Commander 147

[Commander 147]

Well I spent about 8 hours this weekend first making a template then making the piece of teak and holly floor for the boat. And I'm not so sure I like the way it is going to look.

So far all I have invested is the cost of the sheet of teak and holly and my time. But if I decide to go forward with it I need to spend a lot more time finishing the flooring and then gluing it down after which point it will not be coming up again.

If I put the finish on this floor it will get somewhat darker but even then I don't know if I like the look. I'm giving serious consideration to abandoning the teak and holly and going with a mahogany floor to match all of the other woodwork.

What do you guys think?

[carl291]

Looks nice Jerry, but it makes me dizzy looking at it. I like the idea of matching wood. Matching wood would seem more period correct. You have made wonderful progress on this Commander,

[Lucky Dawg]

As always, your workmanship is admirable!

I love my teak and holly sole. I say keep it. After an Epifanes treatment... or 10, I think it looks richer and matches better. (with little ones, the steps are a necessity on Lucky Dawg.)

[Commander 147]

So far the responses have been three forths in favor of keeping the teak and holly floor. And of those responses My oldest daughter (the one in the family with the design eye) said keep the teak and holly. My good friend Tom who's opinion I always listen closely to said keep the teak and holly. My other good friend John also said keep the teak and holly. Tim one of my closest friends said he also likes the teak and holly. As shown below Kyle is also in agreement that the teak and holly should stay. And probably the most important my wife the admiral said "it looks fine keep it".

Dissenting views were Carl who believes the mahogany would be more historically correct and my youngest daughter Jennifer who just agreed with her dad.

So since I still have massive amounts of work to do before I finish this project and my goal is to get her in the water this November (knowing full well a lot of things will not be done yet but she will be sailable) I am keeping the teak and holly.

My next major goal is to get the exterior faired, sanded, primed, sanded, faired, sanded, primed, sanded and down to the painter the end of the month. Hope I can pull it off because he wants 2 weeks to paint her and that only leaves me 6 weeks to put her back together and make all of the parts that have not been made yet and paint the mast and boom and assemble all of that along with replacing the standing rigging which has to be cut to length and the bottom mechanical fittings installed and of course install all of the hardware, have the sails made and and, and, and what the heck am I doing sitting here typing when I should be out there working?????????? After all it is only 10:10 PM I have hours left before I go to bed.................

Oh yea, while I have been doing all of this work the admiral has also been busy. She has made me new v-birth cushions, quarter birth cushions and cockpit cushions. There are some photos below. She also has a lot of work to complete before launch time but she is a trooper and will make it happen. My lifetime partner is at least as hard a worker as I am. :-)

[carl291]

Jerry, I know you haven't asked YET but yeah, keep your lifetime partner and the cushions........ OK, and the T&H sole

[ebb]

Being veneer I think the ply has to be sealed - on all eight sides.
Unsealed, the wood will stain and walking will cause wear tracks.
Not knowing what the inside veneers are: they might start to delam or rot.
One way is to seal with thinned epoxy and varnish using a fine product like Epifanes.

But I have had great results using LE TONKINOIS - Vernis #1.
American Rope & Tar - www.tarsmell.com/
It is a tung and linseed oil varnish that goes on like any regular varnish
yet has NO volitile solvents, no petro-chems. While there's an old time linseed odor, it's not going to irritate eyes, nose, throat or lungs.

It doesn't need stirring. Never needs thinning (no solvents to leave & thicken the brew). If it skins, remove, and start coating.
Seal the ply on all sides with Le Tonk. The first coat soaks in the top veneer and the secondary veneers on the cut edges.

It's just as shiney as Epi...... I cannot see the difference between the two...... after 8 coats.
It will stick to anything except wax. (Sticks to froufrou Epifanes.)
If you must have matt or satin mix with Gelomat.
But boat shoes will not slip on gloss LeTonkinois like modern varishes, even when it's wet. I have not tested this ! !

That would also go for some of those modern skinny matts with mini suction cup bottoms.
If you barefoot around the cabin.

Recoating can be done by the usual sanding with 180
but put on enough first coats so you don't sand through.

It is going to look like a grand piano
.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ..........................................
This is a guess: System 3's clear WRLPU (water reducible) urethane might work as a sealer (altho it's formulated for non-porus surfaces)
and also might not darken the teak like the amber tone of oil varnishes. Coats don't build up fast - and the stuff gets very hard. Might have to de-oil the teak with acetone? Call their tech line. But then, when refreshening time comes, nothing will stick to that coating except more LPU.
.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ...........................................
emailed Tech help at System 3, he says, First use their ClearCoat no blush epoxy to seal all sides of teak ply sole....then go with WRLPU clear.
Says it's the best protection a teak and holly cabin sole can have. Don't know about skidding. But Babe Lamerdine once told me he mixed a
little pumice into his varnish when it called for anti-slip.

[Commander 147]

Ebb

The LE TONKINOIS - Vernis #1 looks like some pretty impressive stuff. But I already have plenty of epoxy and Epi. to do this job and now that I have imposed a deadline on myself I have little to no time to spare. So I will probably go that route. But I appreciate the information on the LE TONKINOIS - Vernis #1 and will look into that much more sometime down the road.

[Commander 147]

Jerry, I know you haven't asked YET but yeah, keep your lifetime partner and the cushions........ OK, and the T&H sole

Carl

I have been married to Lorraine for almost 41 years so I would find it very difficult to live without her anymore. Probably the reason I did not even think to ask that question. :-)

[Commander 147]

Last night I coated both sides and all of the edges in epoxy for all 4 parts of the new teak and holly floor.

Tonight I sanded the top smooth and put the first coat of Epifanes on it and what a difference. Take a look...........

The picture with the narrow strips is of the parts that hold the quarter berth cushions in place.

You may notice my "bed of nails" that the pieces are laying on. They allow me to put a coat of finish on both sides of a part at the same time. The back gets coated first then laid on the nails and the front gets coated. Cuts finishing time in half.

[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.

[Commander227]

ALL RIGHT!!! Fantastic Jerry!All you have left is the fun stuff. The grind is over! (Oh yeah, I mean after the bottom)
She looks fantastic, whatcha using for non-skid?

[mbd]

Can't wait to see her all finished. Exceptional and inspiring Jerry!

[Commander 147]

She looks fantastic, whatcha using for non-skid?

Funny you should ask Mike. I spent a LONG day yesterday working on just that! All I have done so far is the companion way hatch, the hatch over the v-berth and the cabin roof. Take a look and see what you think. It's Kiwigrip.


BTW Mike I no longer have your e-mail address could you please shoot me a line via e-mail? I have a really good friend who I sail with often and he wants to come see your commander.