1 purchase for traveler control.  The view below shows the aft side of the car.  You'll see a black rubber shape in the middle.  This is the standup kit.  It keeps the block with the mainsheet upright and prevents any potential interference with the sliding plate on the car.  Henry Mallard recommended it because some people had problems with the  mainsheet block stopping the plate from sliding, thus preventing the release of the leeward cam.

 

The bearings in the old car were probably original. I figured since the money was spend on upgrading the car, I might as well make sure it slides well on the track.  Harken sells a plastic ball loader that keeps the bearings in place until the car is slid onto the track.  Note that the new series car has captive balls.  The track is interchangeable, but you cant switch the captive versus non-captive balls between the old style and new style car.   The picture shows the path that the ball bearings follow as the car is slid across the track.

This will be installed on the boat in the spring, after I remount the track.

Day 2 - Recore Stbd Cockpit

Continuing from where I left off yesterday, the weather was warm again and supported more core work.  The first thing accomplished was removing the plastic used to squeegee the epoxy, then sanding with 60 grit paper to roughen the surface for a good mechanical bond.  The areas that were punched through on the bottom skin are now fully sealed inside the cockpit locker.

New Fiberglass sanded

 After sanding, I mixed up some Corebond (remaining from the transom recore) and used it to fill in the voids where core was removed around the lip that was cut using the Fein tool.  Corebond was then spread on  the new fiberglass using a disposable notched spreader.  This provides just enough filler to bond the balsa without causing lumps and voids.  Below is a photo with new core bonded.  It was worked in place by hand, and Corebond inserted around the edges with a spreader.

New core bonded

After the new balsa was positioned on the core bond, it was covered with plastic sheet and weights applied with constant pressure for the Corebond to catalyze.  The cure time at 55 degrees was about 40 minutes.  While this was curing, I over drilled and epoxy filled the holes for the hand rails, since these are being replaced over the winter with new Teak - thanks to Charlie Stoddard - Falcon.

Applying pressure during core bonding

Subsequent to curing, the weights were removed and the balsa sanded to make sure the final surface would be level with the surrounding area, since I planned on reusing the skin that was peeled off.

Core sanded / leveled for skin

 To bond the old skin to the balsa, I used thickened epoxy rather than the Corebond.  The Balsa was wet out with neat epoxy using a chip brush, as was the back of the old skin.  Epoxy was mixed and thickened with Colloidal Silica and Adhesive Filler to a mayonnaise consistency.  This was poured in the area and spread with a chip brush.  The old skin was beveled on both the top and bottom edges to allow the epoxy to flow, and permit fairing on the top surface.  The skin was put on top of the new balsa and pressure applied to make sure that voids were forced out.  A plastic sheet was put on the surface and weights applied similar to the method used with the balsa core.  Below is a photo after the old skin was bonded and the masking removed.  That will complete the work until the spring when final fairing, sanding and gelcoat will be applied.

Old skin bonded to new core

Deck Recore Fall 2011

Hey - it's the week before Thanksgiving and we have a gift of weather in the low 50s.  Today I started with work that I've procrastinated on accomplishing.  The stbd side cockpit has spider cracks on the topside, and inside the locker, the inner layer of fiberglass is split.  All this is due to the wet core freezing and expanding.  Today I cut out a section of the top skin approximately 12" x 15".  I was able to remove skin section in one piece so hopefully I will be able to rebond this to the new core and minimize the amount of non-skid matching to restore the surface.

Below is a photo of the skin section removed.  The area where the toe rail was bolted through the deck was the water source.  The holes were not isolated.

Skin Section Removed - Topside view

 The underside of the skin section shows wet and rotted core. 
 

Skin Section Removed - Underside view

The deck area is shown below.  I used a Fein Multimaster both to cut the fiberglass for removing the skin, and to chisel in between the old core and the fiberglass skin.  A claw hammer was used to remove large areas of balsa once the area had been chiseled with the Fein tool.

Deck Area - wet core shown

The picture below shows the area with the core removed.  The dark area on the fiberglass is moisture from the wet core.  This will be dried with a heat gun and wipe down with acetone to get rid of any moisture.  

Core removed - wet fiberglass remains

After the wet core was removed, the inside skin was sanded using an orbital sander with 60 grit paper.  The area was vacuumed, and wiped down with acetone.   The edge was beveled to facilitate fairing the edges when the skin is replaced.  After cleaning, a plastic sheet was used to mask the area in preparation for epoxy work.  Note the area where the skin cracked due to frozen core.  That's part of the problem with wet core in a cold climate.  I put duct tape on the underside of the cracks and holes to prevent epoxy from draining through when the area is reglassed.

Deck area prepared and masked

The area was measured and new balsa on scrim cut to shape.  The balsa will be applied with the scrim facing upward.  It really doesn't matter in this section since the surface is flat, but I find it easier to handle that way.

Balsa trimmed to shape

Glass mat was cut to shape.  Additional pieces will be used to strengthen the area that is cracked.  The  plan is to spread the area with neat epoxy , filling in the voids, then building up the low spots with mat.  I ended up putting a piece of plastic over the mat and used a squeegee to work the epoxy fully into the mat.  Once this cures, the plastic with be peeled off.  This has an added benefit of preventing amine blush from forming on the surface of the cured epoxy.  Unfortunately, the epoxy work was performed as it was getting dark.  I didn't want to stop for pictures, so this will be continued tomorrow.  Temps are supposed to be in the 40s overnight and mid 50s during the day.

2010 Maiden Voyage with New Mainsail

Well after a long winter and lots of work getting Rhapsody ready in the spring, we were rewarded with a great day to cruise from Borden Light Marina and Fall River to our slip at the Coasters Harbor the Newport Navy Marina.  First I needed to mount a new Windex to replace the one that got damaged when the mast was stepped the week before.  You can also see the new black Harken Carbofoil contracts sharply against the white mast.  The Carbo foil was significantly "smoother" than the old Tuff Luff for raising and lowering the #1 genoa.  This should be a real benefit for the foredeck crew.

There are some pictures of Warren standing next to the new Hood Vektron main.  Below is a picture of the main flaked across the boom.  The folds are setup to alternate between the slugs in the mast track.

 Since we had a breeze that reached 18-20kts apparent while underway, there was an opportunity to "walk up the mast". 

The picture below isn't taken from an ideal location or calibrated, but does give a pretty good indication of the new Hood mainsail shape.  Note the "speed bubble" just like my North Sails race main.

Overall, this was a very successful maiden voyage.