Bristol Channel Cutter Elizabeth

Watertight Decks
I bedded down the forward dorade receptacle and the mast partner thinghy. I’m using Life Caulk for these jobs. I bed it down and tighten the screws a bit, then leave it about 24hrs. The next day I tighten it down proper. I leave the splooged out caulk another day to fully cure then trim it off with a razor blade. In other words, I just follow the manufacturers directions! It comes out pretty clean and just needs a little extra clean up in a few spots. So far that has worked pretty well for me. This allowed me to remove the wretched blue tarp and I can now wash down the decks, and topsides in preparation for some compound and wax.

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Finally got the bobstay chainplates design completed last night. Rosie and I were up until 2am getting this just right. Massive thanks to Rosie for his help with all the measuring and for drawing this out in Vector Works. I dropped the plans off at Ramsay Welding & Fabrication this morning. Here’s what I ended up doing, I think it will be gorgeous, very traditional looking and rather sensible. But, damn, it took a long time to get here; worrying, measuring, re-measuring, going back and forth between casting and machining, bronze and Stainless… hemming and hawwing… rather like Dashey Noyes, from Lincoln Colcord’s story Carrying Sail.

Although I don’t think I’ll meet my August 7th launch ‘deadline’, I’m putting in long days and keeping up the momentum in hopes of being damn close…

The Rig
The Rig is finished, all served up in marlin and a few in wire. I learned from Jeff at Rigging Only and Brion Toss via his forums, that I should have served the wire where it bends around the thimble to prevent the strands from loosening and getting out of position… oh well too late. Serving took me about 10 hrs, roughly 30 minutes each, with set up etc. Both Brion and Jeff agreed that serving isn’t going to promote corrosion to the degree that would cause alarm. I’m going to guess I spent a total of about 70 hrs on the rig. It took a long time. With the additional expenses of a marlin, thimbles, some new toggle jaws, paying Myles for his time, I think my overall cost of the rig is about $2,000. I will do a detailed expense analysis soon… I’m scared.

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Just the way mom used to make ‘em. Interprime on the ’sprit makes the light at the end of the tunnel brighter. CPES takes a long time to dry, and freaks me out. Vacuum Sanding makes alot more noise, but alot less mess. Shiney Stars will guide me home someday.

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Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer
Sunny, warm, blue skies… I’ve got some CPES mixed up and it’s going in the swiss cheese, I mean, new holes I drilled at the forward Cowl Vent Deck Hole. I used System Three Rot Fix on these holes originally. But I thought the cure time was rather fast, and had suspicions the penetration wasn’t as thorough as I had hoped. So I decided to give CPES a try… it’s advertised to have superior penetration due to its high content of solvents and a long cure time, between 4-12 hrs. I poured some into the holes yesterday evening before I left for the night. Thought I’d give it the night to cure… too bad it poured cats and dogs about an hour after I left.

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June came and went…

After a week (felt like eternity) tending to non-boat stuff (like taking my Dad on a mini-vacay) I’m back in Danvers, making headway on my projects, with a launch goal of August 7th. This will get me in the water with a few days to spare before heading to Maine for Rosie & Darrahs wedding. A shakedown sail indeed!

Bowsprit Glue Joint Repair
While I was splicing with Myles, I grabbed a scrap piece of Doug Fir, and had it cut down to fit into my Dremel tooled bowsprit trench. The Dremel tool is NOT the right tool, but I’m making due with what I have. I think I have earned the right to call myself an official Wood Butcher. The Piece cut didn’t fit, so I had to widen my already sloppy trench a 1/16″ or so. Won’t be a beautiful job, but it should be strong enough I reckon. Good thing I plan to paint the inner half!

The Bobstay Chainplate Saga
I finally decided to definitely replace the glassed in stainless steel bobstay chainplate with an external bronze piece. But I’m still not sure if I should go with a machined plate design, or a cast design. Here I have mocked up quickly, a cardboard version of the machined bronze plate design. I’m not sure I like the idea of the gap between the stem and where the two plates would meet. Structurally, I don’t think it would matter. But visually and in preparation for “hitting things”, I’m not sure it would be the best design. So, I also am working on a pattern for a cast bronze chainplate. I tried my hand at a wood pattern, but with my lack of skills and tools, it was a disaster. So, I thought, why not try a fiberglass version. I gave it a shot, seems to be working so far. Still more fairing and building up to do here of course… Bondo time!

Stripping The Bulwarks
What a task this is! I didn’t have any clue about how time consuming this process would be. I’ve been using a paint stripper and a scraper to get the majority of the paint off. It’s not hard work, but is very time consuming, and I haven’t really gotten too detailed with it yet; the corners and grooves etc. The Sterling 2 part Linear Polyurethane paint has been ordered, and will be here next Thursday. Thank god for Port Supply discounts, that paint is not cheap.

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