Commander #38

[C38]

Perks of working 5minutes from where I keep the boat!
I try to get down there at least once a day, don't always have time to go for a sail of course, but atleast just puts around...

[Lucky Dawg]

Great pictures. Man, the Commander enhances beautiful scenery, no? Pictures of your own boat under sail is a real treat. NICE.

[C38]

A Very nice treat! And actually the photos of your commander were what inspired me.

[C38]

Was able to use one of the photos my friend took for a local non-profit invitation design.
newsuffolkwaterfront.org/downloads/thanks-invite2010.pdf

[Ariel 109]

Very nice work Michael. Such a great looking boat. Are you a graphic designer?

[C38]

Thanks! Yes my day job is a graphic designer at a web firm, it's nice to be able to design for print now and then...

[C38]

Safe and sound out of the water... I was pleasantly surprised by the condition of the hull since the previous owner had barely used it for the 2 months it was in the water before I got her, not nearly as many barnacles as I thought I would find. Now its time to begin thinking about spring repairs and upgrades.

[Chance]

Mike,
Excellent photo spread of your Commander out plying the waters. Very, very nice. Hey, I was looking over how you have your jib sheet leads and noticed that the sheet car seems a bit too far aft for the blade your using. Doyle, your sailmaker placed a sheet angle reference line that radiates from the clew of the jib. From the sailmaker's expertise, it is this line that ideally should continue with your sheet down to the turning block on your deck or toe rail and then the sheet would run aft. Also, it appears your jib sheet leads directly to the primary winches? This can be very problematic in that it creates an ideal situation for "winch override". Have you experienced this? All winches are designed with a sheet lead angle of approach to the drum, somewhere in the vicinity of 5-15 degrees, with the sheet rising up to meet the drum rather than straight at it or worse, from an angle higher than the base of the winch itself. I'm no expert, but just wanted to share what I have learned.
Again, thanks for the great quality photos. Also, it would definately appear that she is in exceptional shape and you got a great deal!

[C38]

Chance,
haha, I was wondering when someone would notice this
All these photos were taken within about 15 minutes of sailing, and soon afterwards I realized I forgot to run the jib sheets through the blocks, which i fixed. Was wondering when someone would call me out on it!

Thanks, she is in fairly good shape, though their is a soft spot on the fore deck that was caused by not properly embedding hardware. This will be the largest repair I need to accomplish before she goes back in the water. Not looking forward to it as I am a little nervous of destroying her irrecoverably... Luckily I have found many sources (including here) of people who have done the same repair and document in detail, so I have plenty of directions/guidlines to follow me through it.

[Chance]

Mike,
Good evening, and thanks for the clarification. Come to think of it, you must have been tickled pink to be able to purchase a commander in "sailable" condition. This past March / April I brought down Commander #269 from St. Michaels, MD to the Albemarle Sound in NC, and that transit, do mostly in part to the weather, took me nine days. Even though it was very stressing at times, I remember how excited I was when actually underway with the last mooring line on board.

As for soft core issues. All that stuff is easily fixable. The worst thing one could do is "nothing", for as you most likely know, ignoring a known problem will only allow it to propagate. I use the term "easily" because although it is a farely straight forward job, it still is just that a "job" with some serious labor involved, depending on the magnitude of the water intrusion.

Have a great Thanks Giving.

[C38]

Chance,

Thanks for the advice! Your progress on Ceili has been very inspiring, and I hope I can produce something even remotely close to the quality of work you have done.

I am definitely afraid I will have to recore the entire deck, but like you said, doing anything is better then nothing. And if it has to be done, it has to be done.

Hope you had a great thanksgiving!

[Chance]

Mike,
Thanks for the kind words. Actually it's folks like you and so many others that assist in keeping me to stay motivated. To see you out sailing is something I long for with Ceili. Someday.

As for recoring: for me, It was the initial getting over the notion of having to use a circular saw to remove the outer skin and/or inner skin as I have done it from both sides. You may be able to re-use your outer skin during the recoring, if so, that will save you some money in glass and resin layup. You'll have to make an assessment as to the condition of it once removed. Epoxy, glass and associated supplies you will go through add up quickly in expenses, but...... doing it yourself will save you bundles of money and will enhance your bond with your commander, not to mention providing much satisfaction.

[C38]

Still debating whether I will attack this project from above or below, attacking from below would make the deck repainting process easier and not an immediate necessity once the repair is complete. On the other hand it will not be so comfortable or easy to lay up fiberglass from below deck. I still have plenty of time to think it over though since I will not be starting this project until the spring...

The way you seem to be moving so quickly with Ceili, I am sure you'll be on the water in no time! ;-)

[Chance]

Mike,
I strongly encourage recoring from the outside. I have done limited recoring from the inside, working upside down, and it is a royal pain. Working with gravity in your favor is the way to go. Plus, it's the only way to go for working large areas like the fordeck area with can be broken into two sections, port and starbooard of the plywood core running amidship. The side decks cannot be recored from the inside, at least not properly.

As for painting the repair, that is minor considering the work involved to get back to that phase.

You must be kidding, I started working on Ceili in November of 2008. It's been two years and I'm still at it. Granted, I don't work on her full time, yet still she gets at least 8 hours of my time weekly. I have done much, but she's still not done.

[C38]

Thanks for the advice Chance! I will definitely re-core from the outside.

On another note, I have finally come up with a name for my Commander. Her name will be Susie Q 2 (my first boat was named Susie Q after the CCR song of the same name). I liked the name so much that I am using it again, mainly because she feels practically the same as my last boat (Bristol Corinthian), just bigger. And of course, since I am a designer by trade, I have a lot of fun developing the graphics for the name. (photo attached)

Can't wait to get out sailing this year! Just have to re-paint the bottom and then I will be dropping her in hopefully by early june.