Autopilot usage??

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 2:55 pm

Thanks to all of you who took the time to respond! I am putting an autohelm on my wish list, but being about to undertake a major redo of "Phoenix's" interior I won't have the cash to spend this year. I also think a radar would be nice to have, but that also falls into the "would be nice to have but not right now" category. I really appreciate all your comments! Frank B - IRGuy@aol.com "Phoenix" 1983 FBC Wilmington, NC

Gunny · Post by **Gunny** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 4:15 pm

Frank, I have both auto and radar The auto is useless along the Maine coast due to all the lobster pot buoys but the radar is worth it's weight in gold! Buy the radar first! I would buy it before a GPS or plotter. That said I wish our 31B in Hawaii had auto but I have fished for years without it. Gunny

buzzk · Post by **buzzk** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 4:35 pm

Frank in NC the autopilot is more important to me than radar. Thankfully I rarely need radar and I just use it to practice with it. I do use the pilot for fishing and cruising but crab pots can be a problem in some areas during certain times of the year. Buzz buzzk 1988 Bertram 33 FBC Buzz Off Morehead City

franklyprice · Post by **franklyprice** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 4:38 am

Frank, I wouldn't leave home without radar or a GPS, the rest is fluff. Though some would argue that my current GPS is like having nothing at all. You can get stuck in the fog with a sailboat and feel your way home. It's a little harder with a boat with twin diesels , shutting them off to listen for waves crashing on the surf..Or the other reason I love radar, to "see" if some ferry is bearing down on me while I'm trying to dodge pots in the fog. With radar, you can plan a fishing trip and still go if it happens to be foggy that day. Of course you're plenty experienced to know all that , maybe more hard core than the rest of us?

Post by **dougl33** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 6:14 am

I think the bottom line of this thread is that Frank Bryson has plenty of other things to spend his money on before he needs to worry about buying an auto-pilt (or radar for that matter). If my memory serves he's already got a Garmin 3200 series plotter. Since it is a "wish list", if it were me I'd put radar on the list first and then the AP. Frank B, Any updates on the sliding door or interior yet? Regards, Doug L. 1986 33 Bertram FBC Queen Elizabeth Marblehead, MA [img]http://www.bertram33.com/photogallery/p ... sabeth.jpg[/img]

BillChaser · Post by **BillChaser** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 6:57 am

I concur auto pilots are nice conveinences. I will not leave in the dark or fog without radar.

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 2:03 pm

Doug.. Your memory is correct.. I have a Garmin 3210 Chart Plotter. Also a Furuno Depth Sounder and a couple of radios, all one year old. As far as the door and other work is concerned.. I have bought about 40 board feet of teak planks (rough 6" wide by 5/4 inch thick) and pretty much all the teak veneered plywood and actual teak veneer I expect to need for the door, cabin interior, and some odds and ends (possibly window frames, etc). For the past two weeks I have been pretty much occupied with sorting out my tools which were all over my shop and garage (I can now tell you how many pounds of pliers, screw drivers, crescent wrenches and electrical tools I have!), and I have thrown out a ton of junk. For the first time in the past 35 years I actually know where most everything is. I have also sorted out all my stainless screws, bolts, nuts and washers. This might not sound like a big deal.. but I probably have 15 pounds of that stuff. I also built a moveable rack to hold all my plywood and lumber, and another moveable rack to hold all my clamps. Then.. I finally finished my router table and mounted my largest router on that. I am pretty much ready to start ripping the boat apart. In my spare time I have finally filled out all the paperwork for my captain's license (this took a lot longer than I expected), and gotten my TWIC card. (See the discussion on that issue in another string). Top priority in the boat project is to find the source of two fresh water leaks and stop them. I know where they are.. the doofus previous owner ran wires through the cabin overhead (hidden inside the wings of the flybridge) but he never sealed them. I will have to cut two holes in the interior sides of the wings to gain access.. then I will put some round deck plates over the holes to let me have access there in the future. Then I will do the door and door frame, and seal the leak in the cabin aft bulkhead behind the lower track. Along with that comes the removal of the rot in that bulkhead, and replacement with either plywood or maybe foamcored fiberglass panels. Then I will start building the cabinets. I won't build any installed furniture at first.. I think I will just get some lightweight wicker stuff, and paint it if necessary. I also am ready to replace the 2 8D and one car battery presently installed with 6 Group 34 Optima batteries. I guess that is about it! I will be taking lots of pics, and posting them here somehow.. particularly of the aft bulkhead/door frame work.. our Fearless Leader asked me a long time ago if I would document that work. Frank B - IRGuy@aol.com "Phoenix" 1983 FBC Wilmington, NC

lobsta1 · Post by **lobsta1** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 4:36 pm

Frank, if you want to keep the aft bulkhead outside formica skin intact, you can use a Rotozip or a palm router to cut out the inside. Now that you have your racks all built, for future reference, http://www.hartvilletool.com has very good casters at a reasonable price. If you say you are from woodnet.net forums then you get 15% off non-sale items. Al

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 6:25 pm

Al... Thanks for your suggestion about the bulkhead.. I don't have a Rotozip, but I do have a small Bosch 1/4" router with an upcutting bit, which hopefully will work pretty much like a Rotozip. I have the casters I need for the two things I mentioned, but I will need more and will check out the site you suggested! BTW.. Do you remember how thick that bulkhead is? I have always forgotten to measure it! Old age I guess! Frank B - IRGuy@aol.com "Phoenix" 1983 FBC Wilmington, NC

lobsta1 · Post by **lobsta1** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 9:38 pm

Frank, I don't remember the exact thickness. (I do think it went from the inside to the outside! Sorry, couldn't resist.) Al

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 4:56 am

Thanks again to all who responded! I will keep both an AP and radar on my wish list, and start using the boat. In time I expect it will become obvious to me which is most important, based on my experiences locally. I guess I hijacked my own thread above.. when I begin posting stuff about the redo I will ask Dave Sumich how he wants me to document things.. Frank B - IRGuy@aol.com "Phoenix" 1983 FBC Wilmington, NC

Post by **dougl33** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 5:18 am

I believe the bulkhead is 3/4" of an inch thick. You could always do what I did, which is to remove the entire rotted section (formica and all) and cover it with a new trim piece. I guess it all depends how far up the rot extends. I wound up removing the bottom 6 inches on both sides. I am very pleased with the job my brother did. I think it looks completely original. Of course, Frank Price's spray job on the exterior helps too. Regards, Doug L. 1986 33 Bertram FBC Queen Elizabeth Marblehead, MA [img]http://www.bertram33.com/photogallery/p ... sabeth.jpg[/img]

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 6:08 am

Doug... I recall that you worked from the outside surface of your bulkhead, keeping the inside surface intact. Since I am going to be resurfacing most of the interior in the rebuild I plan on working from the inside, and keeping the exterior surface intact. I suspect the rot I have on the port side extends from the bottom all the way up to the window. It appears to be a little less on the stbd side, but I really won't know how big a deal it will be on either side until I start cutting. Frank B - IRGuy@aol.com "Phoenix" 1983 FBC Wilmington, NC

Post by **dougl33** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 3:25 pm

Frank, In fact I worked from the inside out. The outside formica was fine. It was the plywood and inside teak veneer that was completely rotten. We had tried to cut from the inside out without damaging the outside formica, but it was too difficult. We wound up cutting the entire bottom 6 inches out of both sides. We used 3/4" marine plywood for the bulkhead repair and covered the outside with a fiberglass trim that came up about 8 inces or so. On the inside, we used teak to create another trim piece that looks sort of like a base board. You need to address the problem on the outside because that is where it all starts. The bulkhead sits in a track and the outside trim lets the water in between the trim and the bulkhead. The water just sits in the track and wicks up into the bulkhead. Overall it was a pretty dumb thing for Bertram to do. Regards, Doug L. 1986 33 Bertram FBC Queen Elizabeth Marblehead, MA [img]http://www.bertram33.com/photogallery/p ... sabeth.jpg[/img]

lobsta1 · Post by **lobsta1** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 3:44 pm

Frank, PHOENIX probably does have the track Doug is talking about. BUT, it may not, as the NITES OFF does not. I did mine from the inside. Cut a piece of ply to match what I cut out. Saturated the heck out of with epoxy. Let that set up & then cleaned with soap water. Then recoated it & also made a peanut butter mixture of epoxy & colloidal powder.Buttered the splice area & let that tack up. Then recoated everything again & laid on a layer of glass. Let that set up & then another layer of glass & started fairing it all. The ply at the bottom is only several inches tall, but the inside glass & fairing go up almost 2 feet. Al