End of Exploration and Start Of Rebuilding

The destruction now complete I was left with and empty cabin that had only piles of foam , a refrigerator and a shower cubicle left free standing inside.

My first task was to rebuild the left-hand keel beam. The rear part had long ago been eaten away by the termites. Towards the middle of the cabin there remained beam but it was extensively water damaged. Only towards the bow did it seem some might be salvaged.

As I explored its construction I found that it was an early form of engineered lumbar. Being 4 strips of 1/2" Ply each 3" wide. These were on edge and capped with 2" strips of 3/8" Ply forming something akin to an I beam. This had then been glued and bolted to the hull, with the bolts holding the metal keel strip on the outside of the hull.

The remaining salvageable wood towards the bow was allowed to dry and then reinforced with hardener. A replacement beam was manufactured to slot in with the remains. Finally this was bolted and epoxied in place and the final sections glued and screwed in place. Along side the beam I fixed some flexible conduit. This had holes added to it to act like a French drain if water ever again was able to enter this area and stop it building up and rotting the timber.

With this done the foam etc was moved to the left exposing the right hand beam. This was in much better shape All that was needed was some time for it to dry and reinforcing with hardener and towards the bow the sides and top were reinforced with external splinting by some additional new ply.

Now onto the rear of the cabin and cross beams etc.

Good News Bad News. The Hull is water tight

So now the exploration continued. The bottom of the first cross beam, which was ply with a cap of wood was rotten and the bottom quarter inch of foam was wet. The same applied at the next beam. This led to the inevitable conclusion that all the cabin fixtures had to come out as the floor had to be lifted.

It was soon clear that the cupboards and dinette were not worth salvaging as it would be easier and probably cheaper to rebuild. So they were quickly removed and cut up for firewood.

Then the serious work of lifting the floor. This came out easy but the foam was harder and much more volume. As I worked back the cross beams were increasingly rotten and now the bottom 4 inches of foam was wet. By the time I got back to the cabin door I had over 2 inches of standing water. Much to my relief when the cabin door and cross beam below it was removed I had a cascade of water draining out of the bilge drain.

Now to assess what was left.

The Exploration / Destruction Starts

Well the boat was home and I now had some time to start exploring

At first sight the cabin seemed OK. It was worn but considering its age to be expected and I was still hopeful that I might be able to update the electrics  etc and renovate the interior.

But it was not to be.!!!!!!!!!!

My first exploration was to check at the back just in front of the shower. There was a gap leading to the fresh water and grey water tanks. As I felt around I discovered the keel beam in that area appeared to be only dust. Clearly that would need restoring.

Next I started to lift the carpet and and the floor section from the front. Underneath that was buoyancy foam. The timbers to the sides appeared to have some water damage. I cut down through some of the foam and found moisture. Then the question was how much and how bad.

Mother nature helped me at this point with the only decent rain of the year. It became clear that I had a major leak in the roof, centered on the swamp cooler.

When it stopped raining I was able to see the extent of the damage. The mountings of the cooler were completely rotted and the mechanical were also beyond repair. It had to go before any more damage could be done. This was quickly removed and the opening was increased to allow the installation of a  roof  vent from an RV

The Boat Yard

After only a quick inspection it was clear that the mechanicals needed a major review at the very least. I also knew that would be outside of my ability. A quick phone survey of the local options left me with one yard that I felt understood my thinking, especially as a was not looking for some form of show boat.

So we went to Corona Marine to be greeted by Joe and further discussion we had a preliminary estimate and a plan of action. A few days later the first phone call.

But first a little background. This boat is an early form of ABS plastic. Its basic construction is two molds. Deck and Hull, each consisting of two layers of plastic around a foam core. At the transom the foam had been replaced by Ply for increased stiffness. Also underneath were two metal keel plates apparently bolted through to keel beams inside the hull. The floor and cabin were then built up from these beams.

It was clear the motor had to come out to reseal between the motor and drive. However when it came out the wood inside the transom was rotted and needed to be replaced. Joe wasn't sure how much more damage he would find as he peeled back the layers.

A few days more another phone call asking me to come down. When I got there Joe explained he wanted to show me before they started anything. This is were the trees mentioned earlier came in. When I looked I could see sever damage to the beams including live adult termites. We settled on a plan Joe was going to clear all the damaged wood as far as the cabin and rebuild up to the floor level and then seal with fiberglass. I would pick up the reconstruction in the cabin once I got it home.

It was now clear that my delusion of getting on the water before the end of the year (2013) was less and less likely.

The motor was now out and on a bench. It's a 4 cylinder Volvo Penta matched up with a Chrysler Marine Drive. The motor itself needed a new oil pan but otherwise seemed OK. The carburetor on the other hand was less certain. This fear proved grounded as it was stripped down it proved to be beyond repair/refurbishment, leading to a frantic search on the net to find a replacement. Eventually a suitable body was located and a few days later delivered following a few nail biting times hoping not to be out bid on E bay.

Now we could start healing, at least the back. So reconstruction could start including a new fuel tank, and at the end of November Joe delivered my boat to home easily backing into our angle RV parking. ( The Travel Trailer now relegated to storage and I at the time was incapacitated having had surgery a week before on my hand).

Now I could start to investigate further the cabin.

To Be Continued