The weather this weekend has been appalling, wind, rain and floods everywhere! It's a good job I've been working in the Shed protected from the elements and kept nice an warm by the number of HotVac patches stuck over the hull. The fibreglass is gradually drying out, most of the starboard side has a moisture reading that's below 5 now so the patches have been moved over to the port side.
The challenge this weekend was to clean out the engine compartment and sort out the cockpit locker, a really filthy job I wasn't looking forward to. In the end clearing out the old, oil sodden engine insulation wasn't too difficult but crawling into the compartment to clear out the old exhaust gear was more challenging. Reaching right up to the deck drains to clean up then de-grease the compartment was not my idea of fun but it was satisfying to see it look so much better afterwards. Draining the fuel tank was heartbreaking, over 40 litres of diesel thrown away! Fortunately it was relatively easy to disconnect everything, move the tank around, and get access to the top which was needed to fit new piping later on.
With most of the stripping down completed it's time to buy some new bits to put back and one of the first priorities is to sort out the electrics. With the DC stuff now on order so it's time to get the electronics so that James, the chippie, can re-build the navigation area. We'd decided on Garmin kit at the boat show because it looked nice, seemed to fit what was needed well enough and good value. The Marine mega store had a special sale on for GM10 instruments, the displays being at half price, so it was off to Port Solent to do a deal. Not being particularly interested in a plotter as I prefer paper charts I settled for a Garmin 551 model which is pretty basic but still better than a straight GPS. We'd already bought a ICOM M91D portable VHF so it was natural to buy a IC423 fixed VHF which has the same user interface.
After struggling home through the pouring rain with a pile of boxes a mile high I sat down to work out exactly where the NMEA 2000 network was to go, what shape it was to be and what additional bits were needed. It took most of the afternoon to fathom this out from the "manuals" which were not particularly helpful but after many trips to various sites on the internet it soon became clear that a backbone network from the mast back to the nav area and then on up to the instruments was required. By using field attachable connectors it was going to be possible to thread the micro cable up to the instrument housing, negating one of the earlier concerns about the rather tortuous cable run.
Now all we need to do is make it happen!
Although it's tempting to just crack on with the work that needs to be done, it's become really important to take some time out to plan in detail exactly what we're going to do over the next few weeks. It's relatively easy to take things out but now we're faced with having to start to put back things into the boat, we want it to all work ok and need to keep the cost down. The two major areas to be refitted are the nav area and the galley, to get these right the wiring and the plumbing have to be thought through and planned out.
I've defined two almost equally demanding scenarios to size up the electrics, a couple of summer nights at anchor and a long night passage. We're not keen on starting up the engine too often at anchor so the battery capacity needs to be enough to keep the power hungry fridge working which is pretty demanding although the other loads still add up too. It all comes to 100 ampere/hours which is much the same as the other scenario, sailing across the channel with navigation lights and all the electronics on. I've learned from bitter experience that you don't discharge even deep cycle batteries more that 50% if you want them to last so that means we need 200 amp/hours of capacity but originally there was only one 110amp/hr domestic battery and a smaller starting battery. There isn't room under the pilot berth for a second one so the solution is to locate another in the forepeak which will be useful to power the anchor winch which is close by.
Having sorted this out the rest of the design is straight forward although a bit tedious as i've had to convert all the wiring diagrams from a PC (Visio) to a Mac (Omnigraffle). I'll be using the same Blue Sea kit from Merlin that proved to be so reliable on Alize. It's a bit of a jigsaw puzzle to find enough space to mount the control panel, Plotter, VHF and Tank Tender on the woodwork adjacent to the chart table but it proves to be possible without loosing what was the bookcase. I'm rather keen on keeping this for all the wiring and fuses with a hinged lid to cover it making it all very accessible, especially if something goes wrong! With detailed drawings made we can get the chippy started on filling in the holes and recovering what is currently a very sad part of the interior.
The main constraint on the galley is the distance between the refrigeration unit and the cold plate. We're going to have to have a cold box fabricated from GRP to fit which dictates the size of the cold plate (the smallest we can get), I'm hoping to be able to locate the compressor in the sail locker but it will have to go aft of the fuel tank if we're to fit the calorifier in the convenient spot in front of the tank. This means there's no space for the heater so that's going to have to go at the aft end of the pilot berth after all. It's yet another jigsaw puzzle to resolve and one that I don't want to get wrong! Fortunately there seems to be sufficient space for the piping and wiring runs even though the hull is never far away limiting space at various pinch points.
Now we've agreed on all the parts needed and got some quotes for the work I cant do myself it's time to update the budget spreadsheet. Naturally the bottom line is more than we'd like to spend so there's going to have to be a round of cost trimming which all takes so much time....
It's a brilliant sunny day with a deep blue sky, such a change from the pouring rain that we've had so often recently. So where are we, inside the shed at HYC, where they do all the osmosis treatment, with minimal natural light. It's a dusty old place with limited access but will be great when the rain returns.
The little Contessa has been lifted up on chocks and tied up to the roof girder work so that the minimum of props are required giving excellent access to the hull. Just before being moved inside the hull was grit blasted and steam cleaned to get rid of all contaminants leaving a rough surface in contrast to the smooth one left after the peeling. It's now time to dry her out before resurfacing which is accelerated by the "Hot Vac" process. Large red patches connected to a controller are positioned over the hull, three at a time, and kept in place by vacuum pressure. Inside them are electric elements that warm up the hull to a pre-determined temperature, 80 degrees in our case. Jim, the man how does the osmosis stuff, wants a lower temperature than usual as the hull is relatively thin. He carefully explained that the first numbers over the hull are the initial moisture readings; as the hull is dried out by the pads these readings are crossed out and replaced by later ones. The objective is to dry the hull from a starting reading of about 20 over most of the surface to under 5 everywhere; it's going to "take as long as it takes"
Not surprisingly, it's quite warm inside, rather nice for a change! With the next few weeks under cover it's time to take advantage of this protection from the weather and take out the cabin port lights for refurbishing and resealing. There are eight in total, two large and two small ones on each side. Most have been re-sealed at some time since Jeremy Rodgers built the yacht and a variety of sealants used ranging from a filthy black one to a clear one that sticks like araldite. Last time I did this job on the Storm 33, the screws were difficult but they came out easily; this time the screws were fairly straightforward to remove but as for removing the lights... A couple came out easily, a couple "difficult", and couple were a nightmare only giving up after repeated "persuasion" with a 4lb hammer, prising with an old screwdriver and cutting of sealant with a stanley knife. There's quite a pile of windows and surrounds now, It's not clear how much of the aluminium trim can be refurbished, I fear quite a bit might need replacement.
So the hull has become even more bare than before with them all out of the way, together with the sliding hatch, which needed replacement. The main saloon hatch, a gebo one, has come out too for re-sealing as it had been badly installed and leaked onto the wood surround. It was also time to strip out the Instrument housing which needed to be altered to accommodate the Garmin instruments to replace the Mariner analogue dials that, although full of character, didn't work.
Actually Sunday, 4th November
I'd expected the Osmosis to be much more obvious with lots of large blisters all over the hull but in practise it was a lot less obvious although certainly there and in need of removal. With a couple of days of good weather it's been possible to start the Osmosis treatment by peeling off the gel coat and the outer layer of glass-fibre. The surveyor has specified that this should be done for all areas beneath the waterline as the problem was widespread. The exposed surface of the hull then needed to be finely grit blasted, thoroughly cleaned and dried. Only then could new woven rovings (a replacement layer of glass-fibre) be laminated on the hull, then filled and faired using epoxy fillers.
The "peeling" was done by a man in a 1950's style space suit with a big, heavy device connected to a vacuum cleaner on steroids. It's not a job for the faint hearted as the peeler is very heavy and only takes something like a 5cm cut at a time so there are many passes! It's clearly rather skilled too as the surface left is remarkably smooth. The peeler is rather like an electric plane with a rotary cutter but makes even more noise, it's deafening! It's not a job I'd relish but the guy doing it was remarkably cheerful, clearly knew his stuff and enjoyed doing a good job.
This process covers the bulk of the hull but there are significant areas around the through hull fittings and just below the waterline where it's not sensible to go that will have to be stripped by hand. This includes the rudder which is going to be removed so that the shaft can be taken out; just as well, can't see how this could be peeled very well in situ!
Once all this is complete the hull can be taken into the Osmosis repair shed to be dried out which is accelerated using the "Hotvac" process which still takes several weeks. With the hull dry new laminate and layers of epoxy can be put on in a controlled environment
I'd thought that it was an occasional thing that happened once in a while, not true! There are so many yachts needing treatment that it's done in the form of a production line with several yachts in process at the same time. Apparently about 30 hulls a year are treated here.
Actually Sunday, 28th October
Yet another weekend dedicated to stripping varnish. I'm gradually inching my way round the interior and the end is in sight, after another two days work most of the high level wood is bare, just the forepeak and the undersides of the berths to complete. I've now used up the best part of 8 litres of Nitromors, good job we're nearly finished as the cost is getting more painful than the aching arms!
Although most of the horrors have been flushed out there are still surprises that emerge. I couldn't understand why the forward bulkhead was so damp after removing the lining to see how to install an anchor winch. It's thick ply but seemed to be waterlogged; it has to be more than condensation. This is the bulkhead that separates the anchor well from the rest of the forepeak and, I suppose, provides some protection in the event of collision. A quick trip up on deck to peer into the anchor locker shows that the floor of the locker is only about half way down the bulkhead with what was originally a sealed void beneath it. Clearly there's been leakage before as a square hole has been cut into the top surface to provide access that's imperfectly sealed with a rectangle of clear plastic. Underneath there's a couple of buckets of black water, just sitting there, it's only the reflection on the surface glinting through the largely opaque plastic that betrays it's presence. Once that's cleared out there's a chance that the bulkhead will dry out; we'll have to be careful this doesn't happen again.
She's now located in the stripping berth right in the corner of the yard firmly supported on timbers, ready for the gel coat to be removed. With the mast and the engine removed it looks less like a yacht and more like a hull that's being built; it's one of the last steps of the disassembly of the Contessa to enable the restoration to be undertaken in a really thorough manner. The mast needs to have new fittings at the top, a removable stay and the standing rigging replaced before it can be put back; there's no rush to get this done.
With the engine out it's easy to access the ancillaries that need replacing, especially the fuel filter that is inadequate and leaky. The water filter is basic in the extreme so replacing this with one above the water line that can be cleaned out is a priority. I don't think many people disagree that if you give a marine diesel clean fuel, clean water and plenty of air it will keep going on for ever. The pipework for the anti-syphon loop is now clear to see and it's a right botch up, another candidate for replacement! Naturally the wiring needs tidying up as well. Now that the engine compartment is so accessible it's going to be quite straight forward to give it a really good clean out, coat of bilge paint and new insulation, but that's for another weekend
Actually Sunday, 21st October
It took a while to find the little Contessa this weekend, she'd been hauled out and left in a rather remote part of the yard, at least it was peaceful there. Naturally the ladder I'd brought with me was just a bit too short to safely get on deck, fortunately I was able to find a friendly neighbour let me use his one to get on board; all in all a rather delayed start to the day.
Seeing the hull for the first time was "interesting", the copper coat certainly had seen better days and the patches put on by the previous owner looked less than adequate, good job it was all going to be stripped off. With the configuration of the rudder and keel visible it was clear why I'd had difficulties in manoeuvring, they are quite close together and not that different from the long keel that Alize, our last yacht ( A Tradewind 35), had. Quite different from a modern spade rudder right back on the stern like Meltem (our Storm 33) that enabled her to turn on a sixpence. At least the propeller was well shielded by a solid skeg which should help ward off problems if we have any more close encounters with unwelcome lobster pots.
No time for admiring her lines with a weekend of varnish stripping ahead of me, it's proving to be a slow old job. There seem to be countless layers needing repeated application or very tough patches where the stripper makes little impression. It does come off eventually and leaves a reasonable surface behind provided I don't rush the sanding down. By the time I've had enough after the weekends work I've used up 6 litres of Nitromors and am only about half way though the interior. So much for my estimates of the time required, I'd got that seriously wrong!
Welcome respite from the scraping came when a friend and former yacht broker dropped by to have a look around. I was pleased that after lots of prodding and poking he made the pronouncement that she was a sound example of the design and should come up well after the work I'd planned. Much the same conclusion as the surveyor although he thought all Contessa's were over priced. Given that there clearly is a market for quality Contessa 32's I began to realise that cutting corners wasn't going to be the best option. Somehow we would have to work out how to factor in sorting out things like the interior woodwork properly and to a high standard if we were to get the result we were seeking not to waste time and money.
On the way in over the bridge to Hayling Island I had thought something had change and on the way home realised what it was, all the yachts moored between the bridge and the old railway supports had disappeared in a single week! It would be interesting to find out why, was it a harbour bye-law or was there a special deal at the local yard?
Actually Sunday, 14th October
This weekend is all about stripping varnish from the interior woodwork, not particularly challenging but certainly tedious. With no electric power it's going to have to be good old Nitromors but that's probably best as it lessens the risk of damaged wood with a hot air gun.
Whilst sitting in the cabin scraping away it's only natural to think about planning the more interesting work that lies ahead and visualising what the future would look like. We'd started the plan with a first cut spreadsheet at the time of the Southampton Boat show and gleaned lots of useful information from the many folk we spoke to on the stands there; even Lynda knows how to install and Eberspacher now! Unfortunately history does shape the future, so we're used to the many creature comforts that we've had in in the past and are reluctant to give them up even though it will probably make this one of the best equipped Contessas afloat. We've also had several new yachts and got used to getting them exactly the way we want them to be, it's not so easy for us to compromise this time round as she's going to end up being very much like a new yacht.
It's always best to start by being clear what sort of sailing we want to do and let real needs drive the equipment list. In the main we're only going to cruise around the south coast now with an occasional trip to France or the west country; we're realistic that, in reality, it's going to be a caravan much of the time. Although that's the case we do want a fast cruiser and need to be able to handle the unpleasant weather we seem to get more frequently than we'd like. I'd to do the occasional race, certainly the Round the Island maybe a club race or two which does add some extra kit, especially a spinnaker. We're both solidly in agreement that some of the best times afloat are at the ends of the season when everyone else is off the water; unfortunately this means heating and hot water become a high priority. We like the occasional night at anchor so independence from shore power and a winch are highly prized. The list goes on and on....
It can all be done, there is plenty of room to fit it all in, but the figure at the bottom of the spreadsheet steadily mounts up. We're in danger of spending three times what we paid for the yacht in the first place and it's not clear that makes financial sense. Contessas certainly are sought after but there is a limit to what should be spent, looks like we're going to have to manage costs rather tightly!
