Update on "Phoenix"

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 3:07 am

Two weeks ago we started the rebuild work on Phoenix.. I say "we" because I have found a local guy in Charleston who knows boats inside and out, is a delivery skipper, and wants some part time work. I try to get there each weekend, so we work together when I am there and he works on the boat during evenings whenever he can. So far we have removed a lot of stuff.. The yard where she is hauled does not allow DIY work, but has allowed us to remove stuff and clean things.. and there is plenty of that to do. After the yard does some below the waterline work (remount the oversized trim tabs on teak backing boards, install a new transducer for the fishfinder depth sounder I will buy, plug a hole where a second transducer was located but is now gone, fix a leak around one of the engine raw water thru-hulls, and paints and rezinc's the bottom) we will move the boat to a marina where we can do whatever work we want. The yard has a work order for the above, and once they got that I stopped paying daily storage, so I am not unhappy with the situation at this moment. So far we have removed almost two 6 gallon pails of coiled up misc wiring.. all stuff that was hanging loose in the boat.. old 12 volt wiring for the original generator which was started by the engine batteries but the new gen has it's own battery, lots of other wiring just cut off and left hanging, and wiring for the water system, which does not have either a water pump or tank. We are removing every defunct wire we can find. My position is that if it is not being used as she is now, I would rather remove it and replace it in the future when I install something new. The two pails do not include all the 12 volt heavy wire we have removed.. this ain't cheap and I will try to reuse some of it, as several pieces are in excess of 10' long. We have removed all the 120 volt wiring the last owner installed.. this had NO GROUND WIRE! This was the primary reason the surveyor deemed the boat "uninsurable". I have been able to get Builder's Risk insurance coverage, and with an acceptable survey addendum I can keep this coverage but put the boat in the water. This will not allow me to "navigate", but will allow for "sea trials" of up to 5 miles from the marina where she is berthed. Once all the work is done I can transition to normal insurance. I know this will please some of you and upset others.. but after much agonizing for quite a while I decided not to repair/rebuild the old LectraSan "sewage treatment system", and instead remove it, as well as the old electric head, and install a manual head and holding tank system. A while ago the merits of LectraSan heads were discussed here, and some of you almost had verbal fistfights over this subject, but I decided to go the manual hold and dump/pumpout route. Perhaps this harks back to my sailing days when we always seemed to have a shortage of 12 volt power, but I do believe in the KISS concept, so no more button pushing to flush. Additionally, I will install a new fresh water tank and pump.. and hopefully find that the water heater works. I am designing both tank systems now, there seems to be plenty of room for both. Additionally, we borrowed a small electric pressure washer, pulled the drain plug in the bottom, scraped the major gunk from the bilge, sprayed the bilge with industrial cleaner, and pressure washed the engine room. Next we will do the same under the cockpit. While not making these areas brighter (I wish they were painted!), they are much cleaner and nicer to work in. The survey took exemption to the fact that the rudder bearings on both sides were rusted on their top surfaces, so after much grinding with a side cutter we removed them. New ones were readily available so we have bought them, and will install them soon. In the process of removing them we did some damage to the port rudder post, so that will be repaired in the next week or so. This might violate the no DIY agreement I have with the yard, but I feel we only started out to remove them and slip new ones in their place, so this should not be a big deal for the yard. I discovered that the house power comes from the engine starting batteries. Since the generator installed in 2003 has it's own starting battery (now a regular automobile battery) I plan on replacing this with a larger battery and using the gen battery for housepower, with an emergency wiring setup which would allow me to parallel all three batteries to either start the generator or engines from all tha betteries. Comments on this anyone? We also have removed the ugly cabinetry the last owner built and installed.. this completely filled the space behind the windshield from side to side. Removing it made the interior much lighter. I still am trying to track down the source of a leak from the flybridge, and when the time is right I will remove the cheap self adhering wood flooring she has. Will probably replace this with some carpet until I can decide on a wood replacement. A couple of questions for you all.. For those with holding tanks, how large should one be? I know thjis depends on how I will use the boat, but in general how large is considered adequate? The same with water tanks? I believe 70 gal was the original size. And, on a FBC, exactly where was it located? Right now there is a huge space under the forwardmost cabin sole hatch where the original tank seems to have been, but I am not sure how much of this space it took. So.. we are on our way. Wish is luck! Frank B - IRGuy@aol.com New owner.. 1983 FBC! Finally!!

BECCA ROSE · Post by **BECCA ROSE** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 3:45 am

70 gallon water tank, right were you said you think it went, under the forward part of the cabin. Not right under the hatch, but just aft. You need room to get down there! Bill Dunlop 33 FBC "Rebecca Rose" Ipswich, Ma. [img]http://www.bertram33.com/photogallery/p ... a_Rose.jpg[/img]

BECCA ROSE · Post by **BECCA ROSE** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 3:47 am

Sorry to hear the electra san is going, I love mine, nothing beats getting on a boat and not smelling the contents of the holding tank! Bill Dunlop 33 FBC "Rebecca Rose" Ipswich, Ma. [img]http://www.bertram33.com/photogallery/p ... a_Rose.jpg[/img]

Capt. Ed · Post by **Capt. Ed** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 5:16 am

quote:Sorry to hear the electra san is going, I love mine, nothing beats getting on a boat and not smelling the contents of the holding tank! I second that! I love mine and never had a problem, I had one on my 36'Delta too, again without a problem. 1979 Bertram 33' FBC ALEXANDRA Port Richey, Florida HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR BERTRAM PRIDE '06 yet? DO IT NOW... SPACE IS LIMITED!

photo finish · Post by **photo finish** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 5:58 am

I am not even going to start the lectra san debate but my boat smells minty fresh

buzzk · Post by **buzzk** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 10:21 am

Frank I was in Charleston over the weekend. Riding past the marina that your boat was at made me wonder how the restoration was going. Have you moved it back or is she still on land? Buzz 1988 Bertram 33FBC "Buzz Off" Morehead City, N.C.

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 10:33 am

Buzz... I was in Charleston working on the boat almost all weekend. I rented a slip in the Daniel Island Marina (which you can see from one of the I-526 bridges) but she is still on the hard in the old Halsey and Cannon boatyard about 5 miles away on the island. I was thinking about emailing you to see if you are around some day this week when I might be able to get up to see you and "Buzz Off".. will do so as soon as I send this. Frank B - IRGuy@aol.com New owner.. 1983 FBC! Finally!!

photo finish · Post by **photo finish** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 4:49 am

Frank b, If you want to unload your lectra san let me know, i have someone wanting one.

jav · Post by **jav** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 5:19 am

Tim- by all means see if Frank can help you first but if he can't, I beleive I still have my complete unit in the basement.

photo finish · Post by **photo finish** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 5:41 am

Great, John or Frank , Send me an email with your contact info and i will hook you up with my friend who wants to install it in his luhrs. tstamm@bertram33.com

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:47 am

Tim... Sorry, but after the previous owner told me the LectraSan crapped out (excuse the pun) about two years ago I removed it and threw it in the dumpster. I figured if it did not work I wasn't going to spend any time or money to try to fix it. Frank B - IRGuy@aol.com "Phoenix" 1983 FBC!

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 9:54 am

More info on the Phoenix project... We have removed a second 5 gallon pail of coiled up wiring.. everything that was loose at one end or another is finally gone. I can't believe how much there was.. 120 volt and 12 volt stuff was hanging everywhere. We removed almost all the 120 volt wiring because the previous owner redid it several years ago but never ran any ground wires.. which was the major cause of the surveyor deeming the boat to be uninsurable. I figured that I can reinstall the removed parts of 120 volt system later after I rebuild the salon cabinetry, which is a project I plan on doing in several months after I get the boat home to my slip a couple of minutes away from my house and woodworking shop. We have completely reinstalled and rewired the bilge pumps, with a master bilge pump panel located in the salon, and with a second high water alarm. The original alarm is still on the flybridge, where I will install a 4th 2,000 gph bilge pump switch for the new pump I will install in the aft bilge section. We are rewiring the main 12 volt system which delivers power to the engine starters.. the old Bertram switch and fuse panel between the engines was trash.. the large Guest on/off switches were in good shape and salvageable, but the old style cartridge fuse assemblies were literally falling apart, so I used this as an excuse to rewire the large 12 volt stuff. Additionally, I am replacing the genny starter battery (now an auto battery) with an 8D, which will become the house battery, with an emergency manual interconnect so it can be paralleled with the engine starting batteries if necessary. The original house power was taken from the two engine starting batteries, (port side from the port engine battery, stbd side from the stbd engine battery, not a good thing in my opinion).. by doing the above and feeding the main electric panel with the two original 4 gauge wires an independant house power supply is better assured. All the above necessitated a new Guest switch panel, which I am assembling now. This will include the two original on/off switches, the new emergency on/off genny battery paralleling switch, and some buss strips for house and bilge pump power. The two 120 volt shore power receptacles in the cockpit showed signs of overheating (one had a burned lug visible), plus one of the 30 amp double pole breakers had been replaced with two 40 amp single pole breakers.. believe it or not, they were not linked with a bar through the handles, and they were actually glued together along their adjacent sides so they looked like a double pole breaker! I bought two of the receptacle housings, two new 30 A DP breakers, and two clear soft breaker handle covers from High Tide in FL. (I found that the breakers were in larger cases than the current ones available from the local marine wholesalers, and I could not get them locally.) Everything on the flybridge (running/anchor lights, all instruments, spotlight, CD stereo player, horn, bilge pumps, etc, etc) was powered through a 30A breaker in the main electric panel labeled "Electronics".. we are installing a seperate switch/fuse panel in the flybridge fed from this breaker, but with everything fused and switched from the bridge. Will also install a couple of local buss strips in the flybridge console for possible future connections. We have removed and replaced both rudder bearings.. had to cut the originals off the rudder posts, damaging one, so we also had the shaft replaced (the rudders are not stock.. they are actually quite a bit oversized, and made of a simple 1 1/2" shaft with a flat plate set in a notch cut through it.) The yard has begun the work I contracted with them.. installing a new transducer for a fishfinder/mechanical speedo/thermometer, repairing the hole where a second transducer used to be but I removed, remounting the trim tabs which are fastened to the transom (also oversized, so they don't fit in the original trim tab recesses), cleaning and repainting the bottom, polishing the fuel, and rebedding the stbd raw water intake seacock that leaked around the hull internal fairing piece. I know this is a source of discussion elsewhere here, but I did remove the old non-working LectraSan system and electric head, and will replace it with a holding tank and new head. Finally.. we replaced the sections of the three steering system hoses that ran below the cabin sole and cockpit.. there were two chafe points and the hose sheathing was looking suspect, so I bought new ones. I have tried two paint removers (one methylene chloride based) to see what they did to the exterior paint the last owner applied.. neither did much to soften the paint.. I still want to test the peel and strip concept. I just keep writing checks.. (BOAT!) Frank B - IRGuy@aol.com "Phoenix" 1983 FBC!

Post by **dougl33** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 10:40 am

Seems like your moving right along Frank. Keep up the good work and keep up the updates. Regards, Doug L. 1986 33 Bertram FBC Queen Elizabeth Marblehead, MA [img]http://www.bertram33.com/photogallery/p ... sabeth.jpg[/img]

JohnD · Post by **JohnD** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 2:16 am

Glad to hear your progress, it always helped me to see the progress. I think it takes the pain out of writing the checks. I re-worked most of my wiring a few years ago and am working on other projects as time and money allow. Here's a link to a web-page showing some of the wiring work. http://mysite.verizon.net/dunker/ladyd/ I wound up with a box of junk wire about 3x4x2deep (that's feet). With wiring you can't really see the results, but it's certainly work the time and money. btw, if your taking some pictures along the way I'd love to see some. JohnD

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 5:53 am

Thanks Doug and John... Yes.. it is good to see some positive things beginning to take shape.. removing wiring and other things just creates mess and disorganization.. from here on I think we will be adding rather than subtracting. And.. the positive things do sort of take the curse off writing checks! The yard has started on the work I agreed to have them do.. remove and rebed one engine raw water thru hull, patch one old transducer hole, replace the trim tab mounting (backup) boards, and clean and paint the bottom. I am today finishing the bilge pump panel which will be installed in the salon, and am working on the large Guest switch panel which will go between the engines. So far there hasn't been much to take pics of.. I will try to take some this weekend when I am there.. just to show what we are up to. More later.. Frank B - IRGuy@aol.com "Phoenix" 1983 FBC!