Sailboat Refit: Bulkhead Install [E54] 

I really hope you don't regret pulling that aluminum compression beam. I would not have been anywhere near as confident that the bulkheads would hold.

Avoid the hard no and give the girl her trim. 😀 Removing that support is brave. As an owner of a boat built in the eighties I've got an appreciation of the amount of flex in the hull. Hopefully your engineer is right. Love the content.

Filling in that gap with epoxy is probably why that is called a "FILLIT" !!! CHEERS from HERE!

The wood trim part and the "hard NO" was the best part lol, she is adorable.....

It's your project, but I've learned to avoid the "hard no" when speaking to my wife. 🤪 I personally think woodworking is easier than fiberglass working. I'm also interested in seeing how you got rid of the bottom mounting bracket at the bottom of the pole. Thanks for the video.👍

Nice work! One tip is also to roll up the tape onto a cardboard core roll (like 1" or so..). That way the biax will stay in order as it is unrolled directly in place. This way you can do very long uncut tapes nicely

Impressive job but Z-shaped bulkhead can’t handle same forces as a flat bulkhead. Suggest you reconsider to remove stanchion.

euler's buckling equation for a slender column F=Pi^2EI/L^2 so, F = force in lbs; E = 10,000,000 lbs/in^2 for Al; I = moment of inertia (I = π D^4 / 64); L = length in inches. crunch that number and you will know how much load that that column can support before it will buckle, you want to be at half of that load. Since it was a race boat, it will be more like 75%. Was the mast stepped on deck above that column??

If you cut the fabric the other way it wont stretch. That way its easier to roll it up and do longer pieces. This saves a lot of overlaps which need to be faired. I hop you are right on taking away the mast compression post. The loafs on a mast are HUGE!

as an engineer , i would NOT be removing that compression tube . have you done a stress analysis on that area?

The compression post transfers all the compression forces from the mast directly to the keel. You can't remove the compression post and expect the bulkhead to do the same job.

Seems from all the comments that getting your advisor to do the calculations on stress to the ring with post removed is highly advisable. Or just replace and sleep better. That is the easy solution. To strong vs we made a bad decision.

It is a Festivus pole! Festivus for the rest of us.

A race boat would have be built a light as possible. I wouldn’t remove the post. There is a lot of structure coming together under and over that post.

Great editing, great content. This is such an interesting series.

Great episode! More progress! Keep safe and keep rolling Duracell team!👍👍

This is the absolute best slow TV I've ever seen, please don't change the format. You two have the best interactions

You really do nice work. You do. Cheers.

We used the porter-foil method a lot for biax and mat. You can also further make Your life easier with a stick or a ruler to "prefold" it over to preform the corner it gotta take on when placed - this way You just press the ruler into Your corner and the biax is already where its supposed to be. We had also not only sticks/rulers but sticks with different handhelds/extensions to make handling with one "mainhand" easier. Don't know whether it does pay off for Your one off in terms of time, but the results are much more consistent, and laying it put and deblistering is much faster with those little helpers. Thanks for sharing!

Enjoyed this episode, doing bulkhead repairs on my cat, so timely! Thx, Andrew

I really enjoy your videos

Btw even though I am building my own boat its fun to watch you rebuild yours. Keep it up.

Still impressed that the engineer approved removing the compression post. Once the mast is tuned, those bulkheads will be under several tons of pressure, and they are not even exactly under the mast step location…. Hope everything works well…

Good job guys 🤓

Thanks for the awesome video as always! I appreciate you first answering the question about the pole that I know everyone was thinking. The email proof was even better! Also, thanks for leaving in the part showing Matt's concern when he pulled out the bolt with the water on the tip. I was definitely there with him and could feel the "well that sucks" tension.

Thank you. Great work.

Nice to see some walls put up inside. Trim across the ceiling and round door might look nice. 👌 great update 2x👍

I may be comenting out of turn but I absolutely love a fellow Aussie as much as your channel. He is an experienced and masterful technician working with fibre glass. His channel is 'Life on the hulls' and I am sure his posts could be of assistance in some circumstances. Worth a look anyway. In the mean time I continue to be impressed by your skills and your channel is compulsory viewing for me.

"Pontificating" Now Sir, That is a word, Well Done.👍

Nice filming and editing. Makes even watching fiberglassing interesting. 😀👍

If it is a sticky job, Matt can handle it. Fascinating process is the nature of your refit. Enjoy watching it. Press on, and don’t lose the murals……please,

Always entertaining

That's a perfect Festivus pole!

Looking Good!!!

I would still try a large socket with a long handle and longer bit of pipe over the handle to try and move those two bolts at the bottom of where the aluminium stanchion was.

A bit late for comments (I recently started binge watching the series during a bout of Covid) but, like David Nelson below, I'm a qualified mechanical engineer but also naval architect: I would also have left the compression tube in, for two reasons - firstly it was in the same plane as the ring frame, whereas the new bulkhead is not. So the compression stresses from the surrounding deck area will only be partially transferred to the now weakened frame. Secondly, just by eye, the new bulkhead looks too thin to withstand the compression forces no longer supported by the tube. It would very likely be prone to Euler buckling. However what might hopefully save it, is the Z shaped cross section designed to clear the bunk (if I got it correctly) which will give it a lot more forward/aft inertia than a completely flat bulkhead. Either way, if I were you, I would have put in a vertical stiffener along the edge of the door opening.

If only it was as easy as you make it look :).. Sure would love to have your skillset for epoxy, cause the only thing that sticks here are my gloves... and the table... and the chair... and my coffeemug... RESPECT for taking the time to put this all out here, and best of luck on the rebuild!! Regards from Holland, Gijs

I am glad that there wasn't any soft areas where the bolts were.

Greetings from the Wirral , England , love what you're doing with Duracell changing her from a race boat into a fast cruiser I have a 2016 Beneteau 48 but I would of liked a wooden sailboat but everyone I went to view was either wrecked needed at least £200,000 spending on them or they where too expensive £400,000 as a minimum for the spec I was looking for. That's why I bought a 4 year old Beneteau no problems yet and I'm thoroughly happily with her. Hopefully travelling to the Caribbean this winter .

My opinion now , I would have never taken that pole out that no mater what adds support to deck and keel area

Good job 🙂

I would left that pole there

KEEP IT UP YOUR DOING A NICE JOB. WISH IM THERE TO HELP . CHARLIE CACHIA FROM THE UK.

So the plastic backing transfer is a breeze if you use a ruler, wooden dowl or something to centre the fold line as you place it into a corner. Granted its harder on the curved vertical but not all hacks suit every application.

It's good that you were using double bias and not biax, but I would have put two layers on. I also overlap the corners, like the deck to hull join.

That's a beefy aluminum pipe. Dinghy davit or asymmetrical spinnaker sprit.

I presume the mast is through the deck, if so the halyards will be pulling up the deck as they turn to go aft. If the mast is deck stepped, the compression loads are high, tens of tonnes on a boat like Duracell. Hope you double check all this! You don't want to place excess loads on the bulkhead.

lots of naysayers about cutting out the column (column is the technical term for an axial member loaded in compression). I'll give you some positive points: column was likely there to cut the span of the central deck member down when loaded in bending (for vertical loads at top of deck) and maybe to take flex out of the circular ring/part bulkhead at that part of the hull cross-setcion when under load out in sea. regardless, there was no axial compressive force in the column because if there was, the column would have sat down on the saw blade as he was cutting it off (like a tree trunk sitting down on a chain saw). the bulkhead you added most certainly is better for the cross-section flex aspect and likely would function as the column for span cutting top deck member too although you could probably build up a "column" out of foam and fiberglass and tuck it into the corner of the "L" in the bulkhead to hide it while providing additional axial compression ability. Not that your bulkhead couldn't be the column, but with the door cutout, it limits the width of bulkhead that could activate to take compressive load like your column did.

Regarding the beam: If in doubt, don´t!

Festivus pole!

😂😂😂 love the hard no! ( maybe!)

694th desktop phantom shipmate LIKE, already 5K+ views. 22:55 - "How'bout a cat-scratching pole?" ("You're gonna need a bigger cat!!")

yeah why such a big gap........you should plead the 5th for set up questions like that. hehehe loved it

I hope after all that work it don't leak!

that pole would be an awesome mount for a wind turbine

Mouse milk and a breaker bar. Easy Peasy. Progress!

Just found your channel, immediately subscribed. Sorry if this was already addressed but are you planning on adding any insulation for the cold-ish waters where you are?

Its better to have a gap. The tape you put in later will bond the bulkhead to the hull. If there is no gap, the bulkhead contact point will be too rigid and be a stress concentrater. Yep. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. (This comment should not be taken as expert advice!).

question: did you design the L-shape (zig-zag) into your new bulk head to go around that aluminum post? the side of the bulkhead with the door in it runs along the 'ring' while the other side does not run under the 'ring'. does it matter if the bulk head is running under the 'ring' ? just some questions that came to mind!

Dear Matt, im glad to give you this advice, cos i admire your work so much, but, but when i glue in my tapes on a table i first lay the pealply and then my 2 or 3 layers of biax tapes. There is longitudinal stability anyways because a kind of longitudinal strands holds it in shape but the pealply stabelises the whole thing in all directions. This makes it easier to handel and you win time because ur peaply is already applied. Im rebuilding my cockpit of a 9m halftonner raceboat.

Don't think I would remove that compression post having watched another couple tuning the rig on a similar boat and putting 17 tons compression load on the mast. I guess if a structural engineer has ok'd it then not a problem.

I've seen people paint the bulkheads with bright colour like yellow and red. That really livens the interior up. Great mood booster.

Pontificate away. We are here for it.

Wow, those bulkhead chainplates look awesome! Are you planning to leave them exposed? Really show's off her racing pedigree.

Really love the content. Question… It seems like when you put the cabin soul in you’re gonna be bent down a bit. Will you be able to stand up straight?

Wow, that was a big job, or jobs! What a mystery that one bolt was though, no need for a 3 sided dance pole in your boat! I totally agree that it is unnecessary now with the bulkheads you’ve installed. Loved the hard NO!!!

ouch... the hard no!

Will there be any port lights below the level of the deck?? Or just hatches??

At the beginning of the video you said. "I'm going to do it as cleanly as possible as this will be EXPOSED" So NO I will not be covering them with trim!!! 😀🤣😂

I'm so sorry but I laughed so to his reply when you ask why can't you fit them perfectly and when you said because I'm not perfect lol I lost it now I know as everyone else she didn't mean nothing and probably didn't know she said and he didn't mean anything lol

Diligence-patience-genius CRAFTSMANSHIP!

doing all the corners must get quite monotonous after a while, or therapeutic depending on your angle of dangle, but like most of us male monkeys we find ways to modify our tools to do the job the use of the plastic sheet is a great tip but doesn't quite help you with placing the wet fibre glass, i was just wondering if using a piece of angled card might work i know from packing pallets there is a very nice rigid cardboard reinforcement used on the corners of stacked pallets, there are a couple of sizes and the larger one would be near perfect, you could cut to what ever length you need then, would definitely assist on larger panels, and i bet somewhere there is a plastic polythene version, maybe there is some guttering that can be used that's more readily available? if that covered in plastic (unless it is already plastic pvc etc) you might be able to place every piece with more ease, pressing into its location, or it could just be another additional faffing about

I can definitely say man I'm very interested in your project I've built several boats myself but never at the magnitude of what you're doing. I think you're doing a very good Justice to that boat instead of it just going to waste and getting destroyed that's part of History. And the work you're doing is phenomenal I was also curious too is if you had prior experience to boat working before taking on this project. And if this is going to be a little board boat for you in the future for you and your significant other?

First ^_^ Love you Duracell!

The moisture rot on those bolts could have been from humidity in the cabin

Correct me if I'm wrong but when you wet out the cloth shouldn't it go from white to translucent or clear ? That insures the cloth is totally saturated ?

Would a moisture meter help you to trace the water that you found above the compression post? And that post is too big for a stripper pole. *G*

You can roll up that wet-out bi-axe without plastic if you do it right away and with care! Roll it up like a carpet !

“That’s a hard no” as Matt begins building the templates for hardwood trim around the bulkhead. 😅 Maybe should have laser measured the height across the beam where pole was rigged to check for any settling of the deck after it was removed. If anything the pole is a questionable structural design choice. Feels almost ad hoc.

23:05 o come on now How to keep this family friendly A pole for dancing against some times hang on possibly upside down but allways inebriated

I think you crossed that fine line along time ago bud ! If she wants wood trim why not ?

Sure looks like a mast load compression post to me.

2nd lol also love you... well your channel

I saw the banter..she was riding him a bit w good questions.

Sorry but I would think 1708 and two other layers of thinner fiberglass , like life on the Hulls does in his build is the correct way for strength .

😎👍

Is it possible that it is condensation that is the reason for finding water in the screw hole?

Another great video. But let's face it. You just don't want to do trim..period!

That compression pipe you cut out could be used as a base for a wind vine if you go that way or a stand for your grill . That some work but just a thought.

Audio is compromised with masks on. Better to overdub those bits so we can understand what you're saying. Check out the massive loads calculated on the NV racing boat conversion on masts that size. I think you may regret removing the post.

I have seen people put peel-ply over hand layup to minimize post sanding and fairing. Not sure how well it works or if it would help you with a job like this. Just throwing it out there.

If you end up putting it back, or if there are others , you can wrap it in sisal rope or hemp for a cat scratcher - great idea

The post is about the right size and configuration for a radar…

I didnt hear a hard no...? NO! hahaha

Add some wood frames?

Hey man isn't that support you cut out the mast step support?

Do you have a date in mind to complete your project?

What kind of foam do you like to use? Do you like Nida core?

Is that bulkhead a full structural one??? As opposed one and as I ask I see the answer. I would then be doing a minimum of three layers of tape to the bulkhead. Just me though. I always pick up a few techniques from you though

I would like to build a boat, is it hard? I built my own go cart. Did battery company put for your build? How did u get them to do that?