columbia 10.7 rehab log entry #11 Varnishing the teak

Varnishing the interior teak wood....

Now that I have decided to lay the new Allure floor, I am going to varnish all the wood with a spar varnish. I am beginning with the lower area of interior near the floor so I can lay the floor and not have to worry about getting varnish on the new wood.

I am going to take a 220 grit sandpaper to all of the teak in the boat and carefully varnish the teak wood panels and trim, giving a light sanding between coats.  This will probably take 4 or 5 coats and I am going to use a low sheen spar varnish...

I am not looking forward to this as it is a job and a half, but it has to be done and will make the interior sparkle.

I will post before and after pics when I get into the project.

Rehab of Columbia 10.7 log entry #12..Interior upholstery

So today I began the process of replacing and reupholstering the interior cushions and bedding.
I was able to save about 1/2 of the foam cushions. I stripped them and decided to reupholster them with a rich emerald upholstery fabric with burgundy accents. it will go great with the new Blond  Ash floors going into the boat.

Check out the photos of the old and new....    1979   upholstery...Bow Chicky wow wow

Stripped down to the foam  with new luan board backing

Reupholstered with the New Fabric

Old and new side by side...

I have to make 3 new cushions from scratch. I will post photos of these when they are finished and when all the new upholstery is in the boat.



columbia 10.7 rehab Log entry #10 The floor

The Floor.

Okay so when I got the boat, the 24 inch x 10 ft sole piece in the cabin was trashed and dry rotted. The rest of the floor in the salon was solid a s a rock but really dirty. One area by the refrigerator looked like someone had spilled a heavy coat of spar varnish on it... I was going to need to sand it down.

                                                           Old Sole in the salon

New Sole inlay

The last owner also let the marine air conditioner pan drain right onto the floor in the v berth area.. So of course it eventually rotted all the carpeting and the wood floor. I ripped that mess out and replaced it with fresh marine plywood. 

Also the last owner tore up the floor directly by the head... why??? I have no idea.  I replaced that piece with marine plywood as well.

I then had my carpenter take the long sole piece out and use it as a template to cut a replacement from marine plywood.. The piece fit perfectly. I cut finger holes in the  access panels.

Now the floor is solid as a rock... One decision that I didn't want to make was replacing the teak and holly floor... I tried to sand it but it was too far gone as it is veneer and wouldn't look fresh.. I decided to utilize a laminate product called Allure. It comes in 4 inch wide and 2 ft lengths.  My carpenter Steve is going to sand the existing floor and install the new blond ash flooring over it.  This is going to make a huge difference in the look for the boat as it will be clean and bright, not to mention it is water proof and has a 25 year warranty...

I am then going to carpet the v berth bedroom area and the hallway outside the head... I will make a runner to go directly down the center of the cabin salon to tie everything  together...

Columbia 10.7 Rehab Log entry #9 Seeing much progress

It has been quite a while since I updated the blog about the rehab of the Columbia. I have been very busy and haven't had much time to work on her.. So read on about the updates...

Ray Marine Autohelm ST3000

The autohelm wasn't working when I bought the boat. The belt was shredded and the wire from the belt was hanging out of the assembly. There was no power to the head unit and the fluxgate compass wires were ripped out by the last owner.  I went on line and downloaded the manual for the Ray Marine Autohelm Unit.

I bought an new $500 fluxgate compass on Ebay for $50.00 and a new belt for $25.00 from Ray Marine.

I installed the new belt and compass. I then traced down the wiring and found the power wires. I hooked them up to the circuit breaker that also controlled the VHF radio. It came on and the visual was bright... The  motor was working but not turning the toggle on the end... I disassembled the motor and cleaned , re greased and repacked the 24 gears. When I hooked everything  back up and turned the autohelm on,.... It worked... It started turning the ships wheel... I have to say this is a huge accomplishment for me because it is a high end unit and would cost over $2000 to replace... 

I have made some great progress on the interior. I decided to hire a carpenter to help me with cutting and installing the v berth, head and hallways trim. As you may have read, I replaced all the headliners in these areas and needed them trimmed out.

See the photo below of the v berth remodel in progress

 

Before any remodel it was gross

Then I stripped the v berth down to the fiberglass



 As you can see, I placed new carpet on walls, new headliners, new trim.. Its almost finished  Just need to recover the cushions and buff the wood out.

I then painted the main cabin headliner to a flat white... WOW what a difference that made.

I cleaned out the salon and freshened up the wood.   Now I need to refinish the cushions and curtains
Check out the b-4 and after pics below  

Before I touched the cabin

The wood is now  clean. the cabin cleaned out and the drapes taken down to be remade. 

 The port side settee is cleaned out, the wood is clean and the drapes are down to be remade. I also replaced the backing behind the shelf and it is crisp white..



The port side settee looking back when I first got the boat.  Note the headliners falling down and it was filthy.

Exterior



I haven't touched the outside of the boat except to clean the cock pit and replace the gauges etc...

Check out the pics..

She is in great shape topside and sails like a dream.....

Columbia 10.7 Rehab log entry #8 mechanical systems

I went through the mechanical systems in the boat and updated and replaced items.
The first was the water pump and lines to the various faucets.

Water System
The water system in the boat was a typical set up with a 40 gallon tank for the fresh eater feeding into a pressurized pump which is turned on at the main breaker panel. It fed the head sink and shower, the galley sink and the hot water heater. There was no outside shower on the boat.

Upon inspection of the water system, I found that the electrical lines had been cut to the 12 volt water pump that was mounted by the hot water heater tank in the cockpit of the boat under a seat. I hooked up a battery to the pump only to find it had no suction.  I replaced it with a Flowmaster pump that could handle the flow needed for the boat. I decided to move the pump into the cabin and place it under the port settee near the fresh water tank. This required less travel distance to the faucets meaning less lines to worry about.
I ran fresh wires from the main fuse panel to the water pump and hooked it up. The cold water runs great to the faucets int he head and the galley.

Hot water heater
The hot water heater which was electric 110 volt was missing. The only evidence I saw were the wires remaining under the seat in the cockpit. I purchased a tankless hot water heater that runs off of propane. I mounted the unit in the cockpit under the port seat so it has plenty of air flow and ventilation. It works great. On demand hot water. It only kicks on when the hot water nozzle is opened.

Air conditioner
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the aftermarket marine air conditioner on the boat worked well. The controls are analog so no digital panel as of now. That can be replaced and upgraded by the next owner. I didn't want to mess with it as it works great. 
I did replace the hoses coming in from the raw water and the circulating hoses and clamp. I dismantled the raw water strainer and cleared out the debris. the separate high end raw water pump now throws a ton of water through the unit and out the through hull fitting, thus keeping the compressor cool and cranking out a lot of cold air.

Bilge Pump

As with many other systems, I am baffled by the previous owner cutting the wires for the bilge pump.. I did find the bilge pump mounted int he center of the bilge under the sole of the boat. It didn't work though. i replaced it with a high end, high output pump which I rewired into the main fuse panel. It now discharges a huge amount of water in seconds from the bilge.

Refrigeration
The boat has an ice box style refer that you place ice in and has a teak grates . It is totally mechanical and uses no form of power. I am placing a small 110 volt refer into the boat  where the chart table was removed. if there is room, I will replace the chart table over the refer.

Propane system
There is a single propane tank in its own hatch in the cockpit. It has a line that runs to the galley. I had new hoses made to connect the new tankless hot water heater and the stove/ oven. New tank of propane in the well. I then tested the connections for leaks and it was good to go.

12 volt electrical system
The 12 volt system is in tact and working well. I am replacing several of the 12 volt lights int he cabin with new lighting. Each of the 12 volt switches / breakers on the main panel work well.

110 volt electrical systemThere is a 30 amp shore power receptacle on the boat in the cockpit. The 110 system was plugged in and works well. The boat is equipped with a Rareitan Crown 2 marine converter system that also has a battery charger installed.  The converter wasn't working when I first checked it but I found that one of the 7 amp fuses was fried so I am replacing it and will fire the converter up and attach the battery charger.

Ray Marine 4400 SL Auto Pilot

The boat is equipped with a Ray Marine brand autohelm. The previous owner decided to rip out the wires from the $500 Fluxgate compass. No worries, I found a new one on Ebay for $50 and bought it . I will be installing it soon.  Also the belt that turns the ships wheel was destroyed so i also ordered a new one for install this week.  I need to track down the 12 volt power source for the actual head unit with the screen. I will get that working and we will have a functioning $3000 totally rehabbed outopilot... Comes in very handy when you need to go down below and mix another Captain Morgan and diet !!

Columbia 10.7 Rehab Log entry #7 Engine tweek

So... I mentioned in the transport log entry that when I was delivering the boat on the maiden voyage, the ignition switch caught fire... I didnt know the extent of the damage but I was confident that it didn't affect the engine at all.  It didnt damage any of the fiberglass or the boat in general. Just melted the plastic guage cluster.

 Turns out that the ignition switch that was previously installed had been a cheap switch. The contacts corroded, got hot and caused the fire.

I had the oil and temperature guages replaced and mounted under the cabin bulkhead so I have a good look at them while underway. I finished refitting the actual panel that you see above so that it only houses the new ignition switch and the glow plug toggle. ( See photos)

  

I hired a well seasoned Marine Diesel mechanic to go through the engine and electrical system and fix anything that wasn't right. He has done a great job so far. The following work has been done.

1) replaced the corroded ignition switch with a mac daddy marine ignition switch.

2) replaced the thermostat to keep the engine running cool.

3) replaced the 2 batteries in the boat with brand new 750 cranking amp deep cycle marine batteries.

4) replaced the alternator with a new OEM model. The old one was bad.

5) checked all fluids and topped off.

6) replaced several wires that were showing wear and age to ensure the best possible performance and dependability.

7) replaced all the guages to new and replaced all the wires as well.

8) installed new switch for the glow plugs.

9) Installed 4 new glow plugs

10) installed new starter.

11) installed new battery isolator switch.

The boat boasts a nice Westerbeke marine 4 cylinder diesel that runs strong and starts with ease. it only has 1400 hours on it so its got a long long life ahead of it. The total spent on the engine to make it perfect was $2200.00

Columbia 10.7 rehab log entry #6 The comsetics

Now that I have the interior of the boat clean and smelling good, I am ready to begin the cosmetic work on the cabin. I decided to look at the rehab of the cabin as 10 small projects versus 1 large one.


Rear Quarter berth

With this in mind, I proceeded to work from the rear quaterberth back to the port settee area and around to the starboard settee and finally to the galley. I am leaving the front berth,v berth , the head and the floors for later. of fiberglass in the cabin. 

Photo of: Completed Rear Quarter berth with new wall liner, headliner and carpeted walls

The first area I tackled was rear quarter berth. I carefully removed the pieces of vinyl covered board that made up the header. This was old, dirty, warping and smelled. I then bought some 1/4 inch luan backer board and traced out the replacement pieces. I cut them and used a 30 year white sign vinyl as the facade of the backer board. This was a very easy fix since the vinyl is adhesive backed and it was thick and durable, made for outdoor signage. The results were impressive. I then used a quality marine carpeting to reface the sides of the berth. I then gave the teak molding a good cleaning and teak oiling and reinstalled with fresh stainless screws and finish washers.

The Setee Areas of the Cabin

The next thing on my list was the settee areas of the cabin. I removed all the cushions and sent them out for reupholstering. I then removed the vinyl that was on the lower section of the settees and replaced that with the marine carpeting. The top half of the setees and the book case areas were in good shape so I primed and painted them with a durable flat white paint that comae out amazing. I also followed the same lead with the header that was under the book cases, using the luan board and white vinyl as I had in the front quarterberth. Again the results were dramatic as everything is now white and bright. I proceeded to teak oil the port side trim and all the vast teak wood, giving it a super bright, clean and shiny look.

Photo of before the demo and rehab of the Starboard Setee area

Note the headliner falling down.

I then repeated the entire process on the starboard side settees with the same awesome results.

The bottom cushions were removed and are going to be recovered. I haven't decided on the color to redo them in yet.





The V berth  

Before Photo
Next I moved to the front V berth. It was a mess. I removed the cushions, tore out the side vinyl on the walls and removed the topper panels. I removed the cabinet front on the starboard side as a window had leaked and it was in bad shape.  I replaced the side walls with the same carpeting I had in the rear quarterberth. I cut and vinyled new topper panels and replaced them as well. I cut away the remaining headliner that the previous owner attempted to remove. I sanded and polished the teak in the cabin and cleaned it all up. It is looking much better. My big challenge is to \now replace the headliner. Its a 4 x 6 ft area but had a lot of twists and turns. I can use carpeting because it wont come out smooth and will look like a cheap redo. I decided to the following.

Before Photo

Photo after stripping out v berth before the new liners








I took 1/2 inch wide cedar and glued furring strips along the top and sides of the ceiling, making  level surface to attach the new headliner to.

I purchased 1/4 inch wood stripping that I used to create a template for the ceiling headliner. I simply measure each section of the ceiling, cut a piece and screwed it to the piece i just measured and cut. so and a so on.... This ended up making an accurate template with all the curves and angles of the ceiling.

Template completed

  Luan Headliner cut out                                                    The template works great

I then placed the template onto my new luan board and  traced it out with a sharpie marker.  I had a perfect outline of the new headliner, curves and all.... Now I need to cut it out with my jig saw, apply my white 30 year smooth vinyl and screw it up to the furring strips...  ( See the Photos above)

                                     Photo of The finished headliner with the vinyl applied.

Galley

The galley was a mess when I got the boat. The great thing was that it was simply elbow grease and a lot of chemicals to get her looking and working well again. The sink was refitted and I still need to replace the incoming water lines and the drain lines. Just simple plumbing...

Before Photo of Galley

After Photo of the Galley

The Head

Next project I am tackling is the head. The walls and shower base floor needed to be scrubbed and cleaned. I managed to get the floor back to white with some soft scrub and elbow grease.

The previous owner had removed some supports under the shower floor I assume to be able to get tot he shower drain line. This made the fiberglass shower pan unstable. I went under the floor and made braces out of very hard wood that wont rot and sured the floor up and reconnected the shower drain line.... A 1 hour fix and it is solid as a rock now....

The previous owner had also torn out the headliner for some reason. I used my tried and true method of making a template for the headliner then cutting thee new liner out of the luan board. I did the same for the entry way ( hall way) that leads into the head.

For some reason, the previous owner also decided to remove the bathroom door and all of the wood that surrounded it. I am buttoning up the headliner and will be placing with an according door or a nice shower bar on the entrance to the head.

The plumbing was in good shape but I am opting to replace the hand held shower head and replace the lines going into the sink to make the fresh and clean.

The teak wood work is in great shape so I just oiled it and move on.

The walls have a covering on them that when I scrub, want to fray a bit. I am going to be placing a good primer on the vinyl and an enamel paint that will be easy to clean and will be water proof.

The interior of the cabinets are in good shape so i am going to just paint them to a fresh crisp white.

There is a raw, pump style toilet in the head but I am not a big fan as it doesn't expel the waste with much force UP to the outlet. I opted to purchase a Thetford electric portable toilet that holds 6 gallons of fresh water and 5 gallons of waste. It will be much more sanitary. I bought the one with the push button electric water feed. It works off batteries and is a nicer touch. I will mount the base to the existing floor where the other toilet was and will bring the existing water and waste tubes into the bilge to clean up the head.

Check out this before photo of the head.