BIMINI

Finally the Bimini.

We choose a rigid structure for the bimini. Experience tells that it will be on on 95% of cases, sun or rain.

Only on rare occasions we will need to remove the canvas, so a rigid frixed structere will proove more reliable.

Failure are more frequent on moving parts. So the number of moving parts in Ondanera will be kept to the minimum.

And this will be the final finish and look of the boat.
It was a big relief to think that the outside work was completely finished.

Roll Bar

After  the lifeline it was the turn of the Roll Bar to take its final position

It is through bolted to the deck on a 20mm reinforcement plate.

There is a 40mm opening for wires going yo the roll bar: solar panel, wind generator, GPS antenna, AIS, horn, Wifi.

Dry fit of the connection...

 Sealant urethan based

Duralac on bolts and nuts

Roll Bar, Lifeline and Pulpits

Having finished the surface preparation we could install the pulpits, stanchions and roller.

Also these components where sanded. The choice was made to have a better hand grip on these structures, rather then a polished slippery surface.

In this process we faced for the first time the problem of preventing galvanic corrosion.
The nightmare of any owner of aluminium boat is to see her dissolved by corrosion. The old story of the coin dropped in the bilge that perforates the hull is know to all of us.

Any how the principles are simple. We can use INSULATING compounds as Duralac or Tefgel.
The difference is that Duralac will harden and can be painted. Tefgel will be more suitable for applications where one can foresee removal of the screws.
For the deck intallations we went for Duralac.

The second issue in bedding and waterproofing.
I tried my best to keep to the minimum the holes passing through the deck. Nevertheless the winches, rails and other devices needed a thorough bolt.
Again we have choices. In fat having choice is a good and bad thing at the same time.
In my opinion and experience the best bedding is done by good quality Butyl Tape.
Alternative are urethane based compounds.
The so commonly used SILICONE I think SOULD BE AVOIDED except for few particular applications.
It is however the most commonly used because it is clean and fast. But there is no free lunch. What you save now you will pay later.

So I used urethan base bedding for rails, roll bar basement and winches.

I used Butyl tape for windows, port lights, mushrooms etc, where the risk of water infiltration is higher and where the possibility of very easily remove and replace it makes a great advantage.

Below some pictures of installation of stanchions, pulpits and rollbar.


Duralac

MORE DURALAC

Positioning the stanchion

Bolt in place

Forward Stanchions placed

Bow Pulpit

Placing the rigid grab rail from midship to stern

FInished

Hull, Topsides and Deck

When originally thought of how should our boat be we had a main concern: MINIMAL MAINTENANCE!

This was one of the reasons to choose aluminium as a construction material.
It is evident that bare aluminium gives a rough appearance to the boat and that any irregularity in the welding will show evident.
This very much depends on how accurate was the initial welding. And particularly the welding on the hull and topsides that was done at the beginning of our experience when managing the easy distortion of aluminium was not so easy.
So one may be tempted to cover these irregularities with paint.

PAINT!

Horror!. Forgetting the terrible cost and fatigue to apply primer and filler to the surface of the boat, my experience is that the results, initially entusiasthic, will inevitably disappointing.
Cracks will appear in the area subject to stress, around stanchions bases, at the corners of plates, where there is a stagnation of water and after sometime the owner will have two choices: suffer and live with this "aged" aspect or spend a lot of money and time and redo the paint job.

Even worse is the idea of placing a nice teak bridge.  I remember seeing an owner of a Meta boat ravageously remoouving the teck from his deck where the unseen corrosion had eaten a lot of the aluminium. And Meta has a 2 centimeters thick deck plates!

So: NO PAINT, NO WOOD

Nevertheless we had to prime the hull to be able to apply the antifouling.
As for the deck we will use TreadMaster as antiskid glued to the aluminium.


The first stem was sanding of the hull

The process revealed some imperfections that were corrected

Priming was next (International Paint)

Up to the DWL

Including the rudder of course

Next was gritting the topsides: one pass at 80 and one at 120.

 Finally all the vertical portions of the deck. The rest will be Tread Master

And this is the final finish. One week of work!

Moving toward the Sea

Having finished the Aluminium work, the boat was moved to a yard near the sea where the interior work will be completed

Roll Bar and Bimini

Roll Bar

With supports for Solar Panels, Wind Generator and Dinghy Lift

Mast Steps and Rudder

Mast Steps

Rudder