1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Mud Dauber Screens

Over the course of this refit (thus far), I’ve probably removed a 5-gallon bucketful of mud dauber wasp nests from the boat. The worst was back when we first started the refit, since the boat had been stored on land and ignored since the mid-1980s. But even in the tent, wildlife would find a way inside and I’d occasionally find more mud nests. I realize they’re beneficial insects, but I really want to exclude them from the boat. Their main point of entry now is the main engine air intake gills on the sides of the hull. So I needed a solution that would exclude the wasps but not be too restrictive on airflow.

A mud dauber nest we found when dejunking the boat in December 2007

Engine air intake gills

304 stainless 8 x 8 mesh screen with .017″ diameter wire supplied by darbywiremesh.com

This screen has eight wires per inch, so the gaps are just under 1/8″, which is small enough that mud daubers can’t get through. And the wire is fine enough that it shouldn’t substantially reduce airflow.

The starboard intake gills from inside the salon

Measure twice, cut once

I initially tried using tin snips to cut the mesh, but they weren’t sharp enough. So I pulled out my trusty Wiss #1225 shears that had proven themselves over and over again, even on the kevlar we used for the bullet-proof cabin top. They cut through the stainless wire like butter, and it was a much cleaner cut than when Darby Wire Mesh cut the piece from a roll.

Cut to size and ready to install

I had some leftover Bostik 70-08A from The Season of Do-Overs…Aft Deck Glass 2.0

The stuff is super tenacious, and I think it’ll do fine holding this screen in place next to the gills.

Press the screen up against the gills and hold in place while the caulk cures

This Bostik product has a “1-hour drive-away” time for vehicle windshields. After 45 minutes it had set up enough to remove the sticks.

While the Bostik was setting up, I got busy on the next screen

This is working out well

Nice! Time to button up the starboard engine air intake

Starboard side is done

I repeated the process on the port side. The engine air intakes are now mud dauber-proof.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Salon Cabinet Install

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the Forward Fuel Tank Supply Line

One of the valves I installed on the fuel supply distribution manifold will allow me to transfer fuel from the aft tanks to the 120 gallon forward fuel tank that I installed waaaay back in 2016. With both the start and end points installed, next I took my awesome Swagelok tubing bender out of retirement and found the rolls of 1/2″ and 3/8″ stainless tubing I bought back in 2012.  Then I got busy connecting the supply manifold valve to the forward tank with a fairly long run of that stainless tubing.

Straighten out some 3/8″ 304 stainless steel tubing from the coil

It’s very challenging getting this tubing to straighten out. I use the floor of the salon and step on the tubing while unrolling it from the coil. Then I slightly over-bend it against the remaining curve by hand. It never ends up being straight. But when I install it with clamps every 12-16 inches it ends up being pretty close to straight.

I wonder how the pros do it?

The forward fuel tank is the cube-shaped one up against the forward bulkhead under the galley

The round tank is for potable water.

I put a couple of bends in the tubing to match the steps I made

Rubber isolated P-clamps and a block of expanded PVC will hold the tubing in place and stand it off of the aluminum step frame

Drill, tap, then apply Tefgel to each hole

The Tefgel will stop corrosion from happening between the aluminum and stainless screws that hold each clamp in place.

Drill, tap, and Tefgel the remaining holes in the step frame and engine stringers

Apply Tefgel to the stainless screws, and install each clamp

I put a nice little bend below the steps, then ran the tubing straight back to the supply manifold valve

The supply line is just below the level of the ER floorboards so they’re readily visible and accessible if necessary, but there’s no way to step on them. It’s also extremely unlikely that something heavy enough to damage the tubing could fall and somehow miss the stringer on one side or the aluminum angle floorboard support on the other.

Clamps every 12″ all the way back to the manifold

That’s a wrap for the forward tank supply tubing. I still have to bend and install the supply and return lines from the forward tank to the Fischer Panda genset, but that comes later. First, I want to connect fuel system tubing to the main engines.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Bending & Installing Main Engine Fuel Return Tubing