Contessa 26 ‘Tess’

Short post today as our electricity is going out in about 10 minutes for some major wiring updates. The West Marine Oakland Bargain Center — where WM ships all their returned stuff — is closing for good. Sunday we took advantage of their 50% off sale for some Tess junk.  Just look at this pile of crap! But we had fun and and hardly spent anything.

We went back yesterday to get something for a friend and it was all 75% off! Picked up some more junk but no photos. GPS for $40, fishfinder for $10, some hardware for next to nothing, Schaefer furler (no extrusion) for pennies on the dollar . . .

The irony is that I hate shopping for clothes, etc., but get me in that Bargain Center and watch out! We’re very sad it’s closing — I think I’ll write a letter!

Just look at what this handy little bugger did:

After all that time fairing with Poly, he ripped it out and made something far superior. It’s bolted to the old engine bed and is sturdy enough to hold the batteries.

See those cleats? It’s a little complicated so I’ll wait till it’s done to explain it but this piece will mount there but will be easily removed for access.

The hole will have a simple ‘lift out’ piece (instead of being hinged) – easier, quicker, etc.

On top of all that, he also cut a piece of ply to fit nearly exactly the ugly ragged spot from Rob’s ‘investigation’. He put a big ol’ pile of thickened epoxy on the board, to fill any voids, smooshed it up and glassed the bugger in. Lookie how preeety!

Here’s the before for comparision

A small amount of fairing, some sanding and paint. Love. It.

Boy, we’ll miss him!

Our friend Aaron is a real workhorse so we were thrilled when he offered his help on Tess for a few days. We really love spending time with him, and he loves my cooking, so it’s a win-win. Plus he’s a fine craftsman. Perhaps a bit too much of a perfectionist, for his own good — at least for this project — but who’s complaining?!

The first thing he did was start on the battery compartment. Remember how we were going to leave the ‘platform’ since it was already in place. How silly of us! Aaron ripped it out, first thing, and is, as I type, installing a much thicker piece of marine grade plywood. He’s already installed the face of the ’step’ (although it won’t be a step, I just don’t know what else to call it). It’ll be hinged to access the bilge and enclosed at the back, after installing a water tank.

Then he cut the cleats for the extra wide mahogany step. I insisted on something particularly wide because of Rob’s big feet. He needs a stable platform to crawl in and out of the boat. Just look at this baby! (There’s a pic of the cleats on Flickr.)

Do you recall the ugly bridgedeck?

Well, here’s Aaron’s answer:

A quick sanding, maybe a little fairing with every-trusty Poly, and paint. It’s sturdy as hell and looks good too boot. Not only that, but he created the little lip so the hatchboards fit in perfectly and keep water out. Sooooo cool!

No doubt I’ll have more pix to post tomorrow. I’ll cook for Aaron ANY day!

Our good friend Aaron came for a visit the other day. This boy knows how to work and we put him to it! I’m on deadline so wasn’t there to snap any shots but I got a full report. Even with going out to breakfast, lunch and visiting with friends for most of the day, the boys were able to rebed BOTH sail tracks, another stanchion (better them than me!) and one of the rope clutches on the deck. Believe me, that’s a LOT. The sail track was apparently the easiest since we cut away the liner to access the nuts. They’d never been rebed so there was no silicone to clean up.

They took yesterday off to go sailing (while I worked) but will be getting back at it today. Aaron is a great glass man and really knows how to finish stuff. I’ll feed him lobster and steak every day if he can make some progress!

Oh, how I loved Milli Vanilli in the 90s. Alas . . .

Speaking of rain, it finally showed up after an apparently unusual winter. I keep hearing people say “We really need the rain” but I say Poo! And poor Rob. He got home Friday, after a month in the NW, only to be greeted with torrential downpours. But he claims he’s just happy to be home.

The rain on Saturday really was a refit-party pooper. We ended up just pumping the bilge and reviewing everything I did before scurrying back to the warmth of Silent Sun.

Sunday dawned clear and fairly warm. Rob was still recuperating from his trip but we actually managed to accomplish a thing or two.

First, we rebed another stanchion. As you’ll recall from previous posts, I hate this job. Normally, rebedding stuff is no biggie but . . . grrrr! I won’t start again. It was so frustrating, we quit while we were ahead and moved on to a different project.

The sail track has never been rebed. We know this because the liner was designed in such a way as to not allow access to the nuts. Our goal is to rebed everything on the boat and we’d sure hate to leave the sail track. The only way to do it is to cut the portion of the liner covering the hull/deck joint.

Last weekend I bought a crazy attachment for my Dremel that cuts wood and fiberglass. It’s very cool but a scary looking piece of metal that resembles a chinese throwing star. I was very careful not to whack off a finger while I cut away the liner on the port side. A quick sanding with the Dremel’s sanding disk and it’s done. Perfect? No, but good ‘nuf.

I ended at the chainplate as that’s where the track ends. We’ll probably be adding some kind of cabinet there anyway.

Take a gander at this before & after:

Rob ‘investigated’ the extent of deck rot awhile back and cleaned up surprisingly well. We’ll lay up some roving to strengthen the deck and then fill with poly. I’m in love with poly. Maybe I should marry it. Anyway, you can see how I used it to repair that big gouge up the side of the house. It won’t be perfect but nothing about this boat will be. Good ‘nuf is the new motto.

A question: Here’s a shot of the lower shroud chainplate.

Here’s one of the upper:

Note that the lowers only move in one direction (side to side) while the uppers move in two directions (front to back and side to side). Our assumption was that someone removed the swivels from the lowers to allow for more adjustment due to the old deck compression but the uppers have the swivels and still have plenty of adjustment left. Is this standard for JJT boats? Regardless, I think it’s time for a change unless someone tells us differently.

Holy cow, I’m tired of sanding! But I finally have everything aft of the V-berth done. Oh, there might be the odd spot that needs another swipe with 150 grit but for the most part, it’s done.

After posting on CSBB (and getting a good suggestion), I figured out a plan for that big hole I wrote about last time. It’s still percolating but will undoubtedly use the platform that’s there already (KISS KISS KISS). We’ll have to knock out the back of the box to install the water tank where the engine used to be but tacking it back on shouldn’t be too much trouble. And since the lot is relatively far under the cockpit, it doesn’t need tons of cosmetic attention.

Here’s a rough drawing of what I’m thinking. Forgive my lack of Photoshop skills!

A couple of cleats on the side of each settee will support one step. Then a vertical support just this side of the hole will act as the base for extending the platform. We’ll hinge it for easy access to the bilge. Not too difficult but functional. Plus it utilizes a structure that’s already installed.

To get a head start, I poly’d the expanding foam that was used to install the platform. There were also some big holes behind the bilge pump that I hadn’t touched yet so I removed the pump and did more filling there. Now it’s all faired and sanded, ready for some paint. BTW, I reinstalled the pump vertically – that horzontal mounting didn’t work very well. We’ll be moving it so it’s accessible from the cockpit.

Before

After (good ’nuff!)

It’s all vacuumed and ready for a final wipe down before I move all the junk stored in the V-berth (behind a curtain) to a quarter berth. Then some more sanding fun up there. whoopee.

The preceeding hole was brought to you by a generous donation from Asshole, Inc., a subsidiary of the I’m-A-Total-Idiot Trust of Sausalito, CA.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming:

We presume that when Asshole ripped out the engine, he constructed this funky battery platform. To bridge the gap between the platform and the cabin sole, which for some reason is cut out and extends about a foot into the cabin proper, he attached a piece of wood to the platform via some cheap-ass hinges. This is, of course, exactly where you step when coming down the companionway. Either Asshole was a hefty fella or he was just a moron because said board broke in half long ago, leaving a 7″ gap for everything from screwdrivers to quarters to fall into.

I’ve been thinking about this gap lately, and the companionway steps we need to build. In keeping with the “KISS” method, I’m thinking of simple U-shaped cleats attached to the sides of the settees with a board as the step, like this:

Or this:

This shot might also explain the cut away sole – maybe there was a liner?? Who knows.

But there’s still that ugly gap to deal with. Maybe a little extra effort could solve both problems, and even add a little storage:

We could cross the gap with any ugly old piece of scrap (like Asshole did – eek!) and build this kind of structure to cover it up. Not nearly as KISS but it could act as an additional storage area. . .

Assuming I come to my senses and go with the first choice, what then would be the best way to bridge that gap?