Oh, the Destruction...

Spent the day ripping apart the boat. It started out poorly, using a masonry cutting wheel on my angle grinder, and a metal cutting blade in my reciprocation saw. I managed to cut out the opening under at the helm seat, then I showed it too Rick the guru. He mentioned that I should use a diamond blade in the grinder, and a course blade in the reciprocating saw, so off to Canadian Tire I went.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Before I could make a cut, I had to remove the seat. In order to get the bolts removed from the hinge, I had to put a pair of vise grips on the nut, close the seat, and use a screw driver to unscrew the bolt. Of course I had to tie a rope around the vise grips, or they would have fallen down under the steering mechanism into no mans land. The I removed the bilge pump. It struck me as a good idea to either rebuild it and get a spares kit, or just buy a new one and a spares kit. Turns out it is a Henderson Mark V, the same model as the pump for my new head (toilet), I'll have to check to make sure, but if the parts are all the same, then only one spares kit for both.

Back from Canadian Tire I continued to cut out stuff. A little scary at times, but not too bad, except for the itches from the fiberglass. But man, what a difference when you have the right cutters for the right job. It only lasted 20 mins though, and then my grinder started smoking and died. Its always bad when the smoke comes out, because you can never get it to go back in. Learned that working in the electronics world for 20 years. And once the smoke is gone, stuff just never works the same again. So, off to Canadian Tire again. The old grinder was about 20 years old, and I think I only paid about $15 for it, so its hard to get upset about it. The new one is a Dewalt, better last!

Below is a picture of the table I started building. Marine grade ply for the table, hickory for the trim and fiddles. Its a little small, but it fits the binnacle protection bar. Have to wait until its finished to see how it fits.

 The cup holder worked great. I have to add a little mount to the top so that I can attach the chart plotter mounting base. Then finish it with Cetol. Looks good with cold beer sitting in it, doesn't it?

 The following is a pic of where the port quarter berth used to be. It was a little unnerving cutting the liner out when there was only an 1/8" between it and the hull. Not one scratch in the hull though. I have to raise the bunk about 4" to accommodate the new batteries.

 And, whats left of the galley. Tomorrow I'll remove the remainder of the galley, and then hopefully get all the mess cleaned up. I vacuumed a little before I took the pictures, but trust me, its bad.

 The first thing I did was the back seat in the cockpit. I removed the humped seat, and cut out all along the back. I am raising the entire back seat 8", and installing a propane locker in either side, one for a tank in use, one for a spare.

Its coming. Some people think I am going a little overboard, and I can't really argue with them, but its just who I am. Anyway, I am baked, and need to get some down time. Tomorrow I am hoping to get down to the boat early and get all the destruction done so the mess can be cleaned up and I can start he rebuilding.

Rob.