The ReFit

So, when we bought "Gratitude", we knew that it needed work. We had budgeted money for the repairs, with most of the work to be done by us. Starting in mid-April, 2011, we hoped to be back in the water in time to head south in November. In hindsight, that timetable might have been a little aggressive. I recall my Dad saying it would take about two years. So, as we prepare to launch in June 2013, I think his guess was better than mine. To be fair, I ended up doing a lot more work than I originally intended. In addition to the bulkhead, chainplate, deck and mast step repairs, we ended up ripping out and replacing all of  the wiring and plumbing. In addition, to get to the chainplates and plumbing, we had to remove, often destructively, a significant portion of the cabinetry in the salon, and both heads. Also, we removed all the headliners to get at the wiring and the bolts for all the deck fittings. I have commented to several people that, if I had known going into the refit that I was going to do everything I did, I would have done some things differently. First, I learned that it is alot faster to use a heavy grit sandpaper to remove whatever and then fill and fair when you are done than it is to try and use finesse. I usually ended up filling and fairing anyway, and whether you need a dab or a dollop of filler, it takes the same steps and time to get to the proper finish. Second, I should have cleaned out a section of the garage shelves and been much more methodical about cataloging and labeling everything I removed from the boat. I have spent way too much time trying to find things in the garage/ shop/ basement/ other garage/ bedroom and wherever else things got placed. Third, getting the boat under a proper shelter earlier and keeping it there longer would have saved a lot of extra work. My first attempt at a tent blew to pieces in the July '11 Duracho or wild storm. Next attempt was much better, but didn't stand up to frozen sleet buildup, but was able to be resurrected. So, in two plus years of work, what did we accomplish:

1. Mast Step- the existing mast step was a mess. Aluminum on top of a carbon steel plate- galvanic disaster. Some weird epoxy/ aggregate goop poured underneath. And dryrot inside the glassed supports. Solution: Remove and replace the step. Grind out all the epoxy. A huge dusty mess. Cut out the old cross members and fabricate new. A quick call to Steve Norveldt at Norstar Yachts (the original builder) was helpful in identifying the proper layup of roving and cloth. New step is 5/8" aluminum with the shoe welded to it. Thank to Jeff Dionne for the welding help. So the new step is stronger, drains the keel pocket as originally intended, and less susceptible to corrosion.

   

   Old

   

   New

2. Chainplates/ Bulkheads- To even get to the chainplates, we had to remove the built in shelving and cabinets.No wonder the previous owners had never pulled them and rebed them. Closer inspection showed that the skinnier chainplates for the lower shrouds were poorly designed. The bolt holes were too close to the edge and had cracked clear through. Underneath the chainplates, we found that the port forward bulkhead and the starboard mid bulkhead were completely rotten under the chainplates. Consulting with the surveyor, we decided to cut out the rotten sections and glass in new marine plywood and cloth. Then glue on new teak veneer panels. I ordered new chainplates in 316L stainless steel from an on-line steel supplier (same as the aluminum). The process to drill and polish them was more involved than I thought. Bench sander, disk sander, hand sand with wet sandpaper, and then buff with polish. Again, more aggressive sooner and use bigger tools to speed the process. When we redid the deck (see step 3), we ensure the new holes for the chainplates would not expose the balsa core. We poured solid epoxy. To make the cut, I broke down and bought a Fein multi-tool. Great tool. Should have bought it sooner.Ginny was a great help installing the new chainplates. Note to all- use Tef-Gel or other lubricant on stainless steel bolts. I had a brand new, 1/2" bolt weld itself to the nut due to galling. I needed two 3 foot breaker bars to snap the bolt. A dab of lubricant, and no problem.
   
    
   
   

   

   Tricia and Ginny pushing a thumb thru 3/4" plywood

   
   
   
3. Wet Deck- The Nordic 44 has a balsa core deck. Because the chainplates and other fittings had not been removed and rebed. Over time, the bedding drys out and becomes less elastic, allowing water to infiltrate. Water is bad for balsa cores. The surveyor found saturation levels of 17-22% in the area of the chainplates. To fix, I cut off the upper fiberglass skin and dug out the rotten balsa. I tell you, the first time you take a circular saw to the deck of your new (to you) boat is not an easy thing. I ended up cutting out a 10-12 foot section on both sides. When it was time to reinstall new balsa, I found that we could only butter and prep a 2-3 foot section before the epoxy started to kick. Even cooling the epoxy in a bucket of ice, and using the Extra Slow Catalyst. This was definitely a team sport. Cary, Ginny and Tricia were vital in mixing and feeding me the epoxy as fast as they could, as I scrambled to get it all to fit as planned and filled with thickened epoxy. Then fit the old piece of decking, cover with plastic, and weight it down. When all is set, grind out the seams, fill and fair. By making all the cuts inside the lines of the non-skid sections molded into the deck, we were able to get a really good result. Side note- there was a section of deck that was not wet, but flexed when you stepped on it. I drilled 24 3/8" holes in it, and injected resin with a syringe. It took alot more resin than I thought, but I finally got to a point where adding resin in one hole caused it to bubble up in a hole a foot away. 
4. Portholes- The original Goiot Traditions portholes were a high quality, bluewater fixtures. The lenses and gaskets needed replacing. No problem. But hinges on two were broken. Not available anywhere. So at the 2011 Boat Show, we bought Newfoundmetals stainless portholes. 6 new portholes was about the same price as replacing the two broken Goiot portholes. Installing them involved cutting bigger holes in the cabin. The template provided by the manufacturer turned out to have a hole in the wrong place, so I had to modify it. All six portholes took me about 3 full days to install. So far, we are very pleased with them. Note- on new NorStars, they are installing all NFM portholes.
5. Hatches/ Portlights/ Prisms- We had noticed leaks at the hatches. In addition, the lenses were crazed. So, once the tent was on the boat, we pulled the hatch, but not the trim ring, and took them to MaritimePlastics in Annapolis for new lenses. I also pulled the clouded portlights. He did a great job installing new lenses and gaskets. I also negotiated about a 40% discount if I brought him the hatches already cleaned. He actually wanted to make my hatches a poster child for how to prep a hatch. To fix the portlights, I had to recondition the unidirectional fiberglas trim rings that hold the lens in the molded frame in the cabintop. A much safer solution. No chance of a wave punching in the fixture without breaking the lens. Finally, for the deck prisms, I reconditioned the aluminum trim rings and rebed the glass prisms. The starboard fitting is still leaking and will need to be reinstalled.
6. Deck Paint/ NonSkid- After cutting the deck to pieces, and grinding off all the Treadmaster non-skid, the boat looked like it had leprosy.
   
   To make it right, it needed paint and new non-skid. And to do the paint right, we needed to remove as many of the deck fittings as possible. We found that many of the fittings were installed before the deck was mated to the hull. For example, the genoa tracks had bolts that were embedded in bulkheads or behind cabinets. Ultimately we were able to remove everything accept the bow pulpit, traveler, and the trim rings for the hatches. Getting to the bolts for the bow pulpit was a conundrum. I thought I needed to cut through the anchor well to get to them. I have a new theory, which I will explore soon. The traveler also had two bolts we couldn't get to. Finally, the trim rings were bedded in strong stuff that would have ripped the boat apart to remove. After removing all the fittings, and spending AGES sanding, filling, fairing and sanding again, we were ready to paint. After getting quotes from several local yards, we decided to do it ourselves. We went with Interlux Perfection Snow White, using the roll and tip method. The Solvent Wash definitely requires a respirator when working in a tent. And, given a hot spring in April 2012, we needed plenty of 2333N thinner to keep the paint flowing. After three layers of priming and sanding in between coats, we were ready for the finish coat. We tried to use a flattening agent to kill the gloss of the white for the final coat, but it did not lay down as expected, leaving horrible streaks.We ended up sanding it down, and doing it over without the flattener. Finally, we went with KiwiGrip Non-Skid. One word for application- AWESOME. Latex, roll on. Very easy to get good looking results. The jury is still out on the durability and non-skid performance. Minor side track jobs were relocating the engine instrument panel to next to the helm, and replacing with the chartplotter.Oh, and after we were done, glassing in a hole under the anchor windlass.
7. Electrical Systems- There were wires running everywhere through the engine compartment and bilge. As I tried to sort out which wires were needed, and which were not. As I explored, I found systems that were retired in place. And more distressing items, such as the 120 V system not being grounded AT ALL.  There was also an incident right after we bought the boat when I was working on the engine. I always shut off the electricity from the batteries before I start. So I was surprised when the wrench touched a post and lit up the sky. No confidence that the wiring schematic actually was right. So, I pulled it all out and replaced it the electrical system from the batteries, to the distribution panels, and everything. I added a Magnum Energy 2000 Inverter/ Charger and a VSM 422 Battery/ Vessel System Monitor. I also ended up replacing the Xintex Propane Monitor and the starting battery.
8. Plumbing- In addition to replacing the freshwater system, the waste system was a disaster. The Nordic 44 was designed and built before holding tanks were required. The previous owners had retrofitted holding tanks, but the execution left ALOT to be desired. They didn't drain, and they didn't pump out. So, out they go. For the forward head, the thru hulls weren't even in the forward head. So, I patched those holes in the hull, and drilled new holes in the hull under the sink. Finding a tank to fit behind the cabinet in the forward head was a challenge. Ultimately, we ended up with a 16 gal Trionics tank. Plumbing it was a huge challenge, as it was shoehorned into place. I am very excited to see how well it works, and how far 16 gallons takes us. In the aft head, Tricia asked me why I wasn't considering a composting head, given all the positive referrals. After some back and forth, we went with a Nature's Head. I am sure we will post something on this new contraption.
9. Rigging- Atlantic Rigging took on the job of making all new standing rigging. And they have been very patient with me. The rigging was done over a year ago. I hope to step the mast next week. Finishing up the last projects on the mast. We stripped it of all fitting (no mean feat), sanded to bare metal, prepped and painted, and reinstalled all the fittings. Oh, and rewired and replaced the VHF antenna, masthead, steaming and foredeck lights, and wind indicator. New rig will have a hydraulic backstay, and dyneema running backstays.
10. Winches- Rebuilt all the winches, including resurrecting a Lewmar 42 two-speed winch that had frozen up.Also, completely rebuilt and refurbished the Simpson-Lawrence 555 manual windlass. Tricia is convinced we need an electric windlass, but I held out for the KISS method. Oh, and I 300 ft of anchor chain regalvanized.
11. Bottom- The bottom was an unknown. When purchased, she had a TON of bottom paint. Chesapeake Soda Blasting took 12 hours with  increasingly heavier grit to take it all off. Underneath, we found a shallow cut on both sides of the trailing edge of the keel. This was ground out, filled, glass cloth applied and faired. And we found a few dozen blisters. So we ground them out and filled them. Good news was there was no indication of water in the rudder which we expected from the survey. We also filled any dings and imperfections. Sounds simple, but this process took weeks of labor with an orbital sander. My cousin Chris and Jen came down for Labor Day 2012 and spent 3 full days helping us apply 4 coats of Interprotect 2000 Epoxy Barrier coat and three layers of bottom paint.
12. Sails- We sent all the sails to North on Kent Island for inspection and cleaning. The main and genoa were repaired. The staysail and storm trysail were determined to be unrepairable. The storm jib and spinnaker were fine.
13. Hull- Diversified Marine Services in Annapolis painted the hull and sanded and painted the rub rail. More Interlux Perfection Snow White, with a Intense Blue Boot Stripe. Looks good. Accent Graphics in Annapolis did the name and hailing port.
14. Interior- we are currently leaving the headliner off. This will allow us to see any leaks, add electrical systems easier, and save us another chore before we leave. In the salon, we replaced the veneer on the main bulkhead with maple, and the slats between the bulkheads with maple slats. The slats are nearly done, and we really like the brighter look.

Pictures and probably more things we did to follow. Tricia says I have to stop writing about all the work I did and get back to work. She is right.