Zac Sunderland's Circumnavigation Attempt

On Sunday, June 14th Zac Sunderland began his quest to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe alone in a yacht. He left Marine Del Ray in CA in his 1972 36' Islander Intrepid.

Zac has a lifetime of sailing experience and is saltier than most. Wish him luck and keep track of his voyage on his blog.

How to Take a Dog Sailing

You will need:
1) A Dog
2) A Sailboat
3) A Dog PFD

Helpful tips:
1) Get a PFD with a handle on the back, you can tie a line to this, just in case
2) Ice Packs: the refreezable kind can slide underneath the dog PFD and helps to keep them cool
3) Bring plenty of ice water and a dog bowl

Axl did much better than I thought he would. Other than being really hot, I think he had a really good time. He's not big on swimming... but he's good at it. The handle on the back of his PFD (Outward Hound is the brand) allowed us to dunk him in the water to cool down while under way. It is also good for tying a line to.

It was Courtney's first time on the boat since it was finished. We had a great time and got off the lake before a storm blew in. The wind was inconsistent and mostly still, but it wasn't nearly as hot as it has been. Lots of powerboaters and jetskis. I've decided that the only people that like jetskis are the folks riding them.

Anyway, I guess that's the way it's going to be now, sailing logs and pics only. A few more projects that I could post about (electrical, cabin aesthetics, etc.) but those are low on the totem pole since I can go sailing. One thing I will be doing shortly is replacing the halyards (wire and rope) with all rope (probably 1/4" Sta-Set X). I learned how to make an eye-splice and an end splice in preparation for this. My first one came out beautifully! There is a link on the right where you can find instructions. They are good, but I would definitely recommend reading them through once or twice before beginning. It is easy to get confused when you start threading the pieces into each other. Also, I was able to do a good job with 1/4" Sta-Set without a proper fid. I used a long steel finishing nail with the tip ground smooth.

Splash!

Went to Jordan Lake with some friends for the boat's "new inaugural" voyage. Wind was nonexistent most of the day, but picked up to a consistent 5-6 knots for a little while.

Done!

Well, as much as any boat is ever done, that is. Which is to say, there's always a list of projects. I have finished all of the projects that I started over a year ago and the boat can finally be sailed. The last push involved reinstalling a handful of cleats, clasps, hinges and the stemhead (at least that's what I think it's called). I also had to reinstall the rubber rubrail insert. This was great exercise for the hands! I also decided to paint the cabin interior with white paint, as I had removed the old vinyl liner. In fact, the paint is still drying as I write this.

Reinstalling the Stemhead

The stemhead had an interesting aspect of reinstallation. The problem was that the two forward bolts went through an uncored portion of deck and the aft bolts through a cored section. On the underside this created a ridge. The original installation procedure used what appeared to be very stiff cardboard as a backing plate. Once torqued this material conformed to the ridge. I was not satisfied with this and felt that since this component received a great deal of force it should have a proper backing plate. The obvious problem is that a properly stiff backing plate wouldn't sit flat on the underside of the deck owing to the cored vs. noncored ridge betwixt the fore and aft bolts. I decided that I would fashion a custom backing plate out of fiberglass and use thickened epoxy to fill the void between the underside of the deck and the plate. I layed up around 12-14 layers of medium weight fiberglass (sorry, don't remember the actual weight) over several days. The glass was kept smooth by squeeging it between two layers of wax paper. I then created a pattern of cardboard which I test fit and then cut the fiberglass to shape. I thickened West System epoxy with colloidal silica until it was a nonsagging, frosting consistency. I waited until it was slightly tacky so that it would hold the plate into position and fixed it into position. The cardboard template and duct tape was used to hold it into position while the epoxy kicked. I was happy to see that the epoxy had completely filled the gap and oozed up through the bolt holes. I then redrilled the bolt holes and installed the stemhead in the normal manner.

Wrapping It Up
So, I am really looking forward to blogging about sailing this vessel instead of working on it! In truth, working on this boat has been a real pleasure, and I purchased it with full intentions of doing just that. I suppose that things got slightly out of hand and ended up taking much longer than I thought they would. Someone gave some advice to a new boat owner on the SBO forums which was something like, "don't set a time frame, you will overshoot it and become frustrated." Never a truer word has been spoken. If you ever decide to do something like this, just enjoy the adventure and don't cut corners. In retrospect, I might have been better served by starting one project at a time and not starting another until I had finished. Oh well, we live and learn and I've had a blast doing this.

All that's left to do is test raise the mast to readjust the standing rigging and commissioning the outboard. Tohatsu's are tough little motors and I don't anticipate any problems with it. It's a two-stroke after all, basically an underpowered chainsaw attached to a prop instead of a chain. I plan on removing the sparkplug and spraying WD-40 into the cylinder to overcome any starting friction. I have also pulled all of the electronics and am busy rewiring them. Several of the panel switches are bad and need to be replaced. Also, the wiring was not well organized or labeled, a problem that is easily remedied. I am consulting Nigel Calder's Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual for boat wiring info. I highly recommend this book, my father gave it to me as a gift and it has been very handy.

Hoisting the sails.

Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated

Having not posted anything in nearly one year, it seems an appropriate time for an update.

I've nearly finished all of my projects. The boat is repainted and the boat has been mostly reassembled.

For completeness I will run through the projects that have been completed since I last posted:

Reinstalling the Cabin Sole

The top fiberglass "skin" of the cabin sole was fastened onto the new balsa core with a ketchup consistency mixture of epoxy and colloidal silica. The fiberglass was held in place with many, many sand bags and a few bags of concrete. I am guessing that I put between 350 and 400 pounds of weight on the floor. Seams were faired with a frosting consistency mixture of epoxy and West System Microlight 410. I couldn't be happier with the way this turned out. The floor is super solid now and looks great. I painted the sole with the same Interdeck nonskid that is on the decks. I can't seem to find all of the photos of this process.

Hatch Repair

The forward hatch was cracked in the middle of its forward edge. I decided to put a fiberglass "band-aid" on top of this area. The repair is mostly cosmetic, but should add a bit of strength. I decided to reinforce the back edge in the same manner. Around four layers of fiberglass were applied (each piece successively larger, see Don Casey's books for more info). The repair was faired into the rest of the hatch and the area was sanded.

Deck Repair

I found a bad spot on the starboard side around the forward portion of jib track. There were a couple of leaking pieces of hardware there and that had ruined the core. I found the extent of the rot by drilling holes outward from the bad region, I then cut the top portion of fiberglass off and dug out the bad wood. New balsa core was epoxied in place. I then layed up a new fiberglass deck in this area. This was my first experience with fiberglass and I didn't find it to be too challenging. As with everything the key is good preparation. I did many layers, many more than I thought would be necessary. It should be very strong here.

Painting

The entire painting process took forever. It is an endless cycle of sanding, sanding, cleaning, painting, sanding, sanding, painting... ad infinitum. I put on two coats of primer, three coats of Brightsides, and two coats of Interdeck. I used the "roll and tip" method for the Brightsides and got a reasonably shiny finish, there are many many variables in getting a good finish but the most important are: substrate preparation (sand and clean) and the paint/thinner mix:

Masking out the non-skid areas was a very tedious task. I didn't get it exactly perfect, but I think it looks respectable. I got some vinyl fine-line tape from an automotive store and outlined all the non-skid areas. I then masked out the rest of the exterior with normal blue painter's tape. Corners were radiused by tracing a quarter and cutting the tape, an idea I borrowed from Tim's excellent restoration of Glissando.

So, that was painting. I don't think I've ever been so happy to be done with something. It looks pretty good, but the true test will be to see how it holds up. I wouldn't do this again if I didn't have access to an indoor painting facility. It took forever because I was a limited by weather. Warm enough to paint = warm enough for copious amounts of insects here in the South.

Putting it back together

I first reinstalled the windows. I spent a long time cleaning these up in my shop. The aluminum frames are not in too bad shape, pitted here and there but in decent condition. I used a synthetic steel wool (real steel will leave deposits that will rust) and aluminum polish to make them shiny. I used 3M 4200 to bed them back in their openings; the frames were tightened just enough to make the 4200 ooze out. After the sealant had cured for a few days the frames were tightened fully.

This is essentially the process for the entire deck, rebed the equipment in sealant, snug them down, wait for the sealant to cure and then crank the hardware down tight. After the deck had been painted it was impossible to see where the hardware was previously installed from above. In some cases I drilled a small pilot from underneath to locate the hardware. I consulted photos of the rigged cockpit I had taken previously just to make sure things were going where they belonged.

There weren't any real surprises throughout the deck rebuilding process. The only problem is that it is mostly a two person job, one on the bolt and one on the nut. In some cases small pieces of hardware were previously installed with screws. I have replaced all of these with bolts all the way through. Backing plates were installed on some hardware and very wide washers on others.

A point of interest is the new mast step/organizer plate combo that I got from Rudy at D&R Marine. I bought the new SS tabernacle to replace the original cast aluminum piece. The original used one large bolt through the center of the cabin roof with two screws to hold it in place. At some point in this boats life the screws had been replaced and three medium sized bolts held it in place. It was not a pretty setup as the bolts went through the cabin top at an angle and had broken the headliner. The new tabernacle uses four bolts. Unfortunately the bolt patterns for the halyard organizer plate and the tabernacle didn't line up. Three drill bits and a lot of cursing later I had the two pieces mated. Additionally, the tabernacle pin on the mast had to be relocated to accommodate the new equipment. Drilling this hole was nerve wracking and I spent a lot of time measuring and remeasuring prior. Getting the alignment right for the tabernacle itself was equally critical and challenging. Boats this old have changed a lot over time and are twisted, warped and contorted in subtle but important ways. In my case the headliner centerline and the boat's true center were not perfectly aligned, this makes the measurement process tricky. In the end, it went in beautifully and I am really proud of it.

The cabin was also reassembled. To my happy surprise the compression post went back in nice and snug (after jacking the cabin roof up about a quarter of an inch). Unfortunately, during this process I managed to put a crack in the floor. It is along an area that has no core and will not receive any weight. This is going to have to wait to get fixed. Disappointing, but it is hardly noticeable and should not affect on the structural integrity of the cabin floor. I then set about reinstalling the bulkheads and putting the galley back together.

I think that I can get the boat ready to sail in one more push. There is only one somewhat major piece of hardware to reinstall: the stemhead. This has a challenging aspect to it that I will describe soon. Other than that it is mainly cosmetic stuff inside the cabin and a few odds and ends like the compass and some cam cleats. In a fit of frustration I also pulled all of the electronics out and bought a new battery. I am going to redo this at my leisure as lights aren't required on a vessel this size anyway.

So, that's it. It's nearly time to go sailing.

A lot of work done

I have been spending way more time working on the boat than blogging about it, but since it is raining I will post an update. I don't know where to start, but here is a quick summary of what has been done since the last post:

* cabin sole close to completion: new balsa core installed, fiberglass skin installed, seams glassed, currently fairing the seams
* starboard deck repair completed and faired.
* entire deck faired with epoxy fairing compound.
* rubrail removed, insert soaked in cleaning solution (hot water and Simple Green), insert scrubbed with synthetic steel wool
* cockpit sole issue addressed: core gone here too (didn't know that); not going to replace it b/c I want to sail, instead I drilled many holes and injected epoxy, faired these repairs flush
* entire boat sanded multiple times, wiped with Interlux 202 wash and primed with PreKote
* PreKote primer sanded with 150 grit, washed withe Interlux 333 and primed again
* Second coat of primer sanded again with 150 grit, wiped with 333, and the first coat of Brightsides applied.

This is where I'm at right now. Again, the weather has been my main adversary in this process. I get prepared to put the final coat of paint on and then I hear the rumble of an approaching thunderstorm. I have to wait for a weekend morning to finish the job, but the end is near! I can feel it.

Here are some pics (they were taken with my phone so they are poor quality):

The balsa core installed

The solid epoxy ring I created surrounding the inspection port. This was the source of the original water intrusion, so I made sure that wouldn't happen again

The cockpit prepared for painting. The "swiss-cheese" holes that were filled with epoxy can be seen:

The cockpit after one coat of primer

Finally an update

After a long hiatus from boatwork (due to the weather being too cold for epoxy to set up) I have returned and completed a lot of work. It is actually starting to look like this project may come together.

I ordered the supplies to paint the deck:

As you can see, I have chosen to use the one-part Interlux product: Brightside and its associated primers and surface prep. We are going to use Interlux Interdeck for the non-skid parts. This is a one-part polyurethane with texture already mixed in. The texture paint is beige and the other is the plain white (who knew that there were 1500 different shades of white?).

Hopefully the deck will be ready soon for the paint. They have been completely stripped of hardware (a much bigger job than I anticipated) and all the mounting holes have been 'potted' with epoxy. This is the process described by Don Casey in his book "Sailboat Hull and Deck Repair", which has become my personal bible. Essentially you remove the hardware, dig the core material out about 1/2" to 1" around the hole, fill with unthickened epoxy (to "wet it out"), drain the unthickened epoxy, inject thickened epoxy (I used West System 406 colloidal silica filler), then sand flush with the deck. Some fairing is generally required after this, I have been using the West System 410 low density fairing filler for this.

I have also sanded the entire deck with 60/80/120 grit sandpaper on my random orbital sander (thanks Courtney!) which is pretty much my favorite tool. This was a ton of very nasty work. The no-skid portions of the deck had to be completely sanded off so the paint would apply correctly. I know that some people choose not to do this, but I wanted a very finished look. Unfortunately, there is more sanding in my future because getting a mirror finish will require sanding the two coats of primer with 220 to remove any sags/drips/brushmarks. I keep reminding myself that this will all be worth it.

So, before I can paint I need to finish fairing the decks. This is mostly touch up work with the exception of one major portion on the starboard side just aft of the sidestay chainplates:
Surprise! When I was potting the mounting holes for the starboard jib sheet track I realized that a large portion of the deck was rotten. Luckily, I had a lot of leftover 3/8" scored and scrimmed balsa core material from the cabin sole replacement (pictures and narrative coming soon) so I started emergency open deck surgery. First I drilled exploratory holes radiating outwards from where I first found the rot to determine the extent of the damage. I then used my circular saw (thanks Dad!) to cut the top portion of fiberglass off. It did not come off nicely like the cabin sole, so I knew that I would now learn to fiberglass. I scraped out all of the rotten core material, sanded the repair area and sealed the edges of the good core with thickened epoxy. I cut/sanded/cut/sanded all of the balsa pieces to fit snugly in the repair area and then troweled some thickened epoxy in the repair area. The pieces fit like a glove, it is so easy to work with this balsa core material. After this had kicked I covered the entire surface of the balsa with more thickened epoxy and faired the surface. Then it was time to fiberglass. I layed down three layers (cut in increasingly larger sizes), waited for the epoxy to gel, then I layed down three more. I was using 6oz fiberglass cloth which when wetted out with epoxy becomes very, very thin. The next day I layed sanded down the repair edges to a nice bevel and layed down three more layers of fiberglass cloth. I believe that three more layers, for a total of 12, should bring the surface close to fair with the surrounding deck. It will then be faired with thickened epoxy and sanded in preparation for painting.

I have also been refinishing the exterior teak. The wood was severely weathered and the varnish, what was left of it, was flaking off. It was in horrible condition. After a ton of sanding I got the grab rails, hatch sliders, companionway sliders and toerail down to naked teak. Unfortunately, this removed a lot of wood, but not enough to significantly weaken the parts. I went to Home Depot and bought some Watco teak oil and applied three heavy coats to everything. It has been drying/soaking in for about three days now and is nearly ready for a few more coats. It looks fantastic! I think it will take around eight coats of oil in the end. What a difference:
The above picture compares a grabrail with one coat of teak oil to a bare hatch slider. The Watco gives a somewhat darker appearance then I had hoped for. I am not sure if the oil is completely to blame as 30+ years of UV exposure would certainly account for some of the darkening of the wood. At this point I am conflicted about whether I should varnish after many more coats of oil or just plan on wiping on some more teak oil on a regular basis. Most likely I will opt for the latter as I am growing tired of spending major $ and time on this project and would really like to go sailing.

I have also begun to remove the entire rubrail from the boats envelope. I have contemplated replacing the entire rail and insert (it is very weathered and brittle) but that will cost an additional $150 to $200. I think that I will just clean it up as best I can and remount it with some fresh caulk (3M fast cure 4200). Using 4200 (as opposed to 5200) will allow me to remove the rail in the future if I decide to replace it. I also intend on remounting all of the hardware with the 4200 compound (with the exception of the portlights which should be reinstalled with silicon).

I have ordered new sidestay chainplates, from D&R marine, because the existing plates were of the homegrown variety (3/8" SS eyebolts through aluminum plate backers) and I don't trust them. There are many horror stories in the OdayOwners forums about losing the stick due to failed sidestay chainplates. I also ordered a new SS mast tabernacle because the original aluminum casting is very cheap/flimsy/crap. Since I am replacing the mast step I am going to go ahead and install a halyard organizer plate underneath with the intentions of running the halyards aft to the cockpit. This will require new halyards, which the boat needs anyway (I think the existing ones are the originals and I really wouldn't like to douse my sails unintentionally!). The plate was also ordered from Rudy at D&R marine. The new mast step will be great and hopefully I can mount electrical connections directly on it as opposed to on the deck where they are easily tripped over. I am not having much luck finding a four lead deck connector though(I would like to combine the steaming and masthead lights wires into one connection).

It looks like at least another few weeks of work to get her in the water. Left to do:
*finish the starboard deck repair: more fiberglass, fairing, sanding
*complete fairing the deck
*one last sanding with 120 on the entire deck
*epoxy the top 'skin' of the cabin sole back on, fiberglass the seams, fair and sand
*remount rubrail
*paint the decks and cabin sole: prime, prime, sand, wash, paint, paint, tape off no-skid, paint, paint
*remount all deck hardware with 3M 4200 sealant: craft new SS backing plates for most hardware, drill new mounting holes, rebed the hardware, finger tighten, allow to cure, fully tighten
*install new mast step with organizer plate and electrical connections
*remount the portlights with silicon sealant
*learn how to crimp coaxial cable for the VHF antenna
*replace halyards with new all-rope halyards long enough to be led aft
*clean the hull interior and carpet the cabin walls. (this might have to wait)
*reinstall the bulkheads and cabinets in the cabin
*drop her in the water and hoist the sails!