Another 25 Seafari goes under the knife

[Blue_Heron]

Progress on the Seafari has been slow over the past month. I took a break from working on the Seafari to do some much needed maintenance on my SF 20 and its trailer. I went through the wiring for both bilge pumps and cleared the discharge hose on the live well pump. Then I went to work on the trailer. New tires, new disk breaks, new axle, new LED taillights, and it’s done. Scallop season starts early this year, and I’m ready.

But the Seafari hasn’t been completely neglected. I realized that a lot of the under-deck plumbing and electrical work I need to do was dependent on getting my in-deck cooler/battery box installed. Before I could install it, I needed to complete the lids, bond the helm deck to the box, and finish the insulation around the boxes.

I made the lids in two parts; a hatch lid, and a hatch liner, so they would have a finished surface inside and out. I sprayed the inside with gellcoat/Duratech clear, and primed the outside with Awlgrip 545. The hatches are cored with blue Styrofoam about an inch thick.

Hatch liner prepped for the foam core.



Foam core for the battery box installed in two pieces with a rib of fiberglass inserted between the two halves. The core for the cooler lid is in three parts with two fiberglass ribs.



Battery box core prepped for hatch lid.



And lid just before laminating in place.



Before I could assemble the hatches or laminate the box to the helm deck, I had to prep for the hinges. The underside of the deck would be inaccessible and I wanted a clean finish on the inside of the hatches, so I used SS tee nuts and machine screws. On the hatches, the tee nuts are sandwiched between the hatch lid and liner, so they are fully concealed. Once the hatches and deck were hinged together, I could laminate the box and deck together. It was a complicated fit that required several cycles of trimming/adjustment followed by head scratching. I’m afraid I got a little caught up in the head scratching and forgot to take pics of this step.

After I got everything put together, I completed the insulation around the boxes and laminated a layer of epoxy/2408 over the foam. I also added stiffeners at both ends of the boxes to support the Starboard and port ends of the helm deck.





Then it was ready to install. The box fastened in place:



The cooler compartment:



And the battery box:



I got some other stuff done that I’ll try to post in the next day or two.

Dave

[uncleboo]

Amazing work! Very impressive.

[Islandtrader]

That boat will be the envy of all that see it. Maybe I should take a ride up some day and give you some immoral support

[Blue_Heron]

Thanks for the encouragement, guys. I keep telling myself it will all be worth the effort when I’m done. Seems like at the rate I’m going, that should be sometime in 2015. Terry, any time you want to drop in to provide immoral support, the beer's on me.

Anyway, here’s another update.

A wise man once said to me,

Are you going to bite the bullet and make the cabin door entry with the little flip up thingy so you don't bang your noggin on the way in? Seems like a necessity now that you have raised the deck.
strick

I have to thank strick for suggesting this, because I probably wouldn’t have thought of it myself until I was done and banging my noggin. Having decided to bite the bullet, I needed to get the cutout for the flip up thingy done before I can finish fairing and painting the top cap. So here goes:

Cutout prepped for hatch lip:



Mold for hatch lip:



Mold sprayed with clear lacquer, clay fillets applied, and then sprayed with PVA:



Gelcoat applied:



Part popped from the mold:



Laminated in place:



And the rough edges sanded off. Still needs a little fairing/sanding and then 454 primer:



This fiberglass fabrication is a lot of fun, but it’s pretty time consuming. With the deck box done and the flip up thingy cut out, I can either focus on below deck plumbing and rigging tubes, or finish fairing, priming, and painting the cockpit and top cap.

Dave

[Bushwacker]

Nice work Dave! Looks like you've got the mold-making process really locked in! What material are you gonna use for the flip up hatch? I like the gutter you put around it! Denny

[SBD]

You are doing really fine work. Looks great.

[Blue_Heron]

Thanks, guys.

Denny, the flip up hatch will be fiberglass. I considered modifying the piece I cut out, but I think it will be less effort to fabricate one from scratch.

I got a little more done. Nothing special, but good to get it out of the way. The deck on both sides of the engine cutout was cantilevered about a foot out from the stringers, so I laminated in some plywood supports to take the flex out of them:



And the deck over the fuel tank compartment spans about 5' between the stringers. Even though the deck is sound, you could feel a little deflection under foot when walking on it. I figured a couple supports there would be cheap insurance. You can see in the next pic where they laminated in a stiffener under the deck to compensate for the long span, but then they cut a couple notches in it so the fuel tank fittings would clear. Kinda defeats the purpose of the stiffener.

Port:



Starboard:



I've also started on my rigging tubes. The 1" PVC conduit in the last pic runs from the battery box to the engine compartment. It will carry the battery cables and bilge pump wiring.

I'll post more as progress continues.
Dave

[seafari25]

Looking Awesome Dave!!

You're gonna have a great view from the helm! That batt box/cooler is a great idea for the stepdown and your fiberglass work is truly impressive!

I opened my yap a few times during Chucks restore, and I didn't need to, as he clearly was on top of it. That said, I'm not sure if you found a windshield, or if you are making one, but the center support for the factory windshield lands right in the middle of your new hatch. I'm sure you already have a plan.

Keep up the great work
Brandon

[Blue_Heron]

Thanks, Brandon. Hey, have you got yours in the water yet this year? It's high summer down here. Temp topped 100*F today.

Good point about the center support for the windshield. I have thought about it. Since it looks like I'll be making my own frame, I was going to scale it down about 10% in height. I've done a mockup using 1x2 for a frame and it's hard to tell it from the original. But the height works better with the raised helm deck. I'll be able to look over the windshield when standing at the helm and look through it when seated. With the reduced height, I think I can move the center support forward and get good results. That and my frame will be wood with miterd corners, so it shouldn't be as flexy in the joints as the aluminum extrusions in the original frame.
Dave

[cdavisdb]

If you can set it up so that you look just over the windshield when standing, that is a major advantage. My 20 was that way and I miss it on the 25. The 20 could get pretty wet and you had to dodge water on rough days, but you won't have that problem with the 25.