The
last two days have been pretty relaxing.
Thursday was a day to prepare for sandblasting. More specifically, to make a plan. Decide what we’ll have sandblasted, in what
order etc. In that frame of mind, we
needed to dig the rust out in the storage boxes of the swim platform to assess
the damages. We also had to remove the
speed and depth transducers because there was rust around them.
Result:
The hull is sound a very short distance from the transducer’s holes, the
problem is localized and if there’s welding to do, the access is easy from the
inside. On the other hand, the swim
platform… ouch. There has been a lot of
seawater in there, repeatedly. Each of
the three boxes has holes rusted through, including in the plating between the
central box and the aft cabin. Main
problem associated with this: To remove
blown-in insulation from behind a forest of cables and pipes: Steering hydraulic, bow thruster hydraulic,
propane gaz, cockpit shower water, rudderstock, cockpit drain tubes and a bunch
of electric cables. Other than that, it’s
just some plates to replace and we’re slowly getting used to the dramatic way in
which steel shows when it’s hurting. We’ll
have to rethink the swim platform bottom;
If there’s a way for water to get in, there has to be a drain to let it
out. And there were drains in this case,
that was not the problem; But they were
under the platform, and even though they were above the waterline, water
probably rose in the boxes regularly since a boat underway will distort its waterline: It will rise at the bow and stern and drop amidships
(especially at hull speed). Moreover,
most sailboats under power will have a tendency to squat because of hull form,
to raise the bow and drop the stern. The
effect of this would be to put the bottom of the storage boxes of the swim
platform 6 inches underwater every time the boat’s moving. This repeated dip in seawater rusted the
inside of the boxes and the steel plates around the drains. We’ll probably have to repair and patch the
drain holes and weld a false bottom, drained on the transom.
Today was dedicated to the construction of the structure of
the sandblasting tent. We were told it
is now illegal to sandblast out in the open; It has to be done in an enclosed
space were the residue can be collected and discarded. So in order to avoid any problems, we’ll
build a tent around the transom of the boat with an extension to starboard to accommodate
the centerboard. It will be built with
2x2s and paint tarp for the walls, ceiling and floor. The structure we built today; It will double as sun shade after this
project but the tarp will go on there early in the morning on D Day and be
removed right after.
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