The Mystery of the Build Number

Mystery solved! Something else I no longer have to think about. What build number is Something Else? Was Something Else the first GK29 built? No, though Something Else was built during the first year of GK29 production. I don't know why I want to know this about Something Else. I guess it is just something else to know.

  According to the WOA's Westerly Wiki, 

"The Yard Number [aka build number] is the number on the plate in the hatchway and consists of a letter then 3 numbers i.e. A 123 The prefix letter originally indicated from which shed in Waterlooville the hull was made but soon came to represent the specific model being built. The digits represent the number of that specific hull. You'll also find the number in wax crayon on the underside of removable wood panels."

Many GK29 owners I talk with via the internet have a Westerly factory build plate attached to the frame for the sliding hatch. The build prefix for GK29s was "B".



Build plate for the 100th production Westerly GK29



Something Else did not have a build plate. It is long gone. Maybe lost after refinishing the wood or it just fell off. I tried to interpolate the build number using other owner’s hull Identification number and build numbers compared to my hull ID. It looked like maybe 110th boat. But that would only have been a guess. I knew they only built 182 or so GK29 and mine was one of them.

On the back of sliding doors for the cupboard and the ceiling panel for the navigation station I found B50. The 50th production Westerly GK29 build.

Westerly is no longer in business however Caroline, at Trafalgar Yacht Services in the UK, found the specification sheet for my boat B50 was made out to Westerly and it was to be launched as a demonstrator. She indicated that there was no mention of who eventually bought the boat or where it went. But maybe it went directly to San Diego California as Westerly demonstrator. That would be interesting story but the invoice only says Westerly demonstrator.  I guess how Something Else came to be in San Diego is still a mystery.

Three Years Too Late!

Alex, my buddy at work, is great at finding great stuff on Craigslist. Cars, tools, materials, you name it, Alex seems to find great deals on it. He checks out all of the different Craigslist cities and I am always amazed at what he finds. Yesterday he sent me a link to a Craigslist ad for a BMW marine diesel D12 for $500 in San Francisco area. The same as the original engine in Something Else. If Alex could have found this three years ago I would have bought it. I am 80 percent done with my Yanmar installation, there is NO way I’m going to go back to the old engine.

I sent the ad to Rich with V12 engineering. It looks like the engine is sold today. Rich gave me $325 for parts off my old engine.

Thanks Alex, and search on my friend... search on!

My old rusted out BMW D12 head.  My finger are going from the exhaust port into the water jacket.

How thick is your gelcoat?

I've been thinking about something else. How thick is your gelcoat? In fiberglass construction gelcoat is like a hard thick paint applied to the inside of the mold and then covered with fiberglass. When the part is removed from the mold the gelcoat is the smooth shiny s surface everybody sees. The fiberglass provides all the strength while the gelcoat provides the beauty. The gelcoat on boats is usually white however it doesn’t have to be. The gelcoat on a Chevy Corvette is the color the car. I’ve read the maximum thickness of gelcoat should be 35 mills, (1mm).

I have “core samples” that were left in the nav station drawer by the prior owner. I have one that looks like the cutout for the speed transducer. I would estimate the thickness of the fiberglass to be about 7mm while the gelcoat thickness is about 9mm. I have another sample from my transom and it looks like the fiberglass is 2mm and the gelcoat is 2 mm. Finally I have a sample from my deck and it looks like the fiberglass is maybe 0.5mm and the gelcoat is 3 mm.



Hull sample, white gelcoat on top fiberglass on bottom

 


Transom sample, white gelcoat on the bottom, fiberglass on top



Is this excess gelcoat? Was this a quality control problem? Does it matter; after all it is a 35 year old boat?   I ask because on old boats many people grind off the underwater portion of gelcoat and apply an epoxy barrier coat to prevent blisters. The gelcoat is ground off because epoxy does not stick well to it. When I did my bottom paint in 2010 Something Else had a few blisters. I ponder if I should just treat any new blisters locally or something else.

I've been Sick

I've been sick for the past week. When I started feeling better I watched an endless supply of YouTube videos while in bed.

This couple in Tulsa OK is building a 74ft steel sailboat from scratch. It’s way over 250 videos but It’s a hoot. http://www.youtube.com/user/submarineboat

The reason why?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr7A4GpeosQ

I'm hooked! Makes my little rebuild look like childs play!

Mary has got the cold now. I hope she can recover faster than me.

Canvas Work

I can sew… not real well but I can sew. I learned back in A&P School. Aircraft wings and fuselages used to be skinned with cotton. They haven’t been done that way for production aircraft in over 60 years but you had to know how to sew to obtain an A&P license. My Dad had an airplane with cloth covered wings. But that was back in the days when he was dating my Mom. In fact some of Dad’s buddies wrote “Just Married” in shoe polish on the bottom of the wings and he said he was never able to remove it. Not sure sewing is an A&P requirement today.





Armed with a dim memory of sewing and Don Casey's book, “Complete Illustrated Sailboat Maintenance Manual” (a guide to fix EVERYTHING on a sailboat); we bought a used industrial sewing machine thinking I would sew something for Something Else. A whole chapter in the book is dedicated to sewing everything that could need sew’n on a boat. Tips to cover things that are exposed to weather, bags for every use imaginable, (like a bag to hold all the covers when they are not in use) and handy accessories like an awning to keep the sun at bay. Mary bought me a few yards of 2nd quality Sunbrella on eBay to play with.




Companion way hatch cover

 

1st project I made winch covers with elastic inner cuff to keep the winch cover on.

2nd project I made a simple tiller cover that will need “refinements” to incorporate all the lessons I learned along the way.

My latest sewing project I made a companion way hatch cover that has a batten at the bottom that holds the lower cover in position.  The scratches in the picture are from dragging the material under the arm of the sewing machine.





I cussed a lot. I’d hate to have to make a living doing canvas work. It’s tough making things fit correctly. The machine is too fast (or I'm too slow), I’m afraid I’ll sew my fingers into the seams! I put a smaller pulley on the motor and is slowed it down a little, but it’s still too fast. A co-worker suggested putting an adjustable stop under the pedal. That way when you mash the pedal all the way down it can only go to the adjusted speed.

I’m not too bright (or a glutton for punishment) because I bought some upholstery material too. I am going to attempt to re-upholster the settee cushions. The backs should be easy because it’s all strait seams and stapled down on the back. But the bottom cushions are curved and sloped where it meets the hull and they have a zipper. Another topic for another time.

Welcome AWON Readers!

Welcome American Westerly Owners Newsletter (AWON) readers. Please enjoy reading about Something Else my GK29 and seeing what I've been up to. Feel free to leave comments or ask questions.

Logo

I've created a Logo inspired by the half star Westerly logo and Westerly Owners' Association (WOA) logos. I made it in PowerPoint so it’s awful simple. If you feel it is copyright infringement let me know. I think it is new work from my creative genius that pays tribute to Westerly heritage.

My Logo I created 11/08/2013