South African "Catalina" 22

[greg_m]

Hull coating update... so after sanding off the bugs and imperfections on the sides, transom and bottom of the hull I was not happy with the bottom. So I decided to actually kill two birds with one stone... Redo the epoxy coating but to water level only. This way the water-plane area is epoxy sealed and I will have a coating thickness "ridge" to follow as a witness line when applying the bottom paint and waterline stripe. Not intending to sand the ridge away, just smooth it down. Took the day off work to do this... and it rained!

This is the preparations being made. My neighbour and I sanded down the bottom of the boat to just above the waterline area. This was followed by cleaning, washing, drying and then acetone washing. I leveled the boats waterline forward and aft using a clear plastic tube with water! I used the original marks for this on the bow cut-water and along the transom edges. Then I leveled the boat port/starboard the same way with the water level gauge! Then I set up my laser level projector and simply marked along the laser lines... easy peezy lemon squeezy! I then ran some masking tape around the hull following the marks.

Very happy with the setup. Did not take after coating photo's as it got to dark (my battery died!)

 

[greg_m]

Snapped a couple of photo's on my way to work this morning. The newly applied epoxy layer is the shiny bit from waterline down to keel... or up to keel seeing as the boat is upside down.

This must just get a light sanding to remove the shininess, flat it down so to speak, and then the whole hull is ready for the Perfection Undercoat.

However it looks like the next few days will be rainy and below 15ºC so not really suitable for painting

 

[rpludwig]

more great progress...and good you got it "inside" for work...when does suitable sailing weather begin down there?

 

[greg_m]

more great progress...and good you got it "inside" for work...when does suitable sailing weather begin down there?

That's actually now! Winter time in the Southern African waters are the best months for sailing. Summer months are usually much warmer however are characterized by very strong south easterly winds, in excess of 30 knots, that can blow for days or even weeks on end!

The brave could sail reefed most of the year, the wise would sit on the club bar deck and drink a nice cold beer marveling at the "braveness" of the brave sailors venturing out into the bay!

 

[greg_m]

Well tomorrow is d-day: I am actually finally ready to apply the first coat of Perfection Undercoat! Hold thumbs...

There is no more preparations to do, no more procrastinating. Huge milestone in the road to fully restored sailing boat.

 

[Hayden Watson]

Good luck with it. I really liked working with Perfection.

 

[Hardhead]

I've never actually seen the method you've used, with a clear tube with water, for leveling a big project before. To a guy like me, that is absolutely brilliant. Do you have a photo or any other info for the type of laser level you also used? Really coming along great. Great work on the whole project...

 

[Hayden Watson]

water level info. http://www.factsfacts.com/MyHomeRepair/WaterLevel.htm

 

[greg_m]

I've never actually seen the method you've used, with a clear tube with water, for leveling a big project before. To a guy like me, that is absolutely brilliant. Do you have a photo or any other info for the type of laser level you also used? Really coming along great. Great work on the whole project...

@Hardhead the water level pipe idea is not mine... I think the Greeks may have been the one's to come up with something like that in ancient times. But it sure is a great old school way and gravity does not run out of batteries! As for the laser level it is just a common handyman laser from Bosch. http://www.loot.co.za/product/bosch...VC5ztCh264QVAEAQYByABEgI1s_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[greg_m]

So... beside being more than a little sore; a "million" steps on the ladder, all the crouching, bending over and push up type exercises carrying out the preparations and the actual painting (who needs a gym when you can have a boat project instead huh?); I am very happy with the outcome of my first ever efforts to apply paint onto a "big" boat using the roll and tip method !

I think the International Perfection paint also "improved" my skills as it seems very forgiving when following directions! I did the first part of tipping horizontally which produced horizontal "grooves" with runs in the coating. A quick re-roll over and followed up with the OEM instruction of vertical tipping and "perfection" it was. Barely visible brush marks, no runs and it all flowed out to a shiny smooth coat.

I started the job around 9am with preparations: first soapy water wash down, rinse and then dry off with paper towels. Followed by the wiping down with No:9 thinner which was followed by a wiping down with tack cloths. Allowing to stand to dry and a cup of tea in between it was around 11am after this. After paint prep and mixing and standing the required 10 minutes I was ready to apply the paint by around 11:30am. I did not stop until around just before 4pm when the last tipping stroke was completed. Definitely a marathon task for one person.

Today the boat is just going to stand until the paint hardens sufficiently to sand it for the next coat. It is around 13ºC to 15ºC this week here so curing will be slowed up a bit. I'm sure it helped out with pot life during the painting though.

The below photo's are just after completing the first coat. It was a bit dark as it was late in the pm and the promised clouds were moving over.

So I started a around 9am and finished around 4pm. I used a little over 1.1 liters of mixed undercoat paint, 4 flocked foam rollers, 1/4 liter No:9 thinners, 2 tack cloths (because i dropped 1 of them!), a bunch of paper towel roll, a bunch of rags (because I also dropped a few of them), some detergent and some water and a whole heap of time and a few cups of tea to get this first coat done.... to be repeated 3 more times!

Motivation: suddenly it looks like a boat again!

 

[Gene Neill]

AWESOME!!

 

[rpludwig]

VERY impressive results, looks like factory waxed gelcoat!!

 

[JRT]

That is pretty amazing. I lack serious free time and probably need to retire at 44!

 

[greg_m]

Update sans photos... yet!

A lot has been happening.

• Sanding out the keel box to remove as much of the old bubbly gel coat. Helluva manual laborious intensive job.
• Re-bedding the keel hangers so they seat fully with no gaps after cleaning away old gel coat.
  
• Building a male mold to make up a "sleeve" of epoxy glass cloth laminate to fit inside the keel box. The kkel box is way oversize big hole for the keel. I don't want to mess around with spacers! It must just fit like a glove!
  
• Sanding down the first undercoat layer with 380 grit paper to prep for second primer coat.
  
• Applying a second coat of Interlux Perfection undercoat which went on, Tuesday this week.

That was all in the past two weeks even with the icy cold weather, howling winds and rain. In fact I have got a heater going inside the boat hull now to "warm" the hull so the paint can actually cure for sanding this afternoon.

Tomorrow morning, Friday 6th, the first Topcoat of Interlux Perfection in Mediterranean white goes on!

Keel due to go for sand blasting next week. Plan is sand first topcoat and apply second final topcoat layer by Wednesday next week... woohoo it's gonna get busy!

Will update this post next week again...

 

[greg_m]

I thought I would take a closer look at my boats keel. It is a cast iron keel with a definite foil shape and a pronounced bulb on the end. It is in pretty good shape as far as wear and tear and corrosion goes. The hanger pin hole is worn slightly large such that the pin is a loose rattle fit and the lifting cable securing point has been modified. It used a shackle through the hole which has worn thin in the past and been re-drilled by the PO. It also has "Jaguar" moulded into the casting.

So aside from sand blasting, a little grinding on the leading and trailing edges to smooth them down as it looks like this was never done since new, a lick of fairing compound to fill the surface holes and a coat of epoxy paint there's not much work to do. I do intend to drill and tap a decent hole for a lifting cable eye. I also intend to fit the pin with epoxy adhesive into the keel. The hangers themselves are in good condition.

 

[rpludwig]

Greg, you are fortunate to have such a good condition keel for it's age, you deserve a break from all the intensive/extensive work you've accomplished!

 

[greg_m]

Update on keel box: Trying to remove old blistered gel coat from inside

Many moons ago I asked @CloudDiver for some advice on removing the old gel coat... his reply was something along the lines of "get creative"! Lets see what you guys think of my creativity!

If you look back through my thread you will see I modified a hole saw to be used with a drill to clean the round ends of the keel box and slot out, removing the majority of the old rotten gel coat. Then I used a sanding disk on the drill and went as far as I could down into the slot clearing away the old gel coat. That's how it has stood for the last year or so.

Latest effort saw me trying to make a contraption out of my angle grinder, two rear one way sprockets from a kiddies bicycle and a bicycle chain to get down into the slot. It is however to narrow and probably would have proved fatal if used! Either frustration or sanity prevailed and I simply made use of what we call "domkrag" in South Africa! Said angle grinder sanding discs, 36 grit, mounted onto a sturdy plank and my "garden executive"... he made good progress but still not enough before the sun went down.

I then purchased as big as I could get from my local hardware store - a bastard file rasp! I then epoxied this thing onto another sturdy plank and had a go myself the next day at the slot. I don't have the "dom" part of the "krag" and quickly decided this was no good. Plan "b" follows...

These photos are from before plan "b"...

 

[greg_m]

Plan "b"!

Plan "b" started formulating when I saw that I was not getting to the bottom of the keel box, or the top of it depending on how you look at it... my boat is upside down at the moh. At one stage the crazy notion of building an entirely new keel box and slot crossed my mind... then i had some more beers and dismissed the idea!

But wait, how about lop off the top bit just enough to get in there and remove the old crap out? Creative?

Before going "extreme" I decided to make a template of the keel box and slot from front to just where the volcano hole is. I intend to make a "sleeve" to fit inside the original keel box and slot of epoxy/cloth laminate. Can't believe how time has moved on... this was 1st July 2018. The male mold plug is made from MDF board with pine filler planks for the correct thickness and shape to fit exactly inside the original keel box and slot. I have made allowance for the keel thickness plus 2mm clearances and the sleeve will take up the place of the old gel coat. In fact the slot is actually way to big and wide as you guys already know about... spacers required to fit onto keel to take up the slack as it were.

 

[greg_m]

Painting update: So we applied the final coat of paint Thursday the 5th of July. Well that was until the wind piped up and blasted the Cape Peninsula stirring up as much dust and dirt as the good old "Cape Doctor" could muster! Needless to say the paint job although in a garage was covered with shyte and felt like 80 grit! So I spent the weekend sanding it down to a very velvety smooth but matt finish. DA sander and 320 grit.

So yesterday was an absolute stunner of a day as is today, 11th of July. Next to no wind! Took the day off work to apply a final coat of paint. This time though we decided to totally dispense with the tipping part of "roll and tip" method. No matter how lightly I tipped there were always brush marks to be seen.

From our experience having painted the boat several times and sanded back several times : 1) really good preparation, cleaning, thinners wipe down followed by tack cloth wipe down. 2) The best quality plain foam rollers you can buy, and lots of them - I budgeted for three rollers per "section", 12 rollers in total. 3) Load the roller with paint as LIGHTLY as possible. 4) Apply as thin coat as you can but still covering the surface well enough. (More thinner coats is way better). 5) Roll SLOWLY - creates next to zero bubbles. 6) Roll lightly so you do not leave tracks but firmly enough that you can feel the paint sticking - creates next to zero bubbles. 7) Instead of tipping off with a brush basically roll over the fresh paint slowly and lightly.

If there were bubbles appearing it was for these reasons: 1) primarily the roller was to heavily loaded with paint, 2) pressing down to hard on the roller, 3) rolling to rapidly...

I decided to mask off the waterline and cove line areas before painting. This way the areas for painting the lines are already sanded down and are clearly indicated. This also broke the surface up in smaller regions. I did the bottom of the boat, being taller and can reach over easier, while my friend painted the topsides. Much more manageable compared to tryting to paint the whole hull top to bottom!

The proof of the pudding is in the eating ... so feast your eyes, we have!

 

[greg_m]

A new mast compression post! The old one was butt ugly... square shape carved with a jig saw, not round and elegant at all. I have posted an original picture of it for comparison. In any case I needed the bottom part to be squared off as it was original cut at an angle. I asked my friend to "just square off the bottom". He squared it off but took away about two inches to do this... the post was way to short after that. It also had some heavy weird looking skull cracking mounting at the top.

Locally Teak wood is horrendously expensive, especially in that bulky size. So the next best thing is a wood called "Balau" which is very dense (heavy and solid) and actually to my eye looks very nice too. Through a colleague I managed to find someone who can turn wood on a lathe. This seams to be a dying art...

I supplied a piece of planed Balau wood a little over length, for mounting in the lathe but also a little allowance for final fitting in my boat and of 86mm square. So for the price of USD30 labour and USD70 wood cut and planed I got this beautiful post made! it is finished but needs a final smooth down sanding and some teak oil or something to seal it.

I supplied a picture of the original design and a few domensions and left the rest up to the wood turning guy to "make it look nice". All praise to his efforts... I'm stoked!