Bass Relief- A Seafari 25 rehab
 

I have a thread under general, but seeing as I keep posting rehab/modification progress, I figured I would post it here.

I finally named the boat- "Bass Relief". I think the dinghy will be named "Art Minor". Unless I do build the collapsible dinghy for transom mount- that will be called "Packed Launch". :D


I have been filling a jillion screw holes in the deck so that rain water doesn't further damage any balsa core deck.

Like I mentioned elsewhere- these got either JB Weld "Water Putty" epoxy putty, or the runnier PC-11 putty. Then a layer of duratec vinylester primer- it is a bit old, from last year, but it kicked fine. I think it freezes well during winter. :eek:

Apart from slight discoloration, the putties cover well. The PC11 discolored, the JB Weld didn't. But it is too firm to be worked into smaller places.

Here is a before and halfway- at the first layer of vinylester primer stage. I filled the ~2" hole with water putty and belt sanded flush. The corner drains are ~3/4" diameter. They will get drip tray to drain toward the keel, I think. But that hasn't been implemented yet.

I used polyester body filler for the holes in the cabin roof, and gel coated that straight away. Once I wash the last of the PVA off, I will take pictures.

I just ordered a gallon of VE resin and some divinycell- there are a few hatches that need looking after. My trim tabs are mounted funny, across the outer and 2nd from outer steps in teh hull, so making a set of extensions might be in my future. Plus a (maybe convertible) hard top made of nidacore/glass/VE is planned. Or maybe the old basket weave carbon I have. I can't use it under water- it will corrode everything else, and wick water into the structure.

looks good, whats the round deck plate for?

I haven't opened it, but assume it is the USCG required fuel tank connection/inspection plate for the forward 50 gallon tank?

I ordered some mcmaster carr fiberglass square tubing today. $10 per 5 foot length. To hold tanks down/in without rotting away, unlike the previously installed 2x 4s. A mushy 2x4 was holding the aft tank in place. I just about shoveled it off the top of the tank! I literally scooped some of it up with my hands. Decomposition in action!

Work on this has slowed, but hope to river test it this weekend. I spent the $300 for the dumb water distribution housing and overflow bottle. It doesn't leak water into the bilge now. The overflow bottle is going forward to under the cockpit sole. Maybe the batteries, too. Not sure how that will crank. But I have lots of 4/0 welding cable. Can't hurt engine access or center of mass.

Scraping the teak and maybe replacing canvas is next. I only got half the parts with the boat- I want to get back to the image below. Or a hardtop.

And finish sanding my custom fiberglass adapting radome pylon from a 160mm square (Furuno?) mount to Lowrance G3 broadband. If Lowrance put the sticker on straight, that would be nice. It isn't like radomes are free.:eek:

Allowing water into the balsa core, of course. Oh the sins of engine installers past...:mad:

Finally!
 

Finally got it wet. I don't think it leaks now. We have had record breaking rain here in the NE, so some water sloshed into the bilge, so I am not sure. But it only after I heeled the boat hard over.

I have never owned an I/O before, and i don't know the river, so I took it slow. But basic stats:

Horizon 350 MAG MPI 300 HP. Bravo 3. 2.20:1 reduction. 22"pitch. Props aren't perfect, but not bad.

Boat probably had 30 gallons of fuel, 450 lbs of crew and 300 lb of miscellaneous stuff.

Cruise at 3900 RPM was 27 knots/31 MPH. Just goosing it to 4700 accidentally for a second, and the boat hadn't caught up yet (there is a LOT of throttle left) got to 33 knots/38MPH. I think I would need the right prop to hit 50MPH, but 45 is no sweat I have to imagine. Until I opened the windshield I had no idea I was going that fast! Even without a top, you are out of the wind.

The trim tabs are VERY effective. I can easily steer the boat with them. The boat is tender in roll. I need to learn how to use tabs.

There is some oil in the bilge. Not sure if it sloshing around and a years worth of wrenching oil residue in there or I may need a rear main or oil pan.

More pics- just goosing it out of the hole. The Bravo 3 is outstanding!:D

one more

congrats !!! nothing like getting the boat wet !!!!!

The boat at headway speed. You can see where the side exit scuppers lie- sometimes people want to compare. The I/O housing and trim tab pistons are just peeking above the waterline.

Again, this is more or less "lightship". 2 guys, minimal gear and maybe 30 gallons of fuel.

Looks nice.....your gonna put more weight up front right?

strick

Gotta love seeing another 25 running again, looks great!

Trim at rest looks just right. The boat will like a bit of weight forward when you are moving.

Speed and rpm looks to be in the right range. Suggest getting a vacuum gauge. At least in mine, the engine sounds and feels great, but its easy to get to the place where the vacuum is too low. With that load, mine would be at 7 inches vac at about 3500-3600 rpm and 26-27 knots.

Sweet boat!

Strick-

I had the I/O trimmed up, punching the throttle. I got a clue on trim later. Well, sort of- I only have like 1 hour of run time. I was bewildered by the trim at first.

Cdavisdb- Bushwacker has already convinced me to get a vacuum gauge. A marinized one with a white face eludes me so far, but I will keep looking.

Don't feel bad about the learning process. This one takes more getting used to than most boats. But, once you do, there is no looking back. I think it was Blue Heron said, Its a drivers boat. He was right.

Good idea on putting the batteries forward. The boat will definitely like that. There is a ton of room under the sole, you just have to make access and a strong platform. While you are at it, some reinforcement between the main stringers up to the inner liner would be a great idea.

Good to see it on the water. I'm with strick and Connor on the forward weight. Mine sits a little deeper in the bow at rest with all tanks full than yours does in the pic. Take a look at how the Kama II is trimmed at displacement speed in the video Bigshrimpin posted. The boat really cuts through the waves with forward weight, and it won't stuff the bow. Not enough weight forward, and you'll be launching off the wave tops.

Thanks everyone for the tips. I need to winterize it this weekend, we already had frost up here. This winter I will change tanks, maybe recore the tank hatch and make a battery tray for under the sole. Thanks for tip in propping up the sole. I may use some of that pultruded fiberglass rectangular tube for that.

I *might* put a bunch of batteries in the bow under the bunk for a torqeedo kicker, but we will see.

Here is mine idling around. Notice the difference. I have a water bladder under the sole in the bow. I think it's only 14 gallons or so. I also have my second fuel tank mounted under the threshold. I have yet to put a drop of fuel in it but when I do it will help.

strick

Wow. I have two squarish tanks. A maybe 38" x 34" opening. The forward tank is aft of the sole, and can't be accessed except via a round deck plate. I think both aluminum tanks are 11 years old. And DEFINITELY had water in them. And on them. So they get yanked. (Yes, you can see a mushroom growing out of a 2x4 in there!)

There is a modest inspection hatch big enough for a group 24 battery to fit thru in the middle of the cockpit sole in mine. The existing bilge pump will probably go aft.

Mine at the dock-all tanks full. Stock fuel tanks, a 30 gallon water tank under the cabin sole, and batteries under the helm deck.

http://i655.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps76ecb74c.jpg

And the KAMA II

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=ln3Y1A_RNCM

I think Bigfluke added the amas on the sides to improve stern lift and lateral stability with less drag than trim tabs.
Dave

That sits nicely! And a very clean boat! I like the swim platform and the teak windshield frame. It is funny how yours and Stricks can look pretty different with changes in the bow rail, anchor windlass and color. Both look great. Now I need to decide which way to go. Tinted cabin windows are a must, though.

Someday I will get mine cleaner, but I have more rooting around in the bilge to do first.

I think I found plastic tanks. I have to measure carefully to see if the FT5606 fits. I think that one is actually available. A local place- boatstore.com has them (Bigshrimpin might be interested to know that). Still $500+ each. But I don't want to leak 50 gallons of fuel into the bilge on the mooring!

edit: I know it isn't a windlass, but I wouldn't call it a bowsprit either, and prow seems wrong. The word escapes me now.

There's another thing that's different between the two, but it's harder to pick out unless you could look at them side by side. My windshield is lower than stock. It's a subtle difference, but it changes the overall proportions of the boat.
Dave

I think I found a decent gauge. Discontinued I think? But still available from a few places.

A Livorsi GMVWW. $45 a few places online.

Looks good! Livorsi makes a lot of race boat stuff, so it should be good quality!

Fish - Thanks for the link to the tanks! I hope I won't need them anytime soon, but it's great to know there is a drop in replacement. Your boat looks great.

You are welcome. First one I found that looked like a good fit. I will probably scrap mine unless they look pristine. One was tight against the aft bulkhead... Not good for tank or bulkhead. There might be a divinycel bulkhead in my future.

I looked at those tanks and I didnt have enough height for them to fit , theres a 2x4 glassed under the bottom side of the deck just in front of the fuel hatch opening that wouldn't allow the front tank to fit, and I think my old tank was only 13" tall + the fill neck added 2.5"
I had a friend who has a aluminum welding and frabracation shop build new alum tanks for mine

I am going to cut some templates to fit- maybe make a MDF mockup to test. My tanks had bevels cut in them. The big 13.75' x 4" bevels on these tanks might make them work? it would be tight. I don't know. I need to cut a template to look. I might be able to plot it full size at work...

So I cut a luan template of the tank cross section. It looks like it fits, but is too long to get two in the boat. But a 56 gallon tank forward and down low, and a smaller 25ish gallon reserve would work well for me.

I think the 5606 tank with the fittings aft of the deck cross member would be good.

The old tanks look better than I would have thought, but the tops are corroded, and the paint is all peeling off.

The tank install was a hack job. The grey bilge paint drained into the crevices and 9 years on, never hardened, but did partly occlude the limber holes in the bulkhead. The under deck crossmember was sawn thru in order to slide the forward tank forward. So that needs repair.

I can't say for certain who did the tanks, but a well known engine installer in Worcester, MA did the engine, and that was a poor enough install that it had to be done twice. And the fuel hose dates are of the same vintage as the engine. Those will be replaced, too. They were cracked.

After a wash with a stiff brush and some limolene and a shop vac and a garden hose, I think I can now pressure wash the bilge and look at bulkheads, too.

I spent two quality hours with a brush and pressure washer today. (After the tow rig quit on the road- 'nuther story) I think some white gel coat with high gloss additive is in my future. And maybe divinycel bulkheads. Or I may vacuum dry and resin infuse the existing ply.

Here's another idea for bilge paint! http://www.classicseacraft.com/commu...ht=bilge+paint Seems like epoxy would be a good choice for bilge paint!

I am trying to avoid epoxy when I can. It is a sensitizer, and I have used too much of it already. I can still work with it, but I can see the day when I won't be able to.

Plus polyester doesn't stick to it well, if at all, in case I want to laminate structure in there in the future. Although I suppose in either case I would be abrading away the surface.
Strick had mentioned a duratec high gloss gel coat additive- I might try that. I have a gallon of white to use up.

And it holds up fine. Gel coat is cheap. The duratec is a little pricey but you will have a two gallons of material and it goes a long ways. People been using gel coat in bilges forever.....dont know why we have to re invent the wheel all the time. :)

Strick

Every time I come up with a great new idea, it turns out that it's either not so great, or it's not so new...
-Me-

Am I interpreting this right? There was no tank deck? The bottom of your tanks rested on the keelson?

Connor

new tank support idea
 

The tanks I just pulled rested on the "stringers" that are about 12" outboard of the keelson, (~24" center-center?) and rather higher up. Not on the larger stringers that lie outboard of those, perhaps 18-20" (36-40" centers) outboard of the keelson.

Yes, there was no tank deck. Just some strips of rubber under aluminum tanks.

For a plastic tank, I would make a support/tank deck. I want to try some of the Santor Loric SF core material I just saw at that composites show. I hope to get the tank deeper in the hull with a deeper V bottom on the tank. And support it with sandwich core off the inner stringers, with a pultruded fiberglass box section to stand it off the keelson, with a pile of 3M 5200 in the joint to allow that joint to flex. The joints from the stringers to the tank deck/support would also flex with 3M 5200, but with less gap. Any flexion needed from stringer to stringer could be accommodated by the narrow sandwich core and longer span and the plastic tank should be fine with any deformation that happened to the hull in that area. I would think.

So I ordered a a Moeller FT-5606-R1. A Christmas gift to myself.

I got it sort of local.
http://www.oceanlinkinc.com is the 2nd closest place to me that carries it, and the first didn't have a retail store. These people do.

I hope I measured correctly. marine liquidators in FLA had one that was close, and might have fit in the aft half of the compartment but it was too close to tell. Hatch cover flex might have compromised a fitting, and that would have been really bad.

I have a plan for molding that conforming tank support so that I can let it rest on the stringers and fully support the tank bottom and sides, allowing for some expansion.

FT-5606 fuel tank fits. just. I will place the fuel fill aft, with the tank forward, against the aft wall of the cockpit sole. Then move the deck stiffening rib forward 6 ". The tabbing has ruptured on the forward side of the stiffening rib anyways.

The last 2 pics I flipped the tank around from the way I will install it to show how the 2x4 stiffener interferes.

My 2x4 deck stiffener had ruptured the tabbing and flexed. I suspect others have the same issue with cloth. I think 2 layers of biax would have been better than one 0/90

Ugly notching of the (ruptured) deck stiffening rib, not extended to outer stingers? It is being retired and replaced with a stiffener 6" forward that ties the deck to the outboard stringers. Looking to see if a boatbuildercentral.com stiffening hat channel will do what I need.

By the way, Ocean Link in Portsmouth RI was great to deal with and they worked with me on shipping. I think 3 or 4 calls were involved, but I had peace of mind, and the tank showed 2 weeks early.

I killed some brain cells and liver cells scrubbing the fuel tank hold with acetone to get rid of something that seemed half organic mildew, half oily. Plus I have scuff sanded some of the forward bulkhead that is at the aft end of the cockpit sole.

Today I cut out that 2x4 deck stiffener. It wasn't well bonded, and half the glass was ruptured. But it is gone now, and boy am I sore from running a belt sander overhead while lying on my back in a fuel tank hold. But it looks better.

It was pretty warm today: 44 degrees. And as a plus, the block didn't freeze last month, it seems. It hit about -10F around here for a night or two.