26/3/2024 0 Comments 26th MarchAfter weeks of ripping out the old floor, pumping out oily water from the bilge and de-greasing the hull, preparing wood at home and varnishing it, I *finally* got some floor boards laid. Still a lot to do. The three slightly wonky looking boards with cuts across will be fixed together and providing with a recessed handle so they can be lifted out in one piece to gain access to the prop-shaft stuffing box. To the left of the second picture there's still a gap between floor board and skirting (and the skirting needs painting). The wedge supporting the cupboard will go once there are floor boards under the cupboard's legs.
Final touch will be to make 'rag rugs' to provide a warmer, softer surface.
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16/3/2024 0 Comments 16th MarchA couple more photos of work in progress. First, a 'feather edge' board which be glued direct to the hull, the feathering going some way to cancelling out the slope of the vee hull. The chamfered edge of the decking boards will marry up with the thick edge of this board. The hull sides are slightly curved so the beam is greatest about 2/3 of the way back from the bow. This board will run straight though so all the decking boards can be the same length. Next to this will be some thin matchboard cut to fit the hull shape.
Secondly, some boards being varnished. So far I have 5 varnished twice on both sides, 5 varnished twice on one side and once on the other (this afternoon's job) and 26 not varnished at all... 15/3/2024 0 Comments March 15thWorking on Seren now she's in Crick isn't so easy, it's about 1hr 10 min if the traffic co-operates and I find driving tiring. But I do try to get there once a week. In between I do some work at home to make the next trip more productive. I've spent a lot of time getting oily water out of the bilge. I can't just pump it out because the marina owners and other boaters would not be happy with oil floating around so I've got most out by bailing or pumping into a bucket then carrying that to the canal bank and flinging it as far as I can into the canal. I've been using degreaser on the hull and add some detergent to each bucket load so the oil emulsifies and doesn't leave a tell-tale oil slick. It's nearly done now, I have some oil-absorbent pads to get the last bit out next time. Then I have to do the same under the engine and try to prevent oil from the sump under the engine spilling into the bilge in future. It'd be nice to find the oil leak too once the engine is cleaned up but it's hard to see under a boat engine without taking it out. I want the hull clean and degreased so I can glue some new bearers in to support the new floor. The picture shows a test run with a single floor board made from timber decking and some bits of timber underneath to support it. I haven't removed the bed and the floor under it which seems sound but I'm making the new floor about 15mm lower so it will fit under the bed (and later also the drawers and WC/shower). This will involve removing all the old transverse bearers but I've left a few of the better ones in so far to use as a guide to floor level. Some of the bearers also support propshaft bearings, so that's an extra complication. The second photo shows how the first board was planed to fit the shallow vee hull. I need 35 of these and that's too much work for an old codger so I got a local joinery company to cut them to length and bandsaw the chamfers. They are all in my shed at home. I've coated them all with brown 'fence paint' as an extra layer of water-proofing that also functions as a 'stain'. I'm slowly working through applying 2 coats of varnish to each, on both sides. I can't do many at once due to limited bench space.
I'm also working on boards to fit direct to the hull beyond where the decking boards end. More details in the next post. 11/3/2024 0 Comments 'nother testThis time I'm trying a tracker system... ... seems to work OK so I've transferred it to the Tracking Seren page. |
AuthorPhil, owner, captain, chief engineer, electrician, carpenter, cook and comms manager of Seren Archives
April 2024
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