Heads

The bulkhead between the toilet compartment and the forecabin showed signs of delamination down the edge where it met the hull.  This is most probably due to water penetrating the joint between the hull and the deck.  Since this joint is glassed over inside, there is nowhere for such water to go except into the exposed end grain round the edges of the plywood bulkheads.  A similar area of rot was found elsewhere on the ply bulkhead between the starboard cockpit locker and the aft compartment.

In the heads compartment, the  grp bonding the forward bulkhead ply to the hull had come adrift from the plywood which showed signs of rot.  This was all hidden behind a sheet of Formica-like laminate that was covering the forward bulkhead in the toilet compartment and only evident from the soft damp wood in the forecabin.  Our previous Trident Eleanor had suffered similarly in exactly the same place so we were not altogether surprised.

The sheet of laminate was removed and the sea toilet stripped out.  All the rotten wood was chopped out back to sound wood with a chisel  and replaced with layers of grp extending over the sound wood.  This was also done on the other side of the bulkhead in the forecabin. The existing grp  was roughed up (dust hazard!!) and three new layers of chopped mat and resin were  laid over the top to reattach the repaired bulkhead to the hull.

The compartment was repainted with white gloss and the Lavac toilet re-installed on the pre-existing grp plinth.  The brass studs that had previously been used for this were weak due to loss of zinc and broke off.   As the plinth was sealed it was not possible to  insert new ones from under the plinth.  Instead the lavatory pan was bolted with stainless bolts to a piece of Formica-faced 18mm marine ply which was fixed down to the plinth with stainless coach bolts.

The toilet hoses were all replaced with sanitary grade tubing and the sea cocks overhauled and re-greased. Like the rest of the boat, the toilet compartment was also treated to a new section of “inlaid” flooring.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Note: How serious the failure of the hull to bulkhead joint is  is questionable. I discussed this with Alan Hill, the Trident designer.  His view was that the Trident was so over built that you could probably manage without bulkheads at all.  In fact the Sabre prototype was sailed without bulkheads to begin with as they had yet to work out the final accommodation plan.

Hanging Locker (opposite toilet):

The hanging locker was simply repainted with normal household white gloss paint.

The rusty  piece of steel pipe that had been used as a hanger rail was replaced with a wooden one and some proprietary hardwood hockey-stick moulding was applied to the straight ply edges to warm-up the painted effect.  Scrap teak was used to make a loo-roll holder and a teak bulkhead light was added.

Heads gallery:

[Click on pictures to see larger]