1972 19' 1" Gull Aquasport rebuild- finally back at it

[RickK]

Coming along nicely Tim!! 8)
What are you going to be using the big center compartment for?  Lots of rigging tubes end there?  Is there anyway for water to get from compartment to compartment if it ever does get in?

[Tim/GA]

That compartment will have 2 thru hulls, one with a scoop, and the pumps for the livewell and later on the washdown.  Also going to be giving a shoot thru the hull transducer a shot and will be in there.  The half tube that is glassed to the hull bottom runs any water from the forward parts of the hull (fuel tank bay, etc.) back to the small bilge area and bilge pump/drain tube.  I wanted to keep the thru hull area sealed in the unlikely event I break a thru hull or have a hose fail.  I will be cutting a hole for a plug so that I can drain the compartment if needed.  Probably overkill but since I am doing the work might as well do it.  The number of tubes is due to wanting to have wiring and hose runs and the one that you see with the bend that does not open into the compartment is the tube for the fuel hose.

[Tim/GA]

Floor is in!  Got it in last night and left it alone today to get a full cure.  This week I hope to get some cabosil/resin the the joints and fair out the tops of the deck boards.  Next weekend I will not be able to work on the boat until Sun. but will hopefully be laying filleting and taping the edges and laying 2 of 1708 on the floor.  Will  have to see, I HATE losing an hour of daylight in the evenings!

Forward section of the floor.  The center board covers the fuel tank bay and is upside down right now to keep a bow out of it until I get the top glassed and the stiffeners in (the side you see has been glassed).



Rear section in.  The large opening will have a hatch and is the compartment I was talking about in this post before.  Also, I  have not cut all of the tubes to length at the stern yet.  They are just stuck in there and capped to keep out debri.

[JimCt]

The cut-outs for the rigging tubes are spot-on!  Looks great. How are your evening temps. doing down there?  Are you having to go to a faster hardener?

Heard on the news our gifted representatives in Washington have moved the time set-back to November next year, but that doesn't help us any this year.  Why they don't just do away with it escapes me.  Children can wait for the morning bus in the dark.  Be good for 'em.

[RickK]

Thanks for the explanation Tim.  Makes sense, especially when you see the floor in.

Heard on the news our gifted representatives in Washington have moved the time set-back to November next year, but that doesn't help us any this year.  Why they don't just do away with it escapes me.  Children can wait for the morning bus in the dark.  Be good for 'em.

Yup, when I was a kid it was dark when waiting to be picked up at the bus stop AND when they dropped us back off.  

[Bluesbrother]

Looks great!! After having done quite some foaming myself with both 2 and 4 lbs foam I can tell you the temperature makes a huge difference. I was forced to do nearly all foaming after 11pm cause it would just be to warm. As soon as part a hit part b it would come up without mixing!! In the end we had to do it with 2 persons and I used plasic cups to mix in, I can tell you several of those cups stayed embedded in the foam inside the hull. 8)

[Tim/GA]

Yep, one particular stand of bamboo behind the boat has a bit of a foam coating right now.  Was sort of funny.  I tried to be stingy and reuse a gallon milk jug that I had just poured a batch from (I was mixing batches of about 1 1/2 liters of A and the same of B so not much room left over) and just as I finished mixing it took off.  I was looking to have serious mess and just chucked it out of the boat- foam flying everywhere outside the boat at least.  Then I realized just how much money I had just tossed out so I jumped out and grabbed the jug and poured it in the area that would be under the floor rather than try to get it in the stringers.  Saved about 2/3rds of the batch at least but had to look pretty funny if someone saw me!

Rick- if I had my way the dawn in the fall and winter would be sometime around 8 or 9 in the morning.  Who cares about sunlight when we are at work/school.  Besides, think how nice it would be to wake up to go hunting or fishing at dawn and not have to get up until 7 or later!  Sounds like heaven to me.

Jim, Thanks.  The port cut outs were really close.  Some are a bit wide on the starboard but not to bad.

[Tim/GA]

Been a few weeks without much to report, never have a chance to get any work done before dark during the week.  New garage will be a big help when I get moved.  Also spent part of last weekend on Sapelo Island with the Science Club from school.  We were working with the DNR to cut out tallow (popcorn) trees- and invasive species.

Finally did get some work in this afternoon, not as much as I wanted though.  Took me a lot longer to lay out and trim all of the glass to be laid on the new deck- but it is ready to go in tomorrow.  Going to use a bunch of resin tomorrow!  Should have pics by the end of the day.

[JimCt]

Can you lay all the glass in one shot?

[Tim/GA]

Should not be a problem to lay it all in pretty much one shot.  I am only using epoxy resin on this project and with the weather cooling down a bit for tomorrow it will extend my working time.  The way everything is layed out I can stand and work from the fuel tank bay and as well as a bit from the pump bay and of outside the transom.  In the pic you can see the hatch opening in the stern and the center piece of wood to the right in the pic is covering the tank bay that runs to the casting deck.


I am laying 2 layers of 1708 tomorrow and later (after more work is done and sanding, etc.) I will put one layer of 6 oz to make fairing easier.

The way I cut the 2 layers of 1708, they are staggered so the overlapping seams dont' stack up or lay on the tape covering the seams in the deck boards.  This way I can lay them one layer at a time and work my way back in the boat.  Lay the first piece, then the 2 side pieces that are behind that, then I can go back and lay the second layer over the forward piece, etc.  This way it is all going to set up in one cure.  Hope that makes sense.

[JimCt]

Makes perfect sense.  If you have a second person available in the area, hand him/her the camera.  I'd like to see the steps as you go along since I'll be doing the same job in the Spring.

[Tim/GA]

Working alone but will try to remember to take some pics as I stop to mix more resin.  Tomorrow will be one of those days when a second person would be a HUGE help but I will get along alright.  Always do.  I always seem to forget to take pictures.  Big part of the job was marking and cutting the pieces of glass today.  Makes laying them in much  easier.

[Tim/GA]

Ok, I am beat and did not finish until after dark- but the floor is glassed in! I managed to get a few pictures taken but it was pretty much non-stop work mixing resin and laying glass.  I think that I used in excess of 3 gallons of epoxy resin, might be closer to 4.  

First I used cabosil thickened epoxy to make the fillets along the edges of the floor and in the seams between the deck pieces and taped those seams.




Then I started laying the layers of 1708 from the bow to the stern.  The seams of the glass were staggered in way that they did not stack up and also so that I could lay the second layer after the next first pieces are in.  These pics are during the process while mixing more resin.  I was mixing 2 pots at a time (could really have used someone to mix today!).  Also, I always wet out the bare wood heavily before laying the first layer of glass and then make sure the first layer  is also very wet so that the next layer sucks up the extra and makes it easier to wet out completely.





These last shots are after dark when finished- finally!  The first one looks like the glass is not wetted out but that is just the flash.





Almost forgot- I had bought a 25yard roll of 6" wide 1708 tape from US Composites.  Loved it!  I always like taping with 1708 and not having to cut my own was great.  Well worth buying.

[JimCt]

Looks like it came out real well!  Made for a long day but that's one more step behind you.  Did you have to use a slow cure part B to extend working time?  How many oz. was your batch size?

[Tim/GA]

Jim, actually I have moved to the medium hardner since summer is over.  I love the slow hardner and resin from US Composites- no blush and good working time even in 90+ degree weather.  It is to slow for now though. The medium is good as well but it does tend to have a small amount of blush and is a bit thicker.  It does well though even with the temps in the 60s today and high 40s tonight.  With the low humidity and mid 70s tomorrow the cure will be pretty quick.

I was mixing two 24 ounce batches at a time after laying the fillets and tape.  Since I had everything pre-cut and ready  to go I was going through the resin very fast today.  Only one batch of the thickened resin during the fillets even became warm.  I don't know how many batches I mixed but my hand was worn out!  Think I finally manged to get all the resin out of the hair and off of my arms- glad that step is done!  Most likely will not be doing anything else on the boat for a few weeks- have to get ready to move so packing will take up my time.  Hate to slow down at this point though.