New upholstery and arborite for the interior

The old wallpaper had to go! It had lasted the first 40 years well. The factory installed heavy duty fabric backed vinyl. It had been painted over twice, the first time was a blue similar to the Uniflite blue and the second coat beige.

Strips of door-skin plywood have been cut by Blue Ocean Yacht Services to use as templates for the arborite to be cut to fit. Using a glue gun Joanie is able to stick together a frame that follows the shape exactly. Above the power outlet has been trimmed around the area to be removed in the shop before fitting.

The hot glue gun is handy way to tack everything in place and pop off once the template is completed. The template pattern making can be used for headliner panels as well. Anywhere you need to find the exact fit and shape. It's simple to cut small strips to quickly go around small trim details.

Above Joanie has gone around the sliding cupboard and allowed for a join for the arborite sheet size.

The vee-berth is packed with new upholstery covered in Sunbrella fabric. It is tucked away until the cabin is finished. We had to have a quick fit and see how it all looked in place.

This is the passenger helm seat, feeble at best. The second best seat in the house and it is two skinny slabs of foam, no extra support or comfort or detail.

The work continues back on the dock

She's back floating! Not only is she floating, she is sitting about 4" higher in the water with the old bottom paint gone. Each can of bottom paint weights about 25lbs, forty years of layers and the weight adds up.

It was a beautiful day in Vancouver. Perfect for working on your boat.

Paul has been busy cleaning the old sealant and dirt from the combing around the cockpit preparing for the trim and handrail to be reinstalled early this week. The front cabin trim is ready to go and she should be water tight and trimmed out before the rains start for the winter.

If you click on this picture you will see the oxidation that was all over SSN. This is the last area to be cut and polished. We were in the sandbox on the hardstand, one of two areas in the boatyard that isn't paved. Getting to the transom was impossible. Having this picture will help illustrate the difference achieved overall.

She's a little beauty! Almost ready to serve Captain Paul and his buds.

Two Eagles, One Engine

After five weeks on the hardstand, one would have hoped for a more triumphant return to the dock. Two 318's rumbling out of the lift bay, SSN shinning like a new "nickel". It would have been nice to run her back to her dock under her own steam. But woe the PO's poor repairs would throw a spanner in the works, despite Dr D's best work. The little ship had to be hand-bombed to the dock. A feeling of indignation shadowed the occasion, the proud moment dashed.

The running gear has been completely gone through from one end to the other. The engine mounts have been removed, serviced, cleaned and replaced, one at a time, their wood mounts epoxied to the stringers, with lag bolts replaced with permanent engine mount studs with nuts replacing the bolts. The shaft logs have been sleeved, the shafts straightened, the props tuned, the packing glands serviced, the rudder stuffing boxes repacked and everything aligned to a thousandth of an inch. True as true can be.

The port side solenoid was glowing red-hot, it had almost rusted beyond recognition, no chance of any ignition today. The handcrafted wood engine hatches/cd storage racks have been leaking onto the entire electrical harness of that engine.

Spike The Foreman

Spike the big boss in the boat yard came past SSN to inspect the days progress. He gave it all a wag and sent Paul and the boys over to Bridges Pub to have a couple of beers.

After another long day in the boat yard the Canadian was ice-cold and well appreciated by all.

From left to right; Alex, Captain Scotty, Chevy "The Turk" and Paul.

Alex a great buddy of Paul's has been getting right in there helping to make Sudbury Saturday Night gleam. With Alex's help the windows frames have been completed, the stanchion bases and the cleats forward have been taken off, cleaned-up and re-bedded one at a time.

Captain Scotty was under the boat for two solid weeks of scraping and sanding in the bubble. 40 years of anti-fouling paint was removed and the 4 coats of Interlux epoxy barrier coat was applied before two coats of the new red anti-fouling paint. She's lighter and her bottom as smooth as new but protected like never before.

The Turk has been a great help offering ideas and driving Paul around town picking up bits and pieces all contributing to getting the job done.

Paul, is getting into the swing of being a "hands-on" owner, very good news for his new girl!

The best kept boats have owners who get their hands dirty. "Cheque-book-maintenance" is a longstanding term for owners who spare no expense in maintaining their yachts. However you can have the deepest pockets and be entirely clueless as to the operating systems of the vessel if you don't roll up your sleeves and muck in.

Paul is getting to know every inch of SSN and by paying attention to every detail he is gaining confidence that will help him stay calm and in control - no matter what the weather does. If anything should go wrong, he will know how to assess the problem and understand what is involved to effect the repair and be able to make the call to run for home or stay put.

Dr Doug at Blue Ocean Yacht Services has been great allowing the crew access to his shop and loaning the right tools for making the best job. He has been happy to jump in when a rusty nut won't let go, to check on the quality of the work and to offer his expert opinion on how to best tackle each task.

Over budget and schedule, well and truly - blown...

Old boats. What can one say? The usual joke is " a hole in the water into which one pours money" and that is true for any boat. It is like a house or condo, leaky. Worst, it is leaky all round. Top, sides and the bit that is always wet.

This old boat is all original and in very well cared for condition, she was well loved for many a year, the proof is in the name on the brow, buffed to death. The gelcoat is thick under the original name and thin all around it, which suggests the original owner had her buffed every year.

A bit of a whack build here, the window frames were screwed into the cabin walls. Water penetrating the window frames was seeping through the screws inside the cabin. The worst effected areas were the aft corners in each frame, where the water was pooling in the slope of the design which intended water to run off aft.

Accessing the areas affected meant removing the aluminum trim on the interior side, which trimmed off the wallpaper. Trying to carefully remove the screws without having to replace the wallpaper was futile in the end.

more to come...

Work In Progress - Updated

The second shaft log has been sleeved. Dr Doug has been busy on the port engine freeing up the frozen engine mounts and aligning the shaft, strut and engine.

The shaft packing gland has been taken apart and acid bathed, cleaned, repacked and replaced. New hose and stainless clamps - double clamped of course.

The strut was removed and re-bedded to the correct angle for perfect alignment.

Ron at Leading Edge Propellor in Mission has tuned the original Michigan wheels. The are date stamped 1968 and in really nice condition and now balanced beautifully.

Window Frames Re-bedded

A dry boat is a good boat. Fresh water kills.

The windows were leaking front and rear bottom corners. The pics show the wet plywood, which dried out in hours with no damage. Left another winter and more damage would be likely.

The weather stripping tape used in the factory had long lost it's adhesion to the metal and electrolysis had eaten some areas under the window tracks.

The windows were completely taken apart and every screw re-bedded in Sikaflex 291. The old screws were plated bronze and was causing electrolysis in the aluminum. Most have been replaced with stainless, and all have been well sealed with caulking to help keep the metal contact down.

New track has been installed and the windows went in for an over-haul at XXXX Glass. They removed the PO's dark tinted film. The guys found one panel was household glass, which was replaced with safety glass. The cabin looks 50% brighter with the one side done. It is really going to look great with all the film off. Original.

Spike has signed off on the work.