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For some reason unknown to me I decided to strip all of the hardware from Rainbow’s deck, make needed repairs and then repaint. It all started in January under the winter cover. Since the cover is dark blue, it was pretty warm when the sun was out.
My 10 year-old son and I removed the hardware (including patches of fiberglass) and it took about three days. My crew member does not yet share my afflicition for maniacal 10 hour stretches on the boat and he can only last about 3 hours. When he decided he wantd to earn and IPod and really work, $5 bought me 6 hours of labor. Same kid, but on a mission.
We first tried to use a heat gun to remove the layers of old paint. It worked on the old Lyman we had as kids, but it did not work well on Rainbow;the deck looked pretty beat up and mottled. Shifted to the power sander and 40 grit to get the old paint off. This worked well, but still a lot of work.
It turned into March and we were still not finished stripping. Swim meets have been rearing their ugly head (this is how I earn a weekend for the Rendezvous). The cover is now off and we are going at it hard. Once the cover was off, we needed to plug the holes in the deck left from the hardware in case it rained. I bought several dozen tapered plugs that are used for chair caning. Whenever I left, I plugged the holes and did not have to use tape. This worked well as the plugs swelled a little with the moisture and gave a good seal.
One problem that I wanted to solve this time was fixing the deck area where the the lifeline stanchions met the deck. The stanchions have three “feet” to them and dig into the wood over time, leaving indentations. Once the stanchions were pulled and the areas repaired, I had a nice flat surface. I couild also see where reapairs from prior owners had been made over the years. My solution was to make bases to sit under the stanchions and spread the load.
I bought an 8 foot length of 1/8 inch thick phospher bronze that was six inches wide. I cut it into triangle shapes with a slight curve at the outside edge to match the curve of the stanchion base. Phospher bronze is really hard and I chewed up a lot of saw blades to cut it out. I also has enough bronze to make backing plates. The bronze cost $250. Quotes from machinists to make the plates were 1.2 Dee and Don boat units ($1,200) and that to me was insane. So ignoring an engineer’s (brother Jim) advice, I did it myself.
Hopefully, the pictures have been posted that show all of this craziness. If not I will work on it. Right now, I am in the middle of getting things bedded down, and have some padeyes and genoa track to finish. Then comes the non-skid. The guys in the yard stay amused. I’ve been working on Rainbow for only 15 years so they need to give me a break.
I’ d love to se photos of the triangle bases….I was looking at the same issue, but not this year. Thought about fiberglass plate from McMaster carr – then just paint it. Glad to see other folks keep boatyards chuckling. I think this year I’ll put new oil in the engine and go sailing……
I did the same thing to my stanchion bases last year. My bases are trapazoidal rather than triangles. I used 1/4″ starboard. I bedded them to the deck with 5200 and left a space between the bases and the toe rail for water to drain by. So far they seem to be working great.
John,
I am extremely impressed with your business as usual attitude. Less than a month until defending your cup and you are still bedding hardware. Nerves of steel, I tell you! Crew Rest was on the hard for a simple 3-day bottom freshening and I finally got her back to her slip today—12 days later. Guess we are weather weenies down the bay here.
Speaking of yard chuckles—the guy next to me was pulling the toe rails off a Cape Dory “Super Typhoon” (cute 22 footer—Judy and I had a Typhoon almost 40 years ago). At any rate, the previous owners had used 3m 5200 and he was using a chisel and the teak was splintering every 6 inches. Lots of teak toothpick material available. When they say 5200 is for permanent bonding—they mean it.
Happy to send pictures to all who want them. Send your email address to jwf@brackenusa.com
John
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