Leoma arrival at Morro Bay CA

[JD-MDR]

A perfectly comfortable, uneventful cruise. 28 days. It’s 2500 mi. I thought that was pretty good for a first timer novice sailor. The weather was calm the first three days so bad. The forecast 8-10 knot winds but I think it was 3-5. I was so frustrated I decided to go to Hawaii instead of trying to bypass and head strait to Kodiak. So I wouldn’t have to worry about using autopilot and running engine. Also I dont like being so skimpy with water. Every thing went well till the last 100 mi I kept running into rain squalls and blew out my club jib. One other issue that might change my plans to go to Kodiak I have a super loud cracking / popping noise it’s kinda like normal boat noises when rolling but amplified by 10. Sometimes when it’s calm and a squall comes it practically throws me out of the bunk it’s so loud. I’m afraid something has broke loose and I’m not confident going into any Alaska storms. The noise seems to be at the deck inside where it meets the hull close to the partition/ bulkhead separating the galley and the settee. I think I have to gut the interior to a expose and fix the problem. I hope someone has had this problem and knows what I’m talking about. Maybe that paste the use for bonding broke loose like it does at the deck to hull joint?
Oh. Winds were mostly NE 15 maybe 20 a couple days
Windvane works fine

[John Stone]

John
What a tremendous accomplishment! Simply superb. A great feat of seamanship. Will continue to correspond re the popping sound via email.

Hopefully you are catching up on sleep and eating well.

Would love t read a full report of the voyage when you have time to tel it.

Take care.

[Jim Walsh]

Congratulations! That’s a fantastic accomplishment.
On my first run down to Bermuda I had a creaking sound which was only apparent in heavy weather. It took me awhile to isolate it since it was an intermittent sound. It was an aft longitudinal bulkhead. Once I secured it I never hear a peep.

[JD-MDR]

Thanks Jim. What is the aft longitunal bulkhead?

[Jim Walsh]

The CD31 has the head on the port side at the base of the companionway. The bulkhead which defines that compartment is the only longitudinal bulkhead, all the others are transverse i.e. they run from port to starboard.
The bulkhead had been poorly secured to a flange in the molded headliner. That was under stress in heavy weather and that’s where the creaking sound was emanating from. It was hard to pinpoint as the surrounding structures act like a sounding board and mask the actual source.
Detecting the source was similar to determining if you have a water pump bearing ready to fail or an idler pulley on its way out. I used a wood dowel as a stethoscope and kept checking likely sources until I isolated the source of the sound.

[keneasley]

Glad to hear that you arrived safely.
What an amazing feat.

[JD-MDR]

Thanks Jim.
OK I disassembled the port settee and stove area. That bulkhead looks to be bonded above and halfway down the back of the setee in a channel molded in the liner.

The liner is glassed to the hull at the base inside the molded frame for the bench.

On the stove side the bulkhead doesn’t appear to be bonded. I see three screws down low but I think I put those in some time ago.

The noise seems to down low maybe below that 1-1/2” x 3” hollow stringer that runs the length of these two sections. Actually from inside the bilge it feels and sounds like it is under that stringer where the liner meets the hull.

[JD-MDR]

I’m not sure what to do. I should glass the seam on the stove side of the bulkhead. Probably need to remove some of that Formica or plastic laminate I don’t think that will solve the problem. I want to fill that stringer with expanding foam and cushion that space but that stuff will probably gradually fall out and into the bilge. I’m going to the store to get west system material. I wont put anything back to feather till I hopefully hear some more from you all. Thank you very much for your comments

[John Stone]

John
It's hard to be sure without seeing it personally. So I can only armchair it from here. But, on what I think you are showing and describing I would not use any expanding foam. As you suggested it will likely just come apart and cause other problems. I would probably cut the liner with a multi tool (harbor freight) or better yet a 4.5" angle grinder with a cut off wheel. Cut back as much as I could to get to the bottom edge of the bulkhead as far up the side as you can. That may leave a substantial gap between the edge of the bulkhead and the hull. Use a heat gun and metal putty knife to remove the Formica. If you scribe it in an arc along the edge of the bulkhead then score it with a box cutter you can control how much Formica you remove. Sand the hull and bulkhead best as you can with 40-80 grit. You can get some blue board or some kind of closed cell foam and rip it in a rectangle maybe 2" wide and the cut bevels on both sides. (I can make you a drawing of what I am talking about if you want to go this route). Make it as long as the gapped surface between the hull and bulkhead. Wedge that between the bulkhead and the hull. This will help the biaxial form a curved radiused turn vice a hard 90° bend. Then lay on some 1708 biaxial--you'll want 2-3" on the bulkhead and the same on the hull. You'll want at least two layers and three is better. Once you have those cut then wet them out on a piece of visqueen with west epoxy, roll them up, take them inside the boat and unroll them as tabbing covering the blueboard and the sanded area of the bulkhead and hull. Squeegee it out. And let it cure.

You can run 1/4" or 5/16 ss bolts with washers and lock nuts if you want through the tabbing on one slide, the bulkhead, and the tabbing on the other side.

If you want I'm happy to talk on the phone with you or be a sounding board or whatever will best help you. There may be a simpler way to do this--maybe even a hardwood wedge hammered in there but I don't know without really being able to get a good look at it.

[JD-MDR]

I have a feeling I may have solved the problem. The bottom of the bulkhead had water damage. I redid the panel on the other side of the stove. It wasn’t fastened at all and just wiggling in the breeze. I cut about 5/8” off the bottom with multi tool

. Then I made a strip if closed cell from fit under and out with a 45 bevel

.
I didn’t have Biaxial and not available here I layered cloth ,matt and another cloth on both sides. It is setting up well. I didnt have the dispensing pumps. I just eyeball 5/1 mix

I didnt remove that 4” of liner because it seems solidly bonded to the hull

[Jim Walsh]

Looks promising, hopefully that was it. Glad you could access it relatively easily. Now you can enjoy being in the 50th state.

[John Stone]

Those that have never sailed off shore don't understand the forces at play and the stresses and loads put on the boat. It sounds like you may have determined the cause of the noise. Solving a problem like this while out voyaging is not easy, especially if you don't have the things you need. Plus living on the boat while you have it apart is no fun. I'm very interested to see if you got it solved. Well done.

[JD-MDR]

Here is a photo I forgot to post The other side of the bulkhead has a tab down low and the bulkhead is tight against it. There were three screws down there but the wood was bad and they weren’t doing anything. The three screws I put in also weren’t doing anything because of that 1” gap so they weren’t going into anything.

My tore up headsail should be back from Honolulu in a few days I think I will go to the other side of this island it’s more upscale with Marinas and services. Hawaii is really not a very nice place for cruisers no secluded pristine cove to anchor. I like Mexico much better Im anchored a mile out. Three times I’ve been warned to lock my dinghey and motor it’s a long walk from the sampam harbor and to downtown

[Jim Walsh]

Captain Cook also found the Hawaiian islands inhospitable

[John Stone]

Captain Cook also found the Hawaiian islands inhospitable

True enough.