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Belle was in pretty good shape when I got her. Their were upkeep and maintenance issues that had fallen behind. Up front I knew I was into buying another mainsail because while in storage, the rats had eaten holes in it. As it turned out, I should have ordered both sails at the same time so that the dye lot would be the same. With some aging the color differences are not noticeable. When it was all done and the sail slides and battens got changed on the new sails I was into almost $7000. Wow, these things really cost money. Good thing I got a good deal on Belle!
The sequence of repair initiatives was as follows:
- Bottom stripping and repainting with Copperpoxy at Marine Concepts
- Centerboard trunk servicing done by me along with Jim at Marine Concepts including: centerboard removal for repair and repainting, centerboard trunk repainting, centerboard cable and turning block replacement by me. Note that the block later failed. I have replaced it with a masthead turning sheave and with a stainless steel bolt drilled and trough bolted through the trunk. This is the way it should have been done to start with. Sometimes factory solutions are not best. The centerboard top cap was very hard to remove taking over and hour to carve loose from the trunk having been caulked very liberally by its former owner, a dentist. I must say that my own calking job held well until I removed it later the next year. At that time I was rather skimpy on the application and it shows. There is a leak into the floor panel and bilge when sailing at hull speed from the centerboard trunk boiling over the top and through the space I must have left in the caulk bead.
- Port leaks and balsa rot around two of the port holes had to be repaired by me. Also the bronze ports were in terrible shape. I initially tried to rebuild them with new gasket material but the gasket was to complex to retain in the slot until the mastic stuck, so I gave up and ordered 4 new ports ($1300 and three months waiting for delivery). The cabin repair involved digging out the rotten balsa and replacing the core with 1/2 inch corecell foam sluiced liberally with polyester resin for bonding. The assembly was clamped in place immediately with spring clamps all around. May I add that removing the ports that were securely mounted (despite the leaks) with Dupont 5200 was no small undertaking. The primary cause of leaking was the use of screws through fiberglass to secure the port. This never works. They must be through bolted after being caulked into place with Dupont 4200. This I did and they are in to stay!
- Stanchion leak. Once again, screws were used on the inboard leg of the stanchion on the port side. The hole was so wallowed out that I had to cast in a new nut receptacle inboard to secure the stanchion with a bolt. Many of he other stanchions were already retrofitted with bolts. Doing this requires removing the coach roof liner and presenting a nut in a very cramped place to the incoming bolt.
- Re-bedding the hand rails. Not really a big deal to do, just more time spent. I used an adhesive mastic designed for the job.
- Dorades and cowls. These were mostly for looks, although, the flow through ventilation it provides is welcome. Fitting the dorades to the deck involved leveling and scribing the dorade boxes and through screwing without missing the mark. This is not nearly as easy as it might seem. It is very easy to misjudge the location of the center of the box wall. The adhesive mastic was used to secure them as well. Inside the dorade boxes I chose to install mushroom vents so that there would be no danger of sea water making it into the cabin. The mushrooms can be completely sealed against both water and air. They too were marked and cut. Securement was attained with stainless bolts and waterproof mastic. For the cowls themselves, I chose solid bronze. Again this was largely for vanity reasons.
- Grounding and lightening protection. I had initially planned to install a sideband radio on this boat. As it turns out using a large radio like this is fraught with multiple problems. One of the largest is the need for power. The M802 that I previously owned draws well over 25 amps. That is a huge draw on the house banks. Also, on this boat with two masts lacking any rigging it is near impossible to come up with a workable antenna. In the final analysis, I decided that I don’t really like talking on the radio. So I removed the SCS Pactor modem, the radio, antenna and auto-tuner. In the process of providing a ground plane for the radio, I installed two inch copper foil front to back at the water line. This is well bonded to the grounding plate and mast steps. I believe this will help dissipate electrostatic charge accumulated on the masts and maybe avoid or diminish lightening strike damage. Slotting all the bulkheads and securing the foil to the inside of the hull was no small job.
- Plumbing and tankage remediation. Belles fresh water tanks leaked and shards of gel coat were pealing from the inside of the hull where water had blistered through. It was clear that these “custom” tanks were not serviceable. So I bought Vetus 14 gallon flexible tanks and installed them. I cut out the outline of 12 inch ports and installed access ports over each tank. Plumbing was rerouted to the tanks. I also installed a tank selection valve. All in all I am happy with the 28 gallons of storage. 50 gallons is really too much weight. My next project will be to install a inline filter. I think this will work fine with the check-valve and foot pump that I have installed. Belle did not have an automatic bilge pump. I therefore installed an 1100 gpm automatic pump deep in the bilge. I have long ago run short of switches and fused power. I installed another fuse panel and a set of toggle switches which I made from a Radio shack equipment box. So the bilge pump is switched and fused and the tail tubing is routed to empty into the flooding motor well. There is also a hand bilge pump which is located in the side of the cockpit. It also is routed to dump into the flooding well. On the subject of drainage, I replaced the sink drain assembly, this time including a regulation cutoff valve with double stainless steal clamps on all joints.
- Rudder and stern reinforcement. Having sailed in heavy short seas this spring of Suwannee bar, I had experienced some rudder pounding on the stern. Hobby-horsing had repeatedly driven the rudder up against the angle of the stern at the waterline. Also when sailing in shallow water, the rudder had dragged and warn the anterior part of the foot. As a solution I applied Kevlar with epoxy and used epoxy fairing compound to fair the margins. In order to even cut the Kevlar, I had to buy special scissors to slice through this unbelievably hard substance. In the end, after reapplying two coats of 2000/2001 Interprotect and 2 coats of Copperpoxy, I think the job came out very well. Judge from the pictures for yourself. As a protective shield, the Kevlar should be bomb proof. Pictures of my restoration efforts are here.
- Repowering Belle: I have finally made up my mind on the engine I want to buy for Belle. I sold the Yamaha 9.9 which I felt was not as reliable as I like. Since I plan to use Belle as a waterway cruiser, I felt a larger motor is in order. My initial idea was to buy a Honda 20 hp as I have good things about them. I also owned a Honda in Rhiannon and had found it to be very reliable. After some discussion and research I know have purchased a Nissan 18 hp long shaft electric start. The engine has a stellar reputation and the power is perfect.
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