Galley and Forward Bukhead

The week presented the usual obstacles that slowed us down and a new front of activity.

Installation of the new pressure water tap has caused us a of time and effort.

The stainless steel sink had been sent out for a second modification.  In specifying the straight-through drain outlet we had forgotten that the drain was smack in the middle of the cutlery drawer (Duh!) and had changed it to an elbow fitting.  As expected the elbow did not clear the frame of the drawer at the rear, which explained why the flimsy low-profile plastic elbow had been used before.  We were ready for this and installed a new wooden brace just forward of the drain and removed the rear one.   We used a broad piece of jarrah which fitted tightly against the sides of the sink area and used International "Epiglue" glue the piece to the drawer frame below and the sides of the compartment.  The result was outstanding, rendering a system that was stronger than the original.

New tap with "caravan" hosing below that was later replaced

New jarrah support, rear one to be removed

We purchased a beautiful tap at "The Caravan Shed" in Spearwood which provided the high rise outlet that I was looking for and swung side to side, which would be especially useful for clearing the passage through the opening at the bulkhead leading to the starboard quarter berth.  We discovered that a thread of the fitting that I had purchased at Bunnings did not quite match that of the tap. The tap thread was BSP and the Bunnings thread was probably NPT.

I returned to the caravan shop and obtained a solution using their system neither of us was happy with the fragility of the push-in connections which tended to pull out and leak.  Then we visited the local chandlery and with some effort were presented with a solution involving stainless steel BSP fitting.  I questioned the fact that there was no rubber seal in the key fitting and was assured that the metal-on-metal contact would be waterproof.  We put the system together, switched on the "pressure water" breaker, and found that the joint leaked like a sieve.

Bruce then made a trip to Pirtek Australia and returned with an elegant one-fitting solution that unfortunately turned out to not be BSP.  So back to Pirtek where it was a case of the wrong part having been put in the wrong box.  This time Bruce returned with a two-fitting solution that worked fine so that by late afternoon the new pressure water tap was plumbed and working without leaks.

On Wednesday morning Bruce had noticed that I was restless and looking for something to do so he directed me to the problem at the forward bulkhead between the V-berth area and the anchor well.  In preparing the boat for the circumnavigation I foolishly cut a hole through the bulkhead and fitted a more or less waterproof hatch so that I would have access to the area if the anchor chain got tangled up.  This turned out to be a big mistake and in Hawaii with the help of Wally, a wonderful South African, I removed the hatch, re sealed the opening using two sheets of 10mm ply, and fiberglassed the anchor well floor and entire aft bulkhead that I had filled in.

Details of this work can be found at:
https://pachucaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2009/01/anchor-wel-and-weather-fax.html,
https://pachucaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2009/01/anchor-well-work.html,
https://pachucaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2009/01/filler-panels-in.html,
https://pachucaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2009/01/anchor-well-finished.html,

Preparing for sealing the larger panel

What I didn't know was that I had cut then re sealed the opening it a larger section that had been filled before my time, possible when the boat was built.  I discovered this when painting the forecastle in Mexico.  A bad job had been done with this section: not a very tight fit and bonded with a soft sikaflex-like material around the edges.  The predictable result was that the  hard two part paint had cracked along the edges of this panel.  My task was to expose the entire area and discuss a rememdy with Bruce.

The photos tell the story so far.  I have sanded the bulkhead to expose the joins and have started the tedious process of digging out the soft sealant around the edges of the original panel.

There is no structural issue because the bulkhead is composed of two 10 mm sections with a 5mm gap between the sections, with plenty of fiberglass at the face in the anchor well.  We decided to fill in the gaps with Epifill, sand the entire area, the paint the bulkhead with "No rust" primer followed by at least 2 coats of Northane 2-part paint.

The final photo indicates the location of Pachuca's earlier water lines in light blue.  I raised the boat's water line twice, about 4 inches each time.  With the boat being drier (e.g. rudder no longer full of water) and free of the cumbersome equipment and spares for long rang cruising I expect her to once again ride high in the water.