Demolition Day....

including Amas (Floats), Akas (Beams) , Swing Wing system and all other hull related issues.
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Oscar
Posts: 148
Joined: Tue 26 Aug 08, 23:10
Your Country: USA, North East

Demolition Day....

Post by Oscar »

Well, it started innocent enough...... some light sanding on the cabin top. Since it was raining I couldn't paint so I went below. There was a plywood and vinyl "ceiling" that really didn't do much. Plus the dynamic PO duo (DPD) had put some screws in there that protruded through the cabin top..... :shock: So, I decided to take it down and see what was under there.....

Lots of nuts. Some of them showing evidence of leaking. Since some of the bedding was still original, and some hardware was added by DPD and bedded with silicone :shock: and since there were some holes in the outside of the cabin top that really needed fixing and since I had discovered that the whole thing is also a balsa sandwich......I decided it was time to take all the hardware off.

Well then there was the mast foot. Lots of cracking in the deck. Mast sat on the sandwich deck, with ( I later found) about a 3"x5" piece of 1/2" plywood under the mast foot. Below the compression post which is wood and light, did not align right under the mast, but followed the CB box up at an angle. So, since the cracked deck under the mast had let in water, things were rotting, and the mast was starting to come through the roof. DPD in their infinite wisdom "fixed" the problem by creatively installing a 2x8 compression post under the mast. The more I discovered, the more I realized that it was time for surgery. Get out the grinder. I removed the add on compression post, and took a slice out of the top layer of the deck. Removed wet balsa, the support plate, or what was left of it. Let things dry up and pour a solid base of epoxy in there. Below make a nice knee to support it all and transfer the load to the original compression post.

And then there was the wiring. Now mind you, this is not complicated. Nav lites, anchor lite, two interior lites and a 12 volt outlet. The original wiring was not tinned. Lots of corrosion at terminals. In addition to that, somewhere down the line someone had installed a (then) top of the line Nexus system. (Hence the holes in the back of the cabin) Speed, depth, wind, a GPS everything talking to each other. But, the original installation was poor, it was one hell of a mess, it was reported by DPD as intermittent and, it's outdated. It took about two hours to take EVERY wire out of the boat. I am starting over with quality wiring and terminals. Nothing like a clean slate.

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1990 Dragonfly 25 USA-54
Oscar
Posts: 148
Joined: Tue 26 Aug 08, 23:10
Your Country: USA, North East

Post by Oscar »

I'm still here...... And so is the boat. Life is what happens when you have plans they say. I was able to rough in a nice solid base for the mast foot and then winter happened. The boat was under roof all winter and is bone dry, albeit a little dusty. Now I am trying to find time again.... the house, the yard, the family...... oh man. I will get it done whenever that is.

The new mast foot base roughed in:

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1990 Dragonfly 25 USA-54
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