MiToS re-built/fit- versilcraft Mystery43

[vas]

Did you buy this project to practice on ready for the next big job

nope I consider that as big enough tbh don't think I could manage alone the 65ft Versilcraft that someone posted last week!
(I know never say never) but I'm not planning to do another resto job like that, I hope I can enjoy MiToS for quite a few years... You know it's like, I wonder how it works, then you do it, tick it off the challenge list and go on
Not sure what the next project could be and I'm approaching 50 so I should start becoming more serious and reasonable I guess (wife doesn't see it happening though and complains...)

Also I had put on a couple of kilos and since I don't fancy gyms this scraping business works wonders
Plus I get a free natural tan with no need for solariums...

V.

 

[pete1987]

Re. windscreen washers.........

Might as well connect them up if all the pipework is in tact. The windows are tinted fairly dark so in the sun any spray will make a salty mess quite quickly.

Is it a manual pump then? Mine has nozzles under the screens, all the pipework but I havent found a pump or a switch to operate them.

 

[wakeup]

Hi V,

I know zip about wooden boat restoration, and I certainly don't want to add to your work load, but shouldn't you be taking the stripping right back to completely bare wood? or are the next xxnth hours going to spent sanding?

Interested to know how you will apply the treatments and if you fill before you cover or fill, sand then touch up paint afterwards.

I really admire the effort going into this project and I am always keen to see you update posts.

Regards

Shaun

 

[vas]

Re. windscreen washers.........

...

Is it a manual pump then? Mine has nozzles under the screens, all the pipework but I havent found a pump or a switch to operate them.

I'm actually very proud for my discovery...

Now, do you have something like that just to the left of the el.panel?

If yes, that's the pot (valve actually) that simply manages the water supply to the washers. It's simply piped to the domestic pressurised system, so no need for pumps or anything fancy, just a valve!

cheers

V.

 

[MystereMarcus]

I'm actually very proud for my discovery...

Now, do you have something like that just to the left of the el.panel?

If yes, that's the pot (valve actually) that simply manages the water supply to the washers. It's simply piped to the domestic pressurised system, so no need for pumps or anything fancy, just a valve!

cheers

V.

Thanks V.
Like Pete I've been trying every switch possible to get some water out of the jets. I had looked at that control but I think I must have had the water pump switched off at the time .

 

[vas]

Hi V,

I know zip about wooden boat restoration, and I certainly don't want to add to your work load, but shouldn't you be taking the stripping right back to completely bare wood? or are the next xxnth hours going to spent sanding?

Actually you make a point...
I mean, I'm presenting the work I'm carrying out as it happens in a rather chaotic manner (but that's how I like to work many things together...)
At some point I'll go back to the first post of the thread and point to posts that summarize the procedures followed.

Anyway, back to your Q,
yes, obviously I'm going to sand it to bare wood using an orbital sander. I've tried it last week on a couple of areas on the f/b and it works fine with a 60grit.
Ah, and not to worry the final sanding after all this stripping is only going to be a couple of hours for the 15+hours of each side. Very quick and easy task, hence not bothered to do the lot yet. Plus weather's being really carp down here, so not much point on getting all that marine ply wet again. I'll check for a couple of dry days to do the small patches and sand, clean, blow and get the first WEST SYSTEMS epoxy coats on.

Interested to know how you will apply the treatments and if you fill before you cover or fill, sand then touch up paint afterwards.

TBH, I'm working on it ,
For the few holes I guess I'll start with a portion of epoxy with lots of added microfibers to strengthen and fill the gaps.
Then I'll probably get a coat or two with less fibers on the whole area; that will be the overall sealing and priming.

Haven't got an exact plan as yet as I'm still considering the alternatives.
Either the one I specified above, or another approach of one coat that soaks (so to speak...) the whole first and then the couple of reinforced coats then a few more normal up to 4-5 coats in total. Then it's ready for painting.
I'll also try to fill any gaps I can get on these stages so there's not a lot of preparation for painting.

I really admire the effort going into this project and I am always keen to see you update posts.

Regards

Shaun

Be sure you'll get lots more of it
I'm already on 250+ photos uploaded on this thread and I'm pretty sure I'll be reaching the 1K by the time MiToS gets back to the water...

cheers

V.

 

[vas]

Thanks V.
Like Pete I've been trying every switch possible to get some water out of the jets. I had looked at that control but I think I must have had the water pump switched off at the time .

np Marcus, glad to be of some help

on the second photo I posted, you see a green plastic pipe going into a copper one, that's the water supply to it, so better check there's something coming up there and none had cut and blocked the pipe (like in my case...)

V.

 

[BartW]

Vas, Here some comments on different points, (you asked for )

Re. Toilet tubing,
Yes, on BA there is a flexible section in each head connection, (50mm diam rubber hose in my case)
And a one way valve.
Agree with Jfm, in your case, I would use two individual tubes, connected with a piece of flexible white hose 38mm ID from each head to the black tank.
don't know about your Q on the pumping of your el. toilet,
no experience/knowledge myself.

Re. freshwater supply on the bow,
We have a shower hose on the bow,
That is used to rinse the anker winch, (you have experienced that this makes sense)
Clean the deck after hauling dirty bow lines,
Occasionally used as a shower, actually I tell my guests that this is the shower/bathroom for the new deck cabin (copilote table)

Re. anker shower,
Yes there is a dedicated pump with and skin fitting for sea water supply for that,
Its operated with a electric switch on the winch remote control box.
The curly remote control cable is connected in the crew cabin, and the box is stored in there when not in use.
This anker shower needs to be powerfull, its used a lot, but I wished it had a fresh water supply (or selectable) if you like I can look at the type /capacity of the pump on my next visit ?

Re. sea water tap in the galley, forget about that !!!

Re electrovalves on skin fittings are far OTT imho.


Re. your RO water system,
sorry mate, I’m still not convinced of that,
the new small extra tank, how will you keep that one clean after long periods of no usage ?
especially in your area where it can be up to 40°C,
isn’t that a temperature that Salmonella can start growing ?

moreover, as I have told you before,
our desalinator is very rarely used,
if you are planning to do many overnights away from a marina, (as we did with the Karnic in Croatia) then this could be usefull, but otherwise its not imho.
but even then I would first consider a fresh water tank as big as possible,


Re Radar Arch,
Not sure if you want to fit another, but if you want a metal,
I can advice one from atlantic towers
http://www.atlantictowers.com/
they have many models (polished aluminum) available as a standard self-assembling kit,
very nice, and affordable
have one on the Karnic ($500 shipped from US iirc)



thumbs up for your good work,
and keep the good spirit and the pictures coming !

 

[pete1987]

Ah that makes sense. I have the exact same control but had no idea what it was for. Will give that a try..........Thanks!

 

[vas]

sorry for the late reply, thanks Bart for all the comments, I'm just keeping the ones I'll reply to

Vas, Here some comments on different points, (you asked for )


Re. freshwater supply on the bow,
We have a shower hose on the bow,
That is used to rinse the anker winch, (you have experienced that this makes sense)
Clean the deck after hauling dirty bow lines,
Occasionally used as a shower, actually I tell my guests that this is the shower/bathroom for the new deck cabin (copilote table)

Re. anker shower,
Yes there is a dedicated pump with and skin fitting for sea water supply for that,
Its operated with a electric switch on the winch remote control box.
The curly remote control cable is connected in the crew cabin, and the box is stored in there when not in use.
This anker shower needs to be powerfull, its used a lot, but I wished it had a fresh water supply (or selectable) if you like I can look at the type /capacity of the pump on my next visit ?

OK, I'll get both sea and fresh water up on the bow.
Regarding the sea water pump, looks like it's suggested to be 4gpm at least. Please check yours and post back.
I'm also wondering if I should have a fixed nozzle for the sea water thingy so that it cleans and dumps all mud as it arrives
Not to mention that I don't have that much of space up there to have two spray/shower heads with different spirals each (unless I go silly with a three way valve and one spiral/shower head shared between the two.

Re. sea water tap in the galley, forget about that !!!

Re electrovalves on skin fittings are far OTT imho.

ok ok, you persuaded me... However, I'd really like to know what was the point in the original setup???

Re. your RO water system,
sorry mate, I’m still not convinced of that,
the new small extra tank, how will you keep that one clean after long periods of no usage ?
especially in your area where it can be up to 40°C,
isn’t that a temperature that Salmonella can start growing ?

I'll have to be more clear, I'm planning a SEALED tank with a faucet on the sink. This sealed tank is a pressurized thingy like the expansion tanks/pres tanks you have on your system just after the pres pump. It only takes water from the watermaker (RO system) when it runs, NOT from the water tank. Hence, water in there is clean. It is recommended to empty and fill it again after 3-4 days of unuse. So whenever we setoff, on the open I can turn on the watermaker and fill this tank before filling (to an extend the others)

moreover, as I have told you before,
our desalinator is very rarely used,
if you are planning to do many overnights away from a marina, (as we did with the Karnic in Croatia) then this could be usefull, but otherwise its not imho.
but even then I would first consider a fresh water tank as big as possible,

OK, I can buy it off you if you don't want it
gimme a good price!

Volos water is carp (I have a RO system at home to avoid carrying all these plastic 1.5lt water bottles) Areas I'll be travelling there wont be any proper marinas, the small isle has no water (shipped regularly from the mainland) and it will be a problem. Don't think that I can fit (easily) any more water tanks (already have 500lt) so watermaker is my solution. Planning to go for a kit but still have problems sourcing the pump in a reasonable price range!

Re Radar Arch,
Not sure if you want to fit another, but if you want a metal,
I can advice one from atlantic towers
http://www.atlantictowers.com/
they have many models (polished aluminum) available as a standard self-assembling kit,
very nice, and affordable
have one on the Karnic ($500 shipped from US iirc)

thumbs up for your good work,
and keep the good spirit and the pictures coming !

good pointer, tbh I'm not really planning to change the arch, I'm not at all sure it's original item, it's fitted in a structurally semi-sound way but it's a botched up job altogether with water leaking in the salon from the cable holes...

I'll remove it next week if the weather is ok, check it and refit it in a way that doesn't affect water from the f/b draining down.

I also don't know how/what lights and fittings I'm going to add to it and how a bimini can be assembled on that.

Finally I'd really like it 15-20cm higher, so I may modify the messy base to something better that lifts the whole thing up a bit and lets proper drainage (two birds in one stone so to speak)

cheers

V.

 

[vas]

stbrd side paint stripping...

a long due update on paint stripping.

14th H:

15th H:

16th H:

17th H finished off :

and cleaned around the windscreen frame:

The holes with the flat screwheads are ok, bronze original woodscrews, recessed that need proper filling. I'll add new ss screws in the intervals for good measure.


So, finished in 17h and have an extra h for the far back of the stbrd side, over the aft deck which I've not done yet and will tackle together with the aft sliding door fram and pillars. I guess will be 5h in total and it will need an extra eve or so in repairing rotten ply. But that's going to be done after I remove the arch remove the supports for it and check the condition of the underlying plywood.

A couple of days ago, I started stripping the sundeck. Weather was cr4p (either raining or too hot) so I chose a hot day and started work at 7pm. Clear skies, moon lit deck and me scrapping, did look very odd I can tell you and the poor security guy that came in for his check at half twelve was very confused and didn't believe his eyes... I had bought a 45W economy (250W normal) E27 bulb for a nice worksite light assembly on a light alloy tripod and used that throughout. Nice and cool at 20-22C I worked till 1:00AM and managed 1/6 of the deck
There are a few coats of paint that strip v.quickly but the undercoat is a b1tch to remove/sand off. Anyway, reasonable progress, weather is meant to be stabilising on the 27-34C range and becoming dry (haven't had a drop for 4 days now) so I should be able to work and do some priming and patching soonish.

Also made good progress on the BMS (building management system) smart home automation hardware that I'm installing. I'll post one of the next few days the layout and what I'm going to be controlling from the system for feedback from you lot.
ATM, main bus cable from the new el.panel to the controller is connected and routed through the original canals, 4 (out of 16) lights are wired up to the system and functioning, need to change cable routing (when necessary) and add new signal cables for light switches, toggles, motion sensors, bilge alarm floaters, smoke sensors in e/r and living space, magn. contacts for salon sliding door, etc. Not a trivial task, but definitely manageable (and minor compared to wiring my 250sqm home when it was rebuilt 8yrs ago...)and one of the tasks that I can do when it's too hot to work outside.

Also with the route from the main el.panel to the f/b all revealed and accessible, I can sort out the cabling mess on the f/b, remove/recycle detroit engines original cabling for my extra lighting/sensor/etc needs and be ready for the redesign of the f/b helm area.

Enough for today, still recovering from a two day camping by the sea and under the sun

cheers

V.

 

[Divemaster1]

JCL Mirage Pictures

V..

Have a look here.. Some pictures which may be of value for you...

http://www.thinkyachts.com/listing1615/jcl-mirage-43-yacht/

 

[vas]

Alf, thanks for the pointer, similar sized, similar layout some different approaches to what goes where, so good resource!

Another long overdue update on works.
First of all have to explain that unfortunately weather went into full summer mode which means 35-40C, blazing sun and a few mosquitos in the evening to make things worse
So, together with end of semester work and other real work commitments I've not worked as much as I wanted. Also on the minus side, I already have an impressive tan and since I usually avoid the sun, I also have the teasing from all the colleagues at work as well

almost finished the port side:

due to the heat decided to have a go at stripping the aft deck panels and removing the ceiling to check the overall integrity and condition:

Not much damage spotted, the ceiling panels will be scrapped (keeping them for templates for the new alloy sandwitch boards (alucobond/Etalbond) I'll be replacing them with (saves on weight, finish and time overall)
It's obvious that the arch base sealing is carp and water has been sipping in, but iroco frame is intact. Will need to strip the vinyl lining of the f/b floor to asses any damage there, but I feel it's sound overall, we'll know soon as plan is to get a friend to help remove the arch tomorrow eve.

Moving inside I did mention I got the BMS working and I'm slowly editing the light wiring and replacing the toggle switches with new ones that work as push buttons (i.e. they dont have on and off state, they just short for a sec when you push them and send a signal to the system, the system knows/remembers states and deals with that internally)
Already done two saloon lights, aft deck, helm, helm spot, galley and will be working my way down to the cabins soon (looking forward to as it's much cooler during the day compared to working on the helm)

In the process I managed to clear out all the cabling mess from the f/b and I'm now ready to remove the f/b pod and built the new one.
Helm area looks much better with so few cables hanging around. Amazingly now I know what each of these cables do (and I'm really pi1issed off with the previous "modifications" that canceled perfectly good wires and replaced them with whatever they happen to find in front of them...)

more reclaimed wires. I guess I've gained a knot or so from half a ton of redundant cables I've removed

The F.YES home automation system looks like this (yes it's rough atm hanging from tie-wraps...)

wall touch panel and 4 relay box. I'll have to design (pshop or indesign) my own symbols for lights/genny/airco/whatever else I control from there and slip it under the glass touch panel, looks neat once finished:

IP65 helm side panel with extra logic, GSM module and relays:

toggle switch on thin alarm cable (just sending a signal no current through it)

I'm taking one netbook there to program the BMS on the spot and modify according to in situ decisions (or silly mistakes like when I fitted the first 4relays tried them on and it was all over the place, port saloon switch would turn on galley light, helm switch port light, etc. realised that I counted the relays from 4 to 1, doh so it was easier to reprogram them than rewiring them )

Anyway, promised a longish post on the BMS but not have time to do it yet, hopefully soon.

cheers

V.

 

[RobWales]

Morning V,

Keep up the great work but must be very tough in that sort of heat! Phew...

In the big scheme of things what sort of timescale are you realisticaly looking at for completion or is it perhaps open ended..?

 

[vas]

Morning V,

Keep up the great work but must be very tough in that sort of heat! Phew...

In the big scheme of things what sort of timescale are you realisticaly looking at for completion or is it perhaps open ended..?

I regularly fail to achieve the deadlines I put my self against (and since wife is not checking this thread, I can blame her on most cases!) so dunno since I definitely lost this summer, I'll take it easier.

Anyway got 2weeks off on conferences, 1 week planned vacations, wife's got lots of work to do so I have to take care of the kids, doesn't look too promising tbh. I'll try to trade kid care in the mornings (when it's too hot to work anyway ) with time on MiToS in the evenings (say 6-midnight a few times a week should see some serious progress)

Kids school finished today, so must have a family meeting/fight to sort out timetables today or tomorrow
You'll understand the outcomes from my progress reports

V.

 

[BartW]

V,
you copied / misplaced some picture links in your post #251,


thanks for the update,
personally I'm not so keen on domotica systems, but no worrys, thats just a personal thing.

appart from that,
you're almost finished with the breaking appart and dusty work,
the more interesting / rebuilding can start now,
might give you some new motivation !

good luck with the good work.

 

[vas]

V,
you copied / misplaced some picture links in your post #251,

you mean my previous photo post, yes, just noticed and corrected, thanks!

thanks for the update,
personally I'm not so keen on domotica systems, but no worrys, thats just a personal thing.

it's a greek product, fully developed in house and it's not vimar or siemens instabus. Running it at home for 7yrs now, it's been excellent.

appart from that,
you're almost finished with the breaking appart and dusty work,
the more interesting / rebuilding can start now,
might give you some new motivation !

good luck with the good work.

not quite finished with knocking things apart yet.
Got to remove the deck and fit new 12mm marine ply before I call it off...
And before that I have to check that the f/b is all sound and I don't need to rip that off as well. I'd avoid that on all costs, but the integrity of the ply underneath as I've now removed all lining and ceiling pieces says that it's OK.
We shall see soon, probably even before we figure out the new government and our euro route...

Anyway, it will be another two weeks at this pace before I can safely say that demolision is over.

V.

 

[pete1987]

you mean my previous photo post, yes, just noticed and corrected, thanks!



it's a greek product, fully developed in house and it's not vimar or siemens instabus. Running it at home for 7yrs now, it's been excellent.



not quite finished with knocking things apart yet.
Got to remove the deck and fit new 12mm marine ply before I call it off...
And before that I have to check that the f/b is all sound and I don't need to rip that off as well. I'd avoid that on all costs, but the integrity of the ply underneath as I've now removed all lining and ceiling pieces says that it's OK.
We shall see soon, probably even before we figure out the new government and our euro route...

Anyway, it will be another two weeks at this pace before I can safely say that demolision is over.

V.

You're doing a fine job.....

I've got two weeks off in July and panicking about getting a few rolling repairs done. Need to get the decks reparaired and painted, and repair the damage done on our very rough sea passage last month.

We've got a 250 mile trip planned for August so that's my deadline....

Nothing compared to your project, makes me grateful that my Mystere is fibreglass!

 

[vas]

working on the f/b

another belated update...

last week spend a few hours on the f/b removing the arch, the vinyl lining on the f/b floor and bits of nasties...

Starting off with unbolting and folding the arch towardsthe bow

the left overs once the arch was removed and placed on ground level resting on the transom. Note there was a piece of timber with a (leaking) hole for the cabling:

this piece of timber was secured on the side plywood via 4 cartbolts, mild steel, properly rusted, had to cut the heads so that I can hammer them through towards the nut on the inside... In the following photo I've already chopped the head to make it fit through the hole.

once removed, just cleared up the mess and ended up with a small affected area that will be removed and replaced with new plywood.

Having removed the vinyl and cleared up the mess around this hole, I now know there's only the original marine ply there, no extra material on top to trap moisture and make a larger mess, so having removed the salon ceiling I can safely say that the material is structurally sound.

On the aft ending of the f/b deck there are two more patches that need taking care of. These are where the railing around the f/b are secured to the deck. There were loads of silicone, polyester, you name it, pointlessly poured around making a larger mess and trapping moisture...
Probably easier to cut and replace the final part of this deck 200mm X 2.something metres for safety. Also need to replace the blocks of wood they used as a force distribution agent wherever there was a railing securing point. Anyway, left it in open air for a week now and I'll see how it looks like when I'm next there.

following two pics show the f/b deck more or less empty and ready for glue/paint stripping before I proceed with the patches and epoxy:

HOWEVER, there's always something confusing (still...)
Checking the Antibes Mystere that jfm kindly send me, the aft railing on the f/b is different and what's confusing is that I have two pairs of cables for nav lights going there. One is visible on pic 7 and it's the stern nav light (sorry not the proper term but you get it)
There's also one pair of cables that goes to the top edge of this inverted V shaped piece of railing. Anyone care to suggest what that stands for? Cannot possibly be the anchor light (too low imho!)
so, MystereMarcus or Pete, do you also have this layout and any idea what this top light could do? Mind you don't even have the fixture for it...


And on a completely different context, spend a few hours in a couple of marine suppliers stores in Athens looking for various bits and bobs. Since I'm planning to replace all skin fittings (and especially engine intakes that are bronze/carroty coloured, yes I know the horror stories!) I was shocked to find the same 2inch intake in brass and in 316SS and SS being cheaper (43 vs 45euro each!) Am I missing something or do I go straight for ss skin fittings all around?

In the pic above you can see the brass item, does the SL (?) logo mean something I should be aware off?

And final Q for tech minded ppl, using a intake like that, do I REALLY need an extra bulky/potentially leaky strainer/filter, or stick a ss seacock and the flex rubber hose to the water pump? Trying to remember when/if I heard someone around our waters having to close the seacock and openup the filter to clean it...


cheers

V.

 

[longjohnsilver]

Hi V, good progress! I suspect SL maybe Simpson Lawrence, old marine manufacturers. I'd avoid the stainless skin fittings as they are prone to crevice corrosion, only visible when you remove them, so whilst they may look perfect externally they may be corroding in the bits you can't see.
Great thread, as Ive said before, rather you than me!