Bulkheads...

[musicman]

It's been brought to my attention recently that this photo has been used grossly out of context as it pertains to the "legality" of the E 32.
The assumption that the work done in this photo was solely to gain a speed advantage is 100% false.
In 2003 "Remedy" suffered a catastrophic bulkhead failure and nearly lost its mast, SEE PHOTO BELOW.
The work done was to try and make certain this could never happen again. The boat in fact gained a considerable amount of weight and proved to be no faster in anything under 15 knots TWS.
Anyone who actually owns an E 32 is well aware that the boat was not built to last 30 plus years....
These boats have been on a steady and rapid structural decline for decades & are far weaker now than they were when new.
Also worth noting, the tie rods differ in various E 32's. Some have them to the bunk fronts, others to the mast step.
After working with Bob Evelyn on how to fix the boat he pointed out the the correct placement for them was in fact to mast step.
This set of tie rods was added to his spec.

[Wild Thing]

Musicman, how are the ends of the strut attached to the boat, any pics?
Thanks, Wild Thing

[Motorboat!!]

Well, after poking around the starboard chainplate bulkhead the other week, and finding that underneath the fiberglass was a mixture of water and marine plywood "slurry" I have replaced the bulkhead this weekend. I can now confirm that this project is incredibly messy! The new one looks great, and the whole thing starting from ripping out the old one to final glassing of the new one was done all in 12 hours. I am pretty sure this new bulkhead is now the strongest part of the boat. Just gotta find out what is going to break next.

[admin]

congrats on that, hombre! The job is a total pain in the ass, but the rewards in terms of peace of mind are significant!
now, go forth and kick ass!

[darkstar32170]

Matt, what did you use for the new bulkhead. I know that a few boats have used G-10, and some others have just used marine ply. Overall I'm all for eliminating as much wood from the boat as possible. so I would have gone for G-10 or similar material. If you replaced it with ply I would suggest that you remove the core a distance of 1" around the chainplates where they penetrate the deck and fill solid with epoxy thickened with 403 or a similar filler. That will go a long way towards preventing water infiltration here, especially into the core of the deck. I'm sure you saw in the photos of my deck the extent of the damaged core I removed in the area around my chainplates. Its not a difficult job to do.

Also, thanks for the invite a couple weeks ago. I had a great time and would have liked to have stayed longer but Mary had to go to work the next day and my twins were back at her place. You've got a standing invite anytime you're near Narragansett Bay.

[Motorboat!!]

Thanks David, and you are always welcome back. Go figure the ONLY day this year to date that we have had no wind is the day you come sailing.
For the bulkhead, I used 3/4" marine ply, and used S-glass (which is really great stuff) to secure it. I might still go back and dig out around the chainplates and fill the core with epoxy. Hopefully for the immediate future, I put enough 4200 in the deck opening to prevent water intrusion. I figure anything is better than what was currently there.
As for the use of marine ply instead of a composite, I figure the original bulkhead lasted 25 years, so I should have a few years of service with this one. If I had all the time in the world, I probably would have fabricated a composite bulkhead, but unfortunately, I have a real job that takes far too much time away from me working on the boat.

[rocklobster]

Did you fabricate, or purchase, the beam of destiny. If you purchased it, where did you find it.

Thanks,

Doug

[Motorboat!!]

I haven't done one yet, but we are still figuring out what the best course of action would be to install one. I would like to find a composite tube and fabricate some end fittings. Now that it is summer around here, there will basically be no working on projects inside the boat till the fall. It is HOT

[FlatlineE32]

I used a carbon tube that I picked up from Forte. I have seen the tubes elsewhere advertised. The bracket I had fabricated by a local metal guy out of aluminum. It seems to work well.
<a href="http://s733.photobucket.com/albums/ww339/flatlinee32/?action=view&current=2006-10-2111-42-04_0083.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i733.photobucket.com/albums/ww339/flatlinee32/2006-10-2111-42-04_0083.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[FlatlineE32]

Here is the pic

[Motorboat!!]

That looks great. This project is definitely on my list. Was that tube a specialy build, or just stock tube?

[FlatlineE32]

The tube is stock. I think mine is 1 1/2" diameter and Remedy might be 2". The diameter isn't that important.

[rocklobster]

Thank you for sharing the pic. I like the removable nature of the strut. Looking at the pic, though, it seems that the mast would be in the way of the strut. How did you get around the mast... did you put spacers between the end fittings and the chain plate?

Thanks, again.

[FlatlineE32]

The picture is Remedy. They used 3/4" marine plywood as a spacer. This gives them the ability to clear the front of the mast. I put mine on the aft side of the bulkhead which clears the back of the mast without issue.

[rocklobster]

Thanks for the details!