Commander #155 'Mephisto Cat'

[Rico]

Thanks for the comments above... The process was actually much less graceful than you'd imagine. It is actually closer to EBB's Chimp branded contraption! It involved an angle grinder and some patience. I cannot take much credit for the piece other than the design, final fine fitting/sanding, the holes, etc... Others (who shall sail with me soon!) took care of the Fabrication & machining.
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The Dinghy:

I found a beat-up old fiberglass dinghy which I thought had a nice shape to complement C-155's hull lines...

- A 'Fatty Knees', or 'Whitehall Dinghy' it is not, but it is very light (about 75 lbs) and it has a handy, built-in retractable keel for sailing. I just need a mast & Sail. I do have a nice 'shippy' mahogany rudder for it.

LOA = about 8' and it looks like it should tow quite well (This is yet to be determined). It was apparently made in 1990 by "Jolly Boats" (?) per a logo moulded on the seat.

Since it had a very 'attractive price', I ended up with it...

A bit of Glass and gelcoat handiwork by my friend 'Schilaka' and it ended up looking amazing. I should polish the gray gel coat a bit more to get the real shine out of it, and I'll need to find a mast & sail for it.

...but I've dilly-dallyed enough! - It is time to get the 'Mephisto Cat' in the water already!!

This should really get a nice BIG rubrail - Anyone know where one buys 'rub-rail'? to prevent any dings & scratches on the Mephisto Cat's shiny new Gelcoat... I have also been considering getting a beat-up old 8' or 10' inflatable as there would be much less risk of dings & scratches towing a rubber inflatable. But I'd likely sell this nice little sailboat in that case, and it would be nice to have this for gunkholing...

I do not think that I need a dinghy on a regular basis for day sailing and coastal cruising, (I never had one while I was in SF bay) but I'm thinking that on the trip from Mexico to San Francisco it would be wise to have one.

Any thoughts on the issues in BLUE?

[Rico]

Ah, the shiny bits!

I was very lucky with respect to the shiny bits... I really had no expectations of being able to get all these parts this pretty, but an acquaintance of my aunt's pulled through on this one...

I went with the idea of getting the bow fitting re-plated or maybe just polished... and MAYBE do the same with the tiller fitting as I looked at that, (and felt sorry for,) the most while sailing!

The gent that owned the shop ended up telling me he'd be happy to re-plate them... And his price was not bad at all... then he proceeded to tell me to just leave the whole box of parts I had with me and he'd do the LOT... To top it off, the work is amazing!

This was around x-mas time last year... I wonder if... Santa...??? - Naaah! - I wasn't that good!

The pictures do the parts no justice. I think I want to have one of these winches as a desk ornament in my office!

Note the Stern light fitting. My original was in sad shape. It was hanging on by the wires, a bit bent, and green as all the chrome was gone...
I got this replacement by chance off e-bay which came from a 1950's Chris-Craft motorboat. This was shortly after I bought C-155... It sat around for quite a while waiting to be useful again!

The design is almost identical, (the size pretty much the same) but this is significantly heavier and a bit curvier (prettier) than the original Pearson Fitting.

C-155's Flagpole fitting had already fallen off when I came upon her... I have the original 1" Dia. Aluminum part, but I struggled wether to use this original, or go with larger fitting that would allow me to use my flagpoles; A small 3' one that came with the boat, and a lovely 4' -maybe even 4-1/2' long one that my rigger gave me. These are both great and made out of Teak.

I went with the shiny large chromed brass flagpole fitting to match the rest of the shiny parts... With a BIG backing plate as I do not want it falling off again!

[mbd]

S-W-E-E-T!!!!!!

Of course we'll be expecting lots of pictures of C-155 showing off all her shiny bling...

[Tony G]

Sweet indeed! WOW!!

That dinghy looks simply fine. Have you had it in the water yet? If so, did you like the stability? Looks like it should get you to the beach and back, haul groceries and a little fuel/petro....maybe some spirits if you so desired. The ability to sail it would be a big plus. Add the rub-rail without a doubt.

Yeah, an inflatable would sure be nice. An eight footer would be about as large as you would want to tow don't you think? And if you were to deflate for stowing on deck I'm not sure if there is a 'big' difference between eight or ten footers rolled up but there isn't a whole lot of room up front anyway. Wait a minute...you have that king-sized cockpit.

Then there's locomotion to thnk about. If I recall correctly, hard bottom dinks with a little chine/keel row better. If you want to carry a smaller outboard the inflatables (with rigid bottom) plane better. I think someone here once proposed using the mothership's outboard for the dinghy. That might be practical with a 6hp, but, anything bigger somedays the back sez, "no you don't, fool!"

That's just my two cents, Rico.

P.s. I really like the shiney stuff! Send more pics.

[CapnK]

Oh, wow.

Rico is winning the picture contest, hands down.

[commanderpete]

Oh, wow.

Rico is winning the picture contest, hands down.

Now he's going for the prettiest Commander and Dink Award


Very nice

For the dinghy rubrail maybe you could use some sort of white rubber trim. Took a quick look at McMaster.com...something along these lines, with or w/o the core, and UV resistant

Self-Gripping Vinyl Edge Trim with Metal Core

[ebb]

what's the 'metal core'?