Commander 147

[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.