C-025 Bisquit

[Commander 147]

Now take the drawings and go visit your sail maker. I wish I had spent more time talking to my sail maker before deciding on a layout plan. They (sail makers) really are a valuable resource if we use them correctly.

[Commander 147]

Hey, I just noticed the beer bottles sitting on the table by the hatch covers. Speaking from personal experience you will need a lot more of those before you finish this project! :-)

[Bisquit]

Many more beers will be sacrificed before this is over. I was going to have a sail maker tell me where the sails need to trim to. I am trying to work out a floating lead arrangement but I have not figured out how to make the inhauler work. Lots of time to work through those details.

[Bisquit]

It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve posted an update on my progress. Spring is a really busy time at the boatyard. Add to that a trip to see my son’s college graduation ceremony and a trip to the west coast to set up a boat for the Transpac and something had to give. Rather than that be progress on Bisquit, I decided to postpone updates. Right now I have removed all of the bad core from the deck and prepped the inner skin for new core.




I left ribbons of deck in place for a couple of reasons. They will allow for smaller, more manageable lay ups and core replacement and they will provide reference points for the deck shape when I fair the new outer skin.



The bow is re-cored. I put 3/8” G10 sheet at the bow and at the stanchions, deck fill and dorade vent to stiffen the deck and prevent water ingress in the future. I backfilled the areas where the inner and outer skins taper and meet with west system epoxy thickened with a combination of high and low density filler. I will put G10 under all the stanchions, chainplates and cleat locations aft. After it is all re-cored I will taper the deck to meet the core allow for a smooth transition on the layup.

[Bisquit]

Meanwhile back at the ranch have been working on the exterior woodwork. It was in pretty rough shape. I removed and disassembled it all then I ran whatever I could through a planer. I had to rebuild the main hatch, the winch pads, and the cockpit combing wings. I have 2 sealer layers and 3 build layers on most of the exterior wood now and it is starting to look like it belongs on a boat. I am using Epifanes Gloss varnish thinned 50% for the seal coats and 10% for the build coats. I plan to do a three more build coats then switch to the rubbed effect for the next 4 coats. After it is reassembled and installed on the boat I will probably have to do at least one touch up coat.

[Bisquit]

Here is what the wood looked like when it was removed.

[Commander 147]

Bisquit better be dang happy she found you! Looking good!

[Bisquit]

Moving along. Got the deck re-cored, prepped the core and deck for glass, laid up 3 layers of 1708 biax and two layers of 8 oz mat. Down the center seam of the foredeck I added 3 layers of carbon unidirectional cloth and 3 layers of 1708 to stiffen things up there a bit. After all that was done I took an air file and and knocked down all the highs. I had the kids help me on Father's Day and we mudded the whole thing with 407. Tonight I plan to spend some quality time with my air file.

[Commander 147]

So what are you using for the replacement core material?

[Bisquit]

3/8" balsa for most areas. 3/8" G10 at the stanchions, bow and chainplates.

[Bisquit]

Work on Bisquit continues. I took a break to do the Transpac and the boat I sail on dropped out. - something about Hurricane Delores and insurance. Kinda glad we didn't go. It is a slow one this year. That is a story for another time. Back to the grind -- literally. Now that the deck is faired, it is time to move to the cabin top. I replaced the core under the mast step with solid glass and redesigned the mast step in solid glass. I also replaced the core on the cabin top at the starboard cockpit. I plan to run the halyards aft to clutches and a winch on both sides. The pt side is dry so need to re core. I'll lay glass tomorrow and start the fairing of the cabin top. My goal is to have primer on the deck by the end of the month. We will see how it goes.

[Commander 147]

I'm impressed with how fast you seem to be making progress. In my younger days things did not take as long as they do these days but once the body passes the 60 mark you tend to slow down. From what I can see your work looks good. Keep going you'll be done before you know it.

[Bisquit]

Thanks. You have set the bar really high.

[Bisquit]

I decided to prep the hullsides as well as the deck before I started to prime her. The old paint came off easily with a razor blade. I filled and faired all of the miscellaneous scratches and gouges. The shape is good.


Ready for primer


One coat of primer on the deck






Two coats of IP2000E on the deck and hull. This weekend I will add 3 more coats of primer then sand and prep for the Awl Grip system.

[Bisquit]

Cast Aluminium Fittings

Bisquit had all of the original (Danish I think) cast aluminium fittings on the deck. It would have been cheaper to just replace them in stainless but I want to maintain as much of the original hardware as I can. I sent the bronze stuff (stemhead, chainplates, tiller head, lifeline deck plates etc... ) out to be re-plated. I'm still waiting for those. After spending a few hours with mixed results trying to polish the aluminium fittings myself I found a shop outside of Chicago that specializes in metal polishing. I got the fittings back the other day. They are beautiful. Now I have to protect them. I don't want to clearcoat them. That would create a maintenance nightmare and it would wear off the cleats almost immediately. I'm talking to a guy about Bright Anodizing. I'm hoping he can help. Does anyone have any experience with this process?







Also, There is a 3" deck plate not pictured but restored. It looks like a Dorade vent may screw into it. Is anyone familiar with this fitting?