The New Cushions are Done!

Well after a long silent period I am happy to announce that I have finished the new salon cushions for the shit-boat.  I had been dreading starting on these because of the many yards of custom piping that were needed - over 2000 inches total (55.56 yards!).  However, I found a trick way of doing this really quickly and within a matter of hours had a pile of the stuff.

In case anyone wants to know how to do this.  here's a link to a video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZUJknZ6aC0

I started this project around the first of August and finished it just yesterday (9/9/18) with a good week's break during the latter part of the month when RT and I help our friend Brent move his 40' sailboat up to Alameda, CA.  So all in all, it really didn't take too long and this included cutting the foam, fabric, and sewing it all up.  Here's the finished product....it's not going in the boat yet because there's still more dusty, dirty work to do in there.  The fabric is from DIYupholstery.com and it's called "Duratex" - very heavy duty stuff - stain, UV, and mildew resistant.  The color is "Caribbean Blue".  Sailrite.com has wonderful how-to videos for doing this sort of thing.

So before I started the cushions I spent the first several weeks of summer (110+ degrees here in Havasu) inside the boat, sanding, filling, priming and painting all the old dark laminate surfaces.  Some of the stuff had to be removed because it de-laminated.  So much fun with the hot summer - using a heat gun in a small enclosed space.  Yuck.  The "head" was the worst.  After removing the laminate and sanding, I found the plywood was wavy so then had to fill with Bondo.  Then sand.  Then fill more.  Then sand more.  I hate sanding Bondo, really, really hate it!  Safety equipment was a must....don't I look glamorous?  Love the respirator!

This spring we had purchased a window Air Conditioner from Home Depot and installed it in the front hatch so at least I could keep the temperature inside down to 84 degrees most days.

I don't think these photos do justice to how much better Shit-boat looks inside now with the new paint, but here you go....

 I've decided to re-use the original cabinet doors, just re-laminate them with a speckled-gray Formica ("Crystal Flint Etchings") with new pulls and hinges.  I will also need to fabricate a few new cabinet doors for some that are missing.  We found a site that sells "t-molding" which is what was used for trimming out the doors, T-molding.com, of course!

Well, gotta get back to work.  This morning I'm patterning for the aft-berth mattress.  The 6" memory foam mattress is laying in our front room waiting to be cut.

Progress,,,, Finally

The trailer is Titled and Licensed! MVD inspection was a piece of cake. The person who did the paperwork, Terri, had never seen $5000 in receipts for a home built trailer before.

Spent the day getting the trailer under the boat. Had to re-position the jacks for every cross member. I must have climbed under the boat 75 times, lowering the jacks and boat stands. It fit like a glove.

I'm now working on the support bunks. Then the wood can be removed. Lee will be happy about the wood removal because it's a real PIA to get into the boat. Lee needs to take some pictures of the interior as she has done a lot of sanding, filling, and painting. She has started making the new cushions.

120' of piping so far. She is on the second cushion already.
It's been a nice summer here but we are going to head up to San Francisco Bay next week and help Brent move his boat down to Alameda.

Bottom Is Finished

The bottom is painted. 3 coats of Pettit Horizon. The old waterline stripe is still ugly but will remain until we float the boat. We may want to change the water line height or bow to stern set before painting it red.

Look Ma no hands (supports). This sure made the barrier coat and painting easier. The keel support is painted red because Lee wanted all moving trailer parts red and the fixed trailer parts black. I have cut the last 2 cross members out of the old trailer to make it easier to get the trailer out. I'll give the bottom a couple of days to dry and then remove the trailer. Once the trailer is out we will use Mo's support stands as safety's so Lee can get inside the boat and get back to work.

Barrier Coat Finally

Started the barrier coat today. No more blue spots.

Just when I think all of the little holes are filled, I find more as the barrier coat goes on. Just 3 spots though. I'll putty them up just before the last coat.

I'm hoping no big wind comes along and blows the boat over as no pads are touching.

The barrier coat epoxy is covering more than I thought so I should be able to get over 6 coats on or about 22 mils. Hopefully I'll have bottom paint on by Wednesday then Lee can get back to work on the inside.

The Old Hobart

30 years ago, when I had my boat business, the guy that was welding up my trailers got tired of me stopping by with work, unannounced. He said I could save a lot of time and money, and headaches for him, if I bought my own welder. He said he would even give me some pointers on welding. His first pointer was a finger pointing in the direction of  TVI, our local vocational technical CC. Well several months later I finished the evening classes, with a couple of nice tool boxes that I welded up,  and fancied myself a welder.

This Hobart has seen a lot of projects from boat trailers, to furniture, to the body I had on my big truck (several different ones), to all the people I had dropping by. When Lee first met me she did not understand why I had a big "NO" painted on my workshop tent when I was in Quartzsite for the winters. It didn't take her long to figure it out. Well here it is the old Hobart on another "big iron" project.

Note the trailer frame is on it's side. I don't like to do vertical or overhead welding and if I can rotate the weld to horizontal I will. With the cunning use of straps, a come-along, and the post holding my awning up and post holding my solar screen I've rolled the frame over a couple of times. I do this solo because I know what can go wrong and don't want anyone to get hurt so don't feel bad I didn't ask for your help. Most of you have bad backs anyway.

Well back to work.

Pivoting Keel Rest

The keel rest and keel guide are nearing the paint stage. The forward bow stop section is missing and won't go on until the old trailer is cut apart. The side rails are bolted on, instead of welded, to facilitate bottom painting in the future or a different boat.😏

I did a test by clamping a section of steel forward of the pivot point of the same weight and length as the bow stop section and amazingly enough my previous calculations on paper were real close. I will need about 1 cubic foot of fiberglass encased foam mounted to this end (aft) to float the rear of the keel guide.

The spring hangers are tacked in place on adjustable plates .I've run calculations on where to place the axles but don't trust myself to weld the hangers on in a fixed position. With the 2" slipper springs the equalizer hanger was to wide to get a good weld straight to the frame so the 4" plates remedied this problem as well.

Lee continues to work on the interior between cooking for all of the guest we've had over the past couple of weeks.

Metal Filings Everywhere

The trailer build is underway. Most of the things on my drawings and in my head are working out. I had to cut the tack welds loose on the tongue box and move it about 3/8" to one side. The last cross member was off by 1/8" which put my string off at the tongue by the 3/8". A 4x4 and hydraulic jack took care of the alignment on the rear cross member. Trump cost me an extra $300 on steel so his standing with me is worse than before. 75% of the steel says USS and the other is Canadian.

The blisters have been filled and the barrier coat on the bottom of the keel has been started.

Lee has removed the interior laminate panels and started sanding the wood. It's impossible to sand plywood smooth so another laminate will be used to replace the old cracked laminate.

2 new pieces of firm foam arrived yesterday so Lee can get started on the cushions. Where else do you let compressed foam air up but in the living room.

Well back to work.

Moving Along Ever So Slowly

It's been months since we updated the blog even though we have been working on the boat. We sold BareWithUs so now have the funding required to get Toposs in the water. In 2 weeks we have spent over $3500 and it would all fit into a Smiths shopping cart.

Running and standing rigging, roller furler (minus the headstay tube), engine thru hull/seacock, fuel tank hoses, ventilation fan and duct. The new fuel tank should be here any day.

Initially I was going to grind out and fair the large blisters on the hull but decided not to half ass the job and did them all. If the gelcoat was raised at all I ground it out. I found every one by going out at night with a strong flashlight and looking for the shadows.

Brent is going to come over and give me a hand with the fairing compound so we should be able to knock it out in short order. Then comes the almost $600 worth of barrier coat and bottom paint.

I'll spend the next few days, between parties and sailing with friends, fairing and coating the bottom of the keel. I've had to order more epoxy resin and hardener to refinish the rudder. I've got 3 gallons coming so if you need epoxy or cloth, come talk to me.

Lee has decided on fabric for the interior cushions and should get those going in a week or so.

Once the bottom, rudder, fuel system, rigging installed, water pump rebuilt and a few minor things are complete we will put the boat in the water and see how it sails. If I wasn't the procrastinator that I am, the boat could be in the water in March but...

Then on to the interior...

What did I hear you say?  Yes we will have thousands of $$$$ more in to the boat than it's worth but we all have to remember, these are FUN $$$. I've never regretted any of the fun money I've spent in the past 50 years. Makes for a great life.