Finally get to sail.

Finally getting to blog about sailing our little Reinell sailboat! We took it out for the weekend.

There is still several things that I want to get done on the boat yet. But everything that needed to be done to make sure she was safe on the water was taken care of. We got to sail in Lake Washington for a bit, then the wind totally died. So we dropped anchor and jumped into the cool lake.

It is just so cool that we can be hot and ready to cool down, all we have to do is drop the anchor and we can go. It is a very unique feeling to be in the water next to your boat in the water! We got to test out the swim ladder and we found that we need a little support to keep the ladder from folding onto the hull. That made it really hard to climb aboard the boat. So we have to work on that.

We had to motor the rest of the way to Andrews bay off of Seward Park. As we rounded the point to head in I was very happy to not see very many boats at all. I figured the weekend before the 4th of July this place would be packed with boats. As we finished rounding the point we saw there was a good number of boats anchored there.

Luckily having a shoal keel we where able to find a spot pretty close to the shore. We anchored in about 20 feet of water. It didn't take long before our friends showed up. We got to do our first raft up! That was nice. Being able to hang out and chat with friends on our boat was a nice new experience.

The kids where able to jump of the sailboat and swim to our friends power boat. They have a nice swim platform and it was easier for the kids to get out of the water. Then they where able to walk over to our boat and jump in again!  The laughter of the kids and us as we chatted was awesome!

We had a simple dinner of burritos to fuel our hungry bodies. Watching as the sun started to dip below the hill. The kids where set on doing some night swimming in the Lake. It didn't take them long before they where back in the water. Being able to swim when ever you want is such a nice perk of this!

After the kids had their fill of the water, it was nice to relax and hang out on the boat. Watching as more and more stars started to pop out as the sky gets darker. Just being able to take it easy and relax. Listening to the sound of the waves lapping at the boat.

We got to try out our new V berth and it worked pretty good. Unfortunately the mast really rattled as the boat rolled on the water. It was a little hard falling asleep.

After some breakfast the wind started picking up. We where able to put up the sails and sail along for awhile. Again we stopped and enjoyed a dip in the lake.

We enjoyed a beautiful weekend. Beautiful views of Mount Rainier, sunsets and the water. Getting to spend time with friends. Getting some time with the sails full as we glide over the water. Of course the weekend had to come to an end. We took the boat into the dock and loaded her onto the trailer.

Until next time.

Swim ladder success!

Well I finally got the swim ladder installed. I was thinking it would be one of the easier projects! Well by now I should know that there are no easy projects. This is the finished product.

So the first thing that was an issue with the ladder mounting plates had a little lip on them. So I could not mount it flush to the hull. Plus I wanted to have something to spread the stress out. So I went with some wood. I stained it and wrapped it in fiberglass and epoxy. That should help keep it protected from the water.

The part that was really hard was figuring out how big of a backing support I would need. I couldn't find anything that gave an idea of square inches per pound of pressure or anything like that. So I just figured I would make sure to over build it so it was plenty strong enough.

Some how when I got the 4 stainless steel bolts to put this all together I though 2 inch bolts would be long enough. With the 3/4 inch wood that the ladder is sitting on, plus the 3/4 inch wood for the backing, they where not long enough.

So had to run and get 4 more bolts and pull everything apart. Clean everything up and apply more butyl tape to all the bolts. I ended up with one bolt a lot longer then the rest. So I had to run off and get the right sized bolt. Pull it apart and clean it all up again.

This time everything went together just as expected. Got it all tightened up. Tested it and it held my weight without a problem! So finally a task totally done and complete!

Moving inside.

I know this is supposed to be a blog about sailing a Reinell sailboat. Before we can sail we have to have the boat all set up and ready to go. I think we are almost there! I really only have the swim ladder and we can put her back into the water. The rest really is to make the inside look awesome and by very usable and comfortable for us.

Looks like I finally got all the leaks and the hardware stuff on the outside taken care of. So now I get to move on to the inside.

I am even more excited and nervous about this aspect of fixing / customizing our boat for us. I mean what is a good set up for us? What works on a sailboat and what doesn't? It's not like I have ever been on a sailboat to get some ideas.

Plus it is not like I have a lot of space to work with. There is like 16 feet from the front of the V berth to the companion way. Plus a little quarter berth that is perfect for the youngest. So in that space we need our space to sleep. We have a little sink and an area to make food plus a little ice box. A spot for the table and a place for the little john.

We we got the boat there was really nothing inside. So no ideas to start from really. Just a blank slate we get to make in any way we want to. That whole blank slate and filling it with something creative is definitely not my strong suite.

So the first thing that I saw was a problem was the front of the V berth. It had an area that really was wasted. Couldn't store anything or make use of it really. So that was an easy thing to see needed to be fixed for us.

What the V berth looked like after all the old nasty 1970's carpet was removed from the inside.

One thing I see is a lot of is having lockers everywhere. So I figured I would make one to make better use of that space.

I figured some furring strips epoxied on both side so that I can secure the face of the locker to it. Then I epoxied to horizontal furring strips to place a shelf on. Then I fiber glassed them to the hull just to make sure.

Then I used some cardboard and made a template for that area the best I could. Then I used that to cut that shape into a piece of 3/8 inch plywood.

It ended up with a really odd shape to be able to fit all the different contours of the boat.

Then I cut an opening. Then just cut a solid piece for the door. Stained them and applied several coats of varnish. For some reason the varnish on these pieces really was not very smooth. I kept carefully applying a coat. Letting it dry, then sanding it. Then carefully apply another coat, then lightly sand it. I tried foam brushes and regular brushes. I even went out and got a new can of varnish and tried thinning it out a little bit. I just couldn't get it to turn out as good as I wanted it to.

Because it can get dark in this area I figured some lighting in the locker would be a good idea. So I wired a small strip of LED lights. I put in a USB charge point for our electronics.

It is nice to be moving forward. It is nice when I can look and see a difference with what I am doing to the boat.

Just a few more steps and I am positive we will be able to be back sailing again!!

New port light #3 of 3! Finally done.

Well it looks like the saga has come to an end! I think I figured out a way to have shiny new plexiglass on the boat.

Seeing how the screws into the wood were not holding on very tight. Noticing that the professionally made ones bolted through the hull. Much easier to get them nice and tight, much harder for them to come out! I wanted to find a way to bolt the port light to the hull.

The inside of the boat is just bare fiberglass. No wires or anything important in the way. It sure looks like I should be able to drill through the boat and bolt the portlight on. I did see that one of the screws lined up with the little bulkhead we have in this boat. No surprise there, life as usual. Always something, right?  I can easily drill out a small area for the nut to sit neatly inside.

All that is left to do is get the bolts and drill more holes in this little boat. So I was able to get a bag of 100 stainless steel bolts the right diameter. I also got fender washers and nylon locking nuts.

I was able to remove all the screws holding the starboard side and the portlight stayed stuck to the boat. So I was able to just drill through all the holes.

Carefully lined up the drill, and drilled away. It went through the balsa core pretty easy. Took a little bit to get through the fiberglass on the inside. After drilling all the holes, I cleaned up the inside a bit. Some of the fiberglass holes were a bit rough.

Then I started wrapping butyl tape around all the bolts that I would be using. Making sure that I had enough to easily fill the holes in the plexiglass and the boat. I made sure to wrap it down the bolt pretty far to make sure I would have some butyl tape contact the hole I drilled and fill the space between the bolt and the hull. Man do I know how to have a good time or what?

Then cleaned up the inside fiberglass. Bolting through the boat and making sure to have large washers on both the inside and the outside. Then tightened it down, not cranking down really tight. One thing that prevented that is that the bolts that I could find was considered a "security" bolt. So it has a special head that used a special tool bit. After tightening down a few of them I snapped the bit. Luckily I got 4 bits just because of that.

Made sure to use plenty of butyl tape around all the bolts. It looks like they sealed up pretty good. The next thing to do is test it. So I grab the hose and soak down the portlight really well. Not a drop of water on the inside!!

Some of the bolts needed to be so tight that they snapped the bit. So I had to make a tool to be able to tighten them enough. Looking at the two little round places for the bit to hold on, it looked like a nail would fit in there. Luckily I had some finishing nails that fit pretty good. So I pounded two through a little board with a long handle. I was able to really tighten down the pesky few that needed to be really tight!

Simple wood and nail tool

Put the bulkhead back in place to mark where I need to drill a little hole to make room for the nut. Luckily I was able to bulkhead right next to the nut and screw it into place night and tight! So something went quickly and easily. Man I like it when that happens.

Then the next day I was able to repeat that whole process on the port side! Now I have 2 shinny new portlights to look out of. They sure make a difference with how much light gets inside. Not the most perfect or beautiful of jobs. But so much better then what was there before.

I am so glad that most of the anxiety of trying to figure out how to work on a boat and doing it right, is gone. There is so  many new things that I have had to learn. It is very different then working on cars. That is my greatest amount of experience working on and fixing.

I have just been so worried about messing it up. Cutting the plexiglass, you can't just put it back together. If I don't seal something up perfectly and we are in the middle of the Puget Sound it would be really really bad for us. Its not like driving down I-5 and having something not working on my car. I can usually get to the shoulder.

I am very glad and happy so many people share their experience, knowledge, and information on the internet. It would have been so much harder for me to try and figure this stuff out if it wasn't for people sharing with the world!

New port lights part 2 of ????

Finally got a day that it wasn't raining cats and dogs and was able to test the installation of the new port light. Well it was very obvious, real quick that the new window leaked much worst then the old window! This sucks!

So I took the port light off. Man that butyl tape is sticky and stretchy! It took a good amount of work to get the plexiglass off the hull. Until I got to the top part. Obviously the port light was not even touching the hull!

This plastic 1/4 inch plexiglass is not as flexible as I thought! So the only way that I can see to fix this problem is bend the plexiglass so that it can touch the hull. Now I have to clean everything up and off to Google how to bend plexiglass.

Cleaning that butyl tape off was not an easy task. It was just slowly pulling and scraping with a plastic putty knife. After that taking some of the butyl tape and touching it to what was left on the plexiglass and it was able to pick up some of what was left behind. Then cleaning up the remaining stragglers with mineral spirits. Then cleaning the plexiglass really well.

So after some reading and watching YouTube I see several people agreeing on using a heat gut to heat up the plastic. As usual the YouTube videos make it look easy, but the forums and what I read says it is tricky. So off to get a heat gun to add to all my stuff!

Cut off a small chunk from the extra plexiglass I have and went for it. Found that it was pretty easy to get the plexiglass to blister and bubble under the heat gun. I really have to keep it just the right distance away and keep it moving just right. Move it to fast and the plexiglass does not heat up and get soft. To close or to slow and it bubbles!

So I put down a 2X4 on my little work table and lined up the spot where I wanted to bend to start. Then put a 1X4 on top of the plexiglass and clamped it all down to the table. Fired up the heat gun. Starting at one end of the port light I carefully worked on heating up both sides. Making sure to take my time and keep that gun moving.

Of coarse today was the day the weather decided to jump from 60 degrees to 80! So trying very hard to be patient and just carefully heat up a small section. I used a small piece of wood to push down on the hot plexiglass. It takes a lot of heat to get this stuff to get soft and bend. Then moved down a little bit. Heating it up carefully, keep the gun moving. Finally was able to get a little bit of bend. Then move down a few more inches, rinse and repeat.

So it took me a good long time to work my way down a few inches at a time. I had a hard time getting a good picture of the slight bend I finally got. After slow and carefully heating and pressing down on the plexiglass.

With having a hard time getting the top part to connect with the hull I decided to put two layers of butyl tape on the top part of the port light. Also carefully put the butyl tape down on the edge. Carefully cutting angles to go around all the corners. With having a hard time getting the top part to connect with the hull I decided to put two layers of butyl tape on the top part of the port light.

Carefully put it in place lining up all the holes in the port light with the hull. Unfortunately the bottom of the port light touched the hull before it should have. Man that butyl tape grabbed hold and wouldn't let go. So you want to have some help and line everything up very carefully.

One thing I have not mentioned yet is that several of the screws that go into the balsa wood core would just spin and not tighten down. So I got the largest screws I could. I have to have the holes larger then the screws to allow for expansion. Those screws would not work either!

So I still don’t have this one issue fixed yet. So got to keep looking and trying to figure out what I can do to get this done. Hopefully I will find a solution soon!

New portlights part 1 of ??

Making slow progress. As I am learning so much new stuff to be able to come up with a solution to fix these leaky old portlights. Mainly what I was able to find was how to replace a portlight with a frame. found lots of Youtube videos and blog posts on how to do that. Pretty strait forward, buy new portlight, remove all the fasteners. Carefully release the frame from whatever sealant they used. Clean everything up really really good. Choose the right sealant, apply to the hull, pop in new portlight and carefully tighten up the fasteners.

Now that is nothing like what I have to deal with. First off the Reinell has no frame on its huge portlights. Next the portlights are a very funny shape. With my Googlefu I was not able to find a replacement that I could buy. I was able to find a few other people that have asked about finding replacements, and they didn't have any luck.

So this is what I was looking to replace. This was just screwed into the side of the hull with a gasket to try and keep the water out. It didn't totally succeed at that job. So I just figured I would try to go step by step and figure this out. Basically the steps are the same, right? Remove old portlight. Clean everything up really really good. Apply sealant and put new portlight in place.

Removing the old portlight was a bit of a chore. It was really easy removing the screws. Especially the ones on the forward part that got caught in the sidestay when the mast was being raised and got ripped out! That is another thing to try and find a fix for. Anyway after taking all the hardware holding it onto the boat, it still had a death grip and would not let go.

Not wanting to scratch the gel coat I started with plastic putty knifes. I was able to jam it in carefully and tried to work my way around the portlight. That was tough and it would get caught up in the carpet fibers that the factory allowed into the seal. So after a couple of times getting the putty knife in and trying to move it I snapped it. It didn't take long and 3 of them where broken!

So carefully I worked a metal putty knife between the seal and the hull. I was able to free about 1 and a half inches at a time. Pulling it out freeing it from the sticky goo under the portlight. Then pushing it back in. After a good long time I was finally able to free the first portlight. One down, one to go! Just like before inch by inch I was able to finally separate the portlight from the boat that have been together for probably 40 plus years!

Now I got to work cleaning the hull up really good. I scraped and scrubbed to get it nice and clean.  Then I took some 320 grit sandpaper and lightly sanded the hull. I was able to find that some of the balsa core was rotten. On another blog I saw that the wood was carved out and the space was filled up with epoxy and some fiberglass. So I used a small chisel and worked at getting all the soft wood out. Used the shop vac to clean everything up. Mixed up some epoxy with just a little silica thickener in it. and poured it into the wholes. Then I mixed up some epoxy and thickened it up really good. Used that to fill in the holes completely.

Now I still have the problem of what am I going to use to replace the portlights. Well if I can't find one already made then I will have to make one. So after some research I found a company out of Tukwila that would sell me a 4 x 8 foot sheet of 1/4 inch thick smoked plexiglass for about $300! Looks like I am going to learn how to work with plexiglass!

So I hooked up the little utility trailer to my trusty old Jeep and headed to Tukwilla. I know 8 feet is basically 2 feet taller then me. But man it was a lot bigger then I expected. Man was it heavy and hard to move! Got it loaded onto the little trailer and all tied down. Time to get it home!

I figured that I could cut the shape out of a sheet of plexiglass, then the next thing I needed to figure out was how I was going to get a good seal and keep the water out. My research kept finding that the sealant to use with plexiglass is silicon. But the majority of what I was finding was saying never use silicone one a boat.

I was able to find recommendations for Down 795 and then I found information that I could use butyl tape with plexiglass! So I am going to give the butyl tape a try.

So next I need to transform this blank slate of a 4 foot by 8 foot sheet of plexiglass into a new portlight for the boat. I laid the old portlight on the sheet and traced it out with a sharpie on the protective cover. Well after that I need to cut it out.

This has been the biggest thing weighing on my mind. I have never worked with plexiglass. So off to Google I go. I know you will be surprised that again I find conflicting info. Can use a regular saw blade, nope have to use a special blade just for plexiglass. Can use a regular drill bit, oh you can only use a regular drill bit if you run it backwards. Oh heavens no! You have to use a special plexiglass drill bit.

One thing that I do keep seeing is how the plexiglass is very sensitive to little cracks. Once you get a crack going it will just keep going and going! So if I do one wrong thing there will be a little crack and the whole piece will be ruined! After laying the old pieces out I see that I have enough to make one piece if I mess one up.

So of coarse I don't was to trash $300 by making a stupid newbie mistake. I find myself having a hard time moving forward. I know $300 isn't going to bankrupt me, but it is not the same as massing up $30. So I really don't want to screw this up. Plus I always want to do things right and to the highest possible standards.

I mean this is going to be in our boat. The boat that the kids, my sweetie and myself depend on to keep us above the water. So I want this to be really well built and done properly.

So it seems simple enough. Have a sharp saw blade, go slow and let the blade do the work. You don't want to force it. This project has been taking way to long. Soon the weather is going to be good and I really want to boat to be ready! So deep breath and jump in with both feet!

Using the skill saw I carefully trace along the line. Letting the saw slowly chew through the plastic I eventually end up with what looks like a portlight!

Making slow progress!

Well there was some time this morning that the rain was not falling. I have finally found some motivation again to get to work on the boat. So I got a little a little work done today!

The biggest project I am working on is replacing the large Plexiglas port lights. They where definitely leaking. Plus they where cracked and scratched up. One large crack on the port side somebody went a drilled a whole in the Plexiglas to stop the crack from spreading!

It has 2 large Plexiglas port lights. Not the usual round or oval ones that I usually see. Also not something small, light, and easy to move around. I knew they had to be replaced and taken care of so spent some quality with Google to see what I could find.

Luckily I found a post http://reinellsailor.blogspot.com/2008/10/window-replacement.html about a 26 foot Reinell sailboat named Inkslinger. It talks about dealing with the rotten balsa wood between the plastic and fiberglass. It also has some pictures of how he did his windows.

So today I was able to clean out the last of the rotten wood. I used a small chisel and a vacuum cleaner. After getting that stuff out I poured some epoxy with some fumed sulica to thicken it up just a bit. I just put a little in the wholes I dug out. Giving it about 10 minutes. I keep reading about using a thinner epoxy to try to get a better hold on the wood. I then mixed some more of that silica and filled up the holes completely.

Here is one of the larger areas where I dug out the wood.

Adding some of the silica to thicken up the epoxy and to add some physical strength to the epoxy.

Pouring some thickened epoxy into the hole.

I just filled them in to the top. Filling all the areas on the bottom part of the port light was pretty easy. I used some painters tape to protect the boat. Just a little pour and using the stir stick to slowly add a little at a time.

The areas on the top where much harder. I had to keep adding silica until it was super thick! I learned with the last one that the epoxy had to be really, really, really thick. So I mixed enough silica in so that it could resist gravity!

I carefully worked small amounts into the hole. When it looked liked I filled it up completely, I used the stick to smooth out the epoxy.

Now it has to dry.

The next step in this project is cutting out replacement Plexiglas port lights. I got a 4' x 8' sheet of Plexiglas. I am going to try tracing out the originals onto the Plexiglas. Then carefully cut them out. I also want to make wood trim to go around them. I think that will help spread the pressure out better and help it seal on the boat. I am thinking it is my best bet at keeping the water out of the boat.

The other thing I am working on is trying to find all the leaks. When I got in the boat today there was about 10 gallons of water standing in the boat. I have to boat really well covered with tarps and I don't know where the water is coming from.

I found a small puddle in the V birth area. Feeling all over I could not find any other wet surface close to the puddle of water! Even the deck on top was dry! So I have to figure this out if I want to keep a dry bed!

Hopefully I will find this stupid leak very soon!

Of time, sailboats, and projects.

Hello again everybody,

On this adventure learning about sailboats and sailing I am learning a lot about time! There is so much that I am learning about that never entered my mind! There is so much to do, understand, and apply. I am sure learning that I didn't have a clue of what I was getting myself into!

Usually it doesn't take me long to get an idea how long it takes me to do things. I am thinking I have worked on cars before. There is nuts and bolts on the boat. It is pretty much the same, right? Well not really, because there are several bolts on this little boat that I can get to the bolt, or the nut. I can't get to both at the same time. Something I have not had to deal with working on cars.

Another very different thing is that when I put the nuts and bolts back together, I have to make sure they are water tight! So they have to be bedded properly. After reading some reviews and information about butyl tape, that is my go to stuff!

So I have found that the last person that did a lot of the hardware on this little boat did it in a way that it should not have been done. So not only does it take the time to take it apart. After finding a second set of hands to hold on to the bolt from the top. I also have to clean up the mess that the last person made.

So when I think it should take me about 10 to 15 minutes to remove a few bolts, it turns out my estimation is way wrong! So things like getting the nuts and bolts removed, I find that the bolt is rusted. So after getting it torn apart and and cleaned up I have to run out and get new bolts. So my little project takes me over an hour!

I find it funny that when I am out sailing time seems to slow down. We get the sails set. We have a nice breeze going. The boat is sailing across the water. We get to hear that nice sound of the water rolling off of the hull. It is just so peaceful. So calm and nice.

But right now she is sitting on her trailer needed some work. I am also really wanting to learn how to do everything I can about taking care of, repairing, and rebuilding a boat properly. So I want to take my time and do it right. So that means things are taking a lot longer then I expected.

For example the "U-bolt" that the trailer wench attached to the boat didn't have a good backing plate. Also the poor nuts where pretty rusted. Plus there was a chunk of the old nasty carpet stuck under it. So I soaked the nuts in some penetrating oil. Trying to get them loose. The top one I was able to get. The other nut was actually falling apart! So I had to chisel it off the "U-bolt"

Why no backing plate?

So laying down on the plastic in the V-berth made it very interesting to try and get the nuts off. You sure do slide around a lot on that plastic when you are trying to muscle off rusted bolts! So that is a new issue I never thought of.

I am surprised at how hard it is to work with stainless steel. Man that stuff is tough! So I got some 1/4 inch stainless steel stock to make backing plates. I got myself a drill press. It is just slow going drilling holes in that stuff.

So I got the holes drilled in my new backing plate. Got the butyl tape all wrapped around the U-bolt. Got it all put back together.

Backing plate!

So I know that it is taking longer then I would like it to be. I do want all of the projects done. Being a pretty typical male I really focus on the goal and getting stuff done. I am working on learning on taking a deep breath and going with the flow. I am very happy knowing I am working on doing the best possible job. That this thing will be so well cared for and put together that my family will be very safe. That this boat will take good care of us out on the water. Because so much is being done to take good care of her now!