Bass Relief- A Seafari 25 rehab

[FishStretcher]

A detail of the cracked glass tabbing and lack of bond after I pulled the 2x4.

[FishStretcher]

Going to Merton's for foam and resin soon.

That fuel tank hatch cover is going to lose 15 lb, I swear.

Any opinions on this tabbing? It looks original.
Also, Strick is right about gel coating the bilge. It holds up better than bilge paint.

[FishStretcher]

It has been -1 here at night lately. I glued up some 1/2" H80 divinycell to make a 1" x 6" "hat channel" to replace that rancid 2x4, and better allow me to fit fuel tank fittings. If the old epoxy kicked (the wood stove is going), then I can rip chamfers to make it a trapezoid shape so I can lay glass on it. Cold west system epoxy doesn't pump very well. I bet the 5 gallon jug of resin was 45F...

I don't care for epoxy, but in this case, it will work. It won't need gel coat, and I can use it indoors in winter next to a wood stove without blowing myself up or stinking the house up.

[FishStretcher]

I have been thinking about cockpit drains. Strick had some advice a while back that I kind of ignored, and now I am going to listen to it. Or try to.

Anyway, at home depot today I found a brass shower drain with removable stainless screen plate. $22. A PVC version was $11.

It looks perfect for putting in a sandwich cored deck with some 5200 sealant.

Thoughts?

[strick]

That tabbing in the previous post does look a little on the light side. It would not hurt to reinforce that.

I don't remember which previous advice your talking about but my advice on the above post would be to use marine grade deck drains from a marine mfg. I would think that they may hold up better. I'm sure you could find something similar. She is looking good.

strick

[FishStretcher]

Construction of the under deck brace to allow the tank to fit. This will be shallower in cross section, but more glass, and foam filled. (Obviously).

I had to laminate two strips of Divinycell H80 to get 1" thickness (I didn't need a whole sheet of 1"). So that is West System in the joint making it look like a jam sandwich. I really don't like that stuff, I get rashy when I use it. But I couldn't lay up vinylester in the basement.

The offcut from making the trapezoid makes for a nice foam fillet- that's a plus.

[FishStretcher]

So I looked for cockpit drains- there is a similar shape Marelon drain in 1-1/2" diameter for about $30. The chamfer on the flange is a lot steeper. Not sure I like that. But it won't corrode.

[FishStretcher]

I de-cored the fuel tank hatch today. Probably 15 lbs of soggy plywood in there. That will be getting the divinycel treatment, too. Between that and the wet 2x4 "supporting" the deck, I bet that's a 25lb weight loss.

[strick]

Originally Posted by FishStretcher

So I looked for cockpit drains- there is a similar shape Marelon drain in 1-1/2" diameter for about $30. The chamfer on the flange is a lot steeper. Not sure I like that. But it won't corrode.

Well you could always pull them out if they corrode and replace them with the Marelon but then you would be doing it twice I'm doing something twice right now and I'm missing out on the spring striped bass run.....

strick

[cdavisdb]

Agree with strick on the tabbing. I'm assuming you have checked the lower portions of the bulkheads for rot.

Just a general comment. I sure no expert on boat construction, but have spent a modest amount of time rummaging around the the guts of Bertrams, Seabirds and several older 20ft seacrafts, and it seems to me that the construction of the 25, particularly mine, is pretty sloppy in comparison. Yours looks in the same range. The design is wonderful, but I'd beef up connection points, like the tabbing, and make sure the stringer tabbing forward is still tightly stuck.