Commander #5

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Epoxy prime coat

Epoxy prime coat , you can't really see it that well but i did install and epoxy in a piece of underground feeder conduit for the lazarette drain , which i think Chance recommended its a must , that void was mostly responsible for water getting in under the lazarette floor everytime the stern dips and just from draining and when the foam is saturated the water makes it's way through a void between the cockpit wall and hull rite down below the cockpit floor under the bilge floor to the keel . I posted a video on youtube under commander5md of the water draining out this hole was drilled at mid ballast before the hull makes the curve up toward the bow

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Rudder upgrades

Made new rudder straps embedded in the wood for more support out of weldable naval brass from mcmaster carr. The wood itself on the rudder was rough around the edges but was in good solid shape so I used a 4 1/2 inch angle grinder with a polifan sanding wheel on it and tapered the edges to a point and cleaned it up and when i installed the brass reinforcement straps I put bottom paint on under them firstand let it ooze out when i tightened my bolts, The brass bars I got were 1 1/2 x 1/4 inch thick x 1ft long and I split one down the middle then cut in 4 inch pieces to make the other straps all the bolts are 1/4 -20 brass x 2 1/2 inch and the nuts are brass nylocks I used the extra bolt length to help align the plates and hold them in place to paint and get nuts on , then cut off the eccess its awkward holding a screwdriver on one side and a ratchet on the other so it helped out alot and the bolts are obviously countersunk heads but I could'nt avoid the nuts sticking out but I did countersink the nut side too. I didnt want to use a barrel nut because I thought they would be harder to get off if needed and I dont think 11 little nutheads are going to slow me down any.

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Time for a break

Time for a break. The p.o. never bothered to replace the missing center brass bracket.

That last picture is kind of breathtaking! Nice going.

Edit: Oops, another post got in there before me. I meant the picture of the primed bow in post #76. But since the opportunity has now presented itself, the post immediately previous to mine, here, reminds me that the shape of a mango is also breathtaking. Few shapes compare. But a few do.

Which one the Absolute Mango Smoothies I invented ? They are delicious and healthy

No, the fruits themselves. I lived in Guinea West Africa for a while and there were all sorts of mangos. Ones like in your picture, red ones, giant ones. They hang down from the trees on long, sometimes many feet long rope-like stems. One day I tried to see if you could eat too many mangos. I am glad to say that, no you can't.

Cheers!!!!

Hey Paul! Love the picture you took of your now plated Pearson hull plate. It took a few seconds for me to get the joke, ha! Thanks for the pictures of Solomons island. I love seeing pictures and learning about the areas each of us sail and work on our boats.

So do I that was something I did'nt even know about the area until I pulled the boat there . there are still big concrete dome shaped bomb shelter type barrack/ offices two are less than 100 yards from the boat . I love history especially militaria the kids today and even older people are oblivious to what our past generations went through to make our country what is is today " excluding the financial mess" .

Ben, My solar garden light got broken by the dock but it still lites up everynight in the back of my pickup rolling around I gotta get a new one . It would benefit you greatly being out on a mooring ball so people could see you better at nite it fits great in the flagpole holder

Hey Paul, I took your advice and now put an Ikea solar / wind powered garden light on the boat while at the mooring. One of the nice things about my mooring is that it's near the bridge to City Island, which has a wake restriction. But an ounce of prevention can't hurt.

Ben

solar wind power lite

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ariel 109

Hey Paul, I took your advice and now put an Ikea solar / wind powered garden light on the boat while at the mooring. One of the nice things about my mooring is that it's near the bridge to City Island, which has a wake restriction. But an ounce of prevention can't hurt.

Ben

Yea It would be a shame if some dummy T-BONED Noesis coming in in the dark , post a pic so we can see it . I like to have it for just hanging around the boat at night its like a mood lite that attracts the mosquitos away from you. and also if you anchor out somewhere your not draining the battery and also have that little bit of warning to other boaters. The very first night I got the boat I had to enter the cove where my marina is and its evidently a gathering spot for overnighters and I had to weave through several anchored boats most of which had no lights on at all and I had none either It was real tricky and nerveracking at midnite after a 12 hour trip with burntout channel marker lites to boot.

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Lazarette work and transom reinforcement

Here is some progress on my lazarette , its all done in mohoghany woven roving and cloth but needs a few more layers and the rope goes out through my backstay turnbuckle and up through the outboard well to the rear deckcleats which allowed me to undo backstay without fooling with the frontstay turnbuckle. I'll be shooting the foam in today and painting epoxy primer in chainplate area then adding more glass matt on the floor, but I may wait on adding the glass until i get back to my slip . The uprite transom supports tie into the reinforcement job i previously did when my rear hull deck joint came apart and i fit wood blocking and thickened epoxy at the base to fill that rear void like Rico did it's a good idea to force everything toward drainage. The picture of the block of foam on my tailgate is the amount that one can of great stuff urethane foam will yield , three to four cans each side should fill the lazarette

Paul,
Nice to see more work on your Commander. From your work description, it appears your attempting to restore the void in the lazarette locker with a similar foam (like original). If so, do not use the foam that comes from a can, like you can purchase from a hardware store. That is the wrong type of foam for this application. A more fitting type of foam and what you should use is a two part firm floatation foam, that after the two parts are mixed, can be poured into a cavity and it will expand and fill the void. The type of foam that I'm referring to is rigid polyurethane foam. It is USCG approved and a quart kit yields approximately 2 cubic feet. Do some research. With the amount of work your doing, might as well choose the right foam for this.
Thanks for posting the photo. Also, it's referred to as forestay or in some conversations a headstay, not frontstay, though I know what you meant.

We stand corrected (forestay)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chance

Paul,
Nice to see more work on your Commander. From your work description, it appears your attempting to restore the void in the lazarette locker with a similar foam (like original). If so, do not use the foam that comes from a can, like you can purchase from a hardware store. That is the wrong type of foam for this application. A more fitting type of foam and what you should use is a two part firm floatation foam, that after the two parts are mixed, can be poured into a cavity and it will expand and fill the void. The type of foam that I'm referring to is rigid polyurethane foam. It is USCG approved and a quart kit yields approximately 2 cubic feet. Do some research. With the amount of work your doing, might as well choose the right foam for this.
Thanks for posting the photo. Also, it's referred to as forestay or in some conversations a headstay, not frontstay, though I know what you meant.

Chance there is no difference other than the two part foam has the capability of giving a higher yield for my application the canned foam was perfect for the application and the density can be increased if you continually vent the gas ISOCYANATE after the foam has completely filled the void . They are both polyurethane foam products which consist of 1.Polyol a sucrose or sugar & petroleum mix 2. A surfactant which controls the size and shape of the bubbles 3. Catalyst which controls the reaction rate for example the quicker the reaction rate the smaller the bubbles/ slower the larger this dictates the density of the foam and then finally you have 4. Isocyanate , which activates the reaction which is a liquid with a fast evaporation rate . These 4 parts are the makeup of all polyurethane foam products they're just already mixed in the can and separated in the two part mix , I find the can to be not as much mess and I've been using it for 30 years in the HVAC trade and the reason the foam is there is to prevent gasoline fumes from accumulating not for flotation , This stuff developes a waterproof skin on it that is impressive ,I did several tests on it personally and I'm happy with it . I used 8 cans 4 per side and vented it to get max density and its done. The foam your thinking of thats USCG & US army core of engineer approved is styrofoam which can be dissolved with acetone btw but must be encapsulated , They use it to float docks and bldgs and make cheap little coolers with it. And if you use the two part mix and you trim off the excess you have ruined your waterproof skin and opened it all to absorb water and besides if you think about it that little bit of whatever foam is in there wont keep the 3000# ballasts from dragging her down god forbid and knock on wood. If you really think about it thats where the factory screwed up, they poured in foam with no pipe in the laz drain and trimmed down the eccess foam on top before laying the floor then reamed out the drain creating a big stern sponge.