Stanchion Refresh

One the problems I had with the stanchions on Great Ketch was how they were originally made - the lower hole in the stanchion was merely drilled through, rough edges and no filler. The rough edges were perfect for cutting into the life line coating, and a hole without any filler meant that water would enter the stanchion through the hole and drip down toward the inside based of the stanchion.

The lower hole was that it appeared to be drilled without any centering tool, which meant the hole was not circular nor centered.

While thinking about adding a port and starboard gate I located a marine shop that would fill the lower holes and bevel them and  polish the stanchions. Moreover, compared with the big projects they take on, they also treated me like a big time customer, and the price for the service was perfect.

< - - One may note the condition of the stanchion on the left of the screen - before a refresh. Rust, and awful hole with a dull look made the stanchion look worn out.

The web address of the company is www.whitewatermarineinc.com and my contact was Mike.  I sent two stanchions to them to work on and anticipated their return for my evaluation. I was very impressed; the lower hole was beveled and filled to match the upper hole and the polished job they did made the stanchion look brand new. I fitted the two returned stanchions back on my boat and sent two more stanchions. The folks at whitewatermarineinc are pros.

< - - The stanchion on the left displays a shine and the lower hole matches the upper hole. The synthetic lifeline has a protective tube to help mitigate against abrasion. I decided to replace the rusty worn stainless steel coated lifelines with Dyneema. The shine on the stanchion is very reflective. It is these little things that add up to make a boat really "pop."

A fantastic job by Mike.



-- - > the lower hole is beveled smooth and no longer cuts into the lifeline. Instead of the rusty vinyl coated stainless steel lifeline I now can use synthetic line.

The reader may be wondering why I had not sent in all the stanchions: I was using the stanchions as a structural support for my winter frame during the winter. I was afforded to only having two stanchions removed at a time in order to keep the integrity of by winter boat frame in place without risk.

Although I have not yet added the stanchion gate, as a result of my time spent on gel coat work, I still have the plan to add the gates in mind.

I highly recommend contacting Mike for anyone looking for quality work in fabrication and repair of marine metal work.

Refresh Cockpit

After all the attention to detail and work to prep the boat and waxing the final stage of Gel Coat work, I was able to enjoy the time on the boat this past summer while relaxing on what appeared to me a new boat - at least from the perspective of sitting in the cockpit.

I have placed a few photos below for your enjoyment and let you be the judge.

Side Note: No anti skid has been applied to the seats yet as I have to decide the color. During the sailing time or lounging about in the cockpit I placed Custom Covers over the seats. These covers (cushions) are closed cell foam and blue.

 Note the shine. I really like the Fleetwax product.

The blue cover protects the Garmin GMI display. It will also be replaced with a new cover.


Note the condition of the wheel, binnacle, and compass. I also replaced the throttle and gear shift cables. The cockpit shower has been installed yet because I want to make the cover for the box prior to installing the new shower faucets.

The new Smart Plug adds a nice touch of class and safety.

Note ---> The view upon walking along the slip to the cockpit. A very inviting and clean look. The work really shows a level of professional skill by a large measure.

Binnacle Gets Refreshed

While the snow was all about last winter and while working on GreatKetch on weekends, I occasionally spent time working on the wheel, the compass and binnacle.

Below are a few pictures of the work and condition  - in between sanding body work - in order to have variety in the improvements.

Left - Taking the binnacle off the boat, just before I got help it rested on the cockpit locker seat area.









Right - The wheel and compass post in my garage just begging for attention. Note the paint has peeled off the aluminum.

Tip: If water enters between the paint and metal it will corrode and will flake. To mitigate against corrosion, be sure to place silicon between all screw fittings and other fittings.

Left - Taking the screws out was not easy. They became part of the aluminum as the stainless steel fused with aluminum due to mixed metals. In most cases I needed to use an impact driver with heat, penetrating fluid and most of all - patience.






Right -  The screws here were most difficult because of the location as well as the fusion bond of the dissimilar metals.





Left -  After 30 years of no attention. In addition to silicon between fittings, it helps to apply metal polish or wax to help bead the water off.





Right - The base was not spared at all. Note all the dings that most likely chipped paint allowing water to get underneath.


My plan was to repaint, and replace screws with new, and clean the compass and add more fluid to it -- tired of looking at a bubble.

The completion of the cockpit work will be displayed soon.  I hope one can see the work involved based on the condition of the gelcoat, body work, and metal work that was needed to get Great Ketch looking better.

Cockpit Starting to Look Better

After the body work was completed in the cockpit, it was time to start spraying gel coat. Most folks would n't bother with such a task on account of all the work that is involved; moreover, the cost of labor to have someone perform this work is cost prohibited.

As for myself, I prefer to keep my gel coat skills sharp, and by taking on such a huge project, I was able to practice on outside corners, inside corners, and u shaped drainage areas located under the cock pit locker lids.

I have seen other professionals who perform gel coat work, and the really good ones are rare to find. My project was a simple white color, so I didn't have to fuss with color and flakes.

 The green tint is not the color of the gel coat; it is white. I am a purist when it comes to gel coat work, so there is no wax or other additives. Strictly pure gel coat with hardener and sealed to make it air tight for the cure to occur -- nice play on words here.

 The gel coat displayed in the picture on the right already had the sealant removed. All of sudden the cockpit is looking respectable. The amount of tape, and sandpaper used in this project is much. Lot's of sanding and sanding.

The bulkhead looks much better as well. The top part of this area had a very thin layer of original gel coat, I was able to notice very slightly the resin under the gel coat, but no longer is that the case. You  may note the bottle of ice tea waiting for me on the cockpit seat.

Cockpit Locker Lid Repairs

The seats (cockpit locker lids) needed repair as well. There was a dip that would allow water to pool on the seat. Although this pooling was nothing serious it was annoying to always have to lift the lid and wipe it down before sitting -- I do not always put out the Custom Cushion seats over the lids.


The port side lid had the largest dip. I was able to place a straight edge along the edge of the seat and slide a pencil under the straight edge. In addition to my desire to remove the dip I also wanted to add support to the lid underneath by glassing in a 1 x 2 mahogany wood.

The lid for the cockpit ice box needed attention as well. The lid is foam encased in fiberglass, and where the holes were made to fasten the hinge to the lid there was no support for the nuts that fastened underside to the lid. In order to make a strong support for the screw and nut I removed a 1 inch diameter of foam between the topside and bottom side of glass, and filled with epoxy. Afterwards, I drilled the appropriate size hole through the epoxy for the new screw and nut.

The lids shown here indicate the glass work needed to level the out the topside of the lid, as well as the cockpit icebox lid's condition. The results of the work will be coming soon in the next few posts. Please visit again to see the update.

 

Ugly Cockpit Part 2

 The work had continued during the late fall and winter months of 2016. Finding the voids, and drilling or routing them out so no hollow spots or tunnels made by voids remained took much time. The cockpit floor had many and I had proceeded to fill voids with filler in stages. The larger voids would be filled and sanded, then I would smooth over filler on the smaller voids.



Outside and inside corners were more challenging than the flat surface. One needed to be careful to shape the filler. On inside corners it was more of a challenge to sand the filler.

I must have enlarged my bicep by four inches after the sanding season was over. There was much work and effort performed here, and I have heard that preparation before spraying is 90 percent of the work. This effort felt like 190 percent of the work. Still I would sit in the cockpit on a nice sunset evening enjoying the moment, and occasionally notice the ugly looking cockpit; at such time I decided it is time to at least improve my recreational surroundings, and besides, it will increase my skills at body work and gel coat work.

Ugly Cockpit: Drilling Out Voids

Picture of the cockpit from the position of sitting on the bulkhead. The white tarp provides a dry and work area less wind, and sun. White tarp allows light into the area so it makes it easy to see the areas I need to address.

I spent many weekends during the winter months of 16-17 sanding, drilling and doing the body work to seal holes made by voids and other unwelcome surprises.


The wood that was on top of the cockpit coaming had been removed. The removal required me to slip a sawzall blade between the fiberglass and the wood trim and saw away. The bolts and adhesive just about made it impossible to remove the wood using any other method. The picture of the port side of the cockpit coaming also hints at the absence of the cockpit locker lid. These locker lids needed to be removed as well; they became their own project.

The cockpit had stereo speakers mounted aft within the cockpit. I am not a big fan of music in the cockpit for several reasons; 1) the magnetic field from the speaker may interfere with the compass and 2) listening to music although very enlightening and romantic in essence does oppose the safety rule of seamanship where one must always be alert by keeping watch with sight and sound -- eyes and ears --, and lastly, any big wave would have no trouble sounding out music while it crashes upon thy melodious moving it through onward to the depths of the cockpit bilge.

With that said, I didn't want to take on another project of closing the speaker holes; rather, I left them open and will replace with speakers and decide to fix with deck hatches.

Performing body work on inside corners are always a challenge; there is the limited angle caused by the inherent restricted area. Dye bits on grinders, or drill is limited, sanding becomes more of a challenge to when trying to get the perfect angle on the void.

The pictures on this post merely are examples of the early stages of prepping the cockpit for the refresh. After voids are examined for depth and length, filled, sanded and faired, the later stages of gel coat application would be served.

Ugly Cockpit

During the months of October to January, I started work on refreshing the cockpit. Everything would come out of the area. I took a few pictures so viewers can see how ugly the cockpit had become.

There were many voids, scratches, chips and cracks in the gel coat. The sun had also played a nice part in helping to make the cockpit look terrible. The wood that surrounded the cockpit was always adding time to the sanding and vanishing. Moist air form the cockpit lockers would permeate through the screw holes (holding the wood to the cockpit coaming) that the varnish would lift up from the wood. I decided to remove the troublesome wood.

The binnacle had been removed and it was not too easy. Bolts and cables were removed, and the boat was already on jack stands so easy does it when hoisting down a ladder. One can see the condition of the gel coat from the picture. Upon closer examination, I was able to see many pin holes from voids on the sole of the cock pit. Each void would require close inspection to determine if it traversed under the gel coat to other areas. I had no desire to revisit this area as a result of voids that I missed at this time of the work.

Of course when looking at a job like this one starts to ask the question "What have I gotten myself into?" I knew the if I could take the unit home, I could work on it in my garage. I would need to sand the paint off and paint new. Inspect the compass for leaks and replace or repair.

Here is the binnacle ready removed and resting on the cockpit seat.

During the winter month I did polish the ss wheel and U-Bar, cleaned the compass, replaced the wiring and cables, and repainted it. The plastic parts that were caps, or lids were repainted black.

A future update will display a reconditioned unit. Please keep checking back here. I have been so busy lately that the posts have stopped; however, I have taken many more pictures and will share more very soon.

Side note - If one were to pay someone to re gel coat an entire cockpit the labor costs alone would be very high. The amount of grinding, sanding, body work, and finally spray gel coat process demands a lot of time. I did the work because I am able, and when I sit in my boat I do not wish to be reminded of all the things that need attention. Once pictures of the finished job is posted, one may appreciate the "labor of love" aspect.

Binnacle Work Update

The previous post displayed pictures of the condition of the binnacle. After removing places and mounts each part was cleaned and wire stripped or sand blasted of paint and dirt. Some of the plates were pitted and they needed the indentions to be filled with filler in order to create a smooth surface for the primer and paint.

I discovered several parts that needed to be improved, fixed, or replaced. The list below indicated the areas need of attention:


Compass had a Bubble - may need to replace if can not fix leak.

Throttle Cable Worn in Protective Cover - replace cable.

Compass Light Wire Splices - too many splices discovered. Replace wire.

Steering Mechanism Lubrication - Apply new grease to gears.

Binnacle Metal Plate Pitted - lean, prime and repaint.

Fasteners Distorted - replace screws

Binnacle Guard Dirty - clean and buff the rail to a shine


While I apply effort on the above list, I have ordered a new cable and have spent time repairing cracks and chips in the cock pit ice box lid. Three other cockpit lids are getting scrutiny as I make plans for work on them.

Cleaning for a New Direction

The work in the cockpit has taken a pause on account of the weather, I have been working inside where heat is easier to apply to the work area. My work shop is filled with epoxy type work and some of my projects are in the garage. I took the binnacle off Great Ketch and hung it from the beams in the garage. Note how it is suspended so that I need not require hunching over the project.


Objective: Clean the binnacle, remove the flaking paint, clean the throttle mechanism, repair any issues in the throttle/gear box, paint the aluminum parts, polish the stainless steel guard, lubricate moving parts, and add fluid to the compass.


The pictures show the areas where the paint starting flaking off the aluminum. When the paint is scratched, chipped, or worn then water can easily find its way between the metal and the paint. When water becomes trapped under the paint you can bet that corrosion will be the result. The best way to avoid the flaky popping bubble type of paint flaking is to try to prevent it from happening at all. Typically areas where metal has attachments points (Screws, bolts, or other) it is common for paint to be scrapped off or chipped. Once that tiny hole is available for water, its only a matter of time before water works is way under the paint.


On Great Ketch, one can see the most damage at the base, where there were many dents, and scratches and on the plate, where water sat and found its way through tiny holes where screw holes were. I took a wire brush to the base and the paint flew off just from the breeze caused by the rotating wire spindle. Seriously, the paint was in very poor condition.


Removing the stainless screws that held the plate onto the binnacle post was a challenge. The screws where frozen in the aluminum mount and it required two days of penetrating fluid and large screw driver and impact driver to coax and tease the screws out. The key is patience and vibration.

Once the cockpit has been completed in the spring -- I will gel coat the entire area -- then the refreshed binnacle will be placed into the boat and cables connected.

These 33' cat ketches were originally designed for a tiller. Note how the transom hung rudder extends higher than the cockpit. Hull #1 has a tiller and I believe Hull # 2, The wheel was an option during the build from order.

The picture toward left shows the binnacle without the compass, compass mount, stainless steel support mounts, and the throttle and gear box. Once I have completed this project I shall post the final project.

Happy New Year 2017

Happy New Year 2017. 

Great Ketch has is on the hard and been getting much attention; all in the winter project category. These projects are separated into three main areas.

1) Cockpit Refresh: bodywork to fill dents, gauges, scratches, and voids, and sanding as part of preparation for a new spray gel coat finish – to be sprayed during the warmer months of spring. This project requires the most hours of labor. There is much sanding to be done, shaping, and prep work before any gel coat is applied. One can see the amount of voids the cockpit possessed. I suspect that these cat ketches were not vacuumed cured. Helm steering binnacle will be cleaned and painted where appropriate. 

2) Stanchions: two new stanchions were fabricated so that I can fix a gate on starboard and port side of Great Ketch; old stanchions will be refreshed. New lifelines and appropriate hardware.

3) Miscellaneous: these projects include, hot water removal clean and refixed, new thermostat and new hoses. cockpit locker bilge area to be cleaned and repainted, cockpit locker lids reinforced with fiberglass/epoxy and new vents for waste tank and propane locker, new shorepower electrical wire inside boat, replacement of 30amp shorepower plug with SmartPlug, and electrical work. Varnish work on cabinet door and cabin sole bilge panel.

Three areas of project work is plenty when one considers the amount of work required for any one specific task; therefore, my future blogs will address the different projects and progress made. This blog entry is to provide readers with advanced notice of the content to expect within the next few weeks. These projects will each be assigned their own blog posting. 

Although not a movie trailer, the pictures below represent part of the three project areas that are worked interchangeably and intermittently during the winter months.