Rum Tum

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We'd long planned, before we did any serious cruising, to treat Rum Tums hull with a copper epoxy coating.

We'd read the pros and cons but in the end it just came down to the fact that we hated antifouling!

The planned treatment was made more urgent for us when, on lifting Rum Tum for the winter in 2009 I noticed a few blisters on her keels. After a bit more investigation and advice from experts, it was confirmed – the dreaded osmosis!

Rather than go into a blind panic we sought as much advice as we could and came to the conclusion that if the work was done methodically and constantly monitored it was well within our ability to carry out a full treatment ourselves on the boat. We were also very lucky to have met and befriended Neil and his wife Fiona at the boatyard who had both completed a circumnavigation and had a wealth of knowledge in this field.

Our first task was to remove the gelcoat. After more research we decided to have the hull grit blasted rather than peeled and slurry blasted, partly for financial reasons but mainly for the finish achieved which would be more conducive to drying (larger surface area) and the fact that any blisters present would be blasted leaving less chance for any being left.

We decided after a visit to the London Boat show to go with Coppercoat, to us a proven product, they also supplied all the product to do the Osmosis treatment before the copper epoxy treatment.

 
Over the following six months to May 2010 we pressure-washed the hulls and took regular moisture readings from 42 separate
spots until the readings had reached satisfactory levels. Then the real work started! We got through approximately 150+ sanding
disks getting the hull to a much smoother state before we started rebuilding.
 
In the end Rum Tum received eleven coats of epoxy, four of which were Coppercoat and the results were fantastic. All I can say
though is:
 

Never again!

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To keep ourselves busy as we waited for the readings on the hull to come down we decided to look at converting our saloon.

I'd never been particularly happy with our bunks on Rum Tum, they are quite narrow and not long enough for me (I'm 6'4") and worse of all was the noise from water lapping between the hulls. Many a night I gave up and slept in the saloon.

Anyhow after one sleepless night too many we started discussing a plan to convert our saloon into a large double bunk and saloon. The saloon itself could sit 10 comfortably which seemed a waste as most of the time there was just the two of us with maybe two guests. After some careful measuring we came up with a plan to convert the saloon as required but with the ability to convert it back easily if circumstances changed, following the traditions of the Royal Navy by fitting removable bulkheads.
 

Photos below of the transformation.

 
 
Saloon before we started
It was a massive area that we were loath to lose but we designed the cabin so that everything could be replaced as it was without damaging any of the original fabric of the saloon.
Headlining & Wood trim removed
The old headlining was in a poor condition and it was a horrible job removing the old, rotted foam backing. We stripped and revarnished the window trim while it was off.
Bulkheads matched
The most difficult job was matching the wood panels with the rest of the saloon. We used sapele dyed with various stains to get a pretty good match and finished with a satin varnish.
New cushions, lighting and headlining
With the money we saved from not re-cushioning the whole saloon we splashed out on a top quality memory foam mattress. A Euro-size double fitted exactly into the cabin.
New matching blinds to let in light
To break up the areas, especially when we had guests we had some matching blinds made up, they would allow more light in during the day.
and give privacy when we have guests
And with new bulkhead reading lights to finish the whole thing off we still have a saloon area that can sit six comfortably