Interior Tabbing Repairs Update 2

Two previous posts March 6^th – What A Grind  & March 13^th – Interior Tabbing Progress Report, precede this update.

Over the past week most of our efforts and progress continue to be in the head area. 

I created a ¾” plywood floor for the area under the sink / over the mast bucket and stringers.

Test fitting the 3/4" plywood floor.

The plywood is bonded to the mast bucket, the ¾” mast bucket brace and the 2x4 floor stringer with thickened epoxy.  To assist with the bond, ¼” wood screws attach the plywood to the mast bucket and the 2X4 floor stringer.  While the assembly was still wet, I added fiberglass tabbing between the underside of the plywood and all the surrounding vertical members.

Once the underside of the assembly had cured, Anne & I worked together to apply heavy 1708 cloth between the topside of the plywood and all the surrounding vertical surfaces.

Tabbing extended to all the surrounding vertical surfaces above and below.

The resulting structure will add significant strength to the area and additional support for the head pan.  Structurally our repairs to this area are complete.  Next up for the area under the head counter are new through hull fittings and supports for the holding tank.  Future progress in the head can be found in our Head Refit photo album.

Just outside of the head, under the cabin sole are ongoing repairs to support the beam below the head door.  The support beam runs bow to stern along the midline of the vessel.  This is another area on our M382 in which the Morgan recall team completed a faulty repair job.  The team failed to properly prep the hull and wood brace prior to applying the fiberglass.  The result was tabbing that sheared away from the support beam.

Tabbing added by the Morgan recall team sheared away from the head pan support beam below the head door.  Note the two wood screws (dots to left and right) added by previous owner. 

A previous owner attempted to remedy this issue and prevent the head pan from sinking by inserting screws through the breakaway tabbing and into the wooden cross brace.  Rather than attempt re-bond the existing fiberglass, I chose to cut away the tabbing and create a solid base to support the beam from below.   

The detached fiberglass removed to expose a 3" thick laminated plywood support beam.

I removed the old fiberglass with a cut off wheel on a 4” angle grinder and then ground down the entire area to bare fiberglass.  My solution to supporting the cross brace required filling in the valley between the vertical support and the hull.  To provide drainage the initial layer of fill included a ¾” PVC tube set in thickened epoxy.  Next multiple layers of FRP blocks were set in thickened epoxy.

Initial layer included a 3/4" PVC drain pipe set in thickened epoxy

1/2" green FRP Blocks set in thickened epoxy used to build up a solid base to support the cross brace.  I secured the forward end with a new layer of 1708 mat. 

Using ½” thick FRP blocks saved time by allowing me to fill the area without worrying about excessive heat buildup from curing thick applications of epoxy.

Solid base for supporting brace aft (left) and tabbing forward (right) complete

The top layer of FRP, green panel on left above,  was set atop a large piece to 1708 mat that extended from the midline of Pilgrim to far under the starboard sole.  The mat should serve to bond the entire assembly to the hull.  The top piece of FRP extends under the full width of the cross brace.  A 1/8” gap remains between my assembly and the head pan support beam above.

1/8" to 3/16" gap for shim(s)

My plan is to epoxy a 1/8” to 3/16” shim into this gap and then add tabbing between the cross brace and the hull.   Hopefully we can finish up work in this area over the next week.

Moving aft in Pilgrim’s cabin, the pilot berth’s new partial bulkheads received oak cleats.

Oak cleats added to top of new pilot berth bulkheads.

The cleats are set in thickened epoxy and through bolted to the ¾” plywood bulkheads.  The cleats will provide a substantial base to which the pilot berth deck can be attached.  

Additional images of pilot berth project can be found in our Pilot Berth Rebuild photo album.

On the opposite side of the cabin, the partial bulkheads under the forward galley counter top received tabbing.  The Morgan factory only tabbed the bulkheads to the hull in sections not along their full length.   We added 1708 mat to the sections lacking tabbing.

Upper section of partial bulkheads under galley countertop

Lower section of partial bulkheads under galley countertop / sinks

Now the bulkheads are tabbed to the hull along their full length.  Like the head area, the galley tabbing repairs are complete.  Once the new through hull fitting  for the sink drain is installed then we can move on to priming and painting the area.  Additional photos and future progress in the galley can be viewed in our Galley Refit Photo Album.