chucklane92
Fair winds and following seas
True fact!Signal Charlie & Skipper always have the coolest hulls & rigs... decal-and-paint-job-wise, don'tcha know???
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True fact!Signal Charlie & Skipper always have the coolest hulls & rigs... decal-and-paint-job-wise, don'tcha know???
For the uninitiated:Well, my Minifish with its Confederate Gunboat theme, Pirate theme, and Old West theme really garnered some attention in Dago, with tourists aboard the cattleboats lining the rails and clicking or filming away... same for folks on the waterfront, Embarcadero, etc., I even had school buses full of kids debarking and tramping down the Embarcadero while hollering, "I LIKE YOUR SAIL!!!"
And when I wore my Santa cap around Christmas, folks aboard other boats would film me under way, go figure... thankfully I was incognito in my usual sailing attire, baggy pants & shirt, sunglasses, sailing gloves & nautical footgear, the whole nine yards. My sunglasses were the most expensive component in that ensemble, LOL... oh, yeah, they were also on a goon cord so I wouldn't lose 'em, aye?
Me own beloved & dear departed mum wouldn't have recognized me under way, and that's just the way I wanted it... but I must admit I was a bit of a showboatin' fool as I streaked past the cattleboats, standing upright and surfing the Fish like some Hawaiian @$$hole at the Banzai Pipeline, LOL. Oh, yeah, and CHUGGIN' a quart o' beer in a custom purple neoprene Costa Rican cooler cup slung over my shoulder with climbing gear, YEAH???
AAAAAAH, THE GOOD OL' DAYS!!! SO MUCH FUN BACK IN THOSE TIMES... BUT NOW I'M LEARNING HOW TO HAVE A BLAST IN THE BRAVE NEW THIRD WORLD, ESPECIALLY WITH THIS KICK@$$ GUBMINT JOB AND ALL ITS BENEFITS, LOL.
I'M POUNDING SOME DELICIOUS BLOODY MARYS WITH FRESH KEY LIME JUICE SQUEEZED INTO THE MIX & THE DRINKS DON'T SUCK...
CHEERS, YOUSE NAUTICAL HEE-ROES!!! I'M BACK TO THIS SURFING FLICK IN THE HIGH DESERT, LOL.
Looks like I may be able to go natural on the deck like I want. YAY!!!
For the uninitiated:
Dago=San Diego
Embarcadero=Street in California
Epoxy it, 2 coats. If you don't like it, you can put epoxy paint over the top of that.
I've been of two minds on this deck question:Deck, paint or natural? definitely pain on sides and underside of hull
I've been of two minds on this deck question:
1). It's going to look like plywood...
2). It's going to look like wood!
Wood would be more-better.
I think the natural deck is the way to go. I’d probably do the whole boat without paint. Any wood, even plywood, looks beautiful when stained and properly sealed. I love taking an old neglected piece of wood and bringing out the beauty in it- oars, rudders, daggerboards and decks!
What about stain to even the color out first?
Try straight epoxy with clear hardener on a section of the bottom. 2 coats. If you don't like it try the stain next. I personally don't think you need the stain.
Here's ZIP with 2 coats of West System 105 Resin/207 Special Clear Hardener. The 207 will not yellow like other hardeners. Every now and then she'll give us a peek of her Interlux Brightside Fire Red bottom, but she mostly sails flat. I never saw the need to do any more than this, skipped the varnish as she gets very little UV exposure.
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I like the areas where you can see flecks of her original red paint.
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She had a strange repair under the starboard coaming where there had been some wood rot, I have no idea what the repair chunks were but they are hard as iron. The coaming mostly covers it and someday I'll cut that out and put in a new dutchman.
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Meanwhile it's part of her heritage.
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Galloping Horse.
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I highly recommend that you consider adding a rubrail and toe rail. They look great and the toe rail is functional. After some research I believe this model is what Alcort called the Sailfish 14 Deluxe, it had an added splashguard and rails, she dates around 1953. The aluminum spars are not period correct. I'll fix that someday as well.
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Note the incorrect bow handle, it does not have the tab that covers the top of the stem.
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Found old new stock on ebay
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Then there is a 16 inch keel strip that wraps the bottom of the stem.
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A full paint job looks good too. We have used single part epoxy paint, oil enamel and single part polyurethane over primer, the primer is the bridge between the epoxy and the paint.
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As an aviator, you'll appreciate this anecdote.
Then there is a 16 inch keel strip that wraps the bottom of the stem.
This is very helpful, the keel strip is the one area where there is damage. I plan on replacing it. Now I know what to expect and I will go with your recommendation on the size. Thanks again!Alcort tried a lot of things. The toe rail covered the top of the rub rail, and they both worked to protect the deck seam. We used some solid pine trim from Lowes that I cut down to a width that would take the toe rail deck curve. The toe rail is eased with a tiny roundover bit on each top edge, enough so it doesn't skin a leg with a sharp edge. The rub rail top edge is square so that it nestles under the toe rail, and the rub rail bottom edge is eased.
We saw two different style keel strips. Keep in mind that the keel strip has a T shape so that it nestles in between the bottom plywood panels and also overlaps the edge of the panel to protect it. The keel strip on the 1963 wooden Sunfish was about 3/8th inch proud, the keel strip on the Super Sailfish was about 3/4 inch. We split the difference and designed what we call the "Hunter Skeg" that will help the boat track straight and resist leeway, especially if used as a kayak or SUP, but is not so big to be a hindrance to tacking. Sea Trials were successful.
Hunter Skeg Photos
Hunter Skeg. Shown before we rounded the edges with a 1/8th inch roundover bit on a compact trim router.
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It looks great! What product did you go with? Stained first, or did the sealer darken the wood?
She'll need to be light sanded anyway, that fir will be a little fuzzy and most likely the sealer raised the grain a tiny bit.
She'll need to be light sanded anyway, that fir will be a little fuzzy and most likely the sealer raised the grain a tiny bit.
It just occurred to me that the plywood's light grain is slightly raised above the dark grain. (Winter growth=light grain/summer growth=dark grain)
To increase contrast (make it more "zebra-like"), a light sanding will increase the contrast.
Just a thought.