Commander 147

[Commander 147]

I did see Rico's work and I was impressed. I already have the info on the hinged mast base thanks to Rico so I can buy one (Rico has sold the one he had) and plan to do an aluminum base similar to the one he did. I am very impressed with many of the things he has done to Mephisto Cat and hope I can do as well with my commander.

[Commander227]

Happy, Happy boat day!
Looks like you got a real beauty there. I love the picture with the PO sailing her ( I know its hard to see her look so happy with another man... but she's all yours now).
Good luck with the transport and trailer fitting, I hope it all goes smoothly.
Keep us posted.

[Commander 147]

The yacht transfer company delivered my commander to me today. We got her put on the trailer which included a few small issues that we needed to solve and she is in my back yard tonight. Next I need to construct the new boat house so I have a place to work on her.

[Commander 147]

I've decided to call commander 147 "Destiny". In 1977 I decided to move to Florida from Wisconsin. One of my goals for the move was to get involved with sailing and learn to sail. Not very long after I got down here I bought a 16' daysailer and I taught myself how to sail. I feel like everything from that time until now has been prepairing me for this time and this boat. So "Destiny" seems to fit.

Tonight I finally got the new boat house to the point where I could move her in and start in earnest on her repairs and upgrades. Here are a few photos showing the construction of her new home when she is not in the water. In the first picture you can see where the previous boat house was (just to the right of to Destiny) that I dissasembled and salvaged all of the parts for in the construction of the new boat house.

[mbd]

Mmmmmm.... boat shed. Fantastic!

[Commander 147]

As we discussed in the keel voids thread C147 has had a weeping keel. It now appears that the reason is due to a bad bottom job previously by the boatyard up in Vermont where she was kept for the last 15 years.

We previously thought it was due to water in the foam inside the keel freezing and thawing and crazing the gelcoat to the point where it was no longer a barrier for water. And while I still believe that is part of the problem I think a bigger part is what looks like an over zealous sandblasting job on the keel. Significant amounts of the gelcoat have been blasted away and then a filler was spread over it to try and correct it. This allowed water inside that has totally saturated the foam inside. Take a look at the picture and you can see as I sand down through the filler what I'm finding underneath it. Note also the water seeping out through the keel in the area where I have not yet removed all the foam inside (the dark spots on the pink filler).

My plan currently is to finish sanding the outside of the keel and finish removing all the water saturated foam inside. This will allow everything to dry out while I work on other projects. There are probably many differant ways to repair this hull an I'm sure I do not know them all. I am interested in gathering information to make a decision on the best way to proceed.
Any advice or recommendations are welcome.

[carl291]

With my limited knowledge of the "Fantastic Plastic", I don't think the gelcoat is the moisture barrier for the fiberglass. What are you finding inside when removing the foam? As related to the hull laminate. I would think the hull laminate has been compromised and will require cloth and reglassing on both sides if possible.
I am sure a more experienced response is forthcoming.
A sandblaster is a harsh way to remove paint/gelcoat from fiberglass.
Good Luck.

[captcraig]

Hi Jerry, Thanks for your reply on A 157. Its not mine yet but should be soon. There is a commander here in OKC at the OCBC. I have always admired the boat. Only interested in an Ariel over the Commander because I would like to try a little offshore stuff with one. Your boat is nice. I've not seen one with primary and secondary winches but I'm kind of a newby when it comes to these boats.

[Commander 147]

Well, things have not been going as fast on Destiny as I was hoping for because my Mom passed away the end of January and I have had to spend a couple of weeks in Wisconsin first dealing with the funeral and then with the estate. In addition a lot of my time at home has been absorbed with issues associated with it all. But I have made some progress so I thought I would do an update.

First, when I bought Destiny the previous owner had hit a rock with her and tore up the bottom of the keel. So I took her to the local marina so they could lift her off the trailer and set her on stands which would allow me to work on the bottom of her keel. I ground out all the damage and glassed it back in. Then I layed up 4 more layers of 1708 biax along the entire length of the bottom of the keel as additional reinforcement. I faired that out and at the same time faired out some of the original irregularities in the side of the keel.

Getting Destiny off her trailer also allowed me to get the old rudder off so I could start my electric drive installation. I have her back home now and have rounded up the parts I will need for the new rudder and the electric drive. I have the new shaft log, prop shaft, cutlass bearing, stuffing box, and prop. The rest of the electric drive I bought a long time ago with the exception of the barreries. In addition I bought the marine bronze to make up the new rudder shaft and had it fabricated for the new rudder. The picture of the parts (laying on top of the old rudder) is below. The 3/8" rod was drilled, tapped and brazed into the 1" shaft.

I plan to follow Chance's method of building the rudder. I hope I can live up the the level of quality of fabrication he showed us.

[Ariel 109]

Jerry,

Sorry to hear about the passing of your mother. Balancing all of our obligations is an art that I know you excel at. If it's only months or a few years until your boat's complete I'm sure it will have taken the right amount of time.

Ben

[Commander 147]

Thanks Ben

I appreciate your kind words.

I am trying very hard to get as much done as possible before the summer heat and humidity kicks back in again so I am racing against the clock. I really really want Destiny in the water this fall when sailing season kicks off here in Florida.

[Commander 147]

Trying to get a handle on where to drill the hole for the shaft log. This is one side of the plywood that will sandwhich the J-bolts attached to the rudder shaft.