Lots of work done there. I don’t envy you. I suggest you change the Subject line so that when someone try’s to research these articles on our website, they can find them.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
I agree Joe. Also, this post is getting quite long. As you might have noticed in the photo’s, a lot more projects have been done. I’m trying to brake up the complete refit story into manageable short posts. There is another post coming up about wet core and another one about the paint job.
The boat isn’t done yet. Antiskid is yet another project. Interior works is almost done, another nice post with lots of pictures.
May I ask what you would suggest as a perfect subject line, considering my previous posts about transporting the Nonsuch?
Just simple like “Wet Core” “Hull” etc. - Also, we have more then one Mark so if your ending signature could have a last name and the name of the boat would be great.
Regards,
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
I’ve been following Mark’s posts and am enthused as lots of you other Nonsuch owners as he rebuilds his Nonsuch 36 in the Netherlands. One comment about the opening ports mentioned the glazing - as polycarbonate and other times as glass. I realize English is a second language for you Mark. The originals were plexiglass and from what I have learned, plexiglass is the way to go. My old plexiglass lenses had turned purple over the years, like his - they were originally ‘bronze’ tinted. I don’t think I shared this video with our Nonsuch group before - this shows some work on the deck hatches during my refit of a Niagara 35 - same Atkins Hoyle gear as on our Nonsuches. I sandblasted the alloy hatches then had them re-anodized. This video shows the replacement of the gasket in one deck hatch after I had reglazed. Secret ingredient for fixing in the lens was BoatLife LifeSeal - a hybrid adhesive sealant. You can see a video here: https://www.facebook.com/149222885127952/videos/2071593972890824. The same would apply to gaskets and reglazing of the Atkins Hoyle opening ports. There are local suppliers in your neighbourhood who have all the supplies you need at far less cost than Atkins Hoyle if you are able to do the work yourselves.
Greg Silver
Misty Cat 26C #121
St. Peter’s, NS, Canada
Mark,
Nice Dad. I hope your provided the beer, Grolsch.
When I re did the opening ports on LA Reina I used silicone caulk for the rubber gaskets. It seems to work fine. When I replaced the overhead hatch plexiglass I talked to a local shop. They said use butyl tape to seal and silicone to adhere. Most caulks either damage the plexiglass or won’t stick to both the plexiglass and aluminium. The butyl seals well but does not have much adhesive strength. Over here the recommended silicone for the job is Dow Corning 795. I tried Sikaflex 295 but did not use the special primer and the seal failed in less than a year.
I have a suggestion for you. Like Captain Mike, another long-time contributor, who sails the first electric Nonsuch (Bianka), you should start a blog that is, of course, independent of this group.
Seriously !!
Not that it is your goal to achieve a wider audience (which you definitely would accomplish), you would have much more creative and design freedom to post all manner of good stuff. I would read that blog religiously as the quality of your work and your approach to problems is pretty unique. And, y’know, there is something quite special about a honkin’ big Nonsuch 36 , shipped to Holland (rescued from Hurricane Hell) and going through a totally professional restoration (by a guy who speaks and writes MUCH better English than he thinks - damn near perfect, actually).
Captain Mike’s Blog is terrific. Yours would be too and you could load it up with far more detail than possible within the confines of this group. People would READ it.
Give this a think, man !! Stay healthy over there.
I don’t like to use silicone on a boat (ever) because it gives me so much grief if it has to be cleaned up. Once dry, nothing will ever stick to it so painting or using any product that needs to bond is a serious problem if traces of silicone are present.
Ernie, thank you so much for your kind words. As you may have read, my girl and I crossed the Atlantic on our previous boat and sailed the Caribbean for 4 years. We kept a blog and even Vlogged for a while. There are about 25 youtube videos available of us doing our thing under the sun, on the water. I could recommend one vid in particular namely the Atlantic crossing video. Chainplate failure on day-3. That was a close call. It’s been viewed more than 135k times. The next video is about the repair in Suriname…
What I’m trying to say is: “keeping a blog? been there, done that and beyond”. but I’m perfectly happy with a small but dedicated audience.
If you are interested in the youtube channel, I could post a link here. It hasn’t anything to do with Nonsuches though. Let me know!
I’m probably not the only one on here who has at one time known Dutch. Dutch used to be my working-language for a while; I still get sung “lang zal hij leven,…” every birthday; I listen to NPO Radio 2 in my workshop (streaming) and a hopefully-soon-to-be-started workshop project is one written up in de Modelbouwer, started in Mei 1984. Great language, fantastic people, and I miss living there.
(my dutch is not so good anymore, but my eldest (who MarkP and Thor have met) speaks it with pride still)
While getting the bottom cleaned we did more to fill up our day The gelcoat of the N36 was in bad shape and above that, she had just enough damages that spotrepair with gelcoat was not an option. It was obvious that she needed a “new skin”. Therefor anything that’s detachable has be dismounted, unscrewed or sawed off.
We leave the toe rail in place. I don’t think I can get it of without damaging it. It would be a near impossible job to get one shipped to Europe.
While unscrewing all the hardware some nasty surprises pop up. I wasn’t expecting this Nonsuch to be completely dry but it is a disappointment when the first wet mush comes out together with the screws…
I kinda knew what I was doing so with the moisture meter I purchased, I mapped out my first wet area. Working with a moisture meter requires some practice. I did not get it right the first go. Man must know how moist a reading really is. The only way of knowing for sure is opening her up. The hole got bigger and bigger…
Another area in the gangway. 3rd so far. On deck that’s all the wet core I could find. I went through every inch of the deck, cabin and cockpit and am pretty sure that there is no more wet core. A nasty surprise was waiting for me on the hull but I’ll show that later on. First, lets lay down some glass and get those holes fixed!
As I mentioned only 3 spots on the deck that were moist. Well, not exactly spots but more area’s. It could have been much MUCH worse though. So I’m not complaining at all.
This boat spend the majority of it’s life in Floridian and Caribbean waters where it does rain obviously. Luckily due to the heat, most moisture is vaporized within minutes after a shower. In the Dutch climate, she would have been much worse, I think.
This boat was outfitted with a rubrail. Somewhere on this discussion group there is a tread about rubrail replacement, also very interesting to read. When I got the boat the wood was already taken of and the mounting holes were plugged with polyester filler and/or 4200 goo and painted over. It was a big concern of mine when I first saw her and indeed there were problems. The moisture meter would go ballistic in two areas. Oh ooh.
And again and again and again until absolutely perfect
Obviously this is not an area where you can hide mistakes with non-glossy antiskid paint. It has to be absolutely perfect. We’re talking imperfections the thickness of a layer of paint here. When I started this job I hoped to be done in a few days. This spot has consumed more time than sanding the entire bottom!
As I mentioned earlier, there were two wet spots in this hull. One is obvious, you’ve looked at the pictures of it being repaired. The other wet spot is her stern. Indeed, the flat area that’s called the “spiegel” (mirror) in Dutch. I decided to deal with that later! The plan is to cut out the INNER skin and remove the core in that area. That is possible because there is good access from the inside.
With this area repaired, let me show you what other problems had to be tackled before primer goes on…
One of the other not-so-nice “features” of the hull of this N36 was visible when I bought her. Perhaps some of you noticed the problem in one of the pictures that I’ve posted so far. I’d like to address this problem because I think other Nonsuches may face the same. Here’s a picture
This flaw was present on the whole boat near the waterline. I discovered that the waterline had been “raised” approx 2 - 3 inches. A previous owner just painted the antifouling a little higher not knowing that all gelcoats are NOT equal.
The hull of this Nonsuch 36 contains 3 gelcoats namely #1. green gelcoat for the bootstrap and the stripe #2. white above-water gelcoat for the tops. This gelcoat is more UV resistant but less resistant to moisture #3. white under-water gelcoat for the bottom
It is NOT recommended to raise the waterline without protecting #2 gelcoat against the burden of permanent water pressure.
What I did was grind the whole layer of flaking gelcoat down to glass (no picture available, sorry) and fill the whole area with epoxy filler. Sand. Done.
The gelcoat of the N36 was in bad shape and above that, she had just enough damages that spotrepair with gelcoat was not an option. It was obvious that she needed a “new skin”. Therefor anything that’s detachable has be dismounted, unscrewed or sawed off.
