January 2023

 Jan 8.

Ceiling primed and installed with floor joists laid in place.  I have the boat close enough to level that I can use a water level if I'm careful but mostly I'm just using it as a straight edge. 

Jan 18,

Wood for building boats is getting hard to come by especially away from the coast.  Marine grade plywood is skyrocketing in price and getting scares. I'm glad I have most of what I need.  I will need a few more sheets of 20 mm and 12 mm plywood.  I have a source in Gulf Breeze, Meridith Lumber.  No exactly what I want but it might do.  I also found Meranti, which is what I've been using, in Ohio. Marine Plywood by Homestead.  An 8 hour drive one way but it's cheaper than Noah Marine right now and the shipping should be cheaper as well. I'll check that as an option.

Jan 22,

Worked on plumbing this weekend and getting the galley prepared for cabinetry.  I had to figure out how to mate the fitting for the pressure pump to the PEX that I'm using for the fresh water system.  At first I was going to go with a threaded 1/2" fitting to a 3/4" PEX fitting but our local stores did not carry that fitting and was going to have to order it.  I thought a little harder and decided to go with PEX type A 3/4" pipe and stretch it over the barbed fitting that came with the pump.  A stretching tool was going to set me back $150 so I put some oak on the lathe and made my own.  I made one mistake in that the clamping ring no longer fit over the barb and I could not get the fitting back out once I hammered it in.  I was able to gently persuade the clamping ring over the barb and PEX with a block of wood and light blows with a hammer.  That is where the slight marring of the outside came from.  I've got one more of these to make and it will be much easier the second time as with most things.  By the way, this is PEX A and can be stretched, never attempt to stretch PEX B or C. 

The black fitting is the combination barb and threaded fitting that came with the pressure pump.  If using the threaded part, you would cut off the barb.  You can see the barb causing a bit of swelling just below the clamping ring. You want a bit of room on either side of the clamp. You definitely do not want the clamp directly on the barb or too close to the end. The wooden piece to the left is what I used to stretch the PEX to accept the barb.

The tanks plumbed to the pump.  1/2" pipe comes out of the tanks and then comes together with 3/4" PEX.  There are individual valves for each tank underneath.  A bit of a stretch, but the tanks can be turned off individually if necessary.  Unfortunately, any repair work to this part of the fresh water system is going to be difficult. All of it is very low pressure, so hopefully it will last for the boats lifetime.

Working on the vented loop for the below-the-waterline discharge.  Missing is the final leg between the vented loop and the through hull fitting.  The through hull has not yet been installed but can be seen sitting  off to the left.  Above the ceiling (painted white), you can see where I've started to feed electrical wires to the various fixtures including the pump shown. 

The 3/4" PVC pipe show in the center is the grey water run that will go to the shower sump pump.  There is one small section where the grey water will be pumped up, the rest should gravity feed to the tanks.  I don't want grey water draining back to the sump or sitting in pipes.

Heat gun set up to bend schedule 40 PVC pipe.  Note the bent piece of metal at the other end to help hold in the heat a bit. There is a 1/4" gap between the end of the pipe and the piece of bent metal.

The other end of the heating process.  One problem I've encountered is that the heat concentrates on the outer edges and it is hard to get a bend in the middle of the pipe.  I think I need to heat the outside of the pipe a bit to get a smooth bend.  That's what I did previously.  It wasn't really necessary for this installation.

First through-hull with 90 degree pipe.  I've cut down the threads on the threaded fitting to fit my hull thickness.

Another view.

First hole below the waterline.  I plan to saturate the exposed wood in the hole with West epoxy.  I'll then use thickened West G-flex epoxy to bed the fitting in before the wetted out wood has cured. The G-flex is more flexible and more suitable for bedding fittings.