O'Day Mariner Sailboat Restoration

[Scott Danforth]

you will have to drill and countersink your own mounting holes, however it drills easy like aluminum or wood

 

[Ned L]

Nice work! Your O'day is certainly worth it, they are timeless well respected boats. I'm looking forward to seeing her finished.

 

[tpenfield]

Thanks, Ned.

Today was 'Keel Trunk' day . . .

I checked out the keel trunk a bit more and did some sanding. There were cracks pretty much all the way around the base of the trunk where it meets the bottom of the hull. Gelcoat cracks really, some areas the gelcoat had chipped away exposing the fiberglass. So the plan went from a few areas of patching to putting a thin layer of fiberglass around the entire trunk opening to seal it up and give it a bit of strength.

Here is the special sanding tool that I made for sanding up inside the trunk. It gives a pretty good reach to get up inside the trunk. I used 36 grit and then 100 grit to get into the gelcoat a bit, both around the edges and up inside the trunk for the barrier coat that I will apply when I do the entire hull.



Here is a picture of the keel trunk, looking up into it. . . after a bit of sanding


Here is the base well sanded.


Here is the significant area of cracking that I had found earlier.


Here are some other areas . . . pretty much all around. It is like the trunk has been flexing somewhat over its 40 year life. It may be from the weight of the keel or from the boat itself flexing. Who knows :noidea:


I cut some narrow strips of fiberglass from what I had left over from the keel glassing and bonded them to the hull using some thickened epoxy, pretty much the same way that I had done on the keel. I applied the epoxy, then the fiberglass cloth and then rolled it smooth with the roller. Here are a few pictures . . .

The glass is right at the corner all the way around the base of the trunk. I'll have to smooth out some areas once it cures.


I doubled the glass layers in the area that had the most significant cracking


Here is a picture of the glassing at the end of the trunk.


Hopefully, the layer of glass will avoid the cracking in the future. Since the cracks were superficial, I think the lead ballast chambers that are around the keel trunk should be fine. . . odds are no water penetration.

Next steps are to complete the sanding of the hull bottom in preparation for the barrier coat and anti-fouling paint.

 

[tpenfield]

A few odds and ends today . . .

I put a top coat of barrier coat (Interprotect 2000E) on the keel



I also coated the rudder with barrier coat, as this too will be painted with anti-fouling paint.



I also did some work in the cabin. . . There are cockpit drains that are somewhat undersized. They tend to get clogged. To compound matters, the PO had rigged garden hose in a looped fashion which seem to trap debris and clog even worse. See picture below . . .

The hose connects the cockpit drain to the thru-hull. There is one on each side of the cocpit.



I got some 45 degree fittings and some oversized tubing to make a larger and more direct route. Hopefully, this will work out better. We shall see.



Now that March is upon us and Spring is just around the corner, I am hoping for some warmer days so that I can move forward with painting the hull. The boat is very dirty/dusty from all of the keel work. I plan on painting the bottom of the hull, then moving the boat outside for a complete wash-down before doing the hull and the topsides.

 

[alldodge]

Coming along nicely

 

[tpenfield]

Coming along nicely

Thanks AD.

In doing the cockpit drains, I might have goofed, and time will tell. I used some copper fittings for the 45 degree bends in the drain plumbing. I was thinking bronze would be better, but all I could scrounge up at the time was copper. I also considered plastic, but everything that I could find in plastic was 90 degree bends which would tend to cause the same sort of problems as the old drain tubing.

I figured that copper is used for water/plumbing, so how bad a choice could it be ??? :noidea:

Copper is pretty high on the nobility scale, so I am wondering if it will be OK, or should I keep an eye out for something else. Finding the right tubing/fitting match seems to be difficult as they are 5/8 barb fittings, whereas now-a-days there seems to be 1/2" or 3/4" more commonly.

The boat is going to sit on a mooring for 4-5 months at a time. Salt water.

 

[alldodge]

I looked at it and thought you always do a great job so didn't give it much thought, but did have a fleeting thought wiz by. My thought was to use some high grade drain hose like what Formula uses. It's ribbed for strength and smooth on the inside and fairly flexible. I still have a bunch of it

 

[alldodge]

BTW if you want to try a piece I could send it, just let me know what the ID is

 

[tpenfield]

Actually, now that you mention it, I have a few feet of that tubing at the summer house, and I think it is 3/4" ID, which will work. I tried using some 3/4" hose and could not get it to make the bends without buckling.

I'm just wondering about the copper fittings if they will hold up . . . or not.

I could not find too much info on the Internet . . . some positive info, but nothing definitive. If they will hold up as is, I'll leave them. If they won't too long, I'll swap them out at some point.

 

[alldodge]

I think the copper will last for some years, how many I don't know, guess it depends on how much salt is invloved

 

[GA_Boater]

Can't tell exactly from the pic, but is the drain thru-hull in the bottom and below the water line? The drain will be filled with sea water up to the water line at rest and as the boat heels, the water will be coming up the tubes - Possibly into the cockpit. That may the reason for original loop.

I like the re-stripe plan. Is roll and tip a basketball play? That's how much I know.

 

[tpenfield]

The drain tubing is partially filled when the boat is in the water . . . probably 2/3 the way up. I had folks tell me that with a heavy load of passengers, water can come up as high as the cockpit drain level. Not to say that water could/would not come up into the cockpit when heeling . . . no information that it does.

Just wondering if my choice of copper fittings is OK or a 'no-no' :noidea:

 

[GA_Boater]

This is kind of related. And another. Helpful - :noidea:

 

[fhhuber]

The copper will eventually corrode away... A few years with constant seawater exposure. Iron would be a worse choice.

Inspect monthly after 6 months. Maybe replace annually to be paranoid.

 

[tpenfield]

I like the re-stripe plan. Is roll and tip a basketball play? That's how much I know.

It could be basketball . . . or it might be bowling, not quite sure.

I did see that Harbor Freight is having a sale on their HVLP Spray Guns. I might do that on the cabin and interior areas and see how it goes.

 

[tpenfield]

I did find this 'galvanic series chart' which ranks the metals according to their nobility. Copper is a bit higher than bronze, but not as high as stainless. Dave Pascoe's article on corrosion indicates that copper is a problem. So, I'll see if I can switch the copper out for plastic or something else.


As you can see from the chart the 'corroded end' of the scale lists the metals to the anodes that are commonly used on outdrives, etc.

 

[tpenfield]

Sorry for the repeated posts, BUT from what reference information that I can find on the Internet, this copper thing is clear as mud. :facepalm:

It seems like the issues with using copper is the depletion of weaker metals and if a copper alloy is used, depletion of the weaker metal within the alloy. My head hurts after reading a bunch of stuff.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Find a hydraulic shop to bend you some 316L stainless hydraulic tube

 

[kcassells]

Pex fittings are copper alloy {plastic too} now and are available in all copper tubing/fitting sizes. Addiionally you could go with pex x male or female adapters and finish the pipe run with staineless steel braided hoses that will allow flex. The hoses like they use on hot water heaters, under vanities etc, high pressure lines and a variety of other applications involved with corrosive chemicals.

 

[tpenfield]

Thanks, everyone for the ideas. i should be able to figure something out during the Spring prep work as I visit various marine stores, etc. I think if I can just replace the copper elbows, all is good.