Isn't there some folklore, legend or tradition that states we should have a star on board for good luck? Painting one on the mast that high up seems like a very good appeasement. Not to mention it looks really cool!
I like your idea of filling in that space between the collar and the stern. May have to steal that one too!
I used cushioned dock edging and corners on my tender. it may not be pretty but I'll never leave a mark on my boat no matter how hard I hit it. It's all looking great. When do we get to see pictures of the whole boat??
Last edited by Commander227; 08-06-2008 at 10:05 AM.
The dissasembly of the mast was one of the most daunting projects... But looking back, it was not too bad...
Painting / Sailtrack
The etching / priming / process semmed complicated as it was my first time doing it... And the instructions are not as clear as they could be...
I did scratch my head at the prospect of pulling the sailtrack off, but looking at the state of the old (presumably original) aluminum rivets made the decision easier. Taking the track off made the painting process MUCH easier too looking back on it.
I described the painting process above briefly, but in summary, it goes something like this:
1.- Clean mast to bare aluminum
2.- Apply etching primer (diluted)
3.- Let dry for more than an hour, but under no circumstances more than 24 hrs. Failing to adhere to this requires going back to step 1. I never found out why... maybe the mast will turn into a pumkin... (?)
4.- Apply 1st coat of Primer, let dry.
5.- Sand & clean & apply second coat of Primer.
6.- Let dry for 24 hrs.
7.- Apply 2-part perfection. Do not forget to paint spreaders, boom, or new aluminum mast base (Check!). I should have also painted the propeller. I forgot that.
Now it is red...
8.- Stop applying paint and leave the area altogether... lest you screw-up your beautiful work.
#8 is likely the most important step. I managed to comply with it and only managed to forget to paint the propeller... Not too bad.
The materials I used are pictured.
The sailtrack attachment.
This was a bit tricky. The hardest part is to determine which darn rivets to use...
-I decided to go with SS rivets. Alternate arrangements on other A-Cs are Aluminum rivets (what I had originally), and SS sheetmetal Screws). But picking a material and type of fastener was the easy part...
The hard part is that Rivets are not very flexible in terms of suitability of use. Their grip range and allowable hole diameter is limited to each size, so for proper fastening, JUST the right size rivet has to be used. AND unfortunately, no one seems to have a trial kit so that you can do a bit of testing /looking/feeling.
I was lucky to find:
a) A supplier that had a good supply of rivets in terms of Materials, size & selection (Diameters, head sizes, grip range, etc.) (mandrel material is also an issue as you can have a mess if you get SS Rivets with a plain steel mandrel, for example...)
b) A supplier that let me grab a couple of each of the potential correct sizes and did not require me to buy a minimum of 100 of each (as seems commom practice).
I believe that the total number of fasteners on the mast (for the sailtrack) was close to 105 each. Buy at least a handful of extra rivets...
I had to account for the thickness of the mast wall, the vinyl isolating material, and the sailtrack. The mast is Aluminum, the sail track is SS... I went with SS Rivets because of the durability and fastening strenght... If the Aluminum rivets held fine even in their old age and corroded state. (some of my original rivets were at the point where most of the head had corroded off!... )
The key is to isolate these materials. I used a nice thick coat of paint and a vinyl material on top of that to isolate the sail track from the mast, and then I used the same coat of paint and a nice glob of Lanocote to isolate the rivets from the surrounding material as well as the sailtrack itself...
Pictured are the rivets I ended up using. I used a hand riveter. (Yes my hands were quite tired!) I am very happy with the instalation. The sailtrack is quite solidly attached.
I managed to paint the stars only a few hours before taking the whole thing to the boatyard! Painting these on the bosun's chair would have been a bit tougher!
This is my 15 min assembly of the mast... (Which took a full day - by the way!) This is just prior to stepping.
The detailed eye will note that I still managed to leave one part of the halyards on the wrong side of the spreader! What can I say... The pressure was on!
AND here is a Sneak peek at the Mephisto Cat as it sat in mid-July...
It is now almost done... (Genoa track remains to be installed, and the tools & rags & random stuff replaced witht he proper interior furnishings). But it has logged about 6 hours of sailing so far!
-Hint on the picture below: the Mephisto cat is the smaller boat with its eyes covered!
The antifouling was refreshed around the edges and where little repairs took place. The difference in color is due to most of the antifouling having been underwarter for a season, but now that the boat is wet, the color difference has disappeared completely...
In the next pictures you'll find proof of this Commander's identity and that it is in the water awaiting an upcoming passage (300 Miles) Ensenada Mexico, to Marina del Rey California...
Yeah... They are on. I left them off until I stepped the mast. See picture below.
Here is a pic during the first 'test' sail a few weeks ago!
I've already completed the first leg of the passage. (Picts on that soon... )
C-155 is currently at Newport Beach Harbor in Orange County. We head up to Marina del Rey tomorrow.
Backstay Chainplate From post #28
I had no more room above so I posted the template for the backstay chainplate attachments here. If you print at 1:1 scale you will have it in full scale.
RE: Pic no. 2 above - it's interesting how even Commanders with their small cabins look sort of "top heavy" in the profile view without the coamings. Nice coamings make such a difference on these boats.
I don't suppose you'd mind posting a full blown glamor layout of Mephisto all rigged and assembled? She must look absolutely gorgeous!
MBD - It is all new Gel-coat all around... Outside, inside, underneath, etc... I got some bits that the Pearson factory even missed...
I even Gel-Coated the lead pigs! - A bit carried away - I know... but is is so much nicer to handle these blocks of lead when they are covered in nice gel-coat.
As I mentioned above - the trick in these matters is to know when to stop painting (coating, in this case!)... I only stopped when there was nothing more to coat!
Pic: This is the very first outing with sails... (a couple of hours before the next picture below was taken), We were just going back & forth in the marina... just to see if something important had been left off (or fell off) before going out on the open ocean!
Finally! Evidence of the Mephisto Cat sailing once again!
1.- This is the first sail after some 18 months out of the water (10 months of weekends working to get it back in the water...)
I really like this picture... The feel of it. Big ocean - little boat.
2.- Getting close to San Diego.
3.- Full body shot about 3 weeks ago...
As you'll notice in the picture; not all work is completed yet... I have yet to install the little scupper gratings (these will be a pain to keep clean...), the Genoa tracks on the rail (Currently using the new tracks on the cab for the 100% and rigging something off the stern cleat for my BIG genoa), the navegation lights (running with emergency spares in the meantime) and I also need to tidy up the interior.
I'm debating whether to install the hand railings back on the coachroof. I've cleaned the originals and they look quite nice, but I was trying to keep the clutter minimal.
Having to go forward with little to hang on while in a stiff wind is a bit of a challenge without them. I'm now leaning to putting them back where they belong...
Wow... really looks nice.
Seeing that last picture makes me wish I would have held out for a boat with the old style companion way, Its so awkward going below in 227 and your cockpit seems so much bigger.
Very nice job on the boat, I hope you can get out on her often after so much hard work.
The old cockpit does offer easy cabin entry - for a sailor as well as for a cockpit full of water. To date, I haven't taken in water that way, but I could see it happening. I bungee in a couple boards in the door on bigger days.
Rico, Mephisto Cat looks absolutely glorious. That mast is sharp!! Nice, nice work. You've earned extra credit from the sea gods! GO SAIL!
Seems to me that a bridge deck the height of the seats would be possible, wouldn't it?
Make below access more difficult, but it would increase the safety factor.
It would also open up the space below if included in the remodel.
As C-277 was saying, it was included in the later hulls. See a pic and some discussion at http://pearsonariel.org/discussion/s...ead.php?t=1668. You may be saying it could be added in. I rather like my huge unsafe cockpit!
Last edited by Lucky Dawg; 09-16-2008 at 10:54 AM.
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