STEELIN TIME's Hull repair
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I bought it on eBay, I was the only bidder, since it had holes rusted through the hull and the ad stipulated it must be trucked out in 30 days. It would have been an over everything load, length, width, height, weight, etc. I would have needed 2 semi trucks, one just to carry all the permits and paperwork to move it legally. So I had to convince them to let me work on it in the yard, that wasn't easy, but eventually with threatening to go home with my cash and default on the sale it was done. They gave me 5 weeks. With that amount of time I figured I could fix the hull correctly and not have to pull the boat out of the water again to finish the job. I had intended on just doing a quick patch job to get the boat to float and out of the yard. It was hard work but well worth it, the rest of the boat was very good condition. I took 7 weeks, after the yard figured out that I wasn't just a crackpot with a big idea and that I would and could do as I said, all was OK and extra time was not a problem. They were happy to see the boat not go to the salvage yard.

Some history. The first owner purchased it for over $200K in 1973 and he hired a friend to deliver it from Holland, he then sailed in the Caribbean. 9 years later the second owner purchased it in Baltimore for $187K and put it in a yard to refurbish it for 6 months. He then learned to sail, and in 3 month on and off stints sailed it around the world with his family. It was the only boat he had ever owned. The boat had one section of plating replaced during a refit in Cairns, Australia in 1989 and extensive sections were replaced during an extensive refit in Malta in 1993, the boat was completely rewired then. 7 years ago he brought it into the Halsey Cannon yard to get the engine repaired or replaced and some painting done. He expected to have it back within a few months and intended to keep it and sail it the rest of his life but could never get the yard to complete its work. The yard put a new Yanmar engine in it and painted the topsides, but never decided what to do about the rust. The next 7 years of rain was allowed to make that decision. When I bought it most of the steel was still in like new condition, but durring his trip, since the bilge was very difficult to get to, rust had started in 7 places. The salt water, brought inside on the anchor chain in the forward compartment and on the ropes in the rear lazarette compartment, due to poor design, ran freely the complete distance to the bilge. Rust had started along these paths, and nothing was done to stop it. During the 7 years of storage rain was allowed to collect and it continued the rust process until in a few places it rusted all the way through. The fact that the bilge was very difficult or near impossible to inspect and work on, led the boat to the condition it was in when I bid on it. Maintenance is something that is definitely needed on a steel boat. I have made changes to correct the problem of lack of access, and I will add drains for the lockers to keep the salt water from running the entire length of the bilge every time the boat pulls anchor.

My only bid of $5k was sufficient to buy the boat, I added $500 for tools, $500 paint, $500 to get it lifted to the water, $50 worth of replacement steel, and 7 weeks of my work (7 days a week at 12-14 hours a day.) This makes the boat hull effectively like new. Add 14 coats of paint and it was ready to be put in the water. Less than a week more, finishing the engine installation, exhaust, cooling water, and engine control panel electronics, the engine was started for the first time and the boat was moved to an anchorage in Charleston harbor. I'm now back to work on the electrical system, it has 12v, 24v, 120v, 240v, no labels and no diagrams. Fun, Fun. The yard used to have an electrcial diagram, we are still hoping they might find it. I have all the mechanical drawings for the hull construction but not wiring. I have made email contact with the builder but still haven't heard from the designer. The original name of the boat was "C est la Vie" owned by Mr. James Offutt from Maryland, (I've tried without success to contact him.) The second owner renamed her Piscataway, for the indian tribe not the town, LOL. I've named it Steelin Time and I document my boats with a home port of New Castle, Delaware for tax reasons. Some day soon I will actually visit there.


Ready for paint, Welding is done. The rest of the page explains how I got it to this stage.
The electrical system was figured out enough for a sailing trip to southern Florida and my two old boats are ready to be sold, 30 and 38 foot fiberglass sloops.  Any body need one?  A trip this winter to the Keys and then the Caribbean is planned to be my shakedown, then up the east coast to Nova Scotia with a stop in Delaware and many other places along the east coast.  That will start my journey.  After that the great beyond awaits, China, Chile, California and lots of other destinations with all the other letters of the alphabet.

Cutting out the rusty spots with a hand grinder and cut off wheel. After evaluating what I bought this was step one.
The Grinder is barely hanging on. It's been worn out, dropped, broken, duct taped, epoxied, rebuilt, new brushes added and it's still doing the job.  I used it for Cutting, grinding, wire brushing. sanding, even sawing wood.  It's an indespensible tool.  I've gone through close to a hundred cutting and grinding wheels with it.  I've still got all the centers from them, I think I need to make a trophy case for the grinder in a prominent place on the boat.  It basically bought this boat. 
One of the larger holes, there were 9 holes, this one is about 3 feet by 2 feet. I kept enlarging them till I got to good steel.
Yep, you can see through the boat, I thought about putting plexiglass windows down here.
A cardboard template was made of each of the holes.

These were made by holding the carboard to the outside of the hull with magnets and then using black spray paint inside.  Then you arrange them on the ground to find out the smallest piece of steel needed.  After cutting they were trial fit back into the holes to check them, a couple notes were writen on edges and taped pieces added.

The steel was bought at a local scrap yard, had to buy twice the amount I needed, my new friend got the rest. His place looks a lot like mine, if you need something there's a good chance it's in a pile someplace.
Cutting the steel with my new friends plasma cutter.
This is one tool I don't have, but after I get sailing out of my blood and retire to the farm, I'm sure I'll rectify that.
Beveling and grinding the edge of the replacement steel to get a good fit and a good weld.

Same grinder, just a different wheel.

Shaping the steel to fit with an improvised hydraulic press. It's a trial and error process, grind, bend, check and repeat till it fits.

The 20 ton jack came form Harbour Freight, the grinder, too.  I spent a lot of time and money there buying tools.

Welding the new steel, the welder, jack, and all the other tools will travel with me. I want to be able to do any maintenance anywhere I am. Even a milling machine\lathe, 10kw generator, air compressor and tools.
I'm a much better welder now than before. I can even do overhead, and only have to grind out a redo it 30% of the time.  I was very pleased with the results and I'm sure the fish will be real impressed too.
Final adjustments made before and during welding.

A hydraulic jack is almost as handy as a grinder.

Upgrade #1, I added windows to the cockpit floor/engine room ceiling.

Maybe then I won't have to have lights on to see something down there, since all the batteries and engines that produce the lights are down there, if they aren't working... This might be nice.  I also plan to add watertight doors from each of the cabins to the engine room.  This will allow transferring from the main cabin to the rear one and the engine room without going outside.  Also a hard dodger/pilothouse is in the planning stages.

Sanding the hull before painting, It took over a day and half. That's when I realized how big this thing really was. The $10 grinder is still hanging on.
The old owner kept the brass items, and wanted the wheel.

He deserved that, since he spent enough time at it to go around the world with it.  He did offer to let me use it till I found a replacement.  I plan to let him use the boat sometime for another trip if he wants also.  That's after I get it finished.  In about a week I found one, I slavaged the wheel (basically the same size and even more ornate) and some other stuff from a shrimp boat being destroyed at the yard.

The shrimp boat about to be turned into a big pile of splinters.

I got four or five good things off of it.  The wheel was most important.  I had to make an adapter for the shaft size and keway.  Both the old and new wheel needed to be refinished.   Now all that's left is painting and launching. And testing the engine, and cooling system, and electrical systems, and....and..... and....