1978 Islander 22 I/O

[Watermann]

That's pencil... I'm talking about zooming in and looking at the teak string the engine is sitting on.

I see what you're saying the motor mount block, terminology I guess as I see most guys calling the deck supports a stinger too.

 

[SHSU]

Man that stinks, so split along its grain.

SHSU

 

[66Holiday924]

I took apart the windows. The side windows aren't cracked or broken or anything, the front cabin window is though, and the plan is to have it remade, and I want all of the windows to match so I'm going to have them all rebuilt. I'm leaning toward a dark tint plexiglass, something that makes it hard to see what's inside.

So, now to get the windows off to the plexiglass shop, and clean the frames up.

 

[66Holiday924]

I've been getting some work done on the Islander and I'm about a month behind on my updates. My work has been kind of spread, so I'm going to update it with each individual component that I've worked on so it's easier to follow.

The first thing I worked on was getting the fuel tank installed. I ordered the tank custom from RDS and had a really good experience. They worked with me until it was exactly what I wanted and took the time to learn about my project and offered some pointers. It's one of those things though, you're basically biting your nails until it is in place, and you can see it's going to work.

I laid the tank into position, between the port and starboard stringers. Then on the ends (fore & aft), I cleaned, slightly modified and reinstalled the bulkheads to complete the rectangle and encase the tank. As recommended by RDS, I used 3/8 nitrile rubber strips as a buffer between the bottom of the tank and the ribs, and on the ends, leaving a little bit of room for expansion. The strips were applied with 5200. I buttered them, stuck them in place, ensuring that there was no way for water to get between the rubber and the tank, and then let them cure for a few days before the install.

The aft bulkhead, from Starcraft, was designed with a nice little one inch opening hole. It looks nice but in my opinion is a design flaw. That opening could easily become obstructed and the bulkhead would then help to trap water in the bilge. So, I opened it up. I'm kind of obsessed with water management in the bilge and working to keep it dry. I like any water in the bilge to be able to flow easily to the bilge pump, and I like the bilge to be able to dry while the boat is not in use.

I had more pictures, but they are too large to post...

 

[66Holiday924]

I decided that I want the weight of the batteries to help balance out the boat and as of now I'm planning on four batteries, two for the boat, two for downriggers & other accessories. I think having that weight up front behind the cabin will help give the boat a better ride.

My plan is for the batteries to rest behind the cabin and to recess them into the floor as much as possible, so I don't have a 10" box sticking up. So, where the rest of my decking is going to be framed up 2", the area of the batteries will not be. Instead, the batteries will rest on 1/4" aluminum plating. So, I installed my plating with the closed cell insulation foam under for floatation.

 

[66Holiday924]

The cabin framing wood all seemed solid except the front piece, directly under the front cabin window. So, I rebuilt that with a piece of mahogany, treated it with my Old Timer's Formula (OTF) and reinstalled it.

After the mahogany was installed, I cleaned up the aluminum trim piece that runs across the top and reinstalled it using a dab of 5200 on the screws, so in the future if the window leaks, in addition to the OTF, there will be protection at the screws.

The rest of the framing was solid (appears to be oak). I went screw to screw and torqued it all back down.

 

[66Holiday924]

Next, I installed my natural ventilation and aluminum floor framing.

Natural ventilation is mandated by the coast guard. I believe this boat was built before the mandate, so it is technically grandfathered in, and doesn't have to have it, but I'm doing this, and I believe in the purpose it serves, so I installed it.

For the natural ventilation I installed louvers and collection boxes, both port and starboard. Each collection box has two bilge blower hoses. They both ventilate the fuel tank compartment and the engine compartment.

The aluminum framing I used is 2x3 inch. The pictures say it all. I used high strength, all aluminum, structural blind rivets to install the framing. The 2" rise will give the fuel tank fittings (fill, vent, etc.) the clearance it needs.

 

[66Holiday924]

I decided early on that this boat will accommodate those who sit while they pee. It might seem like I'm getting ahead of myself, but I think it's important to incorporate this into the design of the substructure. If I build it with this in mind, I can do a lot better job on the install.

The Port-a-Potty sits on a piece of sheet aluminum I installed last year, and it fastens down with Thetford's tie down kit. A piece of Coosa acts as a buffer between the toilet and the aluminum plating and the tie-down kit gets fastened through the Coosa and plating with through bolts. I built the Coosa piece out of plywood first to make sure it would work, before mutilating any Coosa (stuff is expensive).

I will need to install two access plates later, one, to allow the toilet to be flushed, and the other, gets installed later, when I build the floor, and it allows access to the nuts on the other end of the through bolts that secure the tie-down.

 

[66Holiday924]

I used Total Boat's pour-in expanding floatation foam around the port-a-potty to give it some sturdiness.

Floatation foam is very strong, structural material. It helps support decking. So, with that in mind, my idea was to get it installed around the base of the port-a-potty. My idea was that when it expands, it will conform to the contours of the potty giving it a "seat" specific to both the potty and my set-up. It'll conform to both the potty and my boat specifically, giving it a seat unique to this install, and it alone would be enough to secure the potty, without the tie-down kit.

The problems I had to be aware of:

- The handle to release the tie-down has to be accessible.
- The handle to flush has to be accessible.
- The toilet flares out and then in, so the flares have to be minded so the foam doesn't lock the toilet down.
- I didn't know whether or not the foam would stick to the toilet, so that had to be dealt with.

This is going to be pictures say 1000 words, but here goes my explanation. My solution to the presented problems was to mutilate the box, that the potty came in, so it could be taped to the upper half of the toilet minding the upper flare and allow the backend of the box to come down leaving space for rear tie-down access. Then the entire potty was placed into a garbage bag and the box taped to it. So, it kind of looked like the potty was wearing a helmet or had a mullet. The garbage bag allowed a barrier between the foam and the potty, so the foam could form to the potty but not risk it sticking to it. The last problem was leaving access for the flush handle. This was done by carefully pouring the foam in that area.

This is all what I meant in my last post when I said, knowing the boat will have it, means I can do a better job installing it now, because my install idea effects floatation foam.

You can see my sheet vinyl in the first picture. I use that to span the ribs, so that when the foam is installed there is a cavity between the foam and the hull where any water can flow down and back to the bilge pump freely. This keeps water from being trapped between the foam and the hull and I really believe it extends the life of the hull and the foam dramatically.