Nellie D. (#63) Margerie Glacier Glacier Bay, Alaska 2007
Dave & Vicki Howell, NELLIE D
Replacing the felt window channel has been a long standing problem with LNVTs. That's because our glass, as this photo shows, is 10mm thick.
As will be shown, this 1/4"-glass channel can be easily modified to fit an LNVT's 10mm glass. It was purchased from Sailorman in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, phone (954) 522-6716, it's called 'Trim Raw Edge 1/4 Black", the part number is 20976 and it costs $0.96/ft.
The first step is to open the channel up a little. This makes it much easier to access the wipers.
The next step is to use a razor blade to cut away the wiper on both the right and left side of the channel.
Next the channel is opened up a little more by dragging it across a 10.5mm thick board.
The channel is then put into this wood die, which simulates the window's stainless "U" . Then a 11mm thick board is driven into the channel with a rubber mallet. The die holds everything in place while the board reshapes the channel.
Eight feet of channel is needed for each of the salon's seven windows and pilot houses' two aft windows.
The new channel on the left and the old channel on the right.
The first step in replacing the old channel is to remove it. Mine was siliconed down in a few spots but it came out easily,
Here the new channel is being fed first underneath the glass and then it will be fed over the top.
The handle from a pair of pliers works great to force the channel into the corners. You want to do this before cutting the channel to length.
With the corners all pressed in, an 8' length of channel will be about 4" too long. Cut the channel leaving enough length that the two butt ends press together tightly. This looks good and helps keep the channel from moving. The new channel's seam is in the same place as the old channel, halfway up on the window's forward, vertical edge. This is opposite the side the window closes against.
With the channel cut to length, it's time to cut two square slots in it's bottom that align with the window's drain slots. With a bit of the plastic cut away the staple skeleton can be seen.
Pull out three of the staples with needle nose pliers and then cutaway the plastic.
Success. The 10mm glass slides easily in its new channel.
So here's the leaking window. Water was dripping down from the bottom, left side. It would pool on the Corian. To determine the extent of the damage and to maybe get an idea of where the water's getting in, the wood window frame was removed.
An interesting aside--“Left front window” is written on the back of the left, front, window frame. While the frame was off it was sanded down and Minwax® Helmsman® Gloss Spar Urethane, which has UV inhibitors was applied.
With the inside wood trim off it was clear that water had started to soften some of the 7/16" plywood which makes up the inside cabin wall. I wrongly thought that the water's point of entry was the same as where the damage was occurring. It turns out that the damage was occurring where the water was dripping. Those drips, however, were entering at the top of the window. Note how the polysulfide caulk completely fills the gap between the frame and the jam.
Here's where the water is getting in--a failed caulk joint between the stainless window frame and the cabin side. Water entering here runs aft along the top of the frame, then down the side of the window frame, and finally drips onto the jam.
With the source of the leak determined the choices were to either re-caulk the frame or remove the frame and re-bed it. I chose to re-bed it.
In order to re-bed the window, it first had to be removed. Two stainless channels, attached with screws, hold the glass in place. Once the caulk was removed from the fixed piece of glass it came out followed by the non-fixed piece of glass. The window frame itself was bedded in a polysulfide-like material which tenaciously held it in place. Inside the salon, a saber saw cut the caulk holding the frame to the jam. Outside more finesse was needed to separate the frame from the cabin side. The screwdriver, backed by some paper to keep from scratching the gelcoat, pulls the frame away.
A painters knife cuts the polysulfide. The screwdriver is then repositioned and the process repeats.
With the window completely out, it's easy to see the cabin side's cross section. The outer 1-1/4" inches are a fiberglass/balsa-core layup. Next comes a 1/4" wood spacer. Finally there's a 7/16" thick piece of plywood. It was this 7/16" plywood that the water was attacking.
Since the damaged area is small, easy to access, and not structural, I chose to restrengthen the plywood by impregnating it with a slow curing polyester resin. The resin was injected three times into each hole.
A polyester filler was then applied over the entire damaged area in a repetitive fill-and-fair technique.
Multiple coats and sandings were required. Note that the jam is being wetted out with resin too. If the window should leak again the water will drip onto the Corian but not be able to penetrate into the plywood.
Before the window frame could be reinstalled all the old caulk had to come off. This is a laborious process, but there is a way to speed it up ...
A drill-powered brass brush quicky removes the caulk.
The cleaned frame all ready to go back in.
Silicone was used to bed the window. Since silicone is notoriously hard to clean up (denatured alcohol does work) the area around the frame was taped off. Only the area between the tape and the opening received silicone.
Several years ago we painted the walls Dove White with 100% acrylic latex paint from American Tradition®. After three coats, which blended seamlessly, the finished repair can hardly be seen.
Because of circlip failures several LNVTs have had their handles fall out--or worse, fall overboard. Without the circlip to hold it in place this handle on Kukui (75) pulls right out of the door.
To remove the handle simply remove the three screws and pull straight away from the door.
What the door looks like with the handle removed.
The handle's backside is where the circlip is. This one, on Nellie D. (63), is very rusty.
With the old circlip removed the handle's flange slides right off. Here you can see that the fit is too tight for the new circlip.
The slot is easily widened with a Dremel tool.
With the grinding done the circlip slot is measured at just over 3/4“. A 13/16" circlip should fit well.
With the flange slipped back on the handle, the new circlip is installed. The second circlip is in the photo simply to show what one looks like. All that's left to do now is slide the handle back into the dutch door and secure it with the three screws.
Remove the screw from the top of the windlass.
With the screw out both the top and drum slide right off.
The clutch plate slides off next. The clutch plate sits tightly inside the gypsy so sliding a screwdriver in makes access easier.
The last piece that needs to be removed in the square key.
The handle slides over the top of the windlass' vertical shaft. There are three pins in the handle which fit into three holes in the windlass.
The handle can rotate about 250 degrees (from 12 to 8 o'clock) before it hits the bulwark. To keep raising the anchor once 8 o'clock is reached, the handle must be lifted about 1" and then rotated back to 12 o'clock. Before doing so however, the chain's load must be removed from the Gypsy. That's the purpose of the screwdriver in the picture above. Once the handle is at 12 o'clock and it's pins are seated, the screwdriver can be removed. Keep repeating the above procedure until the anchor is home.
Making 3/4" x 3/8" dowels to replace both the current bungs and 3/4" screws beneath them. Note: I use the term dowel loosely but it's much less confusing than calling these long bungs or even structural bungs.
Rather than do all the bungs/screws at once, which would be a huge job, only those with missing bungs will be repaired. The bung on this screw popped off and for the purposes of this picture the screw has been backed out a little.
The old screw and the dowel which will replace it. But first the hole will have to be drilled with a 3/8" bit to a depth of 3/4".
A 3/8" Forstner bit makes a nice cut and leaves a flat-bottomed hole. However, I ended up using a normal twist bit as it went through the fiberglass easier.
By factory design, every deck screw hole is encapsulated within a stringer below the deck. This picture clearly shows the 7/16" teak deck and the fiberglass below it. Again, it's a closed-bottom-hole so no water can leak below decks.
This photo, from hull#2, was taken after crawling under the settee and then sliding outboard. The fiberglass stringers attached to the underside of the deck are 3" wide and are spaced about 1' apart. The secondary fiberglass layup between the hull and deck joint is readily seen at right.
The polyurethane glue was applied to the edges of the hole and the sides of the dowel with a pipe cleaner. Note that the dowel's wood grain is aligned with the deck's wood grain. The dowel was then driven home with a rubber mallet.
Without waiting for the polyurethane glue to dry the dowel was sanded flush to the deck. Sanding the dowel right away offers several advantages: (1) removes the glue around the dowel which will discolor the wood and; (2) the wood dust mixes with the glue and fills any voids.
A lot of bungs had popped on our rear deck. Removing the screws was generally no problem. A few of the Phillips heads stripped, but after being slotted with a Dremel tool, they came out easily enough.
Bicki's smiling because she's more than halfway through the 200+ fasteners we repaired.
As the bungs are replaced the entire deck is sanded. Mostly what's removed are the ridges of polysulfide which stand proud of the teak.
This legacy hose bibb has driven me crazy since the day we bought Nellie. Removing it will leave three small screw holes and a 1-5/16" center hole. But, with all the bung practice on the deck ...
Not bad. Let it gray and no one will ever know!
This is the characteristic tea stain of water escaping from the bulwark via a crack between the freeing port and the hull.
There's certainly some delamination here--maybe from a freeze/thaw cycle. This area will be ground-out and re-glassed.
Grinding the freeing port to hull joint (both inboard and outboard of the gunwhale)
Removing the freeing port's thin layer (maybe 1/16") of fiberglass reveals a mass of filler and many voids.
Viewed from inboard the gunwhale, note the crack running along the deck for the length of the freeing port. This is the freeing port's insert to deck joint. At the factory the fiberglass insert was puttied into place. If this joint fails water can accumulate in the voids below it.
Here's a cross-section showing (from left to right): the freeing port opening; a thin layer of fiber glass (hard to see in this picture); a thick layer of green filler; pink is the hull's fiberglass; the thin white line is the gelcoat; and finally the hull's green paint.
After the glassing is done it's time to start with the filler.
Repaired freeing port ready to be primed.
Adding primer to the newly repaired areas before sanding them out again.
All surface blemishes are ground out and glassed over with 1708 (17 oz of non woven mat fiberglass stitched to 8 oz of biaxial mat). Then the area is filled and faired.
Rub rail crack repairs--lots of them. The cracks were caused by bulwark flexing. Ocean Eagle Yachts (OEY, the yard where Nellie was built) applied a thick layer of fiberglass filler to fair the rub rail to the bulwarks. And, since the bulwarks are relatively thin (5/16" glass), pressure on the rub rail, from a piling or fender, may cause the filler to crack.
Phil Jones gets the first coat of primer on.
First coat of primer on and ready for another wet sanding.
The sign at the entrance to P.L. Jones' yard. Maybe Nellie's getting a little paint ...
The bulwarks will be painted Oyster White as this appears closest in color to the existing gel coat on the cabin sides. Update: Oyster White is yellower than an LNVT's gel coat. Having it to do over, I'd go with a Cloud or Snow White.
The inboard bulwarks and deck with AwlCraft Oyster White.
The hull with two coats of AwlCraft Jade Mist Green. After one more wet sanding she'll be ready for the final coats.
After the final coats of AwlCraft Jade Mist Green and new boot stripe is sprayed on.
The door provides an excellent view of the bulwark's cross section. The foam was put in at the factory for flotation.
The inboard bulwark is 5/16" thick while the outer, including gelcoat, is 1/2" thick. Some good (even after 22 years) rubber caulk (the black triangular shape just under the outboard part of cap rail) keeps water from entering the bulwark.
The new door is just aft of the most forward freeing port.
The door is 16" wide and is on the starboard side.
Pre-laid panels are fiberglassed into the door's jams.
The door will be hinged on the aft part of the opening so the forward jam was beveled 15 degrees to accommodate the door's thickness.
The threshold has been set and the jams trimmed. The threshold was placed at the same height as the top of the rub rail.
Looking aft at the opening.
Vinylester filler smooths out all the new glass
The new door is in place. Yes, I know, the cap rail needs to be Cetol'd ...
The door even opens. The cap rail step guard will have to come off.
Scaring from the chain and bridle. A stainless stem piece will be fabricated to cover from the top of the scar to below the water line
Nellie's new $380 stainless stem cover. It was made from three pieces (port side, front, and starboard side) and then welded together. The correct curvature was gotten by first making a pattern of the port and starboard pieces. The front piece was then screwed to the stem and the side pieces tack-welded on. Part of the finish work included filling in the front pieces holes and drilling permanent mounting holes in each side piece.
The bottom edge of the stainless stem guard was glassed in with 1708 leaving no exposed edges for the anchor and/or chain to catch on.
The new boot stripe and stainless stem guard
A Morad 23' Vertical was mounted at deck level on the port side. With this HF antenna, an ICOM 7000 radio mounted in the pilot house's center console, and ICOM AH-4, auto antenna tuner, mounted under the deck, athwart the stove, Nellie is officially a HAM shack.
The upper mount was screwed directly into the pilot house side. The fiberglass thickness is more than ample to support the load. The antenna can be lowered by simply unsnaping the mounts latch.
The lower mount was screwed directly into the pilot house side. The fiberglass thickness is more than ample to support the load. The mount pivots so the antenna can be lowered. The antenna's GTO feed wire comes from directly beneath the mount. The AT-4 antenna tuner is mounted 3" inboard and 7" below the antenna base.
Nellie D. (#63) Pouslbo, WA Wilderness 12' Kayak Mounts
Nellie D. (#63) Stainless Kayak Mount Kayak's Bow is Facing Aft
Nellie D. (#63) Low Profile Kayak Mounts
Nellie D. (#63) Kayak Mount Kayaks Ride in a Nylon Hammock
Nellie D. (#63) Kayak Mount Parallel Curvatures of Pilothouse Top and Kayak
Nellie D. (#63) Kayak Mounts Kayak's Partially Cover the Pilothouse Hatch and Limit the Spotlight's Movement
Nellie D. (#63) Kayak Mounts
Nellie D. (#63) Kayak Mounts Just a Little Overhang on these 12' Kayaks
First the tank had to be emptied. A 12V Electric Impeller Pump and West Marine Filter did the job.
Three 23 gallon garbage cans were sufficient to hold one tank's fuel.
Here's the setup. Note the pump is 12V (That extension cord is hooked to the house battery bank)
The fuel was filtered twice. Once while going into the temporary storage tank and then again when it was pumped back into the fuel tank.
Sludge accumulates in each tank's low point.
After cleaning the staining and corrosion are very obvious in the tank's low point.
There's a baffle dividing each tank. It's a long reach under the baffle to the far corners.
To get under the baffle ...
Yup, that's some ugly stuff on the bottom.
Nellie D. (#63) Fuel Tank Cleaning Here's the 'after' picture ...
"That was a lot of work--but worth it."
The stern's fiberglass had to beefed-up to support the davit and dink. To do so, access ports were cut in both the starboard and port sides.
Surprisingly, once the fiberglass access port was cut it had to be pried free. The factory injected expandable foam to increase buoyancy and this foam sticks very well indeed!
The foam is easily dug out. Highly recommend the use of gloves and a respirator.
That was close! We just barely missed cutting the 4" engine exhaust hose which rises above deck-level before turning back below deck and connecting to the exhaust through hull.
The overall design relies on beefing up the existing structure (by adding 3/4" of new glass) and then connecting the inner and outter bulwarks together (via gussets) to increase rigidity. The 4" exhaust hose, mentioned in the previous picture, is just behind the green tape.
Adding glass to the gussets.
With the transom beefed up it's time to dry fit the davit mounts. These were custom made to fit the sterns curvature.
The base of the mounting plate is shown bolted in place. The nuts are welded to the plate. After the bolts were backed out the plate was removed and welded to the mount. The hole in the center will allow the davit's wiring to be fed into the davit.
A 1/4" aluminum backing plate spreads out the load. Here the wires can be seen penetrating the bulwark.
With everthing in place it was time to close up the access holes.
Several layers of glass were laid into a grove cut around panel.
The final layer of glass is applied.
Gel coat, thickend with fumed glass, and tinted to a shade just lighter than the existing gel coat, is applied.
Sanding after the first coat of gel coat has things looking pretty good.
The davits' control box and breaker fuse were mounted just below and forward of the towing bitt.
Smiles around after measurements show the installed davits to be plum and square.
To reduce voltage drop (which was causing motor overheating ), one of the 200A house batteries was relocated just above the 12V thruster motor.
Once all the head hoses have been rerouted it's time to build a battery box.
Dry fit of the new battery box before it goes to the 'paint shop'
Pretty good fit.
That's one heavy battery (~60lbs). The new 300A fuse and battery switch can be seen on the left.
The original motor from Marine Hardware was replaced with this more powerful( and bearings vs. bushings too) one. The 107F snap-stat, which warns of overheat, is mounted on the copper.
The cutout allows access to the battery switch which can isolate the thruster and windlass. Another job off 'the list'!
New indicator lights. Green means that the thruster and windlass have power. Orange warns that the thruster body has reached 107F (if it continues to 143F the motor will automatically cut-out).
A lot of work to make this little guy work better--but oh, so worth it!
Go to the next picture for details.
Neille comes out of the water in Alamitos
Notice the blue tape on the door and mast? Don't do it--removing the tape removed the cetol too! Oops ;-( The tape did great at holding windshield wipers and windows in place though.
Notice how low the trailer is? When height is dollars every inch counts.
Since the pilothouse is the tallest area of the boat, great care is taken to get the bow as low as possible.
The stack is the obvious high point. The top of the ladder on the dingy deck and a stripped pilothouse roof are about the same height.
And the bad news is ... 15'-1" too high!
After hearing we could save $5,000 by removing a few bits and pieces (and the stack too), out came the screwdrivers and wrenches ... one hour later it was time to re-measure.
Not real pretty ...
At 14'-3" we are clear to travel straight up I-5 to Washington.
Leaving Long Beach mid-afternoon, Nellie was in Olympia two days later. There was no damage. It took about 6 hours to put her back together again.
Wiring for the Marine Hardware bow thruster.
Plumbing Schematic (cold, hot, and salt water)
Steering and Autopilot Diagram Steering is via hydraulics while the autopilot uses a 12V linear actuator
Detailed enough that maybe a 'friend' will volunteer to fix it if it breaks ;-)
Ralph Hampton 2006
Far Niente #63 (owner John Ayearst Jan 93 - Feb 99)
