The side deck sections along the cabin area have clear spans with no bulkheads or built-in cabinets to give support to the underside of the side decks. These deck areas always flexed, a condition that was attributed to lack of support.
Recently, a prospective buyer was convinced that the flex in the deck was a sign of deck delamination and core deterioration. Within days, a fiberglass expert was called in to assess the situation. Several core samples were taken on each side of these areas, which concluded that there was no delamination or core deterioration.
However, the thickness of the fiberglass and core on these sections of the side decks was relatively thin, approximately ½”, which was surprising because when installing a cabin top head vent, chain deck pipes, and the cockpit hatch, the core samples were much thicker (3/4” – 1”).
The approach taken for this project was to remove the interior layer of fiberglass and reinforce the side decks from the underside. This approach was made much easier as the result of the removable Spectropile headliner that was installed (see recent Gracie Emmett headliner article), and the fact that there were no interior built-ins that had to be dismantled. Step one was to cut and remove the interior layer of fiberglass below deck.
(Another possible option would have been to cut the interior layer of fiberglass on three sides to inspect the core and signs of delamination or determine if there was any latent moisture, thereby, allowing the forth side of the fiberglass panel to remain intact and provide a convient hinge to reattach the fiberglass […]
#gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-1 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-1 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */ Twelve foot seas in the South Atantic. Sighting Saint Helena after twelve days. The historic buildings of Jamestown. Drake and Phoebe enjoy the rope swing at the dinghy dock. Old canons and anchors litter the wharf. Phoebe practising her diving at the pool The olympic size pool at the water front. Anne´s place The Union Jack with Jacobs Ladder behind. After getting our land legs, we ascended the 699 steps of Jacobs Ladder. Jamestown from half way up Jacobs Ladder The Consulate Hotel, center, with railway girders to support the verandah. Jim buries a bottle of wine near the top. If want the coordinates email us. Phoebe and Drake proud to make it to the top. Happy to make it to the top going back down Looking down into Jamestown The steering gear from SS Papanui Old wharehouses along the wharf. Jonah, John and Jim The Briars Pavillion The Heart shaped waterfall. Longwood House im slicing off the course, thankfully no damage. The millenium forrest, where 5000 gumwood trees have been planted as a conservation initiative. Emma. Napoleon, Lynn Rattle a new temporary resident and Jonah off s/v Brillig. Phoebe and Drake present a Latitude and Attitude´s flag to Anne´s place. Phoebe above and John from s/v Dancyn below, snorkeling the SS Papanui St. Paul´s cathedral built in 1851
Jamestown is located in a deep volcanic valley on the remote English Island of Saint Helena. The 1500 mile passage from Saldanha Bay took 12 days. The first four, we experienced 25-30 knots of wind with 12 foot seas. It is very difficult […]
The day Ruth and Ed were leaving we visited the Spier Cheetah Outreach program. We had the opportunity to get up and personal with these beautiful beasts. They ensure the safety of free range cheetah’s, by educating the public. Cheetah’s tend to kill the live stock on farms, so the outreach program will rescue them. They also breed Turkish Anatolian Shepherd dogs to protect the live stock, thus scaring the cheetah’s away. There are approximately 1000 Cheetah’s left in South Africa. Next to the outreach program is the Eagle Encounter, a bird of prey rehabilitation and education facility. Arriving just in time to see the falconer feed a secretary bird, photo right. They like snakes, so he ties food to the end of a plastic snake and teases the bird. Using his legs and talons, the secretary bird kicks and stomps on the snake until it is dead. Another treat was watching him train and feed the Harris hawks, mentioning they are one of the smartest birds and he can train them in less than a week. The children had the opportunity to pet a barn owl, top right and huddled in a protective crate were four baby barn owls. After our encounters we headed to Moyo for a refreshing drink and the children were excited to get their faces painted. Before dropping granny and grandpa off at the airport, we stopped for some tea at Vredenheim winery, where they had the Cape Town Lion encounter, featuring white lions. In one day the children had the opportunity to pet a cheetah, lion and owl, not to bad
Granny and Grandpa had a long and safe trip home. Phoebe and Drake recovered after only a few hours […]
Now that Blue Sky is back in the water at Hout Bay it was time to get play tourist and relax. Granny and Grandpa B-Q booked a great two bedroom apartment in The Lagune resort that overlooked Table Bay with a view of Table Mountain and Cape Town. The hotel had three swimming pools and was located right on the beach. Having sundowners on the balcony a whale treated us to a show, watching him breech just off the beach, top right. When the wind blows in Cape Town, it blows, it was spectacular watching the water blow off the tops of the waves, thankful we were not out at sea.
Previously I wrote about rounding the Cape of Good Hope seaward of Bellows Rock. Here is a picture (left) from land that shows the boil coming off the rock. Driving around Chapman’s Peak Road, we experienced beautiful views of Hout Bay, below. Ruth, Drake, Emma, Phoebe and Ed are pictured at Cape Point with a view of False Bay behind them. The family poses in front of the Cape of Good Hope sign proclaiming the longitude and latitude.
To the left is a photo of Nelson Mandela’s cell located on Robben Island, where he served 27 years in confinement, starting in 1964. We took a ferry to this austere island, which was once connected to the mainland many years ago. Since the Dutch settled at the Cape the island has primarily been used as a prison. It was also used as a hospital and leprosy colony, where the graves are pictured above. All the guides are ex-prisoners and ours, Sipho, above left, served five years. The photo behind him is the last boat leaving Robben island with […]
Our “free time” had expired in Simons Town and we were scheduled to be hauled out in Hout Bay on January 4th. That morning of the third the weather was fair and the seas were settling so we ran out of False Bay and rounded The Cape of Good Hope. On land it is known as Cape Point. The photograph above left is The Cape of Good Hope. We rounded it south of Bellows Rock while a local catamaran took the short cut inside and very near the Cape. The commercial shipping was another couple of miles beyond us to sea, giving the Cape an even wider berth.
If you see the table cloth over the mountains in Cape Town, it means the wind will be strong from the SE. Above the clouds cascading over the peaks and below a blue sky day.
Clear day & flat seas at Hout Bay. Protection is good here but if it blows from the east it can be quite a challenge.
Phoebe & Drake on the cannons at the northern entrance to Hout Bay. Great fish & chips place is just out of the picture to the left. It's called "Fish On The Rocks."
When we were in Redondo Beach our good friend Chad Thomas was always willing to let me tag along. Chad has been involved in the commercial shipping business nearly all his life. He has been the Captain of survey vessels, tugs that tow huge ocean going barges & crew vessels that support the light oil tankers that moor off the Chevron refinery in El Segundo. Chad always opted for sea room and saftey rather than taking the short cut. I think he burned this into my mind! I always think of Chad […]
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