Great pictures,At the speed you complete projects it's ridiculous to ask,but have you completed repairs from the lightning strike?
Great pictures,At the speed you complete projects it's ridiculous to ask,but have you completed repairs from the lightning strike?
Yes, that was a few years ago and I got her back in the water the next week. I only missed one race.
The princess was fitted with her party dress last week but the third coat had some minor problems with fisheyes. after the finish had cured enough she was wet sanded and two more coats were applied. My painter recommended not buffing her out for a month to allow the Awlgrip to harden up. I will let the finish harden up until the weekend then try to sight in the waterline and have it painted. Bob and Tim did a great job with the decks and the freeboard, it really looks good!!!(the pictures don't do it justice)
Pretty!
Very nice shine!
I considered going with the classic blue hull with red waterline stripes. I really like the scheme for classic looking sailboats like the Commander. It will complement the wood nicely.
Unfortunately the dark blue reaches VERY high temperatures in the bright California summer sun... so I needed a light color.
I caught a lot of grief when telling people that the Mephisto Cat would be Gray -but to my relief everyone changed their tune when they saw the finished product...
The finish looks beautiful and you will get no votes against on the dark blue!
I have not had much time for the Princess lately and spring is right around the corner. Average Ice out for Lake Minnetonka is April 15th. To quote some dude in a flannel shirt, "git er dun"
Pic #1; Rudder about ready to install after cutting the prop aperture, glassing and gel coat. just need to sand and apply the VC-17.
Pic #2; Motor assy. set in place, needs to be aligned with the shaft, but I had to send the shaft to the machine shop to have the keyway lengthened.(sure wish I could learn to read a tape measure).
Pic #3; Bulkhead trimmed and varnished, still need to make the rest of the interior trim and the door to the head and touch up the cuddy paint. (also install the head)
Pic #4&5; Fabricated and installed the new companionway sill. I did this before fabricating the rest of the trim to be sure I had the right angles and a good fit. Need to finish the last few coats and install remaining pieces.
Pic #1; Coaming boards ready to reinstall, Sanded to bare wood (again)and doweled all the PO holes. The wood was quite rotten at the joint between the board and Knuckle so I hardened the spongy areas with West System thinned with acetone, then put them back together with West thickened with adhesive filler. Then 3 coats Perfection Varnish, sanding with 320 grit between coats, then a 180 grit sand down followed by 320. 3 more coats with 320 between, another 180/320 sand down and 2 final coats. after it cures a few days I'll wet sand and buff.
Pic #2; The coaming board mounting holes were stripped out and the plywood was rotten around the holes. I step drilled with a Unibit (my favorite tool) until i got to good wood, then filled with West thickened with high density filler. Next I'll drill and tap to 1/4-24 and install the boards with machine screws.
pic #3; I brought The Princess back to my shop (it wintered in a friends shop) now that the paying winter work is done. It will be much easier to find time for her now that shes close.
I still need to install all the cleats, chocks, traveler, hardware for the running rigging, chainplate beauty rings and drain grates, place and paint the waterline, apply barior coat and bottom paint, finish motor install, pull out the lead pig and replace with battery boxes..... Its nearly 50 out today....Tick, tick, tick.
Cdr 227, I haven't seen any posts from you on your electric engine, now that you've used it for a while. I'm working on Sirocco and she will be ready for a new engine within the month, but after seeing your posts and admiring that clean install, I have begun to wonder if going electric, rather than diesel, might be a better idea. How has the electric worked out on The Princess? thanks
Jon,
I'm on the second sailing season with the electric inboard and (knock on wood) so far it has been 100% reliable and surpassed my expectations.
We typically get out 2-4 times a week and since we have the electric motor we go out whether or not there is wind. It is very pleasant just tootling along the shoreline or adding a little power if the wind is real light.
I have what I conceder to be a very minimal battery bank, 4 cheap group 27 marine deep cycle batteries, and after 2 years of pretty consistent use I still get about;
1 hour wide open at hull speed or slightly above or around 6 miles. or
2 hours at 4 - 4.5 mph. or
4 hours at 3 mph which is our typical cocktail cruise speed.
There is plenty of space in the boat for a bigger and better battery bank and the range could be doubled with out much more cost or effort. It was my intention to use this small bank of common batteries to determine exactly what my needs were then keep them as a reserve and add a larger bank or just replace them. So far I have not felt the need for any more juice so I will try to get another couple of years out of them then perhaps go to group 31s.
There is plenty of power, I've never been in a position where I wanted more. I typically use around 1/4 of whats available and only use full power when changing directions or stopping when I'm coming into the slip. Great stopping power! Its like having brakes. The motor could handle a more aggressive prop, I max out the rpms at 65 amps and the controller will allow 200 amps. But I can get to hull speed so more bite isn't really needed.
Over all we love the set up and feel it's perfect for the way we use the boat. We are however in a pretty controlled environment being on an inland lake with out tides or currents. We can never get too far from home and can plug in the charger in our slip. I think if you can live with the limited range its ideal.
I've seen the new Electric Yacht package like the one Jerry is installing on Commander 147, I can't wait to compare notes with him when he gets his going. Its a nice package and they started using the same Mars PMAC motor that I installed.
Mike
C227
As a side note I just installed one of the Parson electric outboards on a 22' S2. Tons of power! It again uses the Mars PMAC motor and has a controller which will allow 100 amps. They call it a 4 hp but I think it has all the power of a 4 stroke 6 hp. Nice and quiet. I think it would be great on an Ariel or Commander.
Last edited by Commander227; 08-23-2010 at 01:25 PM.
Rico,Originally Posted by Rico
I feel a little like a sell out for opting for the flag blue scheme, it being all the rage in daysailers these days, but I really do like it. I was torn between the flag blue, yellow to match my Ensign & Bright red. I think I will break from pop culture and go with a white waterline instead of the red.
Mephisto Cat looks fantastic in the gray!!!! Classy and original. Gray is also a great choice as it is an easy color to touch up and blend when you get the first inevitable dock rash.
BEAUTIFUL WORK!
Exquisite.
Must say I liked the Commander when she was all stripped and primed all WHITE.
What a sweet looking boat the Commander is!
Last edited by ebb; 03-23-2009 at 07:32 AM.
Today after work Tim and I were installing the coaming boards on The Princess when disaster struck!! We had removed the gantry lift straps and moved the boat stand pads high up on the freeboard to apply the barrier coat. We looked at the boat and talked about it's stability before climbing up. I worried that the keel which was sitting on some 2x6s on the cement floor could skid out and the boat would rotate inside the stands, but the barrier coat was too soft to put the straps back on and I really wanted to get the coaming boards on tonight. Well, that is exactly what happened just as we were both on one side of the boat; Tim pushing on the board to flex it into position and me with drill in hand to pop the first hole. The Princess started to go over...Tim, the experienced scow sailor, started climbing to the high side and looked ready to jump over the rail to stand on the keel to keep her from turning turtle while I rode her down and jumped out just before she settled on the floor. No one was hurt and the damage seems limited to a couple of gouges from the boat stands amid ship, some dings on the toe rail in two spots, and the straps played havoc in the fresh barrier coat when we righted her, all in all it could have been much worse.
Sorry for the mishap.
To my knowledge this is a first timer on this Forum.
Thanks for letting us know.
Always wonder about these things happening
- and what damage is sustained.
Tell us what if anything happened to the hull-to-deck joint.
I'd like to know how you will go about fixing the LPU.
I've got Awlgrip on my topsides.
Have no idea on 'patching and repainting, etc.
Best of luck. Like you say it could have been much worse.
I believe that shinola happens but
there is a special kind of good luck swedish angel that looks over our fleet.
Holy knockdown!
I've read many times on the board that these little boats always pop right back up after a knockdown... I guess it is not so true in the dry!
Still a testament of the sturdiness of these boats.
I'm glad everyone is OK.
You've been trying so hard to "get er done" and apparently pushing a wee bit too hard.
I'm really glad you and Tim are OK and the Princess can be repaired. Things could have gone far worse.
With the exception of the new damage she sure is starting to look good though. You're going to have a really fine boat when you do finish her.
Yikes, glad nobody got hurt. paint is easier to fix than people.
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