bertram31.com

My mate & I are 3 days into demolition. Shafts, shaft logs, rudders, rudder shelves & stbd Borg Warner removed. The miami soda blasters showed up this morning and promptly got to removing 30 years of bottom paint buildup. Got a peek halfway thru and saw blister city. These guys don't mess around. Tented and blasted entire hull in 6 hours! We are pretty handy, but it would have taken us a week to do it right.

Cleanup & degrease tomorrow.

Take a look at the album. More pics to come.

http://s818.photobucket.com/user/MissCh ... ard%202013

Boy, that brings back painful memories. An adventure to be sure, but only for the masochistic among us.
Wait, would that be most of us?

I do not envy what lays ahead...

Good luck!

CArl

OCD is my excuse. A can of worms doesn't begin to describe what we opened, does it?
Without the knowledge & experience shared on this site, I'm not sure I would feel so confident about completing this project!

I've got a couple of question about deck supports. Anyone have any experience with using aluminum tube to fabricate deck support stanchions like the fiberglass ones Capt Pat makes (http://www.bertram31.com/newbb/viewtopic.php?t=4504" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)? I have a friend who owns a welding shop and can fab these for me for less than the time and material in fiber.
Also would there be a down side to using aluminum U or L channel over said stanchions? Again trying to avoid having to glass anymore than I need to.

Updated photos just in case you want to relive the horror!

http://s818.photobucket.com/user/MissCh ... ard%202013" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Capt Dan, Im getting flashbacks....A man with a mission...What year? Older 31s have gelcoat issues, usually gator skin...Get her good n dry before you start fixing those blisters..that through hull near the strut should go seems to be in a poor location that could give you aeration problems. The glass around one strut looks like it had been repaired, check out the inside and the backer pad, I found lots of white glass, which means damage..Green=good glass..I had to re do the poor repair on my 31 folowed Capt Pats directions to a T..you can get lots of fiberglass I beams right off the shelf you can use to make a deck support. The more fglassing you do the better you will get, ask me how I know...lol..good luck keep plugging along, its all worth it..BH