Welcome! This blog is dedicated to recording repairs and upgrades to J/30 Hull #443, Hullabaloo.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
LAUNCH DAY
A view from the lift
Up the River & Into the Harbor
The Cold Crew
The Not So Cold Crew
HANDRAILS
New handrails have been installed. The cabin top rails are teak. The interior rails are white ash to match what had previously been in their place. Both sets were replaced as the exterior rails had been sanded so many times they were really wearing thin and the interiors were substantially stained from water. I used the old rails as approximate templates to make the new rails.
I've changed the connection detail so that the rails are attached through the deck with a screw and washer. The original configuration had the rails connected together through the deck with threaded rod and a nut on either end of the threaded rod. The nut connection was sunk into the handrails and capped with a wood plug. I was not a fan of this configuration as maintenance requiring the rails to be removed required drilling out the plugs.
The debate is on as to whether or not the exterior rails are 'crew friendly'. They give a nice handhold in rough weather but they tend to clutter up the deck a bit.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
ALMOST READY
The bottom is painted, the deck is cleaned, the teak is refinished and we're almost set for launch on Monday. All that is absolutely needed before launch is to buff and wax the topsides, which should happen today, Saturday, and Sunday.
Other things on the list are to install handrails that I had build a couple of years ago and not installed as well as putting the instruments in place and building a new mounting bracket for the instrument on the mast. These things will hopefully get wrapped up this weekend.
Other things on the list are to install handrails that I had build a couple of years ago and not installed as well as putting the instruments in place and building a new mounting bracket for the instrument on the mast. These things will hopefully get wrapped up this weekend.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
COCKPIT SEAT REPAIR - COMPLETE!
The seat repair is complete! Once the 2000E was dried, I sanded it out using a combination of a 6" random orbit sander and hand sanding (on the edges). After sanding, I re-taped off the area to be painted. Lesson learned...make sure the tape is adhered well along its edges. I had a bit of paint that seeped under the edges of the tape in a few areas. Nothing anyone is going to notice except me, but it is a fine detail I will pay closer attention to next time.
After the sanding was complete, the surface was cleaned with Interlux 202 solvent, then washed with water, then cleaned with the recommended thinner for the paint product I was going to use. The paint finish I decided on was Interlux Perfection with Awlgrip course grit.
The first layer of Perfection was applied and Awlgrip grit shaken onto the surface. I worked a small area at a time, first applying Perfection then shaking on the grit, then moving onto the next section, always keeping a wet edge on the paint. To shake the grit on, I used an old nut container with holes drilled in the top. This served as an oversized salt shaker. I put on as much grit as the paint would take.
Once the paint had dried, I was surprised by how much of the paint had been absorbed by the grit. At this point, excess grit was vacuumed off. Then another layer of Perfection was applied. After the 2nd layer of Perfection, a third coat was needed to provide sufficient cover.
A bit about Interlux Perfection. The paint is a two part product. I decided to roll it on as opposed to spraying because of the relatively small surface area I was dealing with. I used the recommended thinner and thinned it out per Perfection's recommendations. This was done with all coats of finish. The thinning helps reduce roller marks. There are no noticeable roller marks on the finish product.
Because this is a non-skid surface, I didn't want a high gloss surface. I used Perfection's recommended flattening agent, which is also a two part product, to get a semi-gloss surface. I used a 1:1 ratio of Perfection to flattener. Thinner was added to the paint after it was mixed with the flattener and only to the recommended ratio of paint to thinner. i.e. I didn't adjust the thinner ratio based on the total paint and flattener quantity.
The products used are not friendly to one's health. I wore a quality respirator and gloves whenever using the product. This included while preparing/mixing the paint.
I'm very happy with the finished product. The non-skid has excellent grip and the finish seems to be very durable. We'll see how it performs this season.
All that is left now is to install the traveler. This will include modifications from the original layout. More to follow on that later...
After the sanding was complete, the surface was cleaned with Interlux 202 solvent, then washed with water, then cleaned with the recommended thinner for the paint product I was going to use. The paint finish I decided on was Interlux Perfection with Awlgrip course grit.
The first layer of Perfection was applied and Awlgrip grit shaken onto the surface. I worked a small area at a time, first applying Perfection then shaking on the grit, then moving onto the next section, always keeping a wet edge on the paint. To shake the grit on, I used an old nut container with holes drilled in the top. This served as an oversized salt shaker. I put on as much grit as the paint would take.
Once the paint had dried, I was surprised by how much of the paint had been absorbed by the grit. At this point, excess grit was vacuumed off. Then another layer of Perfection was applied. After the 2nd layer of Perfection, a third coat was needed to provide sufficient cover.
A bit about Interlux Perfection. The paint is a two part product. I decided to roll it on as opposed to spraying because of the relatively small surface area I was dealing with. I used the recommended thinner and thinned it out per Perfection's recommendations. This was done with all coats of finish. The thinning helps reduce roller marks. There are no noticeable roller marks on the finish product.
Because this is a non-skid surface, I didn't want a high gloss surface. I used Perfection's recommended flattening agent, which is also a two part product, to get a semi-gloss surface. I used a 1:1 ratio of Perfection to flattener. Thinner was added to the paint after it was mixed with the flattener and only to the recommended ratio of paint to thinner. i.e. I didn't adjust the thinner ratio based on the total paint and flattener quantity.
The products used are not friendly to one's health. I wore a quality respirator and gloves whenever using the product. This included while preparing/mixing the paint.
I'm very happy with the finished product. The non-skid has excellent grip and the finish seems to be very durable. We'll see how it performs this season.
All that is left now is to install the traveler. This will include modifications from the original layout. More to follow on that later...
Sunday, March 20, 2011
SPINNAKER POLE BRIDAL
The bridal for the spinnaker pole was not in very good condition, so I decided to replace the cables with 1/8" Amsteel lines. The old cables were cut off and new Amsteel installed in their place. The line is braided as opposed to tied to provide a stronger attachment.
COCKPIT SEAT REPAIR - NEARING COMPLETION
Over the past week, the seat repair has gotten closer to being complete. The repair was faired with Interlux 833. I would have preferred to use a more fine filler, but 833 is what I had, so that's what was used. In the large area of repair, I had to use several applications to build the area up and provide a relatively flat finish.
After the areas were filled, Interlux 2000E was used as a final filler to take care of minor surface imperfections. There are currently two coats applied. We'll see if another coat is needed once it is dried. I also did a minor amount of filling between coats with a fine filler to take care of pin-hole size voids in the finish.
One of the hatches had been chipped out along the edges over the years from lines being caught in the hatch while they were closed. The chips were addressed prior to filling and finishing. The chips were ground out and new fiberglass was laid up for the repair.
After the areas were filled, Interlux 2000E was used as a final filler to take care of minor surface imperfections. There are currently two coats applied. We'll see if another coat is needed once it is dried. I also did a minor amount of filling between coats with a fine filler to take care of pin-hole size voids in the finish.
One of the hatches had been chipped out along the edges over the years from lines being caught in the hatch while they were closed. The chips were addressed prior to filling and finishing. The chips were ground out and new fiberglass was laid up for the repair.
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