My Whitby 42 Blog

We like ice cream, Smoothies, and margaritas.  So we have been working at making a freezer that will hold ice for a long time.  We debated on how much smaller to make the boxes and followed some of the advise of Don Casey in his book, "This Old Boat".  

I don't know if the previous owner, who had already started rebuilding the boat had done anything to the boxes, but they were not in good shape.  There was only about 1 inch of insulation on the top and about 3 on all the sides.  The freezer had piles of old styrofoam squirted in with no cover, so anything that dripped down got UNDER the foam and just rotted away making a wonderful smell.  So we ripped all that out (Sorry no before pictures for this project).  

1 inch of insulation to the inside sides, front and back. 
2 inches to the bottom of the fridge, 9-2 inches to the bottom of the freezer making it level now.
3 inches added to the top.

Bonus:  I was able to add 2 inches to the Port side of the freezer on the outside.  Which was good, since the old insulation was split down the middle and a direct line to the box.  I also added 1 inch to the starboard side of the fridge in the closet and then covered it up.  The back of the fridge, in the engine room, got 1.5 inches of insulation, 1/2 inch of ply wood, and then sound proofing insulation (more as part of sound proofing, but it will help).

The back of the freezer, above the fuel tank, also got 2 inches of insulation.

Here is how the process looked:

WARNING:  NOTHING in my boxes is Square......Level.....Straight....or Even. And that is before I started.  Now it is worse.  So If you ever take on this project, be prepared for NOTHING working the way you think it will, none of your measurements being right. (Well that, and if you stick your tape measure into expandafoam when it is freshly wet, and the let it wind up.....well....it makes for quite a mess).
 

Caution:  Murphy law:  When working on any freezer...it will be really hot out!  It was 95+ in the boat when I was working.

 
Cut new hole got get access to port side.  Will need this area to run lines from compressor later as well.

added foam to the outside.  2 "  but I could add more.  It is a BIG space.
 
Foamed in boxes, I glued the foam in place, but used low expansion foam in all the joints. (scrap foam to hold things in place)

 Cleaned up the foam
Notice the Wood strips, this is Oak.  It will be to secure the shelf.  In the Freezer, I put them where the evaporator plate and shelves will be.

 

Then I added FRP panels.  (Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic) from Home depot.  I did a test run with epoxy work to it.  It MUST be SANDED and CLEANED first.  It has wax on it from the when it is was made and the epoxy will not stick well.  I sanded mine, both sides, and cleaned with acetone before installing.

Fiberglassed all the seams.  Unless you are Mr. Phelps, you will not be able to reach well to the bottom.  Even with 2 inches of new insulation added.  I was upside down for much of this project.  

Thickened epoxy to smooth out as much as possible.  Then I had a brain storm, as I hung up side down trying to sand smooth the corners.  Why do I need nice corners at the bottom anyway???  I will have a shelf, about 1/2 inch up for air flow.  So, I cut some 1/2 inch pieces of my left over bullet board (strong fiberglass board) and worked those in.  I would have saved a lot of time if I had thought of this sooner.

first coat of 2 part epoxy paint.  You can see the lip at the bottom for the shelf to sit on.  The top lip is for the top to sit on.  There will be a double gasket system (Don Casey's idea).  I had one fan blowing at me, and one fan sucking air out of the boat.  Plus I had a first rate VOC blocking respirator on with new filters.  You don't want to be using this paint with your head in the box.  


Can you see the Fridge.. through the Beers?
So, at the end of all this, I plan to keep a few good quality ice cold beers in the fridge.  Anybody who visits, and looks in the fridge and notices (and comments) on the not so straight lines, or the not quite sanded perfectly smooth seems that only my eggs get to look at, will NOT get a beer.

Now to just make the lids, cut the new corian counter tops....... 
 

All the seacocks have been fixed up and are going back on the boat.  New 1/2 inch solid fiberglass backing boards were made and epoxied into place, replacing the wood.  The seacocks were all lapped and cleaned.  I used a bronze brush wheel to clean up the treads to make things easier to put things back together.  A Dremel with a bronze brush was used for the female threads.  I also got rid of all the old caulk on the bottom, making them shiny.  Now I know that bronze will turn green and that is a good thing, but I got carried away with that shiny look and made a bit more shiny.  The seacocks had so much grease, oil, rust, and unknown gunk on them that every time I touched them my hands came away black and greasy.  After the brushing and lapping, they all got a good bath to get rid of the lapping compound, then wiped down, and reassembled.  Now to install.  I haven't greased them yet.

I debated putting in a seachest, however in the end, I decided, since all the seacocks are in good working order, to just reinstall.  I had some great helpers.  They were good at keeping all the pieces together and not mixing them around.
 Then I put them back in.

 


 


 

 
  Moved seacock (not caulked in yet, just dry fitted)
 


 

Also, I have been spending money.  There is a local Stainless Steel Outfitters in the area and they are making a few things for me.

1.  Hand rails for the main cabin top.  (74 inches)
2.  Hand rails for the aft cabin top. (38 inches)
    (I HATE VARNISHING)
 
3.  A new davit system.  I will be using an aluminum dingy (For Crabbing.....every put a Blue crab in an inflatable boat???  probably not twice!!)  More on the Dingy later.

4.  A swim platform.

Funny story, how it is a small world, the owner of the company remembers my boat.  He built a complete stern rail that goes all around the aft end, the old davits, and a few other things. That was 25 years ago..
 
 

I finally put a wire on the boat the other day.  The shore power connector.  30 amp service.
The old one was broken plastic. 


Putting in the 120 volt so I can get rid of extension cords.  I found some Plastic electrical boxes that are still to code.  They don't have all the metal sticking out the back!  Just a nice little box.  I decided to use the rings on all the wires so that nothing every comes undone....or is less likely too?

 
 

When I got my boat, the Previous Owner had tried to build a tarp system over the boat using Electrical conduit pipe.  So I have LOTS of it.  So I decided to use it anywhere the wires are going through usable spaces and can't be hidden to make things safer for the 120 volts system.  This is behind the Starboard side settee with the wire going up to the galley plug..

Lucky for us, we have a nice little green house on the side of the house, south facing.  It is an unheated green house I built a few years ago out of old sliding glass doors.  Works great for starting plants for the garden......and for painting and varnishing.  Don't have to worry about rain and smell.  It can get up to 130 degrees on a sunny day with the door OPEN.
So once you get all your paint or varnish on, you can bake it!  We have been painting small things as fast as we can so they are ready to go back on the boat.  There are 3 shelves (2 can be seen in the picture).  And most of the drawers.  We had an extra gallon of epoxy paint, very light blue, so we painted the inside of all the drawers.  They look great and will be easy to clean.  The kids repaired all the drawers with epoxy to make them stronger.  Now just need to finish the fronts.

How much wood does a Whitby 42 have?  Imagine if you took it all out and lined it up in one room. (my room wasn't big enough)

Well, 17 drawers, 34 small doors, 12 hatch covers to lower lockers, 7 large people  doors, 9 floor boards, and lots of little stuff that I don't know YET where it does.         And I didn't put in a picture of the drawers !!!
 

July 1st, 2013

Lots of work still to do.  Lots of planning, lots of stuff, large long lists that need to be completed.

But we feel we are still on our schedule.

Engine went in on time, hull repairs were on time, painting is just about on time.  Boat is now clean, empty, mostly painted.  All major repairs are done.  Now to just put it all back together.   Like a puzzle.....with out the box picture. 



 

The old hatches have been completely redone.  The old windows had lost their luster after 30 years.  New Lewmar hatches with hydraulic locking positions. 



 The inside of the hull had to be modified slightly to fit the new windows, but more importantly, I wanted to get rid of the old wooden frame around the window.  I took off the old wood, all the old caulk and part of the hull with it.  Then build up fiberglass to make the inside of the hull flat so I could mount new Lewmar screens.  I did not like the wooden screens that would latch in with a turn buckle style system.  The new screens have a sun shade from one direction and a bug screen from the other.  Magnetic strip in the middle to hold them where you want them.  If a sudden rain hits, it takes seconds to open the screen and shut the hatch.  No more fiddling around with screens and mechanisms that held up the hatch.
Here is what I started with:
 
Step One: Remove old wood, cut and shape to fit new window (Done Well by Previous Owner)
 

 


Step 3.  Keep layering up epoxy to fill out the shape.  Key is to keep it flat so the screen has a good level surface to attach to.  You don't want any curve to it. (Galley Hatch)

 

Step 4.  Paint it with a 2 part epoxy paint to seal it all (You don't have to, but I had the materials so I did)
 


Step 4.  Paint the rest of the inside of the hull:


Step 5:

Attach the Screens.  I have done a dry run, but because the boat is such a work in progress, I have not permanently installed them.  I will wait until all painting and varnishing is done.
Here is a stock picture of the screens.  It shows the screens with both the 2 different blinds pulled and sealed in the middle.  One bug screen and one sun screen.  Looks amazing when it is in.
 

 

Dan, my engine man, has finished his complete overhaul of the engine.  It looks amazing.  He has run it for a few hours in his work shop, tuned it up and made sure everything was working, no leaks, etc....  So far it is running great. Then he flushed everything out and added new liquids to get rid of the 30 years of build up.  Ran cleaning solutions through the coolant system and flushed, new oil (all the pistons were redone).  Lots of work.  And a great paint job.

  Here are some before and after pictures.
  

Click on the Engine Tab for more engine info.  I will eventually post all work that has been done to the engine there.
Lots of upgrades as per American Diesel.  New coolers and connections.  New alternator, water pumps, belts, all hoses, wires, old crap taken off.  Dan did an amazing job.

The old engine mounts were mounted on 3/8 inch aluminum plates on top of the motor mounts.  I wasn't sure if these are going to be needed and they were in serious galvanic bad shape.  So I added Shotgard instead.  Shotgard (aka Bullet board) is an amazing material and I bet more people would use it if they new about it( and could afford it).  I had a large amount that came with my boat.  It is a pre-laid up fiberglass board that is bullet proof.  Often used instead of drywall in banks.  However, it is expensive.  $450.00 for a 4x8 foot sheet.  However, it can stop a .44 !!  Best part, is no galvanic issues, incredibly strong, easy to work with, cuts with all wood tools (slowly), and can be epoxied in place.  Link to more details. 
  

Engine went in with out any problems.  Crane took only 30 minutes to put both the engine and the generator in.
Crane was over kill for the job, but the cheapest deal I could find.