Unexpected Surprise. Water Ingress!

Some time ago we had a post about the way our Steelhead Davit was installed in 2009 during the commissioning of Sylken Sea. I won't go into that again here, we will just fast forward to the spring of 2026, probably April? I'm down in the lazarette and notice an ugly brown stain running down the hull from the port side into the bilge. Hmmm, I don't like the look of that. I then notice what appears to be a crack in the gelcoat on the bulkhead port side of centre and low on the bulkhead. I push on it with my finger, brown "tea" oozes out. Oh, Oh. Yep after drilling a few test holes I can confirm we have water ingress into the bulkhead. This is going to be a big repair. 

I start looking for a yard that I would be comfortable with to take this on. We find Tiffany Yachts in Burgess VA and I give them a call. After a chat with Laura we decide to bring them the boat and will leave it with them for nearly three months. We have a long laundry list of other work we need done but it's the bulkhead repair that worries us most. We really wont know what we are dealing with until we have Tiffany's start cutting into the bulkhead.

Drew was assigned to the task and he started by removing components including the exhaust system, davit and parts of the water maker. After cutting into the bulkhead and determining the extent of the damage it was confirmed that when the davit was installed the standpipe to cockpit sole connection which requires a 5" hole cut in the sole through the teak and the deck also cut into the bulkhead. Steelhead's installation manual's instructions state that all cutouts must be properly sealed, the installer Bullhead Marine in FL neglected this step. The water had been running down the inside of the stand pipe from the boat deck and entering the coring and the bulkhead rotting both.

Drew cut out all the soft bulkhead wood and the cockpit sole coring, replaced it and glassed it all back in. He did a really nice job and you really can't tell is was ever repaired. 

Cockpit sole from the underside with rotten core cut out. You can see the new plywood installed in the bulkhead before being glassed over. Note the cutout for the Davit.

Bulkhead with the rotten wood cut out

Ceiling Project Continues

The ceiling project moved along a bit slowly as life got in the way. So far the Salon, Galley and Pilot House are completed. We are not sure how much further we will take it. In hindsight it would have been a lot easier to have just covered the vinyl rather than take it down. However we now have total access to the underside of the boat deck above the Salon and the deck above the Pilot House.

The new ceiling panels are made from Stabilit brand FRP sheets. We bought them through Home Depot but we had to order a pallet as we wanted the smooth panels rather than the pebbled panels that Home Depot stocks in their stores. As a result we paid a premium and have enough extra panels to completely do the rest of the boat. Rather than glue the panels to the ceiling stringers they are held in place by the 3/8" thick teak trim which are fastened with black SS screws and black countersunk finish washers. This allows easy access to the boat deck and ceiling above 

The teak trim was milled from rough teak lumber that we purchased from  specialty wood distributor A&M Wood Specialty in Cambridge, Ontario. We first squared up the stock in a jointer then ripped it to slightly oversize on the band saw. The trim strips were then milled to the final thickness on the jointer as we don't have a thickness planner (would be much quicker with a thickness planner). Final edge bevel was done on the router table. Final dimension of our teak trim is 3/8" thick and 2 1/2" wide. This was all done in a small basement workshop.

We have been using Epifanes varnish for quite some time. We now use a combination of Wood Finish Gloss and Wood Finish Matt exclusively. Once I figured out that you can thin it much more than Epifanes instruct on the tin I was able to get the product to flow nicely. Initial coats we thin to 50% then 25-30% for the remainder. We sand smooth with 220 grit, vacuum and wipe down the teak before applying the first coat of Wood Finish Gloss. The nice thing about Wood Finish Gloss is that no sanding is required between coats as long as they are applied between 24 and 48 hours. Since we thin the vanish a lot more than Epifanes instruct we need to apply more coats to fill the grain. About 9 coats of gloss is usually enough. After the grain is filled we wait 72 hours before sanding again with 220 grit, vacuum and wiping down the trim before applying 3 coats of Wood Finish Matt thinned 25-30%. The Wood Finish Matt must be sanded between coats, we use 320 grit for this.

A note about "laying" down varnish. Use a high quality natural bristle brush, they are expensive ($25-30) but totally necessary IMO. Lay the varnish down in long steady stroke not by "brushing" back and forth.

Vinyl Ceiling Removed

 It was a little more difficult removing the vinyl than we had expected. Glued up with 3M 5200! Anyway they are down. I must say, the boats are well built. Good beefy stringers support the deck above. All nicely glassed in.

The Ceiling Plan

We have decided to attempt to get the 'look' of the classic glass/teak that we find attractive in a trawler. So we obtained some rough teak boards and milled them to a dimension we think will suit the boat and the 'look' we are after. Here are the trim pieces after the varnishing stage. We used Epifanes gloss to fill the grain and finished with Epifanes woodfinish matte. Under the teak you can see the fiberglass panel material. We ordered the smooth white Glassteel 4' x 8' sheets 0.09" thick FRP panels through Home Depot (special order). We will cut these into ceiling panels.

Salon Ceiling Upgrade Project

Our 2009 KK48 North Sea was delivered with a padded vinyl ceiling. This was the first 48 delivered this way. Previous boats much to our envy were delivered with a beautiful glass/teak trimmed ceiling. Over time the plasticizers in the vinyl began to break down causing the vinyl to become "sticky'. It is not possible to clean it and it is looking grubby so we have decided to replace it.

Back to Sylken Sea

Back in Maryland. Sylken Sea at our dock on the Pocomoke River. About to start another boat project. Stand by!

Arriving at Moorhead City

Smooth passage from St. Simon's 48hrs.

At Anchor St. Simons Ga.

At anchor close to St. Simon's Sound. As forecast the relentless winds are dropping allowing a possible 48 hr passage starting early in the am. Morehead City here we come.

Heading North

Good weather, light winds and flat seas. Off the coast of South Carolina. We left St. Simons Sound yesterday morning. Going back inside at Moorehead City Saturday morning. Should be well up the Sounds by Saturday afternoon.

Cumberland

Back in the USA. Cumberland Island. Some crazy weather last little while. Hoping things settle down and we can jump outside for a run north.