Adam F

Dave, They will get a coat of resin to seal, and then another coat of grey flow coat to add a second protective layer and match in against the rest of the below deck work. Topside get glassed in structurally around the perimeter (1800gsm) but the rest will just get a single wear layer as I intend to have a synthetic teak deck over the top. Adam

Last few bits of the jigsaw sorted tonight. Bloody cold outside though... I'd guess -3 or -4c! So that's the deck panels dry fitted. They now need a coat of resin and flow coating grey underneath before I can bond, screw and glass them down permanently. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Another update... Feel like I'm starting to get somewhere now. Working evenings this week and then a few hours this weekend, I've glassed in the deck beams, and started to cut the new deck panels. I'm really pleased with the new deck height, much better. The space feels Huge! The final pic of me stood in the forward berth gives it some sense of perspective.

Cheers guys. Just off out to glass the deck beams in and start cutting the deck to size. Dave, their is a proper electric connection under the tape, it's just there the protect that.

Big progress today. Had help from Rob and planned to make the most of the extra pair of hands.... I think he now knows that it's not all about bolting shiney things on! An endless procession of scrubbing, rubbing, hoovering, cleaning, prepping..... The first job was to remove all the old carpet backing and glue residue from the wheelhouse...a job I said would 'take about an hour' we picked one side each and 3 hours later we were done! Phew... Pig of a job. But now she is ready for the interior carpet in a few months time. Next job was to fair off the rear bulkhead, so cue 3l of body filler.... And rob did a great job, whilst I picked up all the bits of glue. Finally, an hour or so of sanding, acetoneing, and hoovering and the hull was clean and smooth and ready for the flow coat. This took a couple of hours, but now under the deck is complete, flow coated and ready for the deck to be cut to size, sika flexed, screwed and glassed down. Cheers Rob... We achieved today what would have taken me a couple of weeks to do in the evenings.

So first update for 2015. No photos as they don't show much, but I've been busy fibreglassing... It's taken bloody ages! At first it seems a quick easy task, just a few strips of grp here and there? Well to comply to Seafish Standards all the structural bits (so anything under the deck basically) needs 1800gsm layup, which is 3 layers of 600gsm mat. Each layer needs to be slightly larger than the last to avoid a big ridge, and to keep a nice stepped profile as well as added strength. So that 'little' job becomes a mountain once you start to cut all the pieces of mat, I had literally a pile of it! I'll never complain about the price of a boat again.... The amount of labour is phenomenal.... I thought the last boat was a lot of work, but that was a basic fit out, this is nearer to a full build. Anyway, so I've been out there every spare hour trying to get the grp lay up complete. 3 layers around the top of the deck shelf, 3 underneath, 3 on each of the bulkhead tops, each side, 3 along each bulkhead where it joins the hull... Equates to about 36m at 300mm wide and about 25kg of resin. The last few bits will be done tomorrow morning and then I've enlisted some hired help from Rob Francis on a Thurs to get the under deck flow coated. Then I can trim the deck to size! I'll be pleased to move on to the next stage...

Another 175 fan here. If I went back to a day boat I'd go back to a 175 without hesitation. I had a 165 too, also great but the 175 is in another league, hard to find much to fault really. I had a 130hp honda on mine! I would recommend going for at least 115hp... They need a few hp but they really fly, mine did close to 40 knots but drank around 1l per mile at cruising speed.

Any decent builders merchant will stock or can get hold of it. Be prepared to pay circa £60 a sheet.

Xmas end of year parties and workload have slowed up last few weeks but another step forward anyway. My building inspector (aka Pete R) was kind enough to pop up last week to make sure I was getting the important structural detail correct under the deck. A few very helpful pointers and I was back underway. What you see here is the under deck structure complete. Deck shelves around the outside and beams between the bulkheads. All this now gets a coat of resin to seal the timber, before sheathing the whole lot in grp. It then gets flow coated in dark grey before I can start to fit the new deck. A couple of weeks of over Xmas should see this wrapped up ready to start refitting the cabin in the new year. The last of the toys came this week... An early Xmas pressie... So we will have the new breed of Raymarine EV-100 auto pilot, and a 1kw transducer with Garmins latest GSD26 black box running it.

The main issue I've been having is the short days and colder weather. With the new job, working during 'office' hours isn't really happening, so I'm having to grab the odd hour in the evenings... Tiring work. It's a real bonus when we have a free weekend and amazing how fast things progress given a full day on the boat. The other issue is the cold weather, it's not great for curing the resin... With the amount of heaters and lighting on the boat, I'm not looking forward to the bill next spring! With the amount of work to do, I've basically turned her into a mini workshop, so the boat has permanent power, and lighting and several heaters. Anyway, on with the progress report. First off, I got boarded doing the prep jobs so 'treated' myself to installing a few bits of bling. The main deck lazerette hatch now has gas struts to lift the massive hatch, a new shines, proper locking handle to replace the toy ones. I've also cleaned the filth from the bilge, and started work on the battery shelf. The battery boxes are now all done and complete. If anyone wants the moulds, should before I burn them. Back in the wheelhouse, I've templates and cut sections to fill in gaps in the rear bulkhead, installed the first deck shelf, and fabricated the shelf to take the 100l water tank. The final update is from this evening, where I've managed to template and level in the two main bulkheads. Really pleased with this last bit as it signals closer to getting the new deck in. The new deck will be 8" highest than the old one, storage underneath is cavernous! Im away this weekend, but next week, ill acetone and clean down the hull, foam the bulkheads in and glass them over.

So much for thinking I was nearly there. Another 5 hours of grinding was required to get every last bit off. The only bit built properly on the boat was the toilet cubicle.... The bloody thing would have survived a nuclear blast, absolute nightmare to get that out. I honestly didn't expect to have taken the boat back this far... I'm now left with what isn't far off a bare set of mouldings! Anyway, we are here now. GROUND ZERO! From here on in I start to add things...and the rebuild starts!

Chris, it's a good observation, and another reason I've taken the boat back as far as I have. The boat has 8 bulkheads in total but all have limber holes, so no water tight compartments. My plan going forward is to seal these off hand have 4 water tight compartments will electric and manual bilge pumps.

No, it's not an Ebola outbreak in Dorset.. Me trying my best to protect myself!

Just read the last post and the photos make I took easy! It was an absolute pig of a job. I've even bled for the boat today... Apparently diamond cutting discs are pretty good at cutting leather gloves and human flesh :-((

Major progress today, and not a job I was looking forward to - I'd rather have been out in NZ in the sun with Ian, and not on my back under the deck with a grinder and sabre saw for 5 hours. Despite a full set of PPE I still ended up covered in itchy grp dust, it literally got everywhere. Anyway, I'm now very close to the stage where things stop getting worse and start getting better. The wheelhouse deck is completely gone, just a bit of final grinding and cleaning and then it's time to order in the marine ply and start templating bulk heads ready for a new deck to be glassed in. Wheelhouse dash.... Gone! Forward bunk... Gone! Middle section... Gone! Galley section... Gone Everything... Gone. And hoovered. Mountain of dust. Bloody glad that job is done! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Maybe it was a typo Rob and he meant mileS away......

Only a mile, carry it!

Bit more progress this weekend. No going back now! Managed to strip out all of the electrics and all of the woodwork. All that is left now is the hydraulics and then it's time to done the dusk mask and look like I'm an Ebola doctor before setting to the interior fibreglass with a diamond disc! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Can I bring the new axle back? I'm in Essex for the next two days, and Mersea trailers are only 5 mins from my depot in Colchester? Let me know ASAP.

Awesome! What an experience, and well done George.

And how it looks after a few hours ripping out.. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Its going to get worse before it gets better.... The list of shocking things I find grows by the minute. This boat really was built by a blind guy in a rush! Take a look at the pics.... Cardboard used as a gap filler, shoddy electrical connections, the metals strip used to hold the whole cooker in place, steaming lights attached to bits of broom stick with silicone, the throttle control with m8 bolts on m6 studs..... I won't go on! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

No going back now! Hats off to Percy at Elvey Transport, he earnt his money today. JV was huge on the back of his 8 wheeler, but the narrow lanes of Dorset were only the start. Reversing into my lane with only 2" to spare between buildings was the next stage, and then craning it over a grade II listed building and wall into the drive. Anyway, she's back and work has begun in earnest! I only had a few hours on her this afternoon, but managed to strip out the galley,fridge, helm and roof lining. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Awesome! Good skills buddy.

Try hydrofoils? Works for Manta?! :-)