Work begins on the Cabin interior

My son Jon came home for a week between semesters and we began the cabin interior construction.  Following pictures of the original cabin we reconstructed the starboard and port births in the aft of the main cabin.

Above is the starboard bench framed in using 1/2" birch plywood and cedar support stringers.

Each bench contains the fresh water tanks. The tanks are custom built using stainless steel.

Son Jon looking proud of his accomplishments.

Each piece  first was made with cardboard.  The cardboard was then used as a template. Working with the curvature of the hull and not any square corners for a point of reference, this is the only way to be absolutely certain the wood panels would fit properly.

Zak Jatkowski helped me finish up the benches the following weekend.

The next work day is Saturday March 19th at 0900-1600

Tamarack work day update 1/29/2011

Mr. Ratinaud and crew of Cadets managed to have the engine running for 30 Minutes. (see video below)

After 30 minutes the engine slowly came to a stop.  It was discovered during our trial run the heads cracked.  Mr. Ratinaud will evaluate the engine and start to remove the heads during the next work day.

The cabin floor stringers are being put in place using white oak.  We original were using red oak and maple from some old pallets.  It was decided that we should spend the $80.00 on White Oak. White oak tolerates wet area's better and will take longer to rot.

OUR NEXT WORK DAY IS FEBRUARY 12 FROM 9:00 - 3:00

Tamarack Work Update - Jan 15 2011

It was a great day with many accomplishments and surprises. Our first surprise was Brian and Lauren Greaves. Their father commissioned the "Tamarack" in 1968. They spent the winter of 1969 building the interior in their front yard.

We started off the day with a short meeting outlining our work agenda for the day.  The Greaves are showed above to the right.

 

Mr. Ratinaud instructing Cadets Ratinaud and Colegrove on the engine.

 












 

Chief Petty Officer Mantay, Cadet Shield and Nathan Dembeck discuss the floor layout in the cabin


 
 
 


Cadets Ratinaud and Colegrove examine the fuel pump.

  


Cadet Shield and Zak Jatkwoski cut wood for the floor boards



Instructor Allen discusses the layout of the floor boards.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Maiden voyage 1969 -Courtesy of the Greaves

 
Later during the afternoon we were surprised again when George Perrin and Friend Gary Norton stopped by to share their stories of rebuilding the "Tamarack" in 1993. With Georges help we where able to get the engine started.

Before and after pictures when George Perrin restored the "Tamarack

 





One small step for sailing, One giant leap for the Great Lakes. (The hole has been pluged!)

Just one year ago the Tamarack was almost sold for scrap. I can report today that Mike Litwatis has finished welding the new steel plates in the hull and installed the aft mast supports. The Tamarack has been saved from the scarp yard an is one step closer to setting sail.

(Picture: The aft mast support lowered in place with hi-lo while Mike guides it.)

Now the real works begin. After we finish priming the new steel and the remainder of the hull and cabin, the cabin floor has to be reconstructed using the original floor boards. We will examine the floor boards and add new wood as needed.

While one crew works on the interior, the small project team will continue with refinishing the bowsprit, helm pedestal and wheel.

 (Right: Midshipman Sawruk is reconstructing the navigation cradle. It will be finished with oak)

(Above: Mike and Sawruk putting the finishing touches on the mast support beam)

Tamarack Project weekly update 11/19/10

The hull is alomst completed. Mike the welder has welded in 2 steel plates on either side of the keel approx. 8' long x 36" wide. As seen below.

Primer is almost complete on the hull of the boat.  Midshipman Sawruk and Cadets Zimmer and Nelson (shown in picture) are part of the team priming the boat along with Cadets Sheilds and Bradley.

Headed up by Midshipman Sawruk, the "Structure Task Force" will start priming the cabin exterior and deck. Once the priming is complete, they will begin the challenging job of constructing a new cabin top.  The top will be built with 3/4" marine plywood. it will be approx. 15' long and 7' wide and will need to be convex to allow water to run off of it.

The engine team headed up by Mr. Ratinaud and cadet Ratinaud have rebuilt the started for the 2 cylinder Volvo diesel engine. The engine has been inspected and looks clean. The team will attempt to start the engine once they install the starter motor.

The Finish Trim Team includes Mr. Bardley and Navy League Cadet Bradley.  Their many focus at this stage will be to re-build the Captains Steering Pedistal and refinish the bowsprit and area around the bowsprit.

The interior team is still being assembled.  The first task they will have is to reconstruct the floor using the floor that was removed and adding to it as needed.

The immediate goal is to have the "Tamarack" water ready by June 2011.  This includes paint on the hull and deck, A cabin top, Working Engine, Cabin floor and all the equipment for navigation and safety as we see fit.

LAUNCH DATE JUNE 2011:

Work on the Hull begins

The entire rebuilding project of the "Tamarack" is based on the hull and how deterated the steel is and if we have the knowledge and equipment to repair it. It would be a shame if we did a quick patch job on the hull and put the hours and dollars into the boat to find out later probably in not favorable conditions that the hull is not holding up to the strain and stress of a sail boat. Both masts are connected to the hull so when your under sail all the force is being pushed onto the hull.

Glen Rowe (father of Cadet Rowe) hired Testing Engineers & Consultants (TEC) to conduct in-depth testing on the thickness of the hull.



The picture above shows Marvin from TEC performing his steel integrity test and writing the different thickness on the hull.

In the picture below is circled in red the area's which needs new steel. On either side of the keel going up the hull about 3 feet and probably about 6 feet long.

Tony Morris from TEC is willing to weld in the new steel if we can have the bad steel cut out and bring in new steel cut to size. Another thought Tony had is to just run new steel over the old and bondo the edges so it is flush with the rest of the hull.  I e-mailed Thomas Colvin (the designer of the Tamarack) to get his input on what the correct fix should be.

Below is his response:
        
          "Adrian,

The original thickness of the plating was supposed to be 10 ga. steel which is .1345" thick. However mill tolerance range is .1425" to .1265". In practice it is seldom to these extremes. As a builder when I ordered steel I required that the steel be of the nominal thickness or + and would never accept a -. There can be a slight variation from mill to mill and also in a particular run of plate from the same mill. Since wwll the variation from .1345" by different large mills has been negligible. About 10 years ago I did get a shipment of 5 tons of under thickness and rejected it. I never did get my money back as in the fine print it stated that all orders are shipped by weight.


Your questions.


In my yard a plate that had worn either by erosion or rusting that had lost more than 6% of it's thickness would be replaced especially if it were along the keel. If it were a small spot or pit surrounded by sound metal we would add sufficient weld metal and grind it smooth.


Running a strip of metal over the old metal is at best only a temporary repair as it will be destroyed by the plate you are covering up. That is like placing good wood over rotten wood and thinking that it is as good as new.


Rebuilding is a tedious and time consuming task of removing the bad material and prepping the structure for the new material. The time required is several times more than the actual repair. As for bondo it has been used in marine applications some times with success but it was not developed for this purpose. The feather edges seem to present the greatest problems.


Regards,


Tom Colvin"

We started to remove the old steel with a metal cutting saw to prepare for new steel.

Clink on link below to view video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDhvHOEYBwQ

Thomas Colvin design saved from the scrap yard

The real work began in January 2009 when the Sea cadets suited up in their hasmat suites, respirators, and goggles. The enormous job of striping the layers of paint down to bare metal began.

After the entire boat above the water line has been sanded and ground down to bare metal, the sand blasting began on the hull. Through 2009, the progress was slow and sparse as the diving season began aboard the "Pride of Michigan"

An examination of the hull discovered that the metal along the bilge was badly rusted. Conducting a scientific steel strength test with a hammer confirmed it as the hammer went through the steel with ease.

The project went from a fairly simple repaint job to a possible rebuilding of the hull. The morale among the Cadets and Dads dwindled as this project started to become over whelming at the surface with welding new steel in the most crucial area of the boat. With no budget and lack of experience to make the Tamarack sea worthy, the only option was to sell the hull as is or sell the steel for scrap.

After an attempt to sell it on Craig's List without any reasonable offers, It was decided by a few of us visionaries who had great imagination to take on the project as time and money would permit. The Tamarack's classic Thomas Colvin design deserves to set sail once again.

Glen Rowe who has a daughter in the Great lakes division stepped forward with two employees from his business with diverse mechanical backgrounds and an experienced welder.

The first task was to pull the engine, exhaust, drive shaft and water tank to get a clear view of any bad hidden spots that need attention. Jesus and Marco started on 2/4/2010 disconnecting the engine. By the end of the day, they had removed the engine, exhaust and drive shaft. The metal was in bad shape with flaking and thinning as thought.

The next step is to sand blast the entire cabin to expose all of the bad steel. To eliminate the sand covering the entire shop we decided to build a floor to ceiling dust curtain. Using old pallets, steel rods and a roll of fabric we had, Jesus and Marco used their ingenuity and began construction.

With our tight budget I had them collect the used sand from the floor, run it through a screen to separate large Derbies from the good sand and re-use it. The clouds of dust through out the shop grew thicker and it became apparent that we were blasting not only sand, but fine paint, metal and any other dust mixed in with the sand. By the second day, I broke down and bought another 800 pounds of sand.

Jesus and Marco after a long dirty day of sandblasting