DEFIANCE

February 20, 2008

Defiance is under offer and a wonderful new couple stand by waiting the helm.
Sweetie and Serendipity, the wild cats are off and Defiance as ready for transfer.

January 31,2008

You are highly unlikely to ever find a more through investigated, and properly repaired older vessel with complete records. For the winter 2007-2008 Defiance is getting a major bottom job (hopefully 7 + years) using commercial sandblasting and coatings. At this writing progress is slow as building the winter work shelter has trumped everything else and I look forward to getting the site finished as then working becomes quite pleasant. All 2006 survey recommendations have been met. I would consider remaining available to finish any work remaining on a time & material basis.

January 3, 2008 -19C

I would like to thank to Rick and Bill of Waupoos Marina for driving a path into the snow for access.

Anyone who has undertaken a big boat project knows how important the work site is. This arrangement is near perfect as there is room to work and provides a small work shop area under the stairs. All without destroying the panels for the last years hard dodger.

It is a lofty perch up here, with a good view. Simply spending time in the environment is the most calming thing imaginable. After spending much of the day aboard I finally relaxed and began to enjoy the day. It is absolutely beautiful here and spending time aboard again made me realize how much I missed being aboard. On the other hand everything was perfect and now is the time to earn money for the bottom. Overall it is so critical to keep the boat alive and keep the system used. Serendipity and Sweetie seen here coming to greet me have taken the helm and are taking good care of Defiance this winter.

The Espar ran ran its full two hour cycle without a burp making Defiance warm and cozy. This is like a cottage in the country. However warm and cozy at a a cost as it with -17C outside it took a 80% burn to bring the cabin up to 24C, when normally in the water it would have been something more like 25-30% burn. No question to heat the boat on the hard would have been prohibitive.

For more "time aboard 2008" pictures visit the Blogs here.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

The new skirt that is essential for sandblasting and welding is begining to take shape and makes the world of difference inside as well. So far other than perhaps $50 in Mennonite lumber and some drywall screws everything else is recycled from the last 4 years. I will put another layer of 6mm plastic over the sun room which will keep plenty of light under the boat. At least here it will be dry and there will be no wind making welding far easier. There will be a small work bench under the stairs and I expect I will end up painting the plywood dodger remains white just so it does not look quite so trashy.

October, 13 & 14

The move ran a little behind and the trailer blew a tire moving the actual move until after lunch. Overall things went smoothly and the modifications to the trailer were more than adequate to support Defiance. I did get all the winter plywood that had been the aft dodger and deck insulation from the shop and get a good start on a good winter cover. It is all critical that this cover be a work of temporary are as for progress to move ahead smoothly I need the space under Defiance dry and without wind. Then of course comes the big sandblast.

By the end of Sunday I had pretty much gotten the shape of the work shelter roughed in and will have to finish it in the morning.

Today is the move to Defiance's final winter spot on the hard and absolutely nothing more has gotten done on the keel! At this rate of progress I will be lucky to get the keel bottom finished before the snow flies let alone finish the entire bottom. Ah well, Rick has been very good and put down some gravel on the one side making the spot work friendly. Once I get the shelter erected it will make welding much easier without wind or rain.

October, Saturday 6 & Sunday 7

More help and we have finished another ten feet of finished and inspected keel welds, third, sometimes fourth pass. But, this is working far better than the commercial welder. We, both of us do a better job and are more critical than he was and I own all the equipment. I can see why the prior owner panicked as when I was paying out $60.00 (cash) paying someone to take the time to go over the seam inch by inch if financially terrifying. That little stint Colin put in cost me $1,000, and now we are going over the entire thing with yet another pass or two. Oh well! The keel repair is begging to come together nicely and the production finally hitting a comfortable pace.

I can see the writing on the wall and am settling in for a long winters work. On the other hand this is very good for Defiance as I am now well past my fear of doing my own welding which makes everything possible. The little MIG 10 quite happily welds the quarter inch steel we are mostly working on without topping out the power settings.

October 4, 2007

I finished picking up the rest of my welding stuff from the shop and settled in to finding out how welding overhead was going to go. The good news is my own MIG 10 (115V) seems It took a bit of practice but by the end of the session I was able to run an acceptable bead with no flaws directly overhead. It takes some adjusting to the MIG after last welding being 99.9% stick. The Argon shield does not create that much of a area and wind steals your gas leaving the metal exposed which will instantly cause the weld to get dirty.

The biggest problem is not the welding it is the deciding where to stop as even when you fill a spot there is a leading bead from where you sparked the arc. This light up is usually rough, but as you are building up the bead and going for a pin free surface there are start up edges which show as a edge. I find I grind too much as the original bottom is anything but flat and everything is subjective.

Tuesday September 25, 2007

The wind picked up and we had to tarp the boat making the space a warm oven to work in, however no wind to blow the argon shield gas away from the arc. By the time the sun set the accessable keel areas have been welded full length both sides of the keel bottom.

Monday September 24, 2007

Even though Defiance’s hull is welded on both sides there is a considerable amount of contamination from the original weld and subsequent coatings over the years to make a fine fireworks display (sparks right) as Colin progresses down the keel. Welding progress is slow as Colin can only run a foot or two before he has to go back and re grind the spot for a second pass. On the other hand, the bottom job is far more hassle than I had expected for this haul out, but that is the advantage of steel is you can get to the root of the evil and fix it, once and for all.

Friday September 21, 2007

If there is a steel boat god she was watching over Defiance today. The day arrived picture perfect with bright sun warming the cool of the night. Colin Cole a primo welder of Henley Boats fame is due to weld the keel edges within the next couple of day's This should solve that issue 100%.

Today is the day I confront the steel nemesis of Defiances keel. Two weeks of investigation have discovered Defiance's hidden gremlin. There is absolutely NO QUESTION that the prior owner was short on maintainance savvy and this jackpot is no different. Ever since I owned Defiance I would find water accumulating in the keel, which is a box section seperate from the hull bottom that had to be drained via plugs when you hauled out. I had been over the bottom a half a dozen times could never quite find what was happening. Sandblasting to SPF 6 (bare white metal) was the cure.

This time I found the ice damage the prior owner had covered up by a commercial sprayed high build bottom coating. The stuff is tough and even after 17 years (estimated from verbal accounts) most of the areas that were coated are very good shape. The prior owner obviously had frozen water in the keel (see survey comments from Ian Campbell). Now we know where the problem was and what it did. The ice had cracked a number of welds along the bottom edge of the keel. The last epoxy coatings had filled the cracks up enough to keep 99.9% of the water out, but still a hole in the boat as far as I am concerned, and why this bottom job is being done right with more investigation than a submarine. This baby will be good this time!

Whatever the case I knew this was going to be a big job and it will be. The cure is not that drastic, but a lot of work. The first step was to grind out the old welds along the bottom of the keel edges from bow to stern creating as right angle groove roughly 0.25" to 0.33" deep preparing bare white metal for welding. Thank heavens that I was able to catch Chris as my shoulder would never have stood up to 10 hours of on your back overhead grinding. On the other hand he just does it and does not complain. To be 30 again. By the end of the day the entire keel with the exception of where the supporting blocks are was completed.

The keel bottom has been sandblasted to SPF 6 & treated OSPHO (rust inhibitor), with jack stand pad areas blasted & primed with 3 coats 238. So far pitting is within limits and we final found the result of the prior owners ice damage with remedial steel work professionally estimated. Detailed inspections have been conducted on the prepared keel areas and several professional welding options estimated & available.

The project is beginning to becoming less daunting and the results of the coating failures less severe than first thought. Estimates of four years ago were over $6,000 as this is going to be a lot of work with expensive coatings. My estimates put the cost of the anticipated 2007 - 2008 bottom job at somewhere between $6,000 and $7,000 depending on how much I can do myself, and how much muscle I need to hire. On the other hand I am addressing every shortfall I find on the bottom as I go and if the past is any indication this bottom should last 15 plus years.

September 11, 2007:

Anthony a retired steel boat builder & millwright of 30 years went over the electrolysis voltage readings on the hull doing a very though analysis of what was happening.

Support equipment 10 gallon Princess Auto sandblaster.

Princess Auto 5.5 HP portable gas air compressor that I am using for sandblasting. It will deliver over 100 PSI of air doing a pretty good job of the blasting. I will use a commercial guy to do one pass to clean all the old stuff while I follow with primer.

Bottom Coatings:

It has been a long haul and the decision critical as the materials I used the last time fell short of my expectations leaving me a full blown bottom job on Defiance for 2008. The pitting is not deep and does not pose a problem, but if I do not get it right this time I will have to shorten the haul out period in the future. With luck the new coatings will live up to the hype. I will use the Amercoat 238 primer to a depth of 15mm or 4 coats with fairing using Newcoat 114A.

I would like to thank Dan Agnew (technical sales), Peter Villain (Lab), and Donna (order)of AMERON in Mississauga. Customer service is alive and well in Mississauga, Ontario. These people are right on the mark and a pleasure to work with. My application was a unusual in that the intent is extended period of ice exposure in cold water is far from recreational use but they found me the answers piece by piece. The majority of these materials go to goverment departments such as the Securete de Quebec, Department of Defence (Navy), and the Canadian Coast Guard who use it on the super icebreakers.

AMERON Coatings web site The following description source is AMERON's web site which I encourage anyone interested in underwater coating to visit.The description goes on but I would suggest that you visit their web site and check them out for yourselves. Source Ameron Data sheets AMERCOAT 238 (Primer) Amercoat 238 is designed to protect surfaces subject to unusual abrasive and wear conditions common to many heavy duty marine and industrial applications. Underwater hull areas such as bulbous keels, shear strakes, rudders, rakes, bottom flats, chain and ice damaged areas. The majority of Ameron coatings products are now "environmentally designed" with low-solvent, solvent-free and waterborne technologies that reduce the possibility of pollution and enhance workers' safety. In 1996, Ameron purchased the Devoe marine coatings business of Imperial Chemical Industries PLC. The acquisition made Ameron the largest supplier of high-performance marine and offshore coatings in North America and also greatly expanded the company's sales and service network and global presence in these markets. Early in 1997, Ameron also acquired the worldwide Valspar maintenance coatings business. Many of Valspar's highly regarded coatings products are now being made and sold by Ameron under the Amercoat brand. Both these product lines are available in Canada through Amercoat Canada. In 2006 Ameron Coatings was purchased by PPG Inc, a world leader in the manufacture of paints, coatings and glass in addition to Pitt Char XP Fire Protective Coating. AMERON Coatings web site

Sunday, August 2

For the greatest part I took a break on Sunday as my work was limited to yet more analyzing of the oxidation and plans for the new bottom.

Haul Out Day

Defiance is out of the water and I am through the first knee shaking 24 hours of discovery. Stuff, lots of stuff, but I expect that. At this stage I would say the 4 year haul out was due more to the coatings than the ice.

Twenty four hours into the haul my gut tells me that this will be a big one. I have spent most of today digesting the preliminary inspections results (attached) and deciding on coatings which end up being “Ice Breaking” specifications and what Canada’s super ice breakers use. Cheap by no means as my starting order is 10 gallons, and that is a tip of the ice so to speak. I still believe that this will be a major haul out and that my costs will be less than $3,500, and a huge amount done. Moreover, done to some serious standards of serviceability with 100% attention spent on prep. If I keep that in mind and can figure out how to pay for it, come next year Defiance will be ready for some sea time.

August 30, 2007

Major bottom remedial – re coating 2007

This recommendation is after a post haul out invasive inspection where all coatings are ground clean to bare white metal and the maximum depth of worst case pitting considered using digital depth measurement. Overall all 2004 coatings have been less than successful, and there are a number of patches where “rust blooms” have evidenced themselves.

Detail images of the hull condition best show oxidation distribution that has no specific pattern, which is good as it means no electrolyses. The overall consensus of oppinion that it was surface contamination during the last quick bottom job that caused the higher than expected oxidation.

The repair and future coating issue will be “Canadian Made” Ameron coatings. After much research and spending more than a bit of air time with the technical department the NEW coatings of Defiance will be as follows.

The service duty cycle will be adjusted to that of ICE BREAKING. The following coatings are the newest bottom coatings (for steel ships) as used on Canada’s newest Ice Breakers. They have been tailored to tough arctic ice and cold water conditions. If one was to take the boat south to the Tropics you would be advised to add a tropical antifouling on top of the Americoat 339 Top Coat, which would only require a scuffing of the 339. The service coating compatibility is quite acceptable under the recommended usage (and tech. support) guidelines.

Thursday, August 3, 2007

Tuesday, August 1, 2007

The new 3250 GHP pump is here and 85% installed with only 10" of plumbing to go before trying it out.

Friday ended with a great note in that my new $1,000 primary water pump finally arrived from Nova Scotia. The A100 super fab stainless steel adaptors fit perfectly and the rotation and flow are correct making the install a much easier job. If I guessed today it willingly require one plate that I can mount to existing mount points. This is the last of the survey recommendations nearly corrected.

Friday June 8, 2007

That's It! The salon Ultrasuede Upholstery is finished!

Friday June 8, 2007

The bugs relented enough Thursday afternoon for me to get the propane cover and lazarette bulwarks painted and a new scavenge pump installed for the bath.

June 1, 2007

There was a small break in the bugs allowing me to get the painting of the aft deck largely finished with the lazarette also ready for final color. I have also finished the shell for a cover for the propane tanks on the lazarette deck.

May 27, 2007

I have finished a through scrubbing of the cabin and hull with scotch pad's and n Green which has gotten most of the winters grime off the paint and begun the aft repaint process. I am taking the coatings down to where I loose most of the prior scars and have now gotten a deep sand / fair down on the lazarette bulwarks and a first coat of primer applied.

The new Racor is working perfectly and it forever solves the problem of finding outdated replacement filters and annoying leaks the CAV had developed. So all well mechanically as the focus is now making the vessel ready for a new owner.

I have removed the winter dodger under protest, but following sales advice as my health is slipping and long term plans may be optimistic.

I still have a 3 to 5 degree list but at least the old wood stove is off and we are begining to regain level. Defiance is as ready as I am going to get with the plywood dodger still inn place and still a welcome addition to the vessel. I have made 3 round island runs so far and the difference in the fashionability of the aft deck is quite amazing. Rufus also love the somewhat ugly structure.

Today I must get the wood stove at least rough swapped for the new Dickinson oil unit, and get the wood stove off. The price of fuel is going up like crazy and I am trying to stay in front, but wow. They forecast $1.25 gas this week. Defiance is slowly regaining a functional level of heel. I was down to less than 12” of fuel in the starboard tank yesterday and listing over 10 degrees. It is not the running of the boat that costs diesel it is the heating costs. But then again this is Canada and that is still less than $100 per month for heating oil over the winter.

I am getting pretty good at operating Defiance by myself. Making no mistake just how much have to anticipate and how dire the consequences of a screw up would be. I almost crushed the dinghy day before yesterday and never felt it. If I touch it I sink it, and this was docking with wind practice!

The good news is the fuel system service seems to have worked it’s self out and I have 6 holes working nicely. But what a pain it is bleeding everything on the entire 671 out after a major fuel change. I have also added a new Christmas tree fitting to the 1” raw water inlet so that it can feed both the generator and house pressure water systems.

Explanation of web page:

The following subjects are operational areas that have been addressed in the course of this refit. They are not sequential, nor finished but ongoing. These pages document the process procedure and repair sources.

April 28, 2007

I spent Saturday removing the winter wrappings and am left with a Defiance that looks like this. If cash flow was better and time permitted this feature could be attractive as well. Now I will see how easy it is to operate like this as the height of the aft screen (lifeline) at 42" is a 2007 Coast Guard requirement. The large windows on the dodger aft wall provide a good view aft.

I have just finished oil change and all seems in order with Growler. Next step is bleed the steering then off the dock. There is a bit of a change as I plan a late summer haul out in the I am going to leave the temporary dodger structure in place. Inside I am refinishing the salon table and most of the trim.

• New flooring down in helm and aft cabin
• I will leave the temporary winter superstructure on for the summer
• It provides an excellent work shop space and shelter for the aft deck under way or while at anchor.
• It can be removed in an afternoon, but for what I see in the immediate future it serves my purpose.

On the roof I put some more glass down on the wings and tidied up the temporary dodger structure as I will leave it for now.The international orange make Defiance easy to spot from the air. There is the routine chasing, grinding and refinishing of winter chips and so it goes, but in reality less time than most spend polishing their fiberglass boats.

The car top carrier normally sits tucked back in the starboard niche in front of the dodger where it provides excellent life jacket stowage. To port is the cradle for the dinghy (also empty). If the dodger looks square it is because you do not see the tender and the life jacket storage on the cabin roof. Once Defiance is loaded up it fits visually together. See below for dinghy up and overall rendering.

The picture to the left is exactly as Defiance looks April 27, 2007. I can operate the boat without removing the boom tent if I wish as line handling is done from the side decks and the lazarette.

January 6, 2007

I have started the interior upgrades and nice finish section of the Defiance project. After several years of searching I found the distributor of a Vetus type industrial rubber non skid flooring. This is HIGH END stuff, just look up Vetus decking and cry. But it is easy to work with and once it sets in a bed of epoxy it will be there for ever. Not only that but it cleans up easy, is relaxing to stand on and is commercial fire retardant rated.

I will do the aft cabin floors with this same material and cut out the hatches.

Summer 2006

Winter 2006

Winter heat: A huge part of this is the side decks which act as a perfect insulation and the temperature on the side and aft bridge deck always remain about +10 to +14C above the outside ambient temperatures. I pay for my electric like all live aboards of us,so I am very careful about my electric usage. I am still operating on less than 30 AMPS, with an average draw of 27 AMPS. If you choose to not leave the Espar running 2300 Watts (1.5 heaters) of electric heaters running it will keep the interior at +14 or +15C even in this -30C weather. I now have a Dickinson Pacific diesel stove which I plan to replace the woodstove with to avoid carrying wood. This however is probably far too much winter preparation were the boat to go south.

Ice Winter Daylog pages

Winter Power Consumption - off grid

• Refrigeration 6 AMPS
• Espar furnace 120 watts 12 AMPS
• Espar/Heater craft radiator fans (3 running) 4-5AMPS
• TV, lighting, power antenna, computer (12 V inverter) 6 AMPS
• Total powered up draw 27AMP

Once it gets this cold it is the ESPAR that is the comfort king, however by next winter all heating will have a passive element as I am replacing the wood stove with a Dickinson Pacific oil stove which will run 24/7 in the winter to provide a base line heat and take the place of the electric heaters which will become too expensive soon.

Perhaps the most significant thing I accomplished for 2006 beyond keeping everything working perfectly was finally coming up with a perfect live aboard cruise configuration that spans both winter and summer live aboard months. I have made several afternoon cruises (late November) and stern to parked the vessel 5 times single handed in this configuration. THIS WORKS.. Best yet if you move harbour you can carry everything with you on board while the bridge deck provides the shelter you always were looking for offshore or at anchor on the aft deck.

Glycol/water is carried by the red pipes, raw water pipes are indicated by a green hose making managing troubleshooting far easier if it were to become necessary. This summer was all about keeping up the maintenance and improving redundancy while servicing all the water pumps on Defiance. The engine cooling systems primary 671, and Entac generator are rebuilt while the house fresh water, and aft scavenge pumps have also had the benefit of complete rebuild kits. The engine pumps were machined as required, new impellers fitted and a spare impellers with source recorded in stock.