Sea Sprite 23 #670 "Heritage"

[ebb]

Chance,
Great you're back.
Love your eyecandy shots of the work. No kidding, a real pleasure!
Your series here on what to do with a cabin sole is classic
and should NOT be buried (poor choice of word) under the SeaSprite23 rubric which
in itself gives no clue to poor souls who want inspiration and instruction on cabin soles.
Great tip on how to create pressure on the sole boards - and getting them all flat - who doesn't need to know ? ? ?

I wish vbulletin had a better way to access, for example, cabin soles on a search
that aren't buried in dozens of threads - and in a thread, if what you want is even there, is hidden in its bowels.

PHOTO POSTS # 13, 14, 15
Your photo series is a perfect example of why we are here - at this very moment.
But if we wanted to be here at some other time, so much the better on a cold search if we could have immediate access.
I wouldn't mind a line by line list on this site, like a plain list on a page or two, that could be scanned by eye until we came to the subject:
"cabin sole renovation", that gave specific bluelines that dropped us DIRECTLY into the subject, including all the photos. Even archival stuff.


For the love of sailing - absolutely!
But also for the the love of working on these boats - absolutely!

Sorry for the rant.
After years of combing the net, can say that 95% of people out there need to know how to do things.
So we got to make it easy for them, as easy as we can!
It'll keep interest alive in these old Alberg gems.
And given Chance, better boats in the long run.

[Commander 147]

VERY nice work Chance. I really like your cabin sole project a lot. If I had not alread bought the teak and holly plywood sole for Destiny I would follow your example.

As far as the bilge pump conversation we are having I can certainly appreciate your perspective for Heritage. And to be honest when I bought Destiny she did not have any bilge pump other than a loose hand operated thing the previous owner had bought at West marine and tossed on board. She lived most of her summer months on a mooring and never sank to my knowledge. So for you I can certainly see why you would choose to go the way you did. Destiny is a differant situation and has enormous battery reserve with her elec. drive. And I'll have an inboard drive with a prop shaft that can easily spring a leak. Differant boats and differant situations.

BTW I will answer your question on my mast head fitting later but I want to do it with pictures and need to work on something else for right now.

[Tony G]

Phenomenol work, Chance. It is a pleasure to learn from your work.

[SkipperJer]

Chance,
When are you going to be in the water? That's what these boat-things are for.
Jerry

[Chance]

Okay Jerry, rub it in. I know, I know, should be in the water, but....., I not ready yet, mostly financially but also a bit of odds and ends in the projects department.

Tony,
Thank you for the positive feedback. I too, learn much from so many others on this forum. In my humble opinion, there is no equal to this forum and the expertise, creativity and active members are outstanding.

Jerry,
Thank you and I'm sure your cabin sole will look absolutely stunning when your finished. That teak and holley ply you have I know is not inexpensive. I had considered it for short bit, but chose a different path. Sometimes I unintentionally make a big project out of a small one. What's that, making a mountain out of a mole hill, sometimes.....

Ebb,
Your too kind. Okay, so where do you find the time for family, your own projects and work, when you contribute to the forum in such detail? You must have a lap top hanging from the hip, so that every free moment you can do more research and keep those of us who get tired looking at a computer screen informed. Seriously though, your contributions and feedback are very appreciated and If in some small way I can help motivate others or shed light on a project others may be contemplating, well all the better.

I have installed new primary winches and also a newly fabricated back stay chainplate. I increased the size of the chainplate as well as the fasteners, from the original configuration. Additionally, I was appalled at the poor backing plate that was installed by the builder, so took care of that as well thanks to G-10 garolite. One thing is for sure, that one backing plate and others you'll see in the future were a royal pain to install due to the fact that access was via three different six inch holes! No lazarette hatch lid to open up and stick your head and half your body into the work zone. No, I was working with one hand and still finding a hard time to see. Sometimes I had to rely on feel (touch) alone as I couldn't get my arm in the hole and see at the same time.

[Chance]

Here's some close ups of backing plates I have made and installed for the stern cleats, stern chocks, and main sheet deck control blocks:

[ebb]

Could recognize those G10 plates anywhere from those beautiful fillets! Nobody else can do that!

Can understand the shaving foam all over the place,
because you're not used to the smaller boat yet, and things are kinda cramped....

But what is it with the smoked sockeye decor?

[Crazer]

Thanks for posting, Chance, I will read with interest as I just acquired SS23 hull #137 off a gentleman on City Island. I'll be sailing her here to Ithaca in about three weeks. This thread will be a great inspiration I'm sure as I work to bring her back.

[Chance]

As in this design, the hatch slides on teak runners. Over time the fiberglass bearing surfaces wear thin and the structural integrity is deminished. After removal, I cleaned up the worn bearing surfaces and laid 30 ounces of cloth (3 applications of 10 ounce) to the bearing surfaces and up the veritcal port and starboard sides of the hatch. After which I filled the weave with thickened epoxy and graphite. The graphite was added to the mixture to enhance this bearing surface wearability (thats the black you see in the photos). Last, was two coats of one part poly, and of course a perfect opportunity for some bright work as well.

[Chance]

Hatch continued:

[Chance]

A lone 8 inch bronze cleat gets rebedded, new fasteners and a new backing plate of a different style:

[mbd]

I don't know Chance,it looks like one of those bolts in the first pic is cut a little shorter than the others. Sloppy sloppy!

Seriously though, it's great to see your first class work again, and on another classic beauty of a boat. Welcome back!

[Chance]

Mike, Thank you Sir. Your feedback and comments are welcome. You must have really beautiful sailing waters up there in Maine and in a couple of weeks you'll be in the sailing season, yes?

Here are photos of the work I found necessary to address isolated water intrusion into the cockpit sole core, around the fiberglass rudder post sleeve. Once again it's a classic example of a production boat's short falls. No real attempt was made to seal the core that surrounded this area when the hole was cut and the fiberglass tube installed, thus a guarantee entry point for water intrusion. Of course a previous owner made an ill fated attempt at sealing this area once the cracks appeared, with some type of sealant or perhaps epoxy, but the right way usually involves much more effort and know how. Here's my solution to address this detail:

[Chance]

cockpit sole repair continued:

[mbd]

Chance, I feel very fortunate to be living here in Maine. My goal for this season is simple: get-the-boat-back-in-the-water!

Now, I've got to ask (maybe you've already answered somewhere) - you do A LOT of epoxying and mixing and fairing, etc., but what brand of epoxy do you use and what is your method of mixing? (I'm sure it's down to a science by now, just like your fillets!)