Priming Day

     Saturday, February 12th, I spent the day sanding and painting.  Finally, I ended the obnoxious blue cabinets above the ice box and sink.  No longer will these blue monsters stare me down as I move about below.  I began with scuffing up and removing any loose material using 80 grit paper.  After vacuuming most of the sanding dust, I wiped the surfaces down with solvent.  I taped off the counter-to-cabinet vertical surfaces, and generally prepped for painting.  I used Interlux Pre-Kote as the primer; and will eventually come back with two coats of Interlux Brightsides. 

     Here is the port cabinet primed.  The port cabinet sits atop the ice box (just out of the picture); the starboard cabinet its atop of the sink - not shown on this post.

     After I finished up with the cabinets, I turned my attention to the cabin sole.  I had, a few months back, coated the cabin sole with a coat of 'neat' epoxy in order to further seal any exposed marine ply.  So prior to priming, I sanded the surface just aft of the bilge access lid and up toward the aft portion of the v-berth.  After vacuuming and solvent washing the surface, I primed with Interlux Pre-Kote.  Bilge access lid removed, and bilge is visible in picture below; the hooks shown below are to secure the companionway ladder entering and exiting the cabin.

     After finishing the interior priming, I had plans to sand the first coat of the topsides paint (pink) and prepare for the second round.  So, I taped off the companionway, the deadlights, the portlight on the forward portion of the coach roof, and the forward hatch.  I then sanded around the tape line marking the lower portion of the topsides paint (waterline), and began to sand the remainder of the topsides.  However, with limited time, I knew I could not complete the sanding of the topsides without neglecting my other goal for the day...so I decided to save the sanding of the topsides for another day - likely just prior to the painting the second coat of topsides paint.  Here is a picture of the companionway secured with plastic sheeting to prevent sanding dust from settling on the newly primed interior surfaces.

    I then turned my attention to the cockpit.  It had been awhile since I applied the first coat of primer to the cockpit, and since I sanded, filled, and faired the gelcoat blemishes.  So, I was exited to unify the look of Froonie's decks with a good prime coat on her cockpit surfaces.  I sanded all surface aft of the coach roof with 220 grit, vacuumed and solvent washed to prepare for primer.  I then mixed the two part primer that I had been using on the exterior surfaces - Interlux Primekote - and set aside for the twenty minute induction time.  While I waited through the induction time, I mixed a small batch of epoxy, thickened with silica and micro-balloons, and filled the rough epoxy work I did for the aft chain plate to seat on.  Once I concluded this fairing application, the Primekote was ready to use.  I thinned with 2333N, and began priming the cockpit surfaces.  Results below; and that wrapped up a day's work.

Finishing Up Froonie's Ceiling

     For Friday, January 29th, I decided to finish up with the ceiling.  The aft, port quarterberth was the only section left uncompleted - for the ceiling that is.  In previous weeks, I had sanded this aft quarterberth, glued up the backing strips, tabbed the strips to the hull, and painted.  I had just to hang the individual ash boards today.

     Below is a picture showing the aft, port quarterberth ceiling installed, or nearly complete.

     ...I shaped an additional board in the lower section, in the area where the ceiling transitions to the settee top.  Ceiling in!

    So then I decided to get cute with a razor knife.  Attempting to remove 40 year-old adhesive from the back of one of the ceiling strips, I had the fleeting thought to use my sander when...WHAMO!  I sunk the edge of that blade into my palm.  Ouch!!!  Well, it wasn't five minutes later that Dr. Bill Long phoned me - another owner of a Sea Sprite 23, and also doing a restoration.  Through his very generous and gracious heart, I am all closed up now and feeling better.  THANK YOU DR. LONG!

                     (felt worse than it looks)

Interior Painting

     Prior to taking a short vacation to visit family in California, I spent some time prepping the settees and storage lockers for paint, and then painting.  I had also applied paint to the locker lids after removing them from the boat. I used Interlux Pre-Kote on the settee tops and locker lids, as well as the overhead and underside of the cockpit sole surfaces.  For the top coat, I used Interlux Brightside (Off White).

     Here is a 'before' picture of the starboard settee / quarter berth prior to removal of the ceiling, eventual re-installation of the ceiling, sanding and painting of the settee.  

     ...and the 'after' shot of the starboard settee / quarter berth.  The blue you see in the photo is mahogany trim that has been tapped off.

     ...the port settee / quarter berth.

     ...close-up of the starboard storage locker and lid.

     ...and finally the forward v-berth.

Painting V-Berth & Lockers

On Saturday, November 20th, I made it back down to Froonie for a few items on the ever present (seemingly never ending) list of items to do for completion of the restoration. My next restoration will be closer to where I lay my head down at night - the commute to Froonie swallows roughly an hour of what could be productive time. Anyway, I was thankful to get back down for some work. In addition to installing the mast beam, I finished sanding the v-berth lockers in order to get ready for paint. After unwrapping my body from the contortions required to reach into these awkward spaces, I vacuumed the sanding dust and wiped down all surfaces with acetone.

I began by painting the lockers; and used Interlux Pre-Kote gray for these spaces. I used a foam roller (cheap throw-away from the BORG - "Big Orange Retail Giant"). The tight corners were hit with foam brushes. I had nearly enough of the Interlux gray Pre-Kote, but will need to come back with another application and to hit some areas that I had to leave unpainted due to lack of material. You can see from the picture below, I had completed the lockers and that I was moving on to the v-berth platform.

For the v-berth platform, I used Interlux Pre-Kote white. I will need to come back for a second coat on these surfaces. Ultimately, the v-berth platform will be painted with Interlux Brightsides.

Ceiling Installation

I took Thursday, October 21st, as a day of vacation and spent a few hours on Froonie re-installing the v-berth ceiling. It is good to be putting so much of Froonie back together...the prep work has been a long, long process.

I took the original ash ceiling down as part of the initial deconstruction process, numbering and bundling them for future use. I sanded a lot of grime off the boards during a previous day on the restoration, but they have invariably picked up dust from a lot of project work in the interior. I vacuumed the boards during today's installation, but will need to come back at some point in the future with a light solvent wash down. In removing the original ceiling, I also took the opportunity to remove the ceiling backing strips, grind off the polyester tabbing and prepare for new backing strips and re-installation. Once the new backing strips were tabbed in (West System epoxy), I put a few coats of Bilgekote (Interlux) on and finished with a topcoat of Brightside (Interlux). This work has brought me to today...ceiling installation...

Here is the v-berth ready for her ceiling to go back in. You can see the starboard forward ceiling boards bundled below. I separated the ceiling boards into four bundled: starboard fore and aft, and port fore and aft; and numbered them to make the install that much easier.

Here is the first starboard board installed. I put up the boards without fasteners (holding them in place was a little difficult) to get the spacing correct; the middle board here presented itself as the best starter board to balance the completed installation.

Starboard side completed.

I followed the same procedure for the port side installation - dry fit without fasteners, and then began with the middle board.

The install took roughly three hours, and helped to push the restoration forward quite a bit. I will be turning my attention to the aft quaterberths / settees next.

Bilgekote for Chain Locker & Forward Berth Hull Sides

During the week of August 9th, I further sanded and painted the hull and chain locker. I am painting the hull just in the forward area with Bilgekote because it will have a ceiling installation - wood strips running horizontal to the berth - the chain locker gets the Bilgekote naturally.

I included the picture below to give you a sense of what the interior looked like prior to the backing strip re-installation and subsequent painting.

So, on to the painting. Here is the forward berth hull sides and chain locker painted with Interlux Bilgekote. The bulkhead you see just aft of the chain locker will be covered with a mahogany panel, and will serve to "dress-up" the berth. You can see the backing strips epoxied to the hull, awaiting the ceiling strips...

...another shot of the forward berth:

...yes, another shot of the forward berth - looking to port:

...and finally, another shot of the forward berth - looking to starboard:

Bilgekote On Backing Plates / Hull Behind Ceiling

For Saturday, the 3rd of July, I sanded the fiberglass tabbing installed on the ceiling backing strips. You can see the fiberglass tabs over the thickened epoxy fillets on the forward most starboard backing strip (see picture below).

Arriving at Froonie, I water washed the newly applied fiberglass tabs, and generally prepared to sand the tabs and surrounding areas for paint application. Using 80-grit paper, I made my way through each of the backing strips on the forward section only. After sanding, I vacuumed the surfaces and solvent washed the area in preparation for paint.

I decided to use Interlux Bilgekote for the interior of the hull. I chose the Bilgekote simply because it will eventually be hidden from view by the ash wood ceiling strips, and also because it stands up well to water and oil intrusion...not that I will be splashing diesel full within the forward berth. I plan to use Interlux Brightsides for the balance of the cabin interior that will be visible. I ran out of time (other commitments), so this is the forward starboard hull partial first coat.

I also sanded all surfaces surrounding the newly placed seacock backing plates, including the transition into the bilge. Again, here I sanded with 80-grit paper, vacuumed the surface and then solvent washed in preparation for paint. Bilgekote was also used in this area.

Ceiling Backing Strips & Primer...Really!?

Friday, April 2nd, Good Friday, was observed at my place of employment...so, I took a portion of the day to accomplish some work on Froonie's ceiling. Not the ceiling you might imagine; the hull sides (interior) fixed with strips of ash, or other wood species, is referred to as the ceiling. I had first began this reconstruction a couple months ago with the port side of the v-berth. I had a time getting the backing strips, which will eventually enable the wood strips to be hung, to lay flat against the hull - I resorted to a lot of bracing to push the backing strips flush to the hull as the epoxy cured. It dawned on me a couple weeks after that I just need to remove material from the back side of the strips to allow them to take the contour of the hull. The picture below shows the cuts made in one of the backing strips; the cuts are not fully through the strip, but enough to allow it to be deformed by the curvature of the hull. Here is the starboard side of the v-berth's ceiling backing strips laid out, ready to be affixed to the hull. Since I decide to simply sand and reuse the original ceiling, I needed to properly lay out where the backing strips would be tabbed to the hull's interior. There are proper positions for the ceiling backing strips due to existing screw holes in the ceiling boards. To find the exact position of the backing strips, I placed the numbered ceiling boards onto the hull (one at a time), marking with a pencil on the hull the location of the screw holes. After the exercise with nearly all of the boards, I had a very firm position marked from berth to overheard of where the backing strips were to be placed. The process for affixing the backing strips was pretty simple: solvent wash the hull's surface, then mix West System epoxy with 407 microballoons and 406 collodial silica to a thickened consistency, apply to the back of the ceiling backing strips and place in their respective positions on the hull's surface. The duct tape served as further insurance in keeping the strips right where they needed to be as the epoxy cured. Next two photos show the v-berth and quarter berth on starboard side completed. The strips are a plastic / composite material. First application of primer! Here is a picture showing Interlux PreKote over recently prepared cabin surface. My reason for this relatively small portion being primed is that I am eager to install the mast reinforcement beams - which have been completed. Just forward of this portion, on Froonie's overhead, I have also primed. Next step will be to sand, apply a second coat of primer, sand again, followed by two coats of topcoat...then mast beams get bolted in!

Sanding Marathon

For the weekend of March 27th and 28th, I took to the respirator and goggles and became intimately familiar with every undulation of the interior's visage (already being equally familiar with Froonie's hull and deck). For Saturday, the 27th, I was able to stretch my energy across a 10 and one half hour sanding session, and just about finished up prepping the interior for Interlux PreKote primer. The pictures are pretty self-explanatory (you just don't get the same wrist, elbow, and shoulder pain that I walked into the work week with). For the interested, I used 60-grit pads on a DeWalt VS Random Orbital sander - yeah, I know, but I was out of my pressure sensitive 5" disks for my Porter 7335. ....the following took 24 60-grit pads...

....ouch!

Mast Beam Final

In the last week of 2009, I continued work on the mast beams. It was time to bed the beams in thickened epoxy (West System, w/ 407 and 406). After creating a template of the overhead and cutting out the beams, with a number of subsequent cuts here and there as well as a whole lot of sanding, I planned to bed the beams in epoxy to create a very snug fit against the overhead.

First step was to prepare the overhead for a good bond with the epoxy. I sanded the old primer / paint to expose the fiberglass along the length of the original mast support beams. I then finished up with an acetone wipe down.

Next, I taped my newly formed mast beams to protect against the epoxy application. Here are the two beams as they were prepared to be bedded in the thickened epoxy mixture.

I didn’t take pictures of the beams as they were bedded in the epoxy, but all came out satisfactory. After the epoxy had cured, I removed the beams, washed the amine blush from the surface of the epoxy and then sanded to accept primer - eventually. I finished the day by removing the tape from the beams, and giving them a once over sanding with 100 grit paper. The tape removal was not an easy task, but was completed nevertheless.

I took the beams home and prepared them for a coating of teak oil.

I did not plan on varnishing the oak beams, but instead wanted to dress the wood with a protective layer of oil. Here are the before and after shots.

I ordered some 316 stainless bolts, washers, and locking nylon nuts.

These will secure the new beams to the existing original mast support.

Mast Beam Part III + misc.

It has been quite some time since I have blogged on the restoration of Froonie, and almost as long since I have dedicated any significant amount of time to the restoration. You know how it is...the Holidays keep us occupied with what is really important - friends and family, and the reason for the season!

The work here was done in the first half of December, with most of my time spent working on the new mast support beams. Over the course of the work I decided against glassing the beams in. The reason I have decided to leave the beams open and visible is due mostly to potential future repairs, adjustments. So, I will sand and apply oil to the oak beams, and finish off by bolting to the original mast support with stainless lag bolts. Here is a picture showing the dry fitting of the new mast beams. The original mast support is seen sandwiched between the new oak beams.

The forward hatch frame (built as part of the overhead) needed some fairing work. I imagined that the surface where the overhead transitioned into the hatch frame, when painted, would show a lot of gouges and haphazard-looking glass work.

So, I have undertaken a few fairing applications to bring the surface smoothed and finished in appearance. In addition, the top of the raised frame had areas where the fiberglass had broken away - likely as a result of careless size 12s entering and exiting the hatch opening. Since this was the third of three fairing applications, it is difficult to see where the fiberglass was laid to correct the areas that had been chipped. I wrapped a piece of cardboard in plastic and clamped it to the lip portion of the frame to hold the fiberglass cloth in place, and then built successive layers of epoxy filler until I had recreated the original lip of the frame. Here is the final fairing application. The frame has now been sanded, and is ready for primer.

After a lot of work removing the old ceiling backing strips, grinding the old tabbing off, and fairing the surface in preparation for reinstallation, I have now entered the phase of building back the ceiling work. For the backing strips, I have chosen to use a synthetic moulding product purchased from one of the big box home stores. The material is a composite plastic / foam product that should stand up well to the damp environs of a boat, and that works cooperatively with epoxy resins.

The material is approximately 2" wide by 1/4" thick, and takes the hull shape well through encouraging it to flex. My biggest headache is in not having a good process to keep the backing strip pressed securely to the hull while the thickened epoxy cures - thus the large amounts of duct tape, and the board wedged in there. Whatever works! Now that I am writing this, I still have not progressed past this first backing strip installation, and I need to give the process some more thought to come up with an easier method.

One small item that I needed to address, as I am preparing for topsides primer in the near future, was to remove the bow u-bolt, fill with thickened epoxy, and fair to a smooth surface. The overall length of the Sea Sprite 23', and its relative shallow draft, allow for it to be trailered. I have seen some owners craft mast raising devices in order to trailer the sailboat - the u-bolt on Froonie might have allowed for this.

Of course, it may have also been a convenient mooring point as well. Regardless, I thought it hurt the lines and looked a bit tacky, so I removed. The bolt was secured with washers and nuts on the backside of a wooden wedge block in the bow. I removed the rusty bolts, sanded both the wood block and hull, cleaned with acetone, and generally prepared for reinstallation of the block. I painted neat epoxy on the hull and coated all sides of the wood block. Next, I mixed up some thickened epoxy, applied it to the hull directly, placed a sheet of 6 oz fiberglass cloth over the epoxy and further saturated the cloth with neat epoxy, and finally bedded the wood block into the epoxy and onto the glass cloth. Lastly, I wrapped the 6 oz cloth over the wood block, sealing the entire assembly. The picture appears as though patches of the cloth remained dry - I believe this was a result of the camera flash, as the cloth was laid up correctly and properly wet-out.

Finally, progress thus far on the engine well is coming in fits of inspiration. There are a number of things to complete for the restoration of Froonie, and at times my mind gets a bit overwhelmed with the to-do list, so I jump around a lot instead of focusing my efforts on one area.

This, by the way, should be a lesson for all new or would-be project owners - inventory the boats needs meticulously, organize your required tools and materials, and focus your efforts! The engine well is coming along nicely, scatterbrain approach notwithstanding; and the picture is showing the process of fairing the sides. I am using #407 fairing filler and West System. You will notice the larger opening at the very bottom of the picture, and the notch cut out in the extreme aft of this opening. The opening is for the outboard motor's prop to be lowered through; the notch will be enclosed eventually (fiberglass and fairing to a finished surface).

Mast Beam Part II

My next step was to prepare two 6 foot lengths of red oak 1x4s. I sanded the surfaces, and wiped them down with acetone to remove all sanding debris. I mixed a small pot of “neat” epoxy, and painted the surfaces to be laminated. After the epoxy had ben applied, I placed the boards together under clamps, wiped off the excess epoxy oozing from the pressure clamps, and set the lamination aside to fully cure.

I waited a couple of days before proceeding with applying the template. My first step was to remove the clamps (non of the clamps were epoxied to the board), and run over the laminated board with my Dewalt VS ROS to form a “clean” surface onto which I could transfer the template. After sanding, I laid out the duct tape template and secured with the clamps after making sure that it was laying correctly. I then placed a pencil mark at each point of each dowell, and connected the dots.

I then took my Ryobi jigsaw to the laminated beam and cut out the template. After the excess material was removed, I ran my Dewalt VS sander over the entire surface area, as well as rounded all edges and corners. The new mast support will bascially replicate what the PO did, though mine will be glassed in and painted over. I will, again, sandwich the original forward mast beam between the red oak laminations, securing with recessed bolts and allowing for fiberglass to be applied.