Commander 147

[Commander 147]

Love the end caps on the rub rail. Have the Eagle moulding "in stock" in my garage, but couldn't wrap my head around how to terminate it cleanly. Ended up installing the rub rail without the moulding. At your convenience, could you ID your source/part? That nice white dress will stay cool in the FL sunshine.

Kyle


Here is the link to West (worst) Marine where you can get them.


http://www.westmarine.com/buy/taco--...-cap--10724862

[mbd]

Hey Jerry, how are things coming along? Looking forward to all the glory pics of Destiny out sailing!

[Commander 147]

Hi Mike


Well, I just keep working away whenever I can eek out a little time. The last two weekends I was not able to devote to the boat. This last weekend I was forced to do yard work that I had been putting off for some time trying to make progress on Destiny. We have 2-1/2 acres and you can only ignore it for so long.


The previous weekend I was up in Wisconsin for my Nieces wedding.


But even so, here is a list of what I have done since my last post and a few pics to show the progress.


1.) I installed the port side rub rail.


2.) I got the port side deck non-skid done and installed hardware including the chain plates, jib track, genoa track, folding pad eyes that will be used for the mast raising system, LED nav. lights and cleats and chock.


3.) I polished all of the window frames, made new Lexan windows for them and got them all installed.


4.) I got with the vinyl graphics people in town and picked out the font and then had them make the name up for me so I could install Destiny's name on the transom.


5.) I designed and had my local sheet metal shop make brackets for the new turning blocks. The 155 genoa will sheet only about a foot away from the winch so I need turning blocks to make a fair lead to the winches. And they take a lot of stress because you double the load when you turn a line 360 degrees. The bracket will bolt to the combing board and the deck approximately where it is shown in the picture below.


6.) I finally got the lazarette repaired and painted. I am using Imron paint a 2 part polyurethane paint that is color matched to the deck. It should take some abuse and hold up pretty well. While painting the lazarette I also painted the inside to the lazarette hatch and the underside of the two cockpit seat hatches with the same paint.

[mbd]

She's really coming together nicely. That coaming is freakin' gorgeous Jerry! I'm sorry if you've talked about it before, but jeeze, it looks like a piece of fine furniture! Really beautiful! Got any "how you made 'em" pics? What are they?

[Lucky Dawg]

Holy Moley! For someone with limited work time, you're pretty dang productive! Cheers. Nice work. Destiny looks brand new. That's a $100k yacht you're about to splash!

[Commander 147]

She's really coming together nicely. That coaming is freakin' gorgeous Jerry! I'm sorry if you've talked about it before, but jeeze, it looks like a piece of fine furniture! Really beautiful! Got any "how you made 'em" pics? What are they?

Mike


I actually went to a lot of effort to get the coamings right. They are Honduras mahogany which is getting much more difficult to find and what you do find is just not that good. I'm lucky in that I have a friend that owns a large millwork operation who allows me to purchase lumber through his wholesale distributor. But I had to drive an hour and a half to get to his supplier where I looked through 500 board feet of lumber to find the two boards that were long and wide enough and quarter sawn. There were a lot of boards big enough but they were flat sawn and ugly and likely to be unstable in a wet environment.


The returns where the boards tie into the cabin sides are made from another piece of Honduras mahogany that was also quarter sawn and 8/4 (2 inches) thick. The quarter sawn mahogany will often get the ribbon stripping that the returns show. I actually bought that piece of lumber from out of state because I could not find it in Florida. And I spent the better part of a full weekend doing nothing but shaping and fitting the two returns.


Bottom line is Mike all it comes down to is time and money. And I have invested a lot of both in Destiny. :-)

[Commander 147]

Holy Moley! For someone with limited work time, you're pretty dang productive! Cheers. Nice work. Destiny looks brand new. That's a $100k yacht you're about to splash!

Thanks Kyle


The way I look at it if I was going to buy a new boat that is equal to what Destiny will be when I am done I would actually have to pay more than 100K. At least that is what I tell myself to justify the money I am spending on her!

[mbd]

Thanks Jerry. It looks like you "capped" where it connects to the cabin trunk too. It's a nice finished look and give some protection to the end grain on the attachment piece - whatever that would be called. The Sea Sprite 23 had those caps and I thought they'd look really nice with all wood coamings - now I know - at least when YOU do it. Seriously - so beautifully done! And the coamings are so a featured on these boats too. Wow....

[Commander 147]

Thanks Jerry. It looks like you "capped" where it connects to the cabin trunk too. It's a nice finished look and give some protection to the end grain on the attachment piece - whatever that would be called. The Sea Sprite 23 had those caps and I thought they'd look really nice with all wood coamings - now I know - at least when YOU do it. Seriously - so beautifully done! And the coamings are so a featured on these boats too. Wow....

Actually Mike the returns are not capped and when I went back and looked at the picture I could see why you would think they were. They appear capped because I rounded over the top edges with a round over bit in the router. And the end grain appears darker than the face grain of the wood. The problem with capping something like this is that wood expands and shrinks at different rates based on it's orientation. The cap that would be on top would not expand or contract hardly at all in it's length. But the wood under it will expand at a much larger percentage than the cap on top. I did a quick search online and found what appears to be a good article about wood expansion and contraction as it takes on and gives off moisture content. Take a look here. You will see a picture that shows wood only expands and contract 1% in length but 8% tangentially.


http://workshopcompanion.com/KnowHow...d_Movement.htm

[mbd]

Hmmm... thanks for setting me straight. How did/will you seal that work of art?

[Commander 147]

Hmmm... thanks for setting me straight. How did/will you seal that work of art?

In any state that is always a challenge but here in Florida it is even more so. I am using 4 coats of Cetol natural teak as a base and two coats of clear Cetol over the top. The picture does not show the finished product yet because it isn't. There are only 2 coats of natural teak finish on so far. And while some of the other Cetol products would do a better job of protecting, they muddy up the appearance so much you can't hardly tell what the wood looks like under it. In the Florida sun Cetol holds up significantly better than varnish possibly can so even the lower level of protection with the "natural teak" version is better than varnish. In addition my wife is making a full cover for Destiny for me. So when I am not sailing her she will always be under cover.


Everything about life is a compromise. I am a big fan of wood so I am willing to spend a lot more time in the off sailing season maintaining the finish on Destiny's wood parts. And the key is good maintenance.

[Commander 147]

So I'm getting a lot closer to actually splashing Destiny and I get really frustrated some times because I can't just work on her non-stop because I have to work for a living also, dang it......


Anyway here are a few current pics.


BTW, the wire you can see laying on the side deck is part of the mast raising system I will be using. I will document that here once I start using it.


The mast is also ready to go back on the boat. I'll follow this post with a couple mast pictures.

[Commander 147]

An overview, and the top and bottom of the mast.

[Lucky Dawg]

Hey Jerry,
Ordering some screws from Bolt Depot.

Quick question - Did you use 1" or 1/ 1/4" #6 screws for your rub rail? 1 1/4" seems long! Without the moulding, I had 3/4" - which put them 1/2" into the fiberglass. 9/16" (moulding + stainless) + 1/2" lies between the two!

I'm only obsessing on it because the rail with moulding setup in your pix appears to sit a bit below where my old rail sat (right on the hull-deck joint) and I want them poking as little as possible through into the cabin.
KW

[Commander 147]

Hey Jerry,
Ordering some screws from Bolt Depot.

Quick question - Did you use 1" or 1/ 1/4" #6 screws for your rub rail? 1 1/4" seems long! Without the moulding, I had 3/4" - which put them 1/2" into the fiberglass. 9/16" (moulding + stainless) + 1/2" lies between the two!

I'm only obsessing on it because the rail with moulding setup in your pix appears to sit a bit below where my old rail sat (right on the hull-deck joint) and I want them poking as little as possible through into the cabin.
KW

Kyle


As far as placement on my rub rail I wanted the top of the rail a consistent distance from the top of the toe rail so I took a roll of 3/4" masking tape and put a continuous piece in the area where the rub rail would go so that the top of the masking tape was lined up with the top of the toe rail. Then I lined up the top of the rub rail with the bottom of the masking tape. In some cases this put the centerline of the rub rail right on the hull deck joint and in other places not so much. But to my minds eye it was pleasing.


As far as the screws I used 1-1/4" screws but in the cabin area if you remember I filled the toe rail with polyester filler and then glassed over it. So the screws do not show up inside the cabin area at all. Towards the back of the boat where I did not do that (aft of the genoa track area) the screws stuck out inside the boat 1/8" to 3/16". Which for me was about perfect.


Something else about the way I installed the rub rail. At each screw location first I would drill a pilot hole for the screw. Then I would drill a clearance hole through only the rub rail that would allow the screw to slide easily through it. Then I would pump 5200 into the clearance hole (not easy and hard on the hand squeezing the caulking gun) to fill the void behind the rub rail. Then I would run the screw in and when it tightened up the 5200 would completely seal the area and provide backing to the rail. If you follow this method you will want to put masking tape below the rail as well as above because you will get squeeze out of the 5200 and the tape will make clean up easy.


Hope this helps Kyle and good luck with your installation.