Beginning my 1987 Fisherman 20 Restoration

[Myfathersson]

Since my last post I've hit my milestones for this season. Had a stretch of rain (not from Sally) that kept me in the shop for a number of days. Took that time to finally wrap up rebuilding part of the basement bathroom and laundry room to install a large stainless steel prep sink. But also fired up the mill and machined the slots in the tank mounting brackets.




Then when the weather cleared back up I loaded the flux core 308 stainless wire into the welder and welded the gussets on the brackets. Clearly I'm not a seasoned welder, but they are solid and I was able to hammer the brackets back to flat. This was the best of the welds, I won't show the worst LOL.




Then spent a bit of time waiting on my tank to arrive. While waiting my new hoses arrived. Fill, vent, and the hose for the deck drains and the ice chest. I used defender.com and was pleased with their service. I had also ordered a spool of 18ga jacketed duplex wire to wire up the nav lights prior to reassembling to make it easier and that was missing from the box. Once alerted they shipped the replacement out fairly quick.




Then got to installing the thru hulls, stern eyes and a replacement drain fitting for the ice chest.








I could not find that drain fitting at any marine supplier. I ended up finding it through a restaurant equipment supplier, and cheaper by 1/3 than anything I was seeing at marine vendors. Just a little tip.

Then last weekend I jacked the hull up and slid the trailer back under. Oops - forgot to take any pics of the 4 bunk supports I replaced to get the bunks in perfect alignment for this hull. Sorry.




And just like that she was mobile again.




All that done and I was STILL waiting on the tank. So I had my neighbor give me a hand maneuvering the console back up the basement steps last Saturday night, and started sanding and planning out the console rehab on Sunday.




Monday about 10am I got a call from R&L Carriers scheduling my tank delivery for Tuesday! About 15 minutes after the end of the delivery window the driver called and said he was 5 minutes out. I was a happy camper.




I wasn't impressed with the hassle involved in actually getting the tank. The tracking number I was provided was invalid and the vendor just kept telling me that the manufacturer was looking into it. For two weeks. And all communication was initiated by me. I was ready to throw in the towel and sent an email the Friday before delivery giving them an ultimatum. Then R&L called on Monday. In the end it worked out, but I would be a bit hesitant to use them again.

With the tank in hand I was able to dry fit my platform and the tank and verify everything mated up nicely and would clear what it needed to.




First I peanut buttered and glassed in the PVC bilge passage and then the riser assembly.




Then peanut buttered the platform to the riser, and tabbed the platform to the stringers and bulkheads.






The short ends were done with angles that I prefabricated, due to the fact that I was low on 3/4" ply and didn't want to by another whole sheet just to complete this. The tank rests on plywood cored glass, these tabs only seal the compartment to keep any liquid that may end up in there from making it's way to the inaccessible void under the platform or, if the PVC passage were to fail, to the bilge.




Then since the last of the hull glasswork was DONE I cracked a beer and admired my work.




Well, cracked the beer too soon. Halfway through the beer I decided to toss a finishing layer of 17oz biax over the platform. No pic though as evidently summer left and the sun now sets really freaking early. By the time I got my hands clean and everything put away it was too dark for a pic without flash and my phone was too low to let me use the flash


Next up...the two halves get reunited!