Big wooden boat project [Splashed Sept 2017]

[fhhuber]

The bright shiny clear glossed wood sure looks good... for about a year or two. (maybe less if the boat isn't garaged)

Then its time to refinish it again...

 

[Ned L]

Zool,..... Ahhh,.. Yep, sorry about that, brain lapse on my part. .... I some times loose track of what I consider some of the differences between fresh water and salt water boating. Lol. .... Varnished mahogany decks were very common. Oh and I am very familiar with those names like Chris Craft, Garwood, Hacker, Dodge, Shepard, etc. I do love a white caulked and varnished deck, and even have one on my antique speed skiff.

Oh,.. I don't mind side drifts at all. It would be nice to keep them in sort of a wood boat direction,.. comments, likes, dislikes, dreams, ideas, whatever.

 

[Ned L]

The bright shiny clear glossed wood sure looks good... for about a year or two. (maybe less if the boat isn't garaged)

Then its time to refinish it again...

With proper maintenance (mostly a sanding and fresh coat annually) and you can go for years without refinishing (20 years is achievable).

 

[bonz_d]

I have to give you guys great credit. You have more talent with wood than I could ever dream of. It is truly an art form.

Mid 1970's I had worked here for Pete Jakstas who owned the hotel and the Marina on Mineola Bay, at the time he had a very large collection of rare Chris Craft boats, one of which was his prize Cobra, and they did some exceptional work with planked hulls. Wish I could have stuck around but as a young man he was too much of a "hot head" to deal with on a daily basis.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...ox+lake&qpvt=mineola+hotel+fox+lake&FORM=IGRE
http://www.mineolamarine.com/

 

[bajaunderground]

Years ago I watched a show on the company out of Wisconsin (?) that makes these modern, high-end wooden boats. If my memory serves me correctly, they didn't use the lap-strake style hulls, gorgeous boats just the same!

http://www.vandamboats.com/exotic-cu...ed-performance

 

[Ned L]

I have read about Vandam boats. Yep absolutely beautiful! Surprisingly there are still a fair number of 'niche' wooden power boat builders across the country that build stock product boats (though some of them are very high end).
Skiff Craft
Vandam boats
Hacker Craft
Raveau boats

Check out their web sites, some beautiful wood boats still being built today.

 

[Ned L]

We'll get the inside of he cabin under control ......

Starting to get things back together. All new paint.

Returning the original mahogany trim to the top of the bulkhead and above the forepeak companionway.

In the settee area (pics from a couple of posts above),.....the ceiling is back in and a mahogany shelf is back in.

New varnish, paint, put back together and done..

The dinette area was pretty much stripped of paint, cleaned up and repainted.

and looking better. The shelf under the side deck is back in.

 

[Ned L]

Oh yes, ...... We have to back track a bit. --- after replacing the main bulkhead I did get the back part of the cabin top replaced. -- That woul dbe this good looking piece.

So having replaced the aft 1/5 of the cabin top, and working on the front edge to rebuild the windshield I decided I really needed to replace the 'glass on top of the whole cabin top rather than try to patch it.
When the boat was built, the cabin top was covered with a cotton canvas that was then painted. A canvassed and painted surface like this can normally last 20 years or so (and looks just like it is fiberglassed). At some point years ago the canvas let go and was replaced with a fiberglassing job.
I had a good number of real hot days working in about 100? under the cover with an electric paint remover, removing the glass. Luckilly they had used epoxy, so the heat would soften it so it could be peeled up.

Quite a slow process.

After the old glass was off it was time for some fairing and sanding.

Next came laying a new layer of 6 oz cloth set in epoxy.

Here you can see the new section of cabin top. --- Most of it will be varnished.

one side done...

and both sides.

And here the companionway trim is back on, and a bit of stain & varnish.

Starting to look like things are going back together.

 

[Ned L]

At this time I thought I would take some time to put the forepeak at lease somewhat back together. What had started out looking like this

Had gone to looking like this

then this

and this

and finally getting a bit cleaned up.

When it came time to start putting the interior back in I started with the triangular partial bulkhead that forms the anchor rode locker. It turned out that with all the work the hull had changed shape and was actually about 1 /1/2" narrower up forward.
I came up with a spreader bar using a screw type bottle jack to spread the hull.

Lapstrake wooden hulls are really quite like big peach baskets and are quite flexible and do move and flex when in the water, so this was not all that unexpected.

Once the anchor rode locker bulkhead was back in place the other pieces went back in quite easily.

About all that is left to do up here are the locker doors (below the bunk), the water tank (all the way up in the forepeak and a hanging locker door (out of view to the left). Oh, and the two shelves to the left

 

[sphelps]

Amazing transformation ... But please tell me your finding a better upholstery pattern ...
The old stuff seems quite busy ...

 

[Ned L]

Amazing transformation ... But please tell me your finding a better upholstery pattern ...
The old stuff seems quite busy ...

Thank you!,... And yes, the upholstery is on the to be changed list.

 

[bajaunderground]

Thank you!,... And yes, the upholstery is on the to be changed list.

A boat of this quality/stature deserves leather?

 

[zool]

My take on upholstery would be blue and white cabana stripe, ala Hinkley....

 

[Ned L]

Agreed, ..... I'm thinking something Navy blue & white. Maybe just Navy blue with white piping, ... traditional that fits the boat.

Maybe something like this

 

[Woodonglass]

I REALLY like your vision on the upholstery!!! I think it would go well with that Vintage Boat!!!! If I lived across the street I'd do em for ya!!!!

 

[Ned L]

Thanks WOG! --- You might be glad you don't live across the street because that's an offer I might just take you up on. Lol
As is I will probably be making them myself, like everything else on this project.

 

[Woodonglass]

Let me know when the time comes if I can help with the upholstery. Do you have a machine?

 

[Ned L]

Thank you! We have a number of sewing machines, however they are varying levels of 'home use' machines, nothing like a Sail Rite or that level. My wife does a lot of sewing and has done some heavy upholstery slip covers in the past. .... Don't know if I can talk her into this project or not.
I have just about finished making a new Navy top for the boat (what people today call a Bimini top). I used some very heavy Nylon fabric for that. I was able to get that for about $2.00 a yd as I remember. At that cost I figured I would give it a try myself and see how it turned out, and I had the old Navy top that I could use as a pattern so I didn't have to 'design' anything. It was pretty shredded, but pattern worthy.
I'm not completely certain I will have new covers for this summer, but that upholstery will get replaced!

 

[fhhuber]

I did all of the sewing for reupholstering a car on my mom's 1960's era Singer machine. (She threw a fit when she caught me doing that...) Its a bit slow compared to a commercial upholstery machine, to use a common home grade machine, but gets the job done.

 

[Ned L]

Thanks, That's what I have found so far. Slow, but doable.