Yep, more tabbing

It seems like I'm finding about three hours each day to make progress on the Alberg. I began around 9 this morning and wrapped up at 11:30, making it 2.5hrs of fiberglassing. I'll be honest: I used to think fiberglassing was kinda cool; now I think it's a bit tedious. Like the grinding before it, I'm eager to get the fiberglassing done.

I glassed in the bulkheads on the port side of the saloon, once again using the unidirectional cloth. There's nothing too interesting to report about that. It went well. One little surprise is just how quickly I'm depleting my recently-purchased gallon of resin. Holy cow, this stuff goes fast - at $100/gallon! Ouch! As I'm tabbing, I find my mind considering cheaper alternatives, then coming back to the foolishness of cutting corners when I'm this far into the project. I'm sure polyester resin would be fine for the "furniture" installations (it's what Whitby used when they installed the bulkheads, etc), but I guess it's frowned upon in the boat rebuilding circles - at least that's my guess. Anyone care to enlighten me? Am I wasting too much money by using West System to install these bits?

Inside of the port settee

Galley ice box bulkhead

Aft end of the galley ice box bulkhead

More bulkhead tabbing

I ran out of my 6" and 4" biaxial tape, but before I did I was able to tab the starboard bulkhead with two layers on the forward side and one layer on the aft side. I'll need to order more biaxial tape in order to finish the aft side and the rest of the settee and galley bulkheads. That will have to wait a week or so, however, since we're going to be spending some time together as a family.

I fired up the Westerbeke the other week just to ensure that it still runs. I keep fearing that I'll go to all the trouble to get the boat back together only to discover that I don't have a functioning diesel engine! That would be terrible. The diesel is sounding good and runs well. I'm looking forward to the day when it's sitting on a new engine bed and pushing Tradewinds through the water.

Settees, Galley, and Ice box/Nav

It's amazing how many steps it takes to cut one piece of wood to fit within the contours of a boat's geometry - especially when the power tools are on the ground and the measurements and fitting are within the boat (via a rickety ladder).

I've made good progress over the last couple days, however. I measured and cut plywood for the port and starboard settee fronts; the galley bulkhead, which is also the starboard engine box panel; the ice box bulkhead, which is the port engine box panel; both port and starboard settee tops and center supports. It's crazy how so few parts can consume two 10-hour days - and they're not even tabbed in place yet. Much of my time is spent trying to visualize what I want and how I want the parts to come together. And then once I've decided that, the process of defining an edge from which to take my measurements, and then taking the measurements, eats up even more time. And, of course, transferring my measurements to a piece of plywood and then cutting it out carefully takes yet more time. Nothing about this is fast. But why should it be? I've had this project for ten long years already!

But how incredibly satisfying it was yesterday to drag the settee cushions out of the basement and test fit them on the new settees! Had I not been so hot and sweaty and covered in sawdust, I could have taken a nap.

Determining level and settee height.

The two bulkheads framing the beginning of the engine box.

I couldn't resist: I had to try the cushion in place to see how things fit.

The starboard cushion wasn't cut properly, so it's tight at the forward outboard end.

1/2" ply for the settee tops; 3/4" ply for the settee fronts.

So far my materials are: 3 sheets 3/4" ply; 3 sheets 1/2" ply; 100 SS fasteners; 2 8' pine boards for cleat material.

Today I glassed in the forward side of the port bulkhead - and it took far longer than I expected. Wetting out 1708 biaxial cloth takes a lot of time! My setup wasn't the most efficient either. I did two layers of 6" and 4" tabbing all around the edge of the bulkhead.

I went ahead and cut all the layers/strips of cloth for the other side of this bulkhead and both sides of the starboard bulkhead. I'll tackle that job tomorrow after my epoxy mess in the cabin hardens and I can set up a more efficient work station.

Sanding and bulkheads

Yesterday I continued sanding the cabin. After sanding for about an hour and a half, I decided to rest my shoulders and focus on installing the two main saloon bulkheads. I'd coated the ends of the bulkheads in epoxy a few days prior, so after a water rinse I placed one bulkhead and used a couple shims hot-glued to the hull to hold the bulkhead square and level while I placed fillets around its edges. The port bulkhead in, I did the same to the starboard bulkhead. It feels so incredibly good to have begun reconstruction. This day has been (far) too many years in the making.

The next three pictures are of the sanding progress. The white interior paint was flaking and mildewed in spots. I'm taking the surface back to either fiberglass or what appears to be a lightweight fairing compound Whitby used originally. I'm thinking about using Petit's EasyPoxy when it comes time to paint the interior. In the FWIW department, I timed myself sanding an area approximately 2'x2'. It took me 25 minutes. I estimate there are about five 2'x2' areas remaining on the cabin overhead. That's 2 hours of sanding left to do.