Hull of a day

[Love MACs]

Well we had a burst of springtime here with the temp at 60 and sunshine all day. So I grabbed my materials and headed out to work on the boat today and for the first time. Pumped 7 gal of water out of the bilge. Most got in since we brought her home a month ago now ( it was garage kept until we got her). Need to install a bilge pump if I can find out where the hose is that goes to the aft thru hull, do most of you guys install a sea cock there to keep the water from back flowing? How about the thru hull for the galley sink?

Marine sealant on all the holes and leaks I could find, and there were several. Starting to bundle all the wires in the aft berth together as the PO evidently did not use it except for storage, the wires are all over the place. Took measurements of all the spaces I want to improve/change or alter (galley front, Porta Potty shelf, cooler area, water storage etc.) Started replacing old tiny ring dings with R pins. Wasted more time with the neighbors who kept dropping by, to admire the boat and see what I was up to (its like a group home here, everyone living on the cove is retired...but half of them left for Florida right after Christmas until April. So I only had half the distraction I would have had normally)

I bought a new Stainless Steel bow roller on ebay yesterday. So I crawled far forward of the front berth to look for the interior hatch opening, that I had read about here on the board, that was supposed to give me access to the deck above (to install hardware). Well there was an opening, but no hatch, not even screw holes where one might have been just a small opening to the underdeck. NO matter what position I tucked my self in, I was not able to get two arms into that opening. I got out my torque wrench and with the longest extension I have I may be able to tighten bolts, that that is still in question. I have no idea how I am going to get washers up there let alone a backing plate that I want to install under the roller for added support This is going to be tricky.

Six hours and I finally gave it all up...until tomorrow Supposed to be a carbon copy of today. I knew before but now understand what you guys mean by "mod fever" You know this almost as much fun as sailing

Allan

[Nautek]

Hi Allan

All the water in the bilge must come from somewhere
I would suspect firstly the chainplates where they come through the deck
They probably need resealing
If that doesn't stop it then you need to look at the other fittings

For getting things into tight places use bluetac (it is used for sticking posters etc on the walls) on the end of screwdrivers etc
It will hold your washer in place on the end of the extension

Allan

[Kelly Hanson East]

Allan - the trick to working up under the bow is to get some cushions to raise yourself up so that you are lying up closer to where you need to work. So far I have backed and mounted a bow roller and a second forestay on the bow of my 2002

[ferd johns]

Allan

I had the same issue. I have claustrophobia, and could not shove my (68 year old) arms and shoulders up there into a position to allow me to install the under deck fasteners for a bow roller without freaking out. I had a 1996 26x before, and it was easy to do through the removable access plate on this model, as noted elsewhere on this forum. I did it alone with vise grips and a set of socket wrenches on that boat. My current 2001 has the newer "headliner" design, which allows direct and very easy access to the cleat mounting bolts etc. in the factory before the deck is dropped down and bolted to the hull, but makes for a very long reach and very, very tight fit after the boat is put together. Luckily for me, I have a long-armed ,slim, young sailing friend who was willing to do the inside work while I worked topside. We actually removed all of the cushions to give him more wiggle room, and taped the s.s. nut and washer assemblies (fender washer, regular washer, jam nut)to a socket on an extension. Ended up using a fairly short extension due to tight fit, if I remember right. The edge of one of the fender washers had to be clipped off a bit to clear a cleat washer, so maintaining proper alignment was tedious to say the least. Also, getting and keeping plenty of caulk where it needed to be was exciting. A light inside is most helpful, but, of course, competes with the head, arms and body of the inside man for space. We dropped things several times (a couple of extra washers might save some searching time!), but it got done. Patience is all it took. And a good, if skinny, friend.

Ferd Johns
Bozeman MT

[Rick Westlake]

Allan,

That "access plate" under the bow ... evidently some of us have it and some of us haven't. Bossa Nova had a large cutout in the overhead-liner forward of the foredeck hatch, under the anchor locker, that was glued & screwed into place. Uncle Jim's 26X doesn't have a panel like that.

You could get a large, thin piece of StarBoard and make your own hatch under the anchor locker - not an easy job, but it would give you "plenty of room" to work under there. (Lying on your back in those tight quarters, "plenty" is quite subjective.) I can advise you of the size of my access plate, if you want to go that route.

[K9Kampers]

I've been thinking about this access mod too. I estimate a possible 7 to 8 inches of 'bouyancy space' between the inner liner and the bottom of the anchor locker. I'm visualizing using a Roto tool or dremel to cut a panel that incorporates the bottom surface, forward corner, & forepeak surface. Remove panel & foam to work on forepeak, re-install all when finished. Mounting strips of AL or SS around inside of access opening to create a mounting flange to resecure the access panel for professional look.

[Love MACs]

Thanks for all your ideas and encouragement. The job has to be done so... But I can think of many more fun projects I sealed (around) the chain plates as I was going along yesterday, along with any screw, tap, bolt, snap or rivet...basically anything that was attached to the boat

Well it is 60 deg now so heading out for some more fun projects. Wish all of you had this nice weather


Allan

[Love MACs]

After another busy but fun day, repairing and cleaning up mistakes from the PO, I find more problems to over come. I found that the head sink won't drain... the hose to the adjacent thru hull has a sever kink in it and since it didn't work he evidently just cut the line to the sink hand water pump so now there is no water there either. Since I can't reach the drain hose to the thru hull from the bilge I will have to cut thru the interior liner to make work space to shorten the hose. And then reconnect the hand pump water line with my water supply on he other side of the boat.

Also discovered that the electric water pump attached to the galley faucet doesn't work. Any ideas as to where I can purchase an inexpensive pump that will be strong enough to pump not only to the galley but also to the head on the opposite side of the boat

Allan

[nedmiller]

I installed a 12 volt Flo Jet Quad II on demand pump and then ran pvc water lines from the electric pump to the other side of the boat by going under the dinette to the bow, then across the bow and back down the opposite bilge. In the Galley, I installed a 'utility faucet' which looks just like a small chrome kitchen or bar sink type faucet but it has a hose fitting on it which really comes in handy. In the head, I installed a faucet like is used for filtered water--you press down on the lever and it turns on the water. That is very handy with soapy hands. The on demand pump never runs until you turn on the water. Now that PEX water pipe is available, I would use that if I were doing it again.
SILK