Restoration of 1981 C-22 swing keel #10580

[CloudDiver]

Painting continues... almost done with the first coat. Second coat should go much faster.

In other small projects... The furling drum needs to be mounted farther back from the forestay than the stem fitting allows. Cap'n Don used a special sized Winchard U-bolt that fits the stem fitting bolt holes. I decided to weld an additional tang on the aft end of the fitting to give me a 5/16" pin hole above and just behind the rear bolts. I traced the profile of the back end of the stem fitting onto some stainless flat stock of the same thickness, then cut it out with my plasma cutter. I welded it to the stem fitting while firmly clamped to the welding table so it wouldn't twist from heat. I refined the shape with my stationary drum sander and a flap disc on the angle grinder, finishing with fine files. Later, I'll give it some time on the polishing wheels.

 

[CloudDiver]

 

[Leeward Rail]

Looking good !
I'm coveting the self tailing winches.

 

[CloudDiver]

Last week I worked on the Bulkhead Compass. I went with the Plastimo Mini-Contest 2. The Ritchie Venture or Navigator would have needed a bigger hole... even the Plastimo Contest 101 was too big. I decided that making the hole smaller would be easier than making it bigger. I think this compass is a great size, the Ritchie Navigator is HUGE!

 

[CloudDiver]

Looking good !
I'm coveting the self tailing winches.

Thanks... I hope they work as nice as they look... Take a look at this thread and see how the Racers ditch the winches all together and use ratcheting blocks. I'm sure it takes more work from the arms to deal with sheets, but obviously its faster...and cheaper!
http://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/1989-c-22-wing-keeled-new-design.178333/

 

[Leeward Rail]

That's not a bad idea at all. Use the cabin top winches when the wind pipes up.
It would be interesting to try that configuration single handed.

 

[CloudDiver]

Well, Grad School is still a major drain on my time and ruining my life in general, but here is a few things I've had cooking the last few weeks...
Here are the longer inboard tracks.... All the holes have been drilled for the curve, epoxy potted at 5/16, then re-drilled to 1/8" in the epoxy. After that I was able to repaint the footprint under the track with white. These are 4 feet 11 inches long Ronstan tracks. The thing I like about them the most is that they come with plastic isolator collars, kind of like a washer that hugs the under side of the machine screw head so the stainless never touches the aluminum. For the end caps I potted the hole in epoxy and only tapped the hole for 1/2 inch screws, that way I can unscrew the end cap and remove my genoa car from the end. I still have the shorter 3 foot 3 inch tracks, I'm still on the fence about mounting them on the outboard toe rail. If I do I can just redial the holes, its solid fiberglass so I don't need to pot the holes.

 

[CloudDiver]

I was supposed to be finishing the last of the gloss white topcoat (first coat) but I got distracted by mounting all the deck hardware so I can make sure all the holes get potted and everything gets masked off. As I mentioned before, none of my surface mounted hardware will be mounted over nonskid, just glossy white surfaces.
I picked the Ronstan triple deck organizers. They are a little less expensive than Harken ESP and slightly more than an inch shorter with roughly the same sheave size, handles up to 3/8" lines. They fit like a glove all the way in the back corner of the cabin top giving me a fair lead down the sides of the pop top. Two important things, the farthest inboard line stays clear of the pop top by about 1/2" and the angle from the deck organizer to the halyard plate keeps the lines clear of where my thru deck fittings will be for mast lights and VHF connector. Nice straight shot to the clutches... All the holes have been over-drilled and potted. In the pics you can see the 'feet' I made from thickened epoxy so the flat bottomed handrails sit flush on the drip-rail.

 

[CloudDiver]

And for my last trick... here is the definition of 'anal retentive'... This is the epoxy filled hole for the mast wiring connector. I got the same kind as the boat had before so the holes were already roughly in same place and epoxy filled from when I fixed the wet deck around the connector. The mounting screws are tiny #4, so when I lined up the position to re-drill the holes I actually over drilled them at 1/8" and not all the way through. Then I used an old ship-wright trick and waxed the screws with chapstick and reset them in the holes with Loctite 5 minute epoxy. When it was hard but not fully cured about an hour later I backed the screws out. Ta-dah... tiny screw holes that are threaded for a sure-footed attachment when I finally bed the housing. This pic shows the screws backed half-way out, the threading goes all the way down so the crew heads will actually touch the deck (5/8" screw). I had to check and make sure they would back out before I took the pick, lol!

 

[Gene Neill]

when I lined up the position to re-drill the holes I actually over drilled them at 1/8" and not all the way through. Then I used an old ship-wright trick and waxed the screws with chapstick and reset them in the holes with Loctite 5 minute epoxy.

Genius!!

 

[CloudDiver]

Just a reminder to everyone that I am still up to no good...

This a brummel lock splice in 3mm heat annealed Dyneema with a closed sailmaker's thimble. So what what do you all think I'm up to now? Besides painting... yes, I'm still fracking painting (groan).

 

[Gene Neill]

Lifelines!
Samson AmSteel?

 

[The Garbone]

Pretty.

 

[CloudDiver]

Good guess Gene... close, but not exactly. The New England Ropes STS (Stronger than steel) HSR (Heat Set Rope) is heat annealed under tension, so it's stretch is .6% with very low creep. The working load (40% of breaking load) on 3 mm is 2030lbs, so it is stronger than 3mm (1/8 1x19 stainless wire) by a factor of 2.9! So, on a length that is say 25 feet (300 inches) you would expect initial stretch of just 1.8 inches. Several Riggers who have stretch and break tested this line have noticed you can get most or all of the stretch out of the line by pulling it to only 20% of its working load and letting it dwell for a while, then it just won't go any farther than that even at a higher load. Creep is a different factor but its super low on this line, but still needs to be taken into consideration.
The short story, this stuff is as good as or better than Colligo Dynex Dux at half the price. Actually, Colligo doesn't carry 3mm (smallest is 5mm). Funny thing is, the Defender regular price is almost the same as the West Marine 40% off sale price when I got mine... and for Memorial Day defender is having a big sale! 3mm STS HSR is .87 per foot!
http://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?path=-1|2078767|2078774|2078775&id=2453422

 

[CloudDiver]

I'm still at it, slowly but surely... So I got the second coat on the outside rails, now I finally moved the hull back inside so I can complete the second coat on everything else. Its getting hot, and I really need to be painting out of the sun. Plus, all the bird crap is REALLY annoying. I'll probably place my order for Kiwi Grip tonight!

 

[Gene Neill]

I wanna buy that boat when you're done with it. (You'll have to put the teak back on first though!)

BTW ... I keep meaning to PM you. You're a welding and fabrication genius, and I need to pick your brain about a mast tabernacle I need to make or have made (not for a C22). Maybe I'll just start an Ask All Sailors thread. If I do I'll make sure you see it.

 

[pclarksurf]

she's looking outstanding....

 

[Texas Gun-Man]

I wanna buy that boat when you're done with it. (You'll have to put the teak back on first though!)

Its brand new now! Probably better than new because he has an emotional investment in it. It reminds me of how much time, effort, and money the gentleman put into Chip Ahoy. Now it's for sale. I think he just enjoyed working on it.
When it's done CD will move up in size and find a Cat 30 to restore...lol

 

[kito]

Looking great. Are you getting Gray colored Kiwigrip? I am curious on seeing pictures after the Kiwigrip to see actually how dark the gray color is. I bought a gallon of white Kiwigrip for my H30 and will mix it with a quart of gray. Hopefully it should be a very light gray that I am looking for.

 

[CloudDiver]

Looking great. Are you getting Gray colored Kiwigrip? I am curious on seeing pictures after the Kiwigrip to see actually how dark the gray color is. I bought a gallon of white Kiwigrip for my H30 and will mix it with a quart of gray. Hopefully it should be a very light gray that I am looking for.

I will post pics after I roll it on. I'm hoping for a darker gray, but from the color samples I've seen that are only in pictures I don't think it will be too dark.