1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Starboard Salon Bilge Vent Duct

I keep hearing from the mobile paint and fiberglass repair guy that the estimate for repairs for the big Nor’easter damage is almost done. But…alas…I’ve still not received it. So I continue working on weatherproofing the bilge and engine room vents on the starboard side of the salon.

Chris Craft’s approach to bilge vents

What we have here is two 3/4″ solid mahogany boards on either side, with 1/8″ fiberboard for the face and back. I don’t know where this one came from, but I removed it a decade ago  because it was failing when we began this project. For some reason, Chris Craft put a piece of 3/4″ plywood over the top of part of the fiberboard on this particular bilge vent. It’s all sealed up with what looks like grey primer and held together with rubbery sealant and some bronze staples. I’m sure it worked fine for ten years or so, but it’s got its problems.

Fiberboard really stuck in some spots

When I pulled the fiberboard off the mahogany, you can tell the rubbery sealant really stuck on the spots where it left some fiberboard behind. But you can also see where the rubbery sealant didn’t stick to the mahogany at all.

Bronze staples are still holding fast 50 years later

The side of the fiberboard that faced the weather

Again, you can see where the sealant really stuck, and where it didn’t stick at all.

Now let’s look at that starboard salon forward bilge vent

I left the forward vent duct in place because it looked like it was in serviceable shape. Turns out it wasn’t in quite as good shape as I first thought.

Moldy white paint on the outside

But up at the top, just behind the longitudinal deck frame, you can see daylight through the pressboard

I’m glad I took off the face panel

Lots of gaps at the top

So, in addition to the hole in the salon-facing pressboard face panel, you can see that the back panel isn’t even touching the mahogany side board. The gray primer/sealant is also gone from the mahogany in spots. And at the toe rail, the rubber sealant is only there for appearance’s sake, apparently. There’s no actual contact between the rubber sealant and the pressboard.

I considered removing the duct and rebuilding it, but the mahogany sides are very firmly attached to the underside of the deck. So I decided to fiberglass what’s there instead.

First, rough up the surface and remove anything that isn’t well adhered

I also confirmed that I can use sticks up against the hull to press the back panel into full contact with the mahogany sides.

Ready for epoxy and fiberglass

Wetted out glass cloth and epoxy thickened with cabosil

I spread a bunch of epoxy out on a piece of scrap shrink wrap plastic, then laid on a sheet of lightweight fiberglass cloth to soak it up. While the ‘glass was still soaking, I wetted out the duct with epoxy

Epoxy thickened with fumed silica to the consistency of whipped cream

Thickened epoxy fills every gap and corner

Longtime readers will know what came next, after I jammed sticks in to force the back panel into contact with the side panels.

Fillets!

I do love my fillets. They look nice and also give a radius to the corners, which makes it easier for the fiberglass cloth to have full contact, and water won’t find any nooks or crannies to hang out in and cause havoc.

Next, I laid on the fiberglass cloth

Next day, the epoxy is cured

The duct needs a face panel

I’m using 1/4″ Douglas fir marine plywood for all of the duct face panels I’m making. I cover them with a layer of fiberglass on the weather-facing side to ensure they’re watertight.

I need to install an insulated panel to the left of the duct, too

Framing out the backing cleats

Next day, the epoxy on the panels is cured

Excess fiberglass trimmed off nicely

Duct panel marked off for screw holes

Countersunk screw holes every 6″

The insulated panel needed a bit of trimming to fit

 

Just about ready for installation

Dry fit is done

These panels are behind the electric panel, so I’m not terribly concerned about appearance.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the Starboard Salon Bilge Vent Duct

1969 Chris Craft Roamer Refit: Sealing Up the V-berth Floor

I actually sealed up the V-berth floor last year, before we got to work on the Throne Room. I knew there was going to be a ton of dust and wanted to keep it out of the bilge spaces as much as possible, while still allowing for some airflow after the refit is finished. To do that, I added 1/4″ marine plywood panels between each frame that extend from the floor to just before the hull. Chris Craft used this approach in the salon to keep engine room sounds and smells from coming up into the living space, and I think it will be a good thing to do in other living spaces, too. It’s not exciting work, but I wanted to document it anyway.

Floor to hull gaps

Those big, open spaces let a lot of dust enter the bilge, not just during the refit but as the boat is used, too. Cleaning the bilge is one of the jobs I really dislike, and closing those gaps will reduce maintenance in the long run.

Gap-filling panels in the galley

This is a perfect place to use some very old 1/4″ marine scraps that have been taking up space for years.

More gaps on the V-berth steps

Panels cut and dry fitted

Gaps filled at the Vee

Last of the panels are cut and dry fitted

After dry fitting, I mixed up some epoxy and coated the back and sides of each panel to make sure those surfaces would remain impervious to water. Then I mixed in some wood flour and glued and screwed each panel in place.

The last step: glue and screw

Done!

These little panels did a great job keeping sanding dust out of the bilge when we were prepping and painting the Throne Room. I have the new V-berth bulkhead veneer panel ready to paint with ICA clear coat, and I’d really like to get that berth ready to use since sleeping overnight on the boat would save me lots of travel time that I could put into getting the refit done. But unfortunately, my painter is swamped with work at his day job and hasn’t had time to get to it. That’s alright, though…there’s plenty of other stuff to get done.

Next up on our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer Refit: Aft Head Mahogany Wall Panels