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.
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AuthorPhil, owner, captain, chief engineer, electrician, carpenter, cook and comms manager of Seren Archives
April 2024
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