Replacing a Major Structural Bulkhead in our Bluewater Sailboat - Episode 97 

Hey. Thanks for this video. Made me less scared about repairing my bulkhead 😁🙏

Getting closer! Hang in there almost done. Thank you for a Great video this week. So until next time, Aloha from the Big Island of Hawaii! Let use know if you are coming this way. If so you can stay with us on the Big Island.

It looks like the jobs are coming to an end. Nicely done.

I just wanted to say that I have followed you for awhile now. I admire the felowship that you both have in achieving your goals. It is so nice to watch you both meet the challenges that you have expierienced in achieving your dream. You should consider yourselves very fortunate to have the companionship that you have. I wish you both safe travels and will certainly follow your travels. Thanks, Bob

For next time, consider using a bag with a small hole to be able to extrude the epoxy onto a seam or fillet like you would icing. Also, it is often faster to saturate the cloth on a flat surface and then put it in place and roll it out. Trying to saturate cloth vertically or overhead is very difficult.

Kudos to you guys! You are doing an amazing job as well as educating us on boat repairs! ✊ ❤

Nice work guys 🎉 Is refreshing to see Brooke's huge smile again😊 Almost ready. South Pacific is in your reach. See you next time. ✌🏻✨🌊🌬⛵️🏝👙🌞✨

You both keep amazing me with how resilient you are! I can’t believe how you’ve just tackled everything that’s been thrown your way. I never would have imagined you’d be doing all this by yourself, and doing it like pros!!

Brooke and Gary - please take a bow - I learnt heaps from you- well done man -you guys rock. Well done..

A great accomplishment.

Excellent job on Bulkhead & chain plate mounting (that's what she said) 🤣 So good you discovered all that water in the keel 🙂🙏

Can't believe how much work you are learning and doing. Give you snd Gary do much credit

Relieved the keel leak is repairable. And well done, you two, for the hard work you put in on the for'ard bulkhead. That'll stay in place for a while.

That bulkhead is going to last till the ends of time! also. Brooke: "boats" HAHAHHA. ain't that the truth.

Wao. Although there is a lot of work your passion, consistency and love for your boat (home) is the energy that always needed for completing your dreams. Hope that you could finish repairing One Life and shortly be in the water. Always blessing both.

Thickened epoxy used to be our drinking game

That was an impressive volume of water in your keel. Enjoying watching all of your hard work👍

Great job Guys all the best.

Good progress this episode. I'm sure it's quite satisfying to see the success.

Some cruisers, like Madds from Sail Life , lay out the layers of fiberglass (like your 3 cut layers) on plastic sheet on a table and wet them down together, then bring the prewetted group to the wetted repair location, put in place and roll out. Seems to go faster and less messy. Does require that you have a clear horizontal space on table nearby however. Great to hear that keel was lead which does not rust vs. scrap iron pieces that was sometimes used in imported sailboats. Good luck with your repairs and eventual launch.

Oh no, I missed crafts night, lol! Looked like MY JAM, since I'm so experienced with concrete!!! Love your gumption!

If it were easy I'd have done it. Way to hang in there!

Looks like LOTs of fun. Also appears that Burt Reynolds has left the building and Black Beard is crossing the parking lot soon to arrive in the building😎🥸.

Wow! Amazing project! We look forward to following your journey across the Pacific now that the work is completed! :)

Awesome work - making great progress!

One day at a time,, stepping forward . The final count down , splash time , your closer than yesterday , and tomorrow no sorrow . Snatching golden fish .

Hi Guys! Excellant progress ya making!! Ya all got a side business with the glassing and repair and covering cushions!!! Progress!! Closer to splash!! Cant wait!! Fair weather for projects Take care!!

Looks awesome. Can’t imagine the smell and heat. Great work.

After this refit, you should have the big stuff off the list for quite a while. Those beautiful islands and amazing adventures will make it all worth it.

Great job on fibreglassing the bulkhead, getting there. Love the vlog :)

Great job both on the fiberglassing AND capturing it. Great video!!

That looks like so much work! Kudos to you both for being able to smile through it all. The end product will be amazing!

Gary, You and Brook are amazing! I am thinking of getting a Morgan 41' ketch. 76, the old girl needs work but The bones are hard and no soft spots on the deck can be found. Watching you guys lets me know it will be work, but once completed it will fantastic! plus I get to see some how to. Thanks Guys,

Hey Gary, feel free to call me next time your laminating. I think I can save you some time. Love following your adventures. I know it's worth all the hard work you two are putting in.

Looking good. you are making good progress !

Great job on the fiberglass guys came out great and should be pretty sturdy now!

I know it was daunting and scary to start with but such invaluable experience and real understanding in knowing the deepest parts of your boat. You will continue your travels with new vigour and confidence. Give yourselves a pat on the back for jobs well done.

Great Job! Almost there 🎉

Always good videos. Hang in there guys. Watching from Orlando, Fl.

Awesome work guys. Keep grinding. The end is near. Wishing u all the best.

Great video, hit the sweet spot, really enjoyed it! I love your positivity and good vibes too!

I wasn't sure what to expect after last week's reply, then when you started draining the keel and used the shop vac... I couldn't believe the amount of water and was thinking, oh no... But when you cleaned up the bottom and found the seam, it started to make sense and I think you are right... water removed, seem repaired, no more problem... for once, not the worst case scenario... whew..

An unforgiving job for sure!! Great job on staying focused to get it done safely and looking good.

Looks great guys. Its obviously an area that needs extra protection from water coming in. Nice tabbing. Should be fine ! This is where 1/3 of the hull strength comes from.

I was not ready for this one to be over, well I never had an official glass mat roller so you all are pros in my book.

I love watching your videos and the amazing work you're doing. I am definitely learning from watching you. Hopefully you make it Queensland, Australia sometime in the future. :)

Wish I'd been there to give you guys a hand. You're doing so well at that glassing maybe you'll want to build a boat when you get back from the Pacific? 😊 LoL

Good work and great video you guys. I've been thinking about getting another older sailboat and doing some coastal cruising. Good deals on older sailboats right now. But wow, y'all put the fear into me with your keel, rudder and bulkhead problems. Will really have to inspect an older boat even for coastal cruising.

Keep up a stiff lip. It be finished when the boat is finished. You are giving a great video for your followers.❤

Work work and more work

I watched every episode of your journey since a few month, kind of impressive how you two (and your helpers of course) manage to keep your boat in great shape. I hope to see way more of your content. It kinda keeps my sailing dream alive. BTW @SailingOneLife: Isn´t this either Episode 97, because 96 was the one before? Any plans on the 100th Episode? Greetings from Germany

Congrats on 30k RU-vid subscribers you two! Go One Life! 🙌🎉🥳👏🎊🍾🥂🍻🍹☀️🌴🌸 🌬️⛵️🌎🤗

Solid work ! Sounds like you are not using peel ply over your fiberglassing work. I'd highly advise to use some along with a bubble rollers to remove excess resin, remove bubbles and allow a much smoother finish with less sanding.

I would have even considered producing a metal plate and glassing Over it , over the bottom of the keel.

Wish I was there I built boats for over 20 years

The good news is the water coming out of the keel appears to be clear and not brown(rusty). That says to me you've got lead in there and not iron.

I could of help out so much! You did a lot wrong but ya did ok at the same time! I would not trust your work put it that way lol! Wish ya the best!

Don’t forget to over drill, fill and then drill your holes for your chain plates so the water doesn’t get to the wood and rot it

Many of us are learning with you as you progress the work. with the fibre glassing of the bulkhead I would have thought you start with the thinnest strip of glass first, so each subsequent fibreglass strip is in contact with the bulkhead, building a stronger overall join, rather than laying the widest strip first which effectively is the only piece in contact with the bulkhead. Can you please help me understand why you did the layering the way you did?

Too funny, "You're a MESS!!"

Papeto`ai French Polynesia 86F. Light rain Saturday. Just thought you might want to know.

It is all coming along just fine, keep the morale up... BTW, where is the moustache?

Thought: Why not fabricate that anchor bulkhead with a strong thick stock of nylon? No rot with that.

Myself I would have drilld some holes diagonally in the bulkhead,,,, And drove some wooden pins in it little dowels In there to hold the bulkhead in place and help strengthen it rather than just use a Apoxy to hold it in but to Each their own. I would try to get as much strength as possible in the bulkhead and some wooden dowels would have helped strengthen everything up.... The part where the waves are slamming into the boat when it comes up in the air and then it comes back down it needs to be a lot of strength there .course I guess you already know that.

looks like a lot of hard work. good job, should be strong enough. they make markers you put on cracks on concrete so you can monitor the movement as a structure settles. maybe would work on sail boat. maybe. ha

Where are you guys

Excellent work. I was curious about the bulk head. Did you make the pocket oversized for the chainplate? I noticed that the chainplate has a box connected with it. When you try to slide it back into place, it might extend out a little bit and not be flush. We forget that once we epoxy it will cause a difference in our sizes. We get so focused on a airtight joint that we forget to add in the size difference of the epoxy. I've made this mistake a few times myself. And of course you always use a few choice words than you say "I will just sand it out." But somewhere in the recesses of your subconscious you think, "I'm just making that joint with less epoxy coating. Water always intrudes on the path of least resistance!" Than you start using frazes like "good enough." But you know that the forces from the wind on the sails which pull on the stays are gonna pull on the chainplate and you keep telling yourself "just hold." Myself I'm a perfectionist and that would cause me to drink more beer! Than in the back of my mind I would think, it's the next owners problem. Now about the keel. Yes I believe you made the right call about the seem. And yes I believe they slapped on a bunch of filler and said "good enough!" So you know what that means? Your the new owners of good enough! DICKS! Time to break out more elbow grease. DICKS!

Great job, keep going! But IMHO, using polyester resins, especially for 1708, especially above the waterline, is at least 3 times cheaper and more native for 1708, as it becomes more pliable unless epoxy is sponsored. There's nothing wrong with epoxy besides more afterwork, even if there's an opinion that epoxy is stronger, but opinion mostly comes from its manufacturers. Some of the experiments proved otherwise (check recent Andy's video from @boatworkstoday).

How do you deal with and do the same quality repair where the blocks are for the keel bottom repair? When they lift it I imagine you dont have much time to work there?

Hi, you said you covered the wood with penetrating resin to avoid to rot again: Which resin where you using? How many applications? Only 1? How long you have to wait in order to add fiber glass? Where you using marine plywood?

I thought when you put multiple layers of glass like you were doing you were supposed to put your narrow layer first then go wider so each layer is bonded to the original surface. Is that wrong?

How many gallons was finally drained from the keel ?

❤❤

Love your vids and your work and endurance. It would be nice that you think about your European audience: cm and celcuis NOT ONLY INCHES AND FARENHITES

It's not overbuild...that's how it should be done in the first place

Keep trudging along. The payoff is worth it!

You need more resins ,, placed under the mat before you place the mat , and I soak my Res my mat's heavier than what you are, to you're being a little conservative on the resin.... . . You can also use a resin r as a layer of sealant over any wood that you place. whether you use matter or not.... .. going small mat to larger over the small is correct..

♥️♥️🥰🥰

One time resin made it through my bunny suit. My underwear stuck to my booty. Talk about a Brazilian butt wax. Was not fun.

Your very wrong on that Hull bro You reall need to talk to a Local boat repair on that hull! Iv replace so many! Need a High glass content and maybe a 927 resin or a flex resin! But Im telling ya you need to grind out them cracks! and I mean grind out, not grind down!

Your going to have to stop making these short videos , it's your own fault because yous make such brilliant videos and all your subscribers love them including me . Yous did a fantastic job with that bulk head , a lot of your jobs require the 2 of yous working together so I don't know who solo sailors manage to repair their yachts

I suspect the deck is as rotten as the bulkhead where the chain plate comes through the deck.

1st lol

Ohooo, honey, that hair NEEDS to be in a tight bun when using rotery tools. That is just... Don't do it. You'll get a fresh new look pretty easy and painfully. I care about you, and that sight of you hair hangning that close made my heart skip. /Catta from Sweden

I have followed you guys for over a year. With your yearly expenses wouldn't it make sense to sell that boat and get a new boat. Make payments and relieve all your Maintenance expenses and headaches. Your boat is too much work. It's always breaking down. Just asking?

i love what you guys do, but Jesus those materials, all the chemicals...no wonder we're talking about environmental degredation