Reconstruction;
After the boat was trucked to Missouri, it was completely sandblasted inside and out, and a 2 part primer was brushed and sprayed on with John and Carola's help. The most recent big project has been insulating the interior with spray foam from the waterline up.
An ongoing project has been constructing the floor. We are gluing (5200) and screwing (stainless) white oak (tongue and groove) flooring boards to 1/2" 'superply'. Superply is identical to marine grade plywood except for the voids in the laminates. It was chosen over marine plywood for the price difference.
White oak flooring was chosen for various reasons; it's cheaper than teak; it's readily available; it's strong; the floor sections can be built in the garage (on site) as opposed to buying pre-made teak/holly 4x8 sections; the wood is thick and is not a laminate; and it has a good resistance to rot. We are using brown 5200 along the tongues of the boards and white 5200 on the bottom of the boards. The boards are squeezed in place using pipe clamps and screwed to the superply from the bottom of the plywood via predrilled and countersunk holes. On top, any gaps between the boards are filled with the brown goo and it seems to match the white oak (in color) fairly well after sanding. When a floor section is trimmed and sanded, any gaps or visible voids will then be filled with 5200, as well as the screw heads on the bottom side of the plywood. By attaching the boards from the bottom rather than into the tongue of each board, as is commonly done with tongue and groove flooring nail guns, making the cutouts for the removable sections will be easy as we will know the exact location of each screw and won't have to saw through hidden screws. If a screw is in the way of a cut, it can be easily removed.
The metal floor supports in the companion way area were rebuilt (lowered) to allow for more headroom, and new ones welded in place. The floor supports over the new stainless water tank (not built yet) will be bolted in place for easy removal of the 2 water tanks. The fuel tank has been cleaned and painted and the inside of the lid ground to remove rust and was repainted.
The previous owner removed all the exterior wood and has replaced the teak hand rails with stainless tubing welded to the deck. The teak cap rail has been replaced with stainless tubing welded on top of steel bulwarks. The idea here is to eliminate all screw holes through the deck, thereby eliminating the potential for leaks, and reducing overall maintenance as well. Less exterior wood = less maintenance. The cockpit will probably be the only place with exterior wood, aside from the sliding plexiglass bubble companion way cover, which has already been rebuilt in teak. The rubber decking was removed as well. In the historical photos look at the shot from high up the mast - you can clearly see areas next to the rubber decking that have been repainted because of apparent rust problems. Rubber decking like exterior wood can become a water trap over time. The deck traction will be provided by mixing sand with paint and then rolling it on; cheap, easy and functional.
1/16/03 One project which we haven't quite figured out yet is what to do with the anchor locker. Whatever method is used, the anchor locker has to be water tight so that the foam insulation doesn't get wet. I (Bob) have bounced around the idea of building stainless steel boxes (to contain the water and then feed it via hose to a bilge waste water box of some kind) and Chris (KIM's owner) is thinking about spraying the area down with the same material used to coat oil rigs and such, sort of like the stuff you see sprayed in pickup truck beds. It seems to be tough and flexible. Anyone have any suggestions? Last weekend we used cardboard to build a mockup of the stainless water tanks. The 2 tanks will live under the floor just below the companionway. Several months ago I found a scrap yard here in KC which sells sheets of stainless in 2 thicknesses and have suggested to Chris that we could build them ourselves. That is if we knew how to weld stainless! With Julian's (the welder) help we should be able to figure it out. Chris now has a small 120volt welder which was purchased from the boat's previous owner, which hasn't been cranked up yet. Chris learned how to weld with Julian's guidance (on his welder) and then did some good work by himself lowering the floor supports. Dave (the carpenter) has helped with the floor and will be the invaluable expert when the furniture construction begins.
2/6/03 The third section of flooring is finished and all 3 are now up in the boat. Chris has talked to the owner of Airhead composting toilet company yesterday, was impressed with what he heard and will probably buy one for the head. In an effort to keep water from the inside of the boat, it looks like showers will be taken in the cockpit. This leaves the head free of all water and any possible rust problems. Plus, it will be cheaper (overall) and easier to install and maintain the head. Simpler is better. Chris did a trip to Key West recently and visited the boat that John works on and is seriously thinking of copying their method of containing the anchor chain and the water and crud that comes in with it; two 12' PVC pipes with fittings in the bottom cap to drain water away! It's a great idea if it can take all the chain. We'll see.
2/14/03 Received an email (thanks Jesus') containing a link to a Metal Boat Society forum page talking about chain locker construction/protection, written by Brian Young, a moderator at the site. He talks about glassing over the chain locker's foam to contain the water and mud. Chris like this idea and it looks like the best one yet, and he's talking about going with all chain for the anchor rodes, possibly 300' each. Since the chain will sit low in the V berth, all that weight shouldn't be a problem. The important thing is to get the glass thick enough to withstand any impact from the chain. Julian has the measurements and dimensions for the 2 stainless water tanks and should start building them soon. We are also discussing the construction and installation of the hawse pipes. The idea I like is to cut a plate big enough to fit over the windlass hole and to extend forward enough (inside the boat) to act as a deck stiffener and a place to attach the 2 chain pipes. It would be a lot easier to weld the pipes to a plate (in the shop) which is then bolted in place rather than to try welding the pipes to the underside of the deck way up in the V berth. Another idea is to cut a piece of PVC pipe the long way and glue it in place inside of each pipe, and have it coming up high enough to the underside of the deck to avoid chain to mild steel grinding/banging when the chain is coming or going, The other option is to use stainless pipes and forgo the PVC. There is an area of the deck just forward and to starboard of the windlass which is sagging a bit which causes a gap between the windlass and the deck. A plate firmly bolted in place under the deck should pull that area up and solve the gap problem as well. Last weekend Chris and I built the 2 long & narrow vertical floor sections which will mount on the forward side of the landing at the base of the companionway.
2/18/03 Have been exchanging emails with Sterling, who has a copy of KIM's video! The video documentary is narrated in English, and some parts of it have comments by Albert Falco, who worked for many years with the late, great, Jacques Yves Cousteau. Sterling's last email said that he's going to try to find the supplier of the video. If anyone is interested in purchasing the video, email me and I will pass that info to you when I get it. Thanks Sterling!
3/7/03 Discovered today (via email - thanks David) that the 4 owners each had an aluminum Antarctica sailboat built for them after they returned from the big trip down under. David looked at an Antarctica 43' in CA recently and saw a framed photo of KIM attached to a saloon bulkhead! Apparently that boat was built for one of KIM's owners. The Antarctica designer was Phillipe Subrero and they were built in a yard called Chantier Kim in France. This is exciting as one of our hopes for this web site is to contact the 4 original owners of KIM, and this looks like a step in that direction. I'll update this entry if/when I get more info on the 4 boats they had built.
4/4/03 Have been exchanging emails with Clark, who owns a KOK steel sailboat, and intends to sail it to Antarctica one day with his new bride. He found a source for one of the KIM books in France and has ordered it. I sent him 5 floppies full of historical photos of KIM to 'fuel the fire'.
4/24/03 Today I found another one of the 4 original Antarctica aluminum sailboats! I received an email from a gentleman in Israel who recently bought an Antarctica 43’ originally named MOWGLI, which was built for Danielle Gazanion, one of KIM’s 4 original owners. Both names are from Rudyard Kipling books, by the way. Like the other Antarctica 43’ mentioned here, MOWGLI has an original photo of KIM (during the Antarctic trip, penguins in the foreground) mounted inside the boat. Two down and 2 to go! Thanks, Reuven.