BOAT RESCUE: PART 13, A BIT OF EVERYTHING.

Previous Post: BOAT RESCUE PART 12: HULL PAINT.

The last several weeks have been spent on many smaller tasks, with some left partially finished until old parts were rebuilt or new parts ordered.

One of the important things was to get the engine completely connected to shaft, fuel, water, and exhaust, and give it a test run to check for operation and leaks. This went well, even though I discovered that Vetus water strainers love a slight vacuum, but won't tolerate any pressure without leaking water all over the locker. This turned out to be a good test of water being able to find it's way to the bilge without flooding any lockers!
Bennath has a total of seven winches: four in the cockpit, two on the mast, and one on the coach roof. Every winch needed disassembly and cleaning, before reassembly with fresh grease, and new pawl springs. The sheet winches needed the drums re-plated, but the rest were still in acceptable condition.

Typical winch condition.

BOAT RESCUE PART 12: HULL PAINT.

Previous Post: BOAT RESCUE PART 11: INTERIOR FINISH WORK. 

The weather has been perfect and I had all my paint materials in hand, so there was no excuse not to get busy on the hull painting.

Paint Supplies.

Using water-borne paint for the first time was a good reason to invest in a new spray gun.

DeVilbiss Finish Line FLG3 HVLP spray gun

This unit comes with three different sized nozzles,  allowing a wider range of paint types.

BOAT RESCUE PART 11: INTERIOR FINISH WORK.

Previous Post: One Year in Restoration: the Boat Rescue.
It's been a busy summer ... is it almost over already? Between trips in Sin Tacha to the Albin Vega Rendezvous (which turned into an eleven day jaunt) and two weeks in Oklahoma with the "kids", there has been less work done on the Ballad than usual.
I'll update with some captioned photos:

Work continued on the interior:

Water Tank under V-berth.

Because I used slightly thicker plywood for the bulkheads, the chain plates support (lying beween the two bulkheads) would no longer fit. It was cut, shortened, and re-welded to fit tightly between the new plywood. This had to be done on both sides.

Chain Plate Support.

One Year in Restoration, the Boat Rescue.

Previous Post: Part 10: Interior Work Starts in Ernest.
Just a note in passing, today marks exactly one year since we pulled the Ballad home. At times things seem to be going pretty slow, but looking back at the early pictures I realize just how far we've come.

Then ...

BOAT RESCUE PART 10: INTERIOR WORK STARTS IN ERNEST

Previous Post: BOAT RESCUE PART 9: THE FUN CONTINUES.

It seems as though progress has been slow, but checking my photo files I realize this is not the case. Several  non-boat related projects have been completed, freeing me up to concentrate on the Ballad again.

The damage around the table supports in the cockpit floor greeted me every time I climbed into the boat, so it was time to attend to that job.



Leaking damaged area around table leg sleeve.

I cut out the damaged areas around both sockets and filled them with epoxy-soaked plugs, adding a layer of epoxy to fill them back to original floor level.

Epoxy/plywood plug.

A reinforcing piece was added below to strengthen the repair, and allow leg sockets to be added, if needed, in the future.

Epoxy/plywood reinforcement patch, curing with a little help from a heat lamp.

BOAT RESCUE PART 9: THE FUN CONTINUES

Previous Post: BOAT RESCUE PART 8: FIRE IN THE HOLD .... well, in the garage anyway

The last few weeks many projects have been started, but nothing is getting finished as I source, order, and wait for parts I think I need ... only to discover by the time they arrive I've had a better idea and need to re-order!

First on the list was to get the engine into the boat. This was easy: just pull the trailer out of the shed, hoist the engine up to the shed rafters (on a reinforced arch), back the boat into the shed, and lower the engine down.

Yanmar dangling over the cockpit.

This was as good a time as any to refurbish the engine beds. When a P.O. (previous owner) had the Volvo-to-Yanmar conversion done some wooden shims were used to get the correct engine height. This served well for the time it was used but, having the luxury of unlimited time, a more permanent set of shims was made from 1/2" aluminum plate, and the mounts re-drilled, re-tapped, and installed.


Engine beds installed.

BOAT RESCUE PART 8: FIRE IN THE HOLD .... well, in the garage anyway.

PREVIOUS: BOAT RESCUE PART 7: GETTING IT ALL UNDER COVER
The Yanmar 2GM20F is now officially alive. The next step is to build a gantry over the boat to hoist it in. More later!




Next: Boat Rescue Part 9: The Fun Continues.

BOAT RESCUE PART 7: GETTING IT ALL UNDER COVER.

PREVIOUS: BOAT RESCUE PART 6: INTERIOR REBUILD CONTINUES, ENGINE EXAMINED..

(Please click on any picture for an enlargement.)

The original shed was too low to get the Ballad under, so I raised the side walls from pallet height to about 72". This put a wider part of the shed at boat deck level, and gave more headroom when working on the decks.  It was long overdue, as the original pallet base and walls, sitting on the ground, were rapidly turning into compost!


New boat shed walls under old arches.

Next on the program was to get trailer and boat together. This required hiring a local crane to do the job. Having 4-wheel drive and 4-wheel steering certainly helped it negotiate the driveway.

Climbing the steep grade ... backwards!