Final Removal of the Overhead

     

     With but four hours working time on Labor Day, I managed to complete roughly 60% removal of the overhead in the main cabin salon and v-berth.  On Saturday, September 8th, I completed the removal of the overhead tongue-and-groove boards.  I had originally thought that the wood species was ash; however, upon closer inspection, I realized these boards were white oak. Sorry to see all of this white oak end up in a pile...with a good varnish, the oak would have created a sense of warmth.  Water damage (leaking staysail track) and sketchy overhead light wiring made the decision to remove the overhead an easy one.  Well, good things to come.

     Several boards ran the length of the overhead, and for a few of the boards, where the primary bulkheads sandwiched them to the fiberglass surface of the cabin overhead, I cut on either side and left the "spacer" material to help support the overhead itself.  I used a Bosch oscillating tool for this job.  Originally, the Westsail factory chose not to tab the tops of the primary bulkheads to the fiberglass surface of the overhead.  Later in the completion of the interior, the bulkheads were to be bolted to a mast-support beam.  Today's builds generally have the bulkheads tabbed to the hull and overhead, as will be the case with this Westsail 32 - the mast-support beam will also be bolted to the primary bulkheads.  These bulkheads will be replaced with BS1088 Lloyd's certified meranti 18mm ply.

     After 5 hours of work, the overhead removal was complete.  You can see the screw pattern on the overhead...do some quick math on roughly 1 to 1 minute - 30 seconds per screw removal time, and you can imagine how monotonous this milestone was.  The picture shows but half the overhead surface area. Good times!  The removal technique was to drill out the bung with a 3/8" bit, clean out the remaining remnants, clear the phillips screw head of debris, and then back the screw out...repeat.

     A sad ending for some lovely white oak...firewood?

    Probably 85% of the total number of screws securing the overhead boards.  Next on the to-do list is sanding the interior surfaces: overhead, under the sidedecks, hull; removal and replacement of the bulkheads; laying the floor...the list goes on.