One thing leads to another.

[saillover]

I started thinking that I would redo the deck to hull Joint and the interior cabin top.
What follows will show you how it is all turning out.
Here is an update on my little CP16 Deck to hull joint progress.

I decided to replace all the rivets and so that I could apply the 3M5200 between the flanges and be assured of a leak free job. The boat needs to have most of the interior woodwork replaced due to rot so if I was going to unattach the deck temporarily why not take it off completely. It is only a 16 foot boat and well suported on the trailer. I would make the interior work so much easier.

So when I started it looked like this,


Then off came the top...



The interior looked bad...







So I removed it...





Water had gotten in from several routes and gotten under the the loose fiberglass epoxy attempt that the PO had made to seal the cement ballast. Fortunately the cement is in good shape with only a minor area that had softened.
I am planning to smooth up the cement surface and seal it and paint it. I do not know what is most effective, I am thinking about a good penetrating masonry sealer and then Bilge Kote? ??

The expanding foam that was injected at the factory provides flotation, insulation and support, I want to fill the entire area under the new plywood with something similiar. Advice welcomed...

I will continue with more later...
I want to be sailing by May 19th 2007  Lots to do...

This is reposted from another excellent resource forum " http://triton381.com/forum/index.php "

[Cricket Crew]

Wow ... Looks like you've been busy! Thanks for posting the picks and update!
What did you use to cut the old berths out?
Was there any 'shifting' in the hull shape when you removed the cabin? Was the hull thickness sturdy enough to keep the side from 'bowing' out?
I tried chipping the concrete ballast on Cricket with a small sledge hammer and chisel and it went REAL slow ~ doing Bilge Pretzels at the same time ... I think you have the right idea removing the deck...
Let us know how things progress and keep up the GREAT work!
AJ

[saillover]

My plan is to chisel the concrete down low enough to level with thickened epoxy then cover with some roving and seal it up.
Then install stringers and plywood deck. I want to fill the cavity with a closed cell foam. Has anyone got experience with expanding foam for this type of application?



The tools..



Better tool..



I am going to shorten the previous berth to allow for more aft storage.



I cut the berths out with a small cordless Makita circular saw. The carbide blade was junk when I finished.
The hull stayed in shape fine although I am being careful walking on the unprotected hull.  It is more flexible without the large foam chunks that I removed and also now I have removed the fiberglass tabbing and some of the concrete.

My biggest worry when removing the deck had to do with the cockpit drains. I need to reconnect the PVC pipe that i had to cut.  I have several ideas when the time comes.


I have left the tabbing from the berths and I plan to set the new plywood on top of it and use it as a ledge for support. Then I will fillet, fiberglass and epoxy it in from the top. There will be no little foot well like it had before.

I really appreciated Floridaze's postings of the work he did on his CP16 so I wanted to return the favor by posting as much of my work as possible. 

[Cricket Crew]

Yes ... I agree! FLORADAZE postings help immensely! Thanks again Kevin! I based my 'adoption' of Cricket on looking at the work Kevin had done ... the images of his progress were the deciding element for someone like myself with little to no knowledge in this arena.

I am following your work ~ keep the pics coming!
AJ

[multimedia_smith]

WOW!! Fascinating Pics!!! It's like seeing deep into the body for the first time... I have always wondered what was under the cockpit and berths.
You did the right thing removing the deck.

I would be careful with the expanding foam... if placed in a confined space, it can exert enough force to deform the hull... I think this must be why the factory didn't put enough to fill the confined area enough to apply pressure.

One thing that would be helpful is to create sealed compartments... anchor locker, cabin, midships, and stern.  In this way, if you develop a leak in a specific place... say perhaps the anchor hausepipe, or the scupper tubes... the water would be contained in that area.  I made a lip at the back of the cabin compartment to contain splashes and spills to the cabin and plan to seal the anchor locker... I already replaced the hausepipe with a fresh water intake plug... it looks good and seals great.
At some point, I plan to remove the rub rail, replace the rivets, and seal the seam... perhaps this coming summer.

Once you complete this project, you will be able to sail with utmost confidence in your craft... great job.

Dale

[Paul]

Wow!  Hat's off to you!

That's been my very intention as well regarding the hull/deck joint.  But, you know what they say about intentions........Anyway, it would certainly make work inside a whole lot easier.  You do raise a good point I hadn't thought of; moving around in there without hurting the sides of the hull.

Seems like someone has replaced the plywood in the cabin successfully by removing all the wood at the tabbing.  I think he found the fiberglass part of the tabbing remained, allowing him to maintain the height of the plywood in the cabin.

Regarding the foam, check out Jamestown Distributors.  LINK

Hope this helps.  Keep up the good work and keep us posted.

Paul

[B.Hart]

Great job with the pictures. When I first bought my 16 I was planing to remove the deck to replace the bad wood and glass on the keel and starboard bunk. Luckly my boat turned out to be in very good condition (it looked worse than it was)Keep up the good work!

[Craig Weis]

This is great, diceting your boat for all of us to see. Thank you.
It will be a fine [er] boat when she's back together.
I can't say anything about the closed cell expanding foam.
Maybe 'Great Stuff' in a spray can. It's heck to work with.

I have a give a way Senior Dolphin 16'-3" kind of looks like a Sunfish, same rig.
And those factory people foamed the hull full of Non-Closed cell foam. The jerks.

So I cut off the deck at the hull deck joint and cut out the foam with hand chisel, knife, and grinder.
The water just ran out if I squeezed the foam chunks in my hand.

You know, not only was the deck riveted and gluded together but the whole darn thing was also foamed [stuck] together so a special tool. A sharped long piece of steel reaching past the 1/2 way center point of the beam was made to slit the foam. What a job.

And a small crack in the glass hull allowed the entire boat to soak up water.
It weighed more then 400 lb as compared to the advertise weight of 150 lbs.
But I peeled off the deck much like this project and turned the hull over in the lot across from the 'A' and let it Drip~Dry all fall and winter. Our snow is still around but soon we'll get back to this. skip.

[nies]

Sailerlover, many years ago I purchased a louvered vent to put in my drop board like you show in first picture, still have it, but worry where to get another one if something happens to it. Can not remember where I got it, if you or anyone else knows,please let me know............Phil

[nies]

Thanks fo48, I have looked at the West catalog twenty times and never noticed them, I think my vent is little larger, but looks exactly like the one in the catalog, made by Seafit, I will also check them.......thanks Phil.........went and measured...15" by 8 1/2" with screen on inside and a plastic removable insert....thanks again....

[davemcg3000]

Thanks for posting this work again - It's going to help when I open up my boat to the sky.

Has anyone redesigned their 16's interior, to make it more comfortable or usable, or ??

Dave

[NateD]

I haven't, but I've thought a lot about how I would like to do it. Redesigning it really depends on how you plan to use it. My thoughts are based on using the boat for weekend->1 week trips and sleeping aboard.

The worst part about sleeping on the boat is the size of the quarter berths, they are too narrow and too close to the cockpit benches. If you are serious about sleeping in the cabin on a regular basis, it might be possible to lower the height of the berths, and combine them into a single large berth that extends under the cockpit sole. You would probably still want a few supports running up from the keel to the bottom side of the cockpit sole for support, so the 1 large berth still have a couple of support running up in the middle, but I think it would be a lot more comfortable than two quarter berths. You would still want to be able to step down into the cabin without stepping on your bedding, so the portion of the berth right below the companion way would be pop up and stow underneath the cockpit, then could be put back in place when you hunker down for the night to make most of the interior into a berth. The biggest problem with this is where to put the porta-potti, and I don't have a good answer for that yet.

The next thing would be to seal off the aft storage area that is accessible from the cockpit. I keep a 2 gallon gas can back there, and of course the fumes get dispersed through the entire cabin. I would block that storage area off with an airtight/watertight bulkhead, so that it was only accessible from the cockpit.

Another thing is storage. The flat storage area just fore of the berths is difficult to use. You put a cooler on there, pots and pans in a tote, food in a tote, clothes in a dufflebag, then you pound through the waves and everything ends up sliding all over the cabin. I would make that storage platform taller, then cut two large holes in it and create storage areas underneath. If you really wanted to get slick, instead of accessing the storage area from the top (meaning you would still have to move whatever was sitting on top of it), you could make 2-3 large drawers on sliders that would pull out from there. Then I would create a 2" lip across the front of that storage area to help keep the cooler and other things in place.

The last thing is somewhere to sit in the cabin. I think if the height of the front storage area was raised, it would give you more of a backrest with your feet down into the berth so you could sit and read or chat.

There is still the problem of where to store the porta-potti while the interior is in full-berth mode, which I don't have a good answer for yet.

[Brian 1851]

Hi Dave,

     When you say more usuable it seems you are talking about more comfortable sleeping arrangements.  I have thought from time to time about this myself; even though I have never stayed overnight in my boat I would like to in relative comfort maybe sometime in the future.  The first solution I saw was in Robert F. Burgess's book, Handbook of Trailer Sailing, which is having a filler cushion between the bunks.  I thought this was nice but you still have the problem of your knees getting banged around if you turn over in the middle of the night.  There is also the great accommodations you can make in your cockpit which seems the way to go but there may be times you want to spend the night in the cabin for one reason or another.  I saw a picture one time of someone who put boards in the cabin on an incline from the very beginning of the cabin on both bunks to the back part of the storage shelf which is about 5 feet.  There was the normal gap in between the bunks.  To me the solution for me in the cabin for two people to sleep comfortably might be part Robert Burguess's book and the picture I saw solution.  To have that incline in your boat formed by some extra plywood or have cushions to accomplish the same affect.  In addition have a filler in the middle to match the bunks.  This way your have a lot of room, relatively, for your body and enough for your head and feet without bumping your knees in the middle of the night.  I hope this helps and you can understand what I am saying.