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New bulkhead

jengels

Member II
I started today in ernest in taking out the old, rotted bulkhead on my E-30+. I've done one on a Bristol 22 and this doesn't seem to be much different, just alot more trim work to remove. I'll keep everyone up to date as I go along, hopefully with pictures. :unsure:
 

jengels

Member II
Day two on the bulkhead replacement. After removing all the trim on the port side of the cabin and the head, we cut the tabbing away from the hull (about one foot) and from the cabin top. We removed the bolts that secure the bulkhead to the side of the head cabinet and the bolts at the bottom near the shower pan. The whole thing is a flimsy as cardboard with significant rot under the mast (mast is off boat) and near the chain plate. Aside from removing the compression post, which looks imposible, the only way the new one will go back in will be in two pieces. I'm thinking about two pieces with a large lap joint. Any other ideas.?
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
It will be easier to comment once you post up some pictures.
As to the mast compression post, there is nothing inherently bad about it being discontinuous, but you do have to be sure that the load (compression force) is allowed for in any joining that you do.

LB
 

PDX

Member III
Are you talking about a two piece compression post or a two piece bulkhead? There are examples of scarf in bulkhead repairs around in the blogosphere. If the compression post, where would the break be? What would the new joint look like. And I second Loren's request for pictures.
 

jengels

Member II
Some pictures

These are a few pictures of the rot I am dealing with. It's also a test to see if I could get pictures up here. Unfortunatly I work in the city and spend most of my time getting there and back, so I won't be able to post anymore until the weekend. Loren, we were thinking about removing the channel in the compression post to make the job easier. Again, I'll take some more detailed photos on Saturday and post them.

Thanks again, John
 

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Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
If I were to guess, and at a long distance away, that's all it is...
There was a long-ignored leak around the plate on the cabin top that the spar sits on. This plate should have been removed and the holes epoxied and then properly redrilled & resealed over a decade ago. I have seen this cause problems on many makes of sailboat over the decades.
Pull all the staples, open the zipper, and tie the headliner gently back from the area. I wonder if the bulkhead top is glassed in?

Since you have found rot at the chain plate attachment also, I can see why you need to restore the strength of the whole bulkhead.
While the chainplate(s) are off -- and be sure to do both sides -- epoxy in the deck openings for them and recut.

One other thought (and suggestions from over here in the peanut gallery are never worth too much) is that you fix the parts of the bulkhead that need it, and leave the other 85% in place. Once the rig is off the boat, remove the mast post and the chain plate. Following the standard of scarfing in replacement pieces with a 12 to 1 scarf, install some pieces of G-10 frp, also scarfed to fit. You could buy single-thickness G-10 or laminate a couple of pieces of 3/8".
Once you finish glassing, this will leave some layers of biax visible on the bulkhead. Last, cover the whole bulkhead with a new surface of ($$) teak veneer.

This repair should finally be pretty much invisible, and that's what to strive for. Close as you can.

Sidebar: While it kind of hurts my pride in my work, all my best maintenance/upgrade/repair work on our boat is 99% invisible, even when you know where to look... :rolleyes:

Additionally, this winter you could buy dinner for Tim and David and have them come over and help scope out the project... ;)

Thanks for the pics, and please keep us posted.

LB
 
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PDX

Member III
Do you know how the leak happened? Not to be alarmist, but on my boat the weep holes at the base of the mast became clogged. As a result the base of the mast filled with water, which forced its way down into the balsa sandwich core in the cabin top. Hopefully this hasn't happened on yours, but definitely worth looking at.
 

exoduse35

Sustaining Member
Another thought... As you are removing the chain plates anyway, you may want to look into having replacements made of titanium. They are now as cheep as stainless (not that stainless is cheep) and are stronger, lighter, and corrosion proof!
 

jengels

Member II
Bulkhead

Loren, the whole bulkhead is wrecked, there is some delamination near the shower drain as well.
Exoduse 35, thanks for your suggestion, but the chainplate looks like it's brand new.
PDX, when I go back to the boat I will check for the clogged weep holes. Everything up top seems solid, but I will look more closely.
I will post more pictures and ideas over the weekend, it seems I can't post anything from work with my i-phone.
 
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jengels

Member II
Bulkhead is out!

Ok fellas, the cancer is out. It took some doing and a sawzall, but the old bulkhead is out of the E30+. This thing was completly shot. I forgot to take a picture of it after it was removed but I will go back to the yard and do that tomorrow. I will do my best to document the entire process here on the site but if anyone wants to talk to me or ask questions I would be happy to answer any calls. Home phone: 631-929-0458 cell: 631-463-4199.

John
 

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Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
John,
If you ever plan to replace any of the head/drain/supply hoses and fittings under that head counter....
cut an access hole thru that hidden side of the head area molding (beside the sink) and take care of this now.
:rolleyes:
 

mherrcat

Contributing Partner
What model year is your 30+? While you have all that removed, I would like to see what the base that the compression post sits on looks like if possible.

There was a whole write up with pictures a while back on replacing the mast base in the cabin top. I think it was on an Ericson Independence 31; might have been Emerald.
 

jengels

Member II
Compression post

Mark, my boat is a 1983 E-30+. I will be going back to the boat today to cut the old bulkhead in half to remove it from the cabin. I will take several pictures of the compression post and it's base.

John
 

jengels

Member II
Mark
Here are some pictures of the compression post. I know it's kind of hard to see what's going on here but the bottom of the post is in a molded "pocket" in the floor. Picture one is looking at the bottom of the post from the cabin side. Picture two is looking down the post from the head side with channel in compression post below the light piece of wood. (shower drain in view). Picture three is the top of the post where it meets the cabin top. If you need more detailed pictures or descriptions let me know, I'll be going back to the boat on Friday.

John
 

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jengels

Member II
Bulkhead is out! pt 2

Here are some pictures of the bulkhead before and after we cut it in half to get it out of the boat. I'll be discussing with my carpenter friend at work tomorrow what kind joint to use when putting in the new bulkhead which will have to be in two pieces.

John
 

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Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
John, is the compression post a 4 x 4 wooden post? If so, can you tell what kind of wood it is? What holds it in place at the top under the deck?

Thanks,
Frank
 

Emerald

Moderator
It was I on the mast step

What model year is your 30+? While you have all that removed, I would like to see what the base that the compression post sits on looks like if possible.

There was a whole write up with pictures a while back on replacing the mast base in the cabin top. I think it was on an Ericson Independence 31; might have been Emerald.

Been offline a bit, sailing a lot :egrin:

Here's a link to redoing my mast step. Let me know if there are any questions:

http://home.comcast.net/~independence31/core/looksbad.html
 

jengels

Member II
Compression post

Frank, the post is not a 4X4. It's made up of two pieces that are about 2" in width and 6" across, placed end to end. I will take more accurate measurments this weekend. I don't know what the wood is, but it still seems to be in good shape.

John
 

jengels

Member II
Project update

After a bit of a break due to work I was back at the boat today to check the fit of the templates. With just a little trimming both pieces went right in. My son is pointing to where the seem is.
 

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davisr

Member III
John,

Since you're now moving into the rebuild stage of this project, I'm curious to know what joint your carpenter friend suggested that you use for the two replacement pieces.

Thanks,
Roscoe
 
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