Time for my I563's refurbishment

[cruiserpete]

Hi all,

Well I've finally got myself into gear and started the arduous task of refurbishing my lovely I563.
I had originally planned on refurbishing under my fantastic boat cover but the cold here in Tasmania got the better of me so my partner's car was booted out of the garage (She'll probably make me pay for that for a while..but Meh).

I must admit having a warm, well lit and easily accessible to tools environment had made a world of difference
I'm taking photos as I go because they will be good to look back on but also so I've a reference for installations.
I'll use epoxy to fill in the holes, sand everything smooth, undercoat and then paint the deck. Once painted I'll replace fittings and add fittings as I go.
The interior is completely stripped of every conceivable item bar the metal pipe that the keel line runs through... the electrics have literally been binned as the electrical wire was in poor condition plus I'm replacing ALL wiring with tinned wire.
I'm working through removing ALL deck fitting but 1 bastard ....why just 1 mind you could have been more so thankful it was only 1 fitting stuck fast. A port nut had rusted onto a stanchion bolt so I ended up filing the head off the bolt and then 'popping' the now filed bolt out.
The errant stanchion bolt filed down so it could slip back down the hole


Have the pulpit and all stanchions off, took the winches off but their base is epoxied to the coaming so I'll paint around the winch bases then give the winches a service plus the winch base neatly hides the base.
The front hatch is off but I managed to break the rivets connecting the strut to the hatch cover, however it's no drama as I can drill out the rivets and use s/s bolts to attach it.
Next off are ALL the deck rigging fittings.

Once everything is off, I'll repair some grazing in the fibreglass plus a few odd fibreglass jobs (floor in the cabin needs reinforcing as it has cracked at a corner). The F/G floor in my I563 is glued/Fiberglassed to the bottom of the boat with a removable wooden inspection panel above the keel.
Does anyone else have their floor fiberglassed to the bottom of their Investigator with only an inspection panel... ??
My floor has a nice wooden edging along it but it does nothing other then hide the fiberglassed edges of the floor. I'm taking the floor our of my Investigator, reinforcing it and adding a nice wooden panelling to it plus replacing the inspection cover. So I'll have a fully removable floor held in place by the edging but also a removable inspection cover about the keel.

Some pics
In the garage...hmmmm warm, well lit and easy to access things should have done this earlier lol
Yes...it is close to the roof....a grand total of approx 44cm from deck to roof and approx 130cm from cockpit to roof.... not standing room but more than enough room to work. Plus it's easy enough to access what/where I need to be with the ladder.




Slowly but surely the fittings are disappearing lol (ALL fitting individually zip-lock bagged and labelled with a drawing of their location plus all fitting bagged if Starboard or Port.






ALL deck fittings now gone (not shown in photos) except the cockpit fittings but I'll tackle those tomorrow.... then a clean and degrease, then start epoxy filling, sanding, primer, deck paint, non slip paint on the ripple sections. I'll be using Butyl to seal the fittings to the deck because I hear great things about it, also about bevelling the holes to stop cracking.

Ok... the NEW stuff
DECK
New Spinlock triple rope jammer,
New Triple deck organiser for running running rigging back to cockpit
New struts on the front hatch + new foam seal
New Toerail (in the process of trying to get one in Tasmania)
New Cam Cleats (where needed)
New Running rigging for ALL running rigging
New Side stay chainplates & New fittings
2nd Hand 40 Watt Solar panel mounted on transom rail - New heavy duty fitting
New 6 rung fold up transom mount ladder (Gumtree for $150 rrp $429 bargain)
LED's in all nav lights,
New masthead LED 360° plus new 2pin electrical deck fitting for masthead 360° white light,
Masthead wind direction & speed indicator plus new 4 pin electrical deck fitting
New backstay (without insulators) mine has insulators so it's looks to have been used as a HF antenna?
New stainless steel outboard motor bracket
New... (well new for me lol) 2nd hand 2011 Honda 5hp - 4 stroke outboard
New miscellaneous deck fittings
COCKPIT
New cockpit iPad holder (designed to hold my iPad in a Nuud waterproof case), iPad has Navionic chart app
New Fish Finder in cockpit for soundings,
Installing 12v waterproof cigarette adaptor in cockpit (to run iPad & mobile),
New seat cushions plus Install snap fitting into cockpit seat to hold my NEW seat cushions on and from sliding about.
Wind direction & speed display
CABIN
New electrical system, including 12 switch panel (individual circuits), Twin position battery switch, new tinned wiring 4mm & 6mm for ALL wiring, LED cabin lights (2x reading spots & 1x main cabin light, 1x V-berth light), 10A MPPT regulator/controller and digital volt/ammeter
New porta potty
New Lido Junior Marine - 2 burner gas stove & grill (Gumtree for $120 rrp $449) - Marine version with flame failure cut out & Australian Gas Association approval no. 4779
New Franke round sink (Gumtree for $40 RRP $199 )
New 7 inch foam mattress for the single berth (the other berth is being converted to Galley + Nav area)
New GME Gx600 VHF (mounting in cabin ) & New 2 metre antenna + base
New GME Gx620 Handheld VHF (extra piece of mind while in the cockpit on lanyard while sailing solo)
New 3x Burke Sailing harnesses & 3x clasps (Got 3 sets but only need the 1 for me while solo sailing - might run a jackline after researching it)

Ok.... keeping
The genoa tracks
The mainsail tracks
ALL sails as they look in good condition
Rudder (after refurbishment) & Tiller
Stanchions, pulpit and pushpit (after a polish)
Safety lines (but attached with New turnbuckles to make adjustments - currently they attach by D shackles)
Standing rigging - but unsure yet might see how finances go, might consider replacing the standing rigging
A few misc deck fitting in good order ( new blocks etc)
Winches - Andersen 10's - single speed
Forward hatch - refurbished
Main hatch - refurbished

Well.......... that's it for now. I'll update at the epoxy filling stage

[cruiserpete]

Stage 1 continued - removing fittings
OMG
Luckily for me I'm refurbishing the Investigator.... look what I found hidden out of sight.

One very rusty and worse broken port side Side stay chain plate U bolt.... phew as I was tapping the fitting out of the deck from inside my TS this is what I discovered when I went outside to finish retrieving it. Glad I discovered it before the damage it may have caused.





I removed the last remaining bolts and deck fittings today including the hatch cover, cockpit seat covers and pop top. It seems easier to repair and refurbish the items that can be removed off the boat.
Ready to thoroughly clean, clean again, fill, sand, prime and sand.
Pete

[Yara50]

Pete
You have discovered a classic crevice corrosion problem with stainless steel, and a common failure on many boats. One of our first posts on this site was to remind everyone to check their U bolt chain plates. http://www.investigator563.com/forum/vi ... osion#p394

This also highlights the need to very efficiently seal all penetrations through the deck/hull, not only for water leaks into the hull and wood laminates, but also for crevice corrosion. So, lots of silicone sealant on the re-install!

[vfborg]

I priced toe rail here in Queensland for my 563 was going to be $800 so i done mine in timber tasmanian oak turned out ok would be nice to see how your 563 turns out can"t wait to see your photos

[Yara50]

Over on TSP they have found what I think would be an excellent solution for the U bolt chain plates.
http://www.trailersailerplace.com.au/ph ... 35#p109535

[cruiserpete]

Not much to report

ALL deck, cockpit and interior fittings removed, ALL remnants of silicon removed, deck sanded, cleaned and washed and cabin floor removed.

Had to purchase one of those multi tools (like the renovator one on TV - but not a renovator) It did a fantastic job and much better than I thought (or had heard about).
Had to purchase an angle grinder to remove a top layer of Fibreglass from the floor area as the floor was fiberglassed solid to the edges of the bilge. The multi-tool helped remove the edges along the floor and interestingly, some water started seeping into the cabin from an area that I cut too deep into.
Not sure where this water was being held in?? possibly inside the air sealed area under the starboard bunk (in which case there must be an opening for the water to have originally seeped into.... THUS, this area was NOT air tight?
I'll borrow some hints from Mark on TSP (mdedman) re his sailing odyssey on Halcyon his Southern Cross TS up the East Coast.

Mark's extended cruising enhancement advice:
*He foam filled as many buoyancy chambers as possible with a mixture of foam beads and polyurethane expanding foam as possible. I'll adopt this technique for under the cabin bunks (both sides whilst I have access)
*Heavy Duty outboard bracket (a tenob bracket)
*Extra bolts (x6) to add clamping pressure for holding down the pop top
*Extra reinforcement on the keel bolts and casing - unsure if I'll need to do this because our keel is light weight and literally only for sailing to windward - our ballast is in the longer keeled bottom of our I563's
*I might add extra fibreglass to the keel casing simply to add strength- makes sense whilst i have access
*I will replace the keel pivot bolt (just need to work out a way to do this whilst I563 is on the trailer!
*Reinforce ALL rigging points, however I had already planned to add support braces under all rigging and deck points

My added reinforcements
*Reinforce the interior bulkhead/mast step at ALL point (mast step compression area and at the foot of the bulk head where it meet the floor area.
*Foam fill the forward V berth lockers and then airtight seal the 2 side locker areas. They are handy storage areas however, I'll err on safety than storage. I'll keep the larger storage area just behind the toilet/head but I'm also tempted to fill and seal that area given its proximity to a bow collision (which is very likely)
* plus whatever else I can think of

Ok....an update on the photos...
Not a fitting to be seen (other than the windows, mast step & winches but they are seriously well epoxied/bonded to the boat so they're staying lol)






The floor ripped out
I tried to get the floor out in at least 1 or 2 pieces however because it was firmly bonded down with fiberglassed I had to break it away in as little number of pieces whilst still trying to keep it as whole as possible so I would have a workable template.





The ripped up floor pieces to make a new floor template.



The bilge/keel casing area after the floor was removed
The area that seeped water?
The Left side of the picture but the starboard side of the bilge and located near the rear of the bilge




Cheers, Pete

[cruiserpete]

Hi all,

Well, I decided to take a punt and replace the windows on the weekend.
I'm unsure if I'll go with perspex or simply tidy up the current windows. The Aluminium is looking a bit dated but then so it the whole boat design. I'm pretty sure I'll refurbish the aluminium and reinstall it.... but I'm doing the windows on the fly so I'll see what I end up with.

For those interested, I've photographed the window removal and window components.
Window in place before removal


Removed


Removed - looking along the cabin - flush fitting the the cabin


Looking down the window - a reasonable curve in the window


The window components
Once the window was out I started dismantling it piece by piece, taking photos of each step as a reference for reassembly.

The window does not use a full rubber seal (sealing both sides) more so, it had butyl tape on one side and although it was 34+yrs old it still had some stick to it albeit not much. Furthermore, only about 1/3 of the butyl was still pliable with the other 2/3 fairly stiff.
The rubber seal is placed between the window and outside part of the aluminium frame.
The butyl seal is placed between the window and the inside part of the aluminium frame.
The frame had a simple and somewhat ineffective foam tape sealing the frame to the cabin. After sraping the foam tape off there is a channel running along the length of the frame so I imagine the frame was originally siliconed to the cabin. I'll use silicon or similar to reseal the frame.


My rubber still has some good flex in it and although, I'll try to find a replacement I can still use the original.

Drilled out 2 aluminium rivets holding the frame split

Once the aluminium frame was free from the 2 rivets it was just a case of slowly!! opening it up. Once the frame was opened enough the rubber seal was free to remove.

Rubber seal




Once the rubber seal was free the window was loose enough to open the frame some more and to also release the window from some silicone that had been rammed into the edges. I gently pushed down on the window to help break it away from the remnants of silicon that were sealing it.


Once the window was free from all seals the frame was able to be gently pulled apart to help remove the window. The window is wider at the rear than the front. It took a few minuted to work out the best path to release the window.
Essentially, the aluminium frame has a fair bit of 'twist' for the window to come out.... it's impossible to explain here so I might video the port side window to explain lol

The window slowly being released from the frame


The window released but the other end still in the frame


The window completely released.


I'll tidy up the frame (might look at getting it anodised) then I might polish the window or even better replace it to NEW because a newer window will have more flexibility as the old window might be brittle after years of UV exposure.
I've got 30 metres of butyl so I can reseal the inner seal of the window.... not sure if butyl is the go for sealing the window to cabin so might go with a high quality transparent/clear high modulus marine sealant.

Stuffed my back at work so I'm off for a week.... worse thing is I'm off work but unable to/cannot work on the boat.... that sucks.

[Ozzie]

Pete, fantastic job . Thanks for the detailed descriptions and photos . Putting the forum on a new level

My windows are flat clears screwed in from the outside. Have been good for the first 30 years but are fairly crazed. Since Spritzig II went back on the mooring I've noticed some minor leaking so they may be up for replacement.


Boat looks like it going to come up a cracker , keep up the good work

I've just had two days in a row sailing on LMac ...not much wind but perfect weather .

[cruiserpete]

Time for a refurbishment update:

All deck and interior holes have now been filled with West 105 /205 epoxy & 403 filler, then sanded and any dips or high spots filled and sanded. I've decided to not replace the old aluminium windows but to use lightly smoked/tinted perspex for a more modern look. The interior will be done at a later date as I want to get onto the water.

I will have all NEW electrical wiring including hard wiring a mast hear wind direction/speed transducer and Cockpit bulkhead mounted display unit. I'll also bed my new sounder transducer to the hull and mount the display on a removable ram mount in the cockpit bulkhead. I'll also mount an iPod ram mount to the cockpit bulkhead to hold my iPad (in a Nuud waterproof case and running Navionic's chart software)
I'm a bit of a loud Doof Doof music lover so thinking of mounting a pair JBL 6" split component speakers into the cockpit bulkhead (allowing for magnetic interference with compass ect) and a pair of JBL 6x9 speakers and Pioneer twin 8" subs in the cabin area running from a modest 140 watt RMS amp and a 160 watt double din JVC head unit. Unsure of the power drain but at FULL cranked up loud it will be substantial.... so considering my 'power supply options'

Interior for now will just get a new set of LED cabin lights running 'warm white' LEDs and upgraded switch panel. The sealed bunk areas will get a foam fill (through added inspection ports) and then resealed. For now cooking will be basic (Coleman style butane cylinder cooker and esky for refrigeration (one of those multiple day ice eskies).

As mentioned, for now I just want to get on the water as every day that passes the more I pine to get out and sailing...
Hope to be sailing Late November/Early December. The Tas school holidays start end of this week so I have 2 full weeks to get stuck into under coating and top coating the interior and deck, plus then refitting deck items and adding new items such as, 3 sheave deck organisers to replace spring loaded blocks and triple Spinlok jammers to replace the more basic jam cleats.

Old navigation light holes filled and ready for new LED nagivation lights to be added. Old windows removed and all window screw holes filled and ready for smoke tinted perspex (approx 2 inches wider to create a bonding/sealing area)


Not a deck hole to be seen


A superb tip I found on the internet was to use an 'older style tin opener' to gouge a V that opened up spider web cracks to allow epoxy filler to really get into the cracks....works fantastically


No cabin roof holes to be seen.... will install new 3 sheave organiser and Spinlok triple jammer on the cabin top with a new jib track.


I'll add more photos once the deck is sanded, washed and undercoated.
Pete

[Yara50]

Pete, you are doing a fantastic job on your boat, and the work and documention you are providing is much admired and appreciated.

However, on one item we must beg to differ. The joy of sailing includes the sound of the waves caressing the hull, the wind in the rigging, and the gurgling wake. It includes the quiet moments in a secluded anchorage where you can hear the crunching of the crabs through the hull, and the faint cries of the birds and animals on the shore.

Nothing is worse than somebody destroying the mood with a loud DOOF DOOF echoing across the bay.

Anyway, powerful speakers have powerful magnets, and they will screw with your compass and autopilot. Perhaps some quality wireless headphones might be a good practical solution to your need? I recently bought a pair from Dick Smith for $50.