Commander 147

[Commander 147]

Last night I coated both sides and all of the edges in epoxy for all 4 parts of the new teak and holly floor.

Tonight I sanded the top smooth and put the first coat of Epifanes on it and what a difference. Take a look...........

The picture with the narrow strips is of the parts that hold the quarter berth cushions in place.

You may notice my "bed of nails" that the pieces are laying on. They allow me to put a coat of finish on both sides of a part at the same time. The back gets coated first then laid on the nails and the front gets coated. Cuts finishing time in half.

[Commander 147]

And I'm finally getting some time I can work on Destiny again and I thought I would post an update.

I have been working on 3 fronts for what ever little time I have had here is what has been going on.

First I got all 9 coats of finish on the new teak and holly floor and got it installed. And because the floor finally went in I was also finally able to install the bentwood edges for the two new bulkheads I installed to support the mast beam. There are 2 pictures of this work below.

Next I have been making progress on the new rudder. Since my new rudder is two parts like the original was I needed a way to keep them straight when I epoxied them into the first half of the new rudder. So I clamped a 2 x straight edge to the edge of my workbench and marked where the 3/8" rods would be imbedded in the plywood. Then I routed a round bottom cove 3/16" deep into the plywood where each rod would go. I drilled small holes in 2 places on both sides of each rod and fed wire up from the other side so after I put thickened epoxy in the cove cuts and laid the rods in them I could pull them down snugly into the coves until the epoxy set up. Then I cut the wires and pulled them out before I glued the second half of the rudder to the first one. I hope the pictures below help to make this clearer than my attempt to describe it is doing.

And finally I have been working on the last of the recore projects. I thought I was done with that before but found that I had a spongy deck around the rudder post and found more rotted balsa core. So I am finishing that up now. Since it will only let me add 5 pictures per post I will follow up with those pictures in the next post.

[Commander 147]

Pictures below.

[Commander 147]

And some of you probably think I have given up on my commander restoration project. That is not the case, I just have not taken the time to post about her progress.


So after I finished the recore in the cockpit floor I had to fair that area out. And while I was working on that I went over the entire boat fairing everything that needed it in preparation for the primer.


When I was convinced I had it all I started priming the hull and deck with Awlgrip 545. That's when I found out I did not have it all. I found a lot of small issues when I primed her that I fixed as I worked on the primer.


The first couple picture below is after the primer went on.


On the hull I was able to only primer her once and sand it smooth. The deck was another story. I had to prime her sand her and prime her again and sand yet another time.


The last three pictures are of her being painted. I found a guy in Tarpon Springs to spray her with Awlcraft.