And so it begins

[25yearslater]

Thank you all for your well wishes. Undaunted our stalwart restorer has broken out the heat lamps and portable electric heater to touch up these pesky thin spots. And the sanding continues ad nauseum. Jeepers this thing grew or something. With the hull shining and beckoning, Joe, Joe I want to go sailing, a renewed energy has wafted over me. Coupled with the visit from Panta Rei and his admiration of the work thus far as well as the continued efforts of my eldest son the end of the sanding is fast approaching. If the cabin is near as shiny as the hull an arc welding helmet will be required to sail it on sunny days or risk retinal burns. So anyhow here are some of the sanding gadgets we are using to produce smooth gelcoat in the less than wide open areas. They really make the process much less aggravating. The little block has one side with 1/4 inch foam left over from the hull liner and the other side plain wood. It makes short work of the rubrail and toerail areas as well as the lateral stripes. Just wrap some sandpaper around it and away you go.

 

[Panta Rei]

A YOT call

I enjoy these online discussions and learn a lot from others experience but if it went no further than an online acquaintance I feel it would not be worth while. I make a yearly milk run out to the east coast from my Wisconsin location to visit customers I tend to fly over. It's a lot of windshield time so I try to make a few fun stops along the way. Last year I found my current project Panta Rhei. This year I hoped to connect with a few on line buddies. I have a few customers in and around in the finger lakes area so I tried to hook up with Joe and see YOT.

I knew finding YOT would be easy since locations for cranes to unload semis are often limited to front yards and Joe's directions were good. As the house number sequence neared Joe's, I smiled seeing Yot for the first time in the flesh, nearly exactly as I had pictured it. The only thing missing was a cloud of gelcoat dust I expected to see surrounding YOT. Joe had just gotten off work and had not yet fired up the sander.

First close look at Yot showed a hull with a showroom gloss and shine. Actually a bit better since it had no glass weave print through.

Climbing into the cabin Joe showed me the famous non-skid pattern he had made and the results of the pattern on the nonskid areas of the deck. I surveyed the decks while Joe pointed out small imperfections only he would know about. Comparing the nonskid to my O'day 22 , I would say it is an exact match. I think of it as a three strand weave. You could easily see the three strands in YOT's pattern.

Moving below I was surprised at at the amount of room in the 27. Forward was the very same V-birth layout my 39 has. I realized that all O'day owners have much more in common than I thought since O'day used many elements across much of the product line. I guess this makes sense. Why re-engineer an element when it has been done before.

Looking back I was jealous at the amount of room Yot had surrounding the mechanical systems since the galley not been completely installed. This allowed Joe to freely work on the systems without the contortions I must make to reach anything on Panta Rhie.

We went over everything on the boat including the famous non structural teak plywood Joe had to rip out and the plaid seat cushions he has sewn. I was not disappointed that he chose to replace the orange counter and table tops with white.

Time was short, I had another 500 mile drive ahead of me but the stop was the highlight of my trip.

To sum it all up, Yes, it will be 26 years later but I am absolutely certain Yot will look like it had just left the showroom floor when it launches next summer.
Joe, I enjoyed meeting you and your family and hope you see you all again with water (not gelcoat dust) under YOT's keel.

 

[25yearslater]

Thank you Todd, it was my distinct pleasure to meet you and be given an honest and candid opinion of the work thus far. This is especially true since you are also a fellow Oday owner/recycler. I'm going to use the word recycle from here on out as that's what we are doing. Restore just seems to imply a retro type of affair but we have the opportunity to use more modern material, techniques and information than at the time of manufacture. Essentially we are recycling them into more capable vessels that should outlast anything the original builder could imagine and keep them from ending up as landfill. So anyway since our visit I have explained my concerns regarding gelcoat shine with my friends at Express Composites. There is a distinct possibility the gelcoat has not reached it's full cure as the temps dipped into the upper 60's during the evenings. The subsequent buffing heated the gelcoat and this may be what is causing the oh so minor orange peel reappearing. The advise, leave it the hell alone till spring and buff only with the Aqua Buff 2000 at the slower speed that yielded the areas of mirror finish. This is the problem when an obsessive perfectionist takes on a project like this. They are always looking to make it just a bit better. The other conversation was with the good folks at Polytek. They are the folks who make the molding rubber that I used to duplicate the non skid pattern. They recommended using the 75-65 since I am aiming for a more rigid mold that might be better suited to my application. As everyone remembers the lumpy issue , even though very minor, was still enough to drive me nuts, and that wasn't a very long drive anyway. There is only one area I will be redoing so it's no huge setback. One more touch up on a small area of the cabin top and on to closing this thing up. My little heater and the Volara foam I have leftover from the hull liner provides these small areas a balmy 85 degrees in which to cure the gelcoat. Just make sure the foam doesn't fall onto the uncured gelcoat. All in all despite the chilly weather it is possible to do touch up work even though our nights are in the upper 20's of late. Within a few weeks I see no problem getting these new portlights installed complete with the spacers between the liner and cabin exterior. Ta for now.

 

[TENACITY CS36T]

thanks Joe, appreciate the updates and enjoy reading about all of your progress.

 

[25yearslater]

FINALLY! The cabin, deck and toerail areas are ready for buffing. Some minor sanding on the cockpit coamings and settee sides remains but heating the gelcoat and keeping the areas of touch up warm (80 degrees) has worked. By next weekend the windows and their respective spacers will be installed. This will allow me to continue the interior work in relative comfort with my little 1500 Watt Stanley heater. I'll get some photos up a little later today so we can all marvel at the shear beauty of a freshly gelcoated YOT. Am I laying it on a little thick? I still think these things grow during recycling and shrink the second they get put in the water.

 

[25yearslater]

Almost made it! A little less than half way to go and close her up.:dance: I'm using some 3m Rubbing compound #39002 and a wool compounding pad I picked up at the local NAPA store then following with Aqua Buff 2000 that I'm hand rubbing. Now that's dedication, or insanity, but the results are worth it. One nice thing about the hand rubbing with the Aqua Buff is the reappearing orange peel doesn't occur. Seems my friends at Express Composites were right on the mark about a less than complete cure and the heat generated by the buffer. Least aways now I'm gonna get that glass smooth hull I'm after even if it's a bit excessive. So without further ado, here's the pics.

 

[rajhnsn]

Looks better than new!

 

[jibes138]

Beautiful work Joe

Yot looks great. Every time I put a load of empty beer cans in the big blue bin in my garage I will think of how Yot is also being recycled. Have you thought ahead to any cruises for Yot like maybe the great loop?

 

[25yearslater]

Thank you so much Raj and jibes. You are two of the guys that have been with me since the beginning. I am deeply grateful to all your questions , comments and quips. What seemed an elusive goal is fast approaching fruition. To receive the well wishes and compliments has been a real morale boost on this journey. Now as to the grand tour. I will be considering sending YOT on tour after I get it fully wrung out and am assured it is equal to any task Poseidon might throw at it.

 

[TENACITY CS36T]

Joe, when is your expected launch date?

 

[25yearslater]

Hello e-pod my northern neighbor. If I can complete everything to my satisfaction and arrange the hauling by mid July that would be the launch. If not then April of 2013 would be the definate launch. So long as Ontario isn't frozen I can dress for the chill. I still remember thumping icebergs with my Oday 22 in March several years ago. As you know our best winds are early spring and late fall. UPDATE It's window weekend. My stuff came from McMaster-Carr today so it's full speed ahead with closing this thing up. I have on hand the Dow Corning 795 silicone for the job. Best part is it is $8.09 for a 10.3 ounce cartridge. Some 3M 5200 regular for the toe rail and hatch sliders, $21.28/10 ounce cartridge. I also picked up a box of 18-8 stainless hex washer head #8s for the toe rails at $8.23/100 and also a flexible screwdriver bit extension to get between the cabin liner and hull to attach the toe rails for $8.17. So if you need stuff consider the industrial supply houses like McMaster, MSC or Grainger. This is the same stuff you would pay 2 or 3 times the price at a big box store or marine supply place. Ta for now gotta clean the gaps, pictures soon.

 

[TENACITY CS36T]

Well i'll cross my fingers you get out this July!

 

[25yearslater]

Now we're getting there. Insert spacers, caulk and install with a generous amount of Dow 795 Silicone Sealant. A cordless screwdriver is a must as there are about a million of the little screws that clamp the windows to the cabin. So here are the pictures and to say I'm excited is the understatement of the century.

 

[SailingCal21]

Looks good, I can understand your excitement. It's amazing how they make the interior as well as exterior look finished.

 

[rajhnsn]

Did you insert the spacers and then seal or did you embed the spacers in sealant?

 

[JonnyQuest]

Joe, the work you put into Yot really looks fantastic and it shows the quality of craftsmanship in the photos and I am sure more so in person. Yot had stress fractures throughout the fiberglass like everyone else's does right? Being a novice what's the likelihood that stress fractures are going to form again? Or what steps did you take to hopefully prevent this from happening in the future?
Thank you Master Yoda.

 

[25yearslater]

First up Mr. Rajhnsn. What I was looking at were two problems. One being the cabin liner compressing and allowing the clamp of the window and inner ring to release. In these areas I just installed the spacers and generously caulked the windows and installed. Once the inner ring was installed I knew there was sufficient caulk as it squeezed out around the outside edges. A rag with some denatured alchohol cleaned up the excess without damaging the gelcoat. The second problem I encountered was the starboard aft cutout had a very pronounced bulge in the cabin liner. It was enough to have distorted the old inner ring. For this I coated the liner and cabin gap with epoxy slightly thickened and clamped to reform the liner. Suprisingly everything assumed an accurate shape. Then it was install as the other three. Now for the stress cracks for Jonny Quest. I ground each one with a dremel fitted with a small burr. After which I filled with some Duraglass. The areas I noticed the most cracks were areas of insufficient backing especially hatch hinges. The Duratec additive is suppose to help with this. I am also adding backing in these areas for some cheap insurance. A few premade cloth/epoxy backing patches will hopefully do the job. One other thing I was doing was to regelcoat only the amount that had been compounded out over the years. The Duratec blended at 50/50 with the gelcoat lends itself to complete cure at thinner thicknesses. So thanks for your questions and hope if you have more you don't hesitate to post them. By the way the Aquabuff is really good stuff but the high speed and just the right amount of water make it a pain. I have resorted to hand rubbing to get the shine without the reappearing orange peel.

 

[Panta Rei]

Joe,

I'm starting to work on a few hatch covers in my garage so I will be ready to do the hull come spring. The covers are a microcosm of the boat with cracks and chips in the non-skid as well as the smooth gelcoat. My question is about the Aquabuff. Does the powered buffer/aqubuff orange peel old gelcoat or does it effect only the fresh repairs?

 

[25yearslater]

Hi Todd. The Aquabuff only seems to affect new gelcoat. As I discussed previously I spoke with the folks at Express Composites about this and the conclusion was the new stuff hadn't reached it's full cure. We had a few days of warmer weather and it appears to be continuing to reach a harder state. The cabin top had a longer cure time and didn't orange peel with the buffer and 3M product. I went behind by hand with the Aquabuff 2000 and a terrycloth rag to get an extremely smooth finish. I am also finishing up the cockpit and toerail/rubrail areas this week and the finish by hand is amazing. Even I can live with these results. I am sending you a PM on the nonskid application. It isn't as bad as it seems once you get it figured out. The nice thing about hand rubbing is you can feel it dry and drag indicating a spritz of water is in order. With the machine you are guessing about too dry which may have contributed to the orange peel. I did get around it by opting on the side of too much water. That kept everything cool enough to solve the problem. And a tiny bit, about the size of a penny, is enough for an 18" X 18" square when kept moist.

 

[25yearslater]

Well there's something you don't see everyday. Master Yogurt has been busy now hasn't he? Most of the sanding, touching up, resanding and buffing is now a thing of the past. Outside anyway. The engine instrument box is back in. The companionway hatch is on with some nice new teak rails, and huzzah and hoorah it doesn't make that awful screeching noise when it is sliding forward. I guess my hatch repair worked. All the windows/ports are just beautiful and the tabernacle is back in place. The piece of resistance, oh joy the bow pulpit fit. Remember from a previous post the port forward stantion was bent six ways to silly. The time it took to construct a welding jig from some scrap wood had that sucker lay right in to the degree of the deck curvature and every screw virtually dropped right through the pre existing holes. I caulked the windows, engine instrument box and bow pulpit with Dow 795 silicone. The tabernacle and teak rails with 3M 5200 regular, not the fast. A strip of new 1/2 X 3/4 self stick weatherstripping was installed at the top forward part of the companionway to replace the old worn out stuff. I will be using this same stuff, available from most any home center on the cockpit settee hatches. Not to seal them as much as cushion that nasty plastic on plastic cacophony when we drop rather than lower those things. Of course we never drop them now do we? So tomorrow the toe rails will be cut to length and screwed in place untill my next order of silicone arrives. I will give you a peek at the flex driver at that time as I'm curious as to it's performance as well. Here's a sneak peek at the so far.