The Velcro Secured Headliner Fails!

 

 

All the effort to make the headliner panels easily removable was, after a summer in the sun, less than successful. The picture above tells all. The laminate backing began to curl along any edges not well secured. Fortunately, this shortcoming was easily corrected with 1 inch wide by ¼ inch thick Walnut battens screwed into the plywood furring strips that run under every seam. You can see these battens aft in the picture above. The picture below shows the finished headliner aiming forward from under the open hatch. Each batten is secured with just two to four 7/8 inch screws so the panels can still be easily removed allowing access to the bolts securing deck hardware.

Bedding Techniques

Thus far in the project I have used silicone to bed all the hardware. I prefer silicone to polysulfide (Thiokol and BoatLife Life Caulk) and polyurethane (3M 5200) because the latter two tend to harden in the tube rather quickly. Unless I do a good deal of work in a two or three day period I waste much of these expensive compounds. In addition, the polyurethane is very runny and messy and rather more aggressive as a glue than I like for bedding hardware that may need to be changed or moved in the future. But silicone is far from perfect. It can become separated from bolt shafts and even from the joint between hardware and the deck. I generally assume that about 2 in 10 bedding jobs carried out with silicone will result in leaks that require a do-over.

This is why I have recently been won over by the arguments presented by those who use butyl rubber (see http://forums.sbo.sailboatowners.com/showpost.php?p=705340&postcount=1). I employed the butyl to seal one of my opening ports. These ports are the old style with a flange that is inserted from the inside of the boat. Then a finishing ring is through bolted to the outside with bedding all round the flange.

The Port Opening in the Cabin Wall

The flange is first wrapped with the butyl. Then it is inserted in the port opening in the side of the cabin. A segment of butyl tape is rolled into a thin strand which is wedged into any gaps between the hull and the flange from the outside. A small string of butyl is also wrapped around each bolt where it exits the cabin wall in a hole that has been chamfered. Finally the finishing ring is tightened in place over the butyl and any excess is pulled away.

Butyl Tape Wrapped Round the Port Flange

The Chamfer Bit and Resulting Chamfers

Painting the Deck

A "Before" Shot of the
Islander Deck

  Modern boat paint is impressive! This deck had been painted years earlier and it was still in remarkable shape. Even so, there were signs of wear and a few spider cracks. So we decided to strip the deck of all hardware and teak and apply new paint.

The Newly Painted
Cabin Top

   I find the work proceeds much more smoothly and continuously if I break it into segments. Thus I started with the top of the cabin. Fortunately a teak spline runs all round the cabin top just three inches or so below the crown. Having removed this spline, it was possible to mask of just the top of the cabin knowing that the paint joint would be covered when the spline was finished and reattached.

The Primed Cockpit Area

   To prepare the deck smooth surfaces were sanded with 80 grit paper and then through 220 in a couple steps. The non-skid surfaces could, of course, not be sanded without removing the moulded pattern that made them non-skid. A wire brush in the chuck of an electric drill (seen in the red drill on the cabin top) did a good job of cleansing the non-skid without removing it. The sanded/abraded surface was then cleaned with Interlux 202 Fiberglass Solvent Wash using the two rag method. AwlGrip 545 Epoxy Primer was then applied. Note that this primer is not friendly to all foam rollers. Get a roller intended for epoxy! And tip the foam applied primer to smooth it.

   A single layer of primer was followed by three coats of Interlux Brightside (thined slightly with 333 brushing thinner) single part polyurethane. The smooth portions of the deck were sanded with 220 paper between coats. I like the 3M sponge sanding blocks for this work. Used with water, they last and last. The non-skid was not painted at this point nor was it masked so the white paint for the smooth cabin top encroached to some partial exent on the non-skid.

   When dry, the non-skid areas were carefully masked. A 1/8 inch wide vinyl masking tape from 3M was used to define the non-skid since it could be smoothly bent round the small radius corners. When this tape was complete, a second 2 inch wide blue 3M masking tape was used to extend the narrow coverage provided by the thin tape. Seattle Grey Brightside in two coats completes the deck repaint. Because of the non-skid pattern it was not possible to sand between coats. Just to be safe we applied the second coat within 24 hours of the first.
  

Removable Cabin Headliner

View through the Center Hatch Opening

   One look at this picture and you wonder why I ever started the project! Here the original headliner, held in place with mahogany battens screwed to the plywood strips that are glassed in place from side to side at roughly 18 inch intervals along the cabin top, has been removed to reveal the structure of the boat. Note that the boat does not have a balsa cored cabin deck -- it is just thick (nearly 1/2 inch) fiberglass. There is a core (or rather a bottom layer) of plywood on all other deck areas. This has served very well. There is no delamination or core rot that I can detect although I am sure this construction technique makes the boat relatively heavy by today's standards.

The Plywood Under a Side Deck (Foam
Headliner Partially Removed)

  
   The goal is to insulate between each of the plywood furing strips and then fashion laminate (like Formica) into panels spanning each furing pair. These panels will be covered with Naugasoft vinyl. Then we will secure them in place with velcro so they can be easily removed to access bolts securing deck hardware. The foam backed vinyl under the side decks will be replaced -- it will be glued back in place just as it was originally. This latter task will be covered in a future posting. Let's focus on the removable headliner here.

   We decided to use 1/2 inch thick "R Board" available at any lumber company for the insulation between furing strips. This is the same foam panel used to side houses. It has a rigid foam core sandwiched on both sides with construction paper. The board can easily be cut to shape with a utility knife. Then a quick acting contractors adhesive like Lock Tight "Grab It" can be used to secure it in place. Where there is some curvature required shallow slits can be cut on one side of the R Board to make it bend more readily. Lengths of nested tubing or clamped together boards can be used to prop the boards firmly in place until the glue dries.

Velcro Secured Headliner Panels

   Two inch wide adhesive backed velcro hook tape is secured to the furring strips so its center line will be on the joint formed by two headliner panels. The ends of this tape can be stapled in place at intervals with monel staples to insure that they stay in place, but the adhesive can be surprisingly effective if the tape is applied with the temperature between 50 and 80 degrees and if the humidity is not extremely high. Do realize that the adhesive will gain strength for the first week or so -- it is a good idea to apply the tape and then come back to it a week or so later to install the headliner panels.

The Angle Grinder with a
Diamond Cutting Masonary Wheel

   The panels themselves can be cut from laminate counter top material. We picked up ours at a local Manards big box store (Lowes has a similar material). Cutting this stuff can be a daunting task. It comes in big sheets that are rather fragile. And the blade of a table saw can fracture and split the edges if the material is not carefully supported as it is cut. I found the best cutting technique is to use a masonary cutting wheel (the expensive $40 diamond kind) in a small angle grinder for laminate cutting. I suspect that a cutting wheel in a Dremel tool would work nicely as well but it would be a bit slower. In any case, once the laminate is roughly cut it can be trimmed easily with a pair of shears (so long as the cut away material is less than 1/4 inch or so -- that way the waste material can be sloughed away as the cut proceeds).

   Once cut to shape, I used 3M General Trim Adhesive to secure Naugasoft vinyl to the face of the laminate. Cut the Naugasoft with a 1 inch allowance all the way round. Truncate the corners so there is no overlap when the material is folded over onto the back side of the board. Apply more General Trim Adhesive to secure these folded flaps in place. Make sure the solvents are all evaporated from the adhesive before contacting the two glued faces since it will not evaporate through the vinyl or the board once contact has been made (wait 10 minutes or so before pressing everything together). As in the case of the Velcro adhesive tape above, a temperature range of from 50 to 80 degrees and low humidity seems to encourage strong bonds and a careful cleaning of all surfaces with 3M General Adhesive Remover prior to applying the glue also increases the strength of the bond.

   When the vinyl/panel assemblies are dry (a day or so later), Velcro adhesive backed 1 inch loop tape can be applied to the appropriate edges. Follow all of the application tips described above.

  

Refinishing Teak

Some of the Teak Before Refinishing

   The teak on our Islander was all natural (unfinished). Some of it was badly split and weathered (especially the binical/traveler base and cockpit coaming boards. The fact that earlier owners had not chosen a "bright" finish was actually good for us since very little of the original thickness of the boards had been sanded away. But we like the look of finished teak. And the boat will probably undergo very few restorations in future years. So we used two part teak cleaners and sandpaper to prepare the teak for finishing with Sikkens "Cetol Marine Light." It is worth noting that the cleaners and the sanding removed a substantial thickness of teak (roughly 1/16 inch) so use them in moderation.

Toe Rail with Two Coats of Cetol Marine Light

   Wherever possible, the teak was removed. This makes it possible to do a better job painting the boat, but it also makes working on the teak easier, especially with the two part cleaners which have instructions urging that contact with paint and gel coat be kept to a minimum. The teak was simply bolted in place with calk sealants that were so old as to be nearly ineffective.

   Splits in the teak were glued with epoxy and clamped together. In some cases (the coaming rails) it was necessary to bond new teak to parts of the boards that had split entirely away. The joints were made just as they were originally by cutting 1/4 inch kerfs in each edge to be joined and inserting a quarter inch marine plywood spline in that kerf to reinforce the joint. The teak blocks at the cabin coaming junction were badly cracked. These cracks were filled with Boat Life Thiokol, a black sealant that can be sanded when cured. This sealant is intended for the seams of a teak planked deck.

Teak Parts Removed for Finishing

   At least 4 coats of Cetol Marine Light were applied. After bolting the boards in place and touching up the wood countersink plugs that can only then be glued in place, I intend to apply 2 coats of Cetol Gloss topcoat finish.

Islander 37 Mast Support Added to Trailer Using Dodger Frame Hardware

   Work continues on the Islander 37 restoration. In order to conveniently store the mast on the trailer a structure of stainless steel 1 inch tubing (standard wall thickness -- not "thick wall") was created using the same eye ends and universal deck mount plates and jaw slides that are used to create Bimini and dodger frames.

The Mast Support Structure at the
Tongue of the Trailer

The Islander has a New Home --
Note the Mast alongside the Trailer

    Two deck mount plates are bolted down low to the trailer master frame. A third and fourth deck mount plate together provide lateral support bolted to the bow vertical struts. All fittings (eye ends and jaw slides) are locked in place on the tubing with set screws. In order to insure that the fittings do not work loose, I used a 1/8 inch bit in a drill to put dimples under each set screw. A pad of closed cell foam cushions the mast over the frame.

Universal Deck Mount Detail

 The Load Master trailer has a platform at the rear that nicely supports the other end of the mast. The forward extension of the mast fits nicely over the bed of the pick up truck that we use to tow the rig.

The Aft End of the Mast on the Trailer

Companionway Woodwork

At some point in this Islander 37's recent history, the boat was stored for a long period of time with the bow down 5 degrees or so. As a result, water collected in the sill area of the companionway hatch. It leaked into the boat, I'm sure, but, more significant, it caused dry rot in the mahogany woodwork framing the companionway.




Replacement black walnut replacement frames were created. 3M 4200 was used to secure them in place with very few screws used to just hold them in place until it dried.

Hatch Restoration

The Teak is Quite Weathered

Partially Finished Hatch
Lids and the Sanded
Companionway Steps

   It has been very cold in Northern Indiana and that has slowed things a bit. But there is some progress to report. The two hatches and Dorade boxes and cockpit grates and companionway steps were removed and taken inside for refinishing. All this woodwork is teak. The lesson learned: teak surfaces sand away very quickly. There is a reason that teak cleaners are recommended. Sanding does leave a smooth surface while the cleaners leave grooves along the grain of the wood. But sand only if you are willing to give up as much as 1/8 inch of thickness with each refinishing. The grates on this boat were already on the thin side so I used cleaner on them only. And they look good in spite of the fact that the grain is quite evident. I used the same procedure on the forward hatch but sanded lightly. The second hatch was sanded exclusively and so were the Dorade boxes. I used Sikkens (from Interlux) Marine Clear) with the Sikkens Gloss as a topcoat. Everything looks very good but I will rely more on the cleaner from now on. The cockpit combings and binnacle/main sheet traveler platform are already about as thin as I want to see them. That is on the list next.

   I am including pictures of the forward hatch installation. It was formerly secured with 20 or so screws and silicone seal. I replaced it with just 4 screws and 3Ms 5200 Fast Dry as a sealant/adhesive -- I think the result will be greater strength and far less likelyhood of leaking. Lesson learned: the 5200 is extremely messy (low viscosity). And it is very hard to clean up. So mask everything you do very carefully in order to remove the excess goo on the edges of the fillet.

The Center Hatch
Taped for 5200 Fairing

   Black silicone was used to seal the acrylic. Over sized holes were drilled for the stainless screws and countersink washers were used to spread the load over a broader surface -- hopefully this will prevent cracks radiating from the screw holes.

The Center Hatch After Removing Tape

The second, center, hatch has now been installed. Masking tape was applied to very carefully define the area where the 5200 should be smoothed. The result was a much neater installation. I find that one's finger in a rubber glove works about as well as anything else when it comes to smoothing the sealant. This hatch was put in place without any screws at all -- the 5200 seems fully up to the task of holding it in  place.

   A year or so later I am so impressed with the way the boat is shaping up that new acrylic hatch panes are ordered ($300 for the companionway hatch and the two deck hatches). It is decided to eliminate the screws with countersink washers all round the edge of the frameworks. We used the double sided VHB (very high bond) 3/4 inch tape (black) from 3M instead (part number 4979F). It is too soon to be sure that the bond will be sufficiently "high" to hold up. But it sure looks good -- just like the most modern hatches!

A Hatch Light Secured with VHB Tape

   This picture is a bit out of focus but it shows the hatch acrylic in place with just the VHB glazing tape. Note the foam self adhesive weatherstriping emplyed to seal the gap in the wood frame.

Foam Weatherstriping Detail

Rudder Repair Work

The rudder was sanded using 36 grit disks. There was a bad bulge on the port side. In order to true up the surface, it was necessary to actually grind down to the styrofoam (the area round the cracks in the photo). An "air file" with 36 grit paper was used to make the surface as flat as possible. Then a light weight Spectra cloth and polyester resin were applied. This will be faired with 3M filler and painted. 3M 5200 will be used to seal the rudder stock where it enters the rudder to hopefully prevent this problem in the future.

Carpet Headliner

While the NaugaSoft works well on a very smooth surface, it does not do well on a surface that is uneven (all the flaws in the surface show through). Carpet headliner is excellent in this regard. We used this for the v-berth area of the boat. Even though the carpet is a good deal heavier than the NaugaSoft, the 3M General Trim Adhesive was easily up to the task of holding it overhead. We did not want to remove the trim boards on the forward bulkhead or against the head (they were in good shape). So we just used a utility knife to cut the carpet along the edges of those boards. Indeed, the carpet is thick enough that I am not sure the trim boards would have covered them cleanly in any case.

The cut edges were a bit fuzzy (see Photo 1). We solved this issue by running a thin bead of 3M Fast Tack Adhesive all along them. This had the effect of sealing the carpet and preventing any future raveling (we hope).

The carpet was not wide enough to span from side to side so we installed it with a seam down the center (see Photo 2). We used the factory trimmed edges down the center and they matched up very well. The carpet stretches nicely (it is advertised to be up to covering a four inch high and wide bulge -- notice that the carpet closely molds the shape of the backing plate) so mating the two edges was not difficult at all. Two ceiling boards will be reinstalled to cover the outer rough cut edge.




The final photos show the completed work with the ceiling boards installed. Note that the center seam is nearly invisible. The backing plates for the staunchions are

evident (in the final photo). We may eventually replace them with thinner plates. But then new ceiling boards would be required
to eliminate the cutouts.

NaugaSoft as Headliner

During the past few days we have put headliner in the Islander. The cabin sides in the way of the portlights was ribbon grain phillipine mahogany. The portlights had leaked badly and a two foot square section of the plywood was rotten. We removed the portlights and chipped the rotten wood out and cut a new section of plywood to replace it. That was secured in place with 3M 5200 Polysulfide Adhesive. Then 3M Marine Filler was used to smooth the transition (and the cracks) from the old surface to the new one. Finally the surface was wiped (using a wet rag and a dry one) with 3M General Adhesive Remover. We sprayed two coats of 3M General Trim Adhesive on the plywood surface and two coats on the back of a piece of NaugaSoft white vinyl. This was smoothed in place. It was possible to pull it away and reattach it several times. Bubbles were easily removed because the NaugaSoft is quite stretchy. Working time is not a problem -- just spray again with the adhesive and continue after a short time to allow it to dry out to a tacky state.As long as the surface is smooth and clean the NaugaSoft makes an excellent headliner! It has a smooth, soft feel and look. And it is easy to clean. The portlights are back in place. It really looks good!

The NaugaSoft Smoothed in Place

The Plywood "Mostly" Removed from
the Companionway  ulkhead

The same procedure was used to replace the plywood alongside the companionway. In this case, we removed the plywood completely from the fiberglass wall. A new sheet of plywood was cut to fit and glued in place with 3M 5200 sealant/adhesive. This stuff takes nearly a week to set up so be prepared to leave the bracing system in place for all of that period.

Braces Hold the Plywood in Place Until Adhesive Sets

NaugaSoft Applied Over Plywood

The Islander 37

Eric Grant obtained this Islander 37, hull #131, mid summer of 2009. It has probably not been in the water for five years or so. In better times, she was sailed out of Michigan City. At one point in the early 1990s, she was used as a honeymoon nest! But it has been a long time since her construction in 1970.

The batteries are, of course, dead. And her wiring is very suspect. The rudder is cracked as a consequence of water probably leaking in at the rudder stock and freezing. The Perkins desiel has not been run for years. There is a good deal of rot in the interior woodwork and especially round the portlights. The cabin floor has several weak points. The hoses are mostly very brittle and even cracked.

Notice the brand new trailer in the picture! It cost a good deal more than the boat. Eric and I towed the 15,000 lb boat just over 100 miles with his Suburban! Not sure we want to do that again.

The headliner has all been removed in the photo above. It was Formica with a foam backed vinyl glued on top. We will reinstall the original Formica with new vinyl headliner (at least that is the plan).