Food, fixes and notes from the casual coastal sailor.

[Beer fueled Mayhem]

I still make some of the recipes posted here!

 

[Tylo]

This is a very cozy thread.

 

[Kris Cringle]

This is a very cozy thread.

Yeah, well,...

I'm still immersed in my self-imposed Youtube film/photography improvement school.

The light is pretty great this time of year. It's just starting to get that bit of heat in it as it goes low later and later in the day.

Too nasty outside for boat work, I snuck a little varnish pleasure it.

Flattened a dozen battered 62-year-old ceiling slats with a quick pass of an R.O. and 180 grit, followed by a tack rag and a roll and tip.

Horizontal, warm shop, one coat,.. seems like cheating.

 

[Kris Cringle]

We lost a great friend to cancer a few years ago. He was a sailor. Banged around Southern NE as a kid with his parents on a homebuilt sailboat.

In Maine, he sailed a Cheoy Lee 31 for more than 2 decades, mostly without an engine. He didn't care about not having an engine, he could sail.

This would be Jack, below. Decks covered with kids (my daughter is on there) and towing (dragging!), 2 dinghies because his daughter liked to use them both.

He had two families with a daughter from each.

The first daughter (genX) ended up with the Cheoy Lee after Jack died. The first thing she and her husband did was install a new diesel.

Jack would have laughed hard at that!

Jack's second daughter and boyfriend (millennials), just bought a San Juan 24.

New sails, new standing rigging, new OB, clean and cared for; 3K.

This is how sailing grows, slowly (and also how production sailboat building dies,...).

 

[Kris Cringle]

This Pearson Vanguard is owned by my son with a partner. They have been best friends since they were little boys.

With the Yanmar all sorted out (I hope for 5k), they put the cover on it and have since been plowing into a few projects.

I took a look today after last weekend's carnage. More cordless tools than PBR's lying around, that's a good sign.

I noticed the bookshelves looked pretty shippy. The boys have a copy of Wings Electrical, a Cruising Guide to the coast of Maine.

I noticed a log in the book shelf. I was impressed! I opened it and realized, this isn't the boys, all this stuff is the PO's!

Heres an entry from 2010(the boys were in junior highschool): Outboard Overboard.

It's safe to say this poor Vanguard has been a project forever. The PO had installed a bulkhead effectively nixing the starboard quarter berth for some gizmo he installed in the cockpit locker.

Then he installed a 'nav station' of his own design. A thing of torture. If you could even get your can into it, you were forced into a sitting pretzel shape due to the lack of any human ergonomics.

The boys have different priorities. My son plowed the nav-rack out on Sunday (the boys don't confer on these things and work independently on whatever they feel like that day). They need places for friends to sit below. This opens up a couple seats, good idea.

Pearson had one seat but it was usurped by the nav-rack which was no seat.

There used to be a cooker space (no sign of a cooker ever there), backed up to the nav rack, but they don't cook onboard, much(grill). The galley is a wet bar. I'm glad to see he left some bulkhead.

I suggested maybe there is a way to hinge a backrest under the shelf that will swing up for a cook top if it's ever needed.

He liked that idea. We'll see after next weekend.

 

[Kris Cringle]

The weekend warriors are back at it

 

[Kris Cringle]

The life of Spar Varnish. This was IRIAN in 2012.

A little bleached out but the finish was 'maintained' for 6 more years, and then 'wooded' (coating removed) and a new varnish foundation laid down.(2018).

Launched 5 years later(today). The house is somewhat bleached ahead of the topsides. So it goes with brightwork on most of these boats. Owners getting their money's worth out of the protective coating.

Note: Those 2 splines will probably blend in about the time the topsides are again wooded. That's maybe 10-15 years down the road(?).

 

[accnick]

The life of Spar Varnish. This was IRIAN in 2012.

View attachment 584684

A little bleached out but the finish was 'maintained' for 6 more years, and then 'wooded' (coating removed) and a new varnish foundation laid down.(2018).

View attachment 584685

Launched 5 years later(today). The house is somewhat bleached ahead of the topsides. So it goes with brightwork on most of these boats. Owners getting their money's worth out of the protective coating.

Note: Those 2 splines will probably blend in about the time the topsides are again wooded. That's maybe 10-15 years down the road(?).

View attachment 584686

As long as you keep up with the varnish, so that you never have to take any part of it back to bare wood before you are ready to do the whole thing, the fading over time is not really a problem.

It's when you have to patch things in after a couple of years that you start to look like a patchwork quilt.

I keep a box of 1" foam brushes on hand to touch up every small ding to try to forestall the inevitable. If I know I don't have to clean a brush, I am more likely to touch things up.

 

[Kris Cringle]

7-8 years old varnish serving notice.

I decided to fix a few lifted spots to put off stripping for another season.

This gave me some video material. I shot this on an iPhone 14 pro max on a tripod in time lapse. Took that into CapCut editor, added a couple of photos, color adjustments, etc.

Then onto Youtube to try adding some music. Easy.

I know the music copyrights are strict on Youtube so I used their muzak, for practice. So far, Youtube is an easy upload/edit tool.

I realize now, this is what AI picked for a thumb. That's gonna get me no hits,...

 

[accnick]

7-8 years old varnish serving notice.

I decided to fix a few lifted spots to put off stripping for another season.

This gave me some video material. I shot this on an iPhone 14 pro max on a tripod in time lapse. Took that into CapCut editor, added a couple of photos, color adjustments, etc.

Then onto Youtube to try adding some music. Easy.

I know the music copyrights are strict on Youtube so I used their muzak, for practice. So far, Youtube is an easy upload/edit tool.

I realize now, this is what AI picked for a thumb. That's gonna get me no hits,...

Interesting. I've never used a foam roller for varnish before. I mostly use foam brushes for touch-up, and occasionally to build up on trim before putting on final coats with a regular badger brush. I have trouble getting enough varnish on anything but a flat surface with a foam brush.

I don't have a lot of flat surfaces to varnish on the exterior of the current boat, mostly toerails and fiddly trim. You know, the pain in the butt stuff. But for whatever reason, I do like to varnish, even after all these years of doing it. Few things give you as much satisfaction as laying on a good coat of varnish, and admiring it afterwards.

Finally got brush cleaning down to an art on the boat, using a Homer bucket with two paper bags, one inside the other, inside the bucket. Quart plastic container for mineral spirits, just a couple of ounces at a time.

All cleaning done with the brush in a spinner, with the bucket sitting on a regular drop cloth in the cockpit.

Probably use about 3-4 ounces of thinner to clean a 1-2" brush. The thinned varnish spun inside the paper bag seals the bag completely after two brush cleanings, so that it becomes liquid tight.

I get two weeks of varnishing out of two paper bags, and not much more than a pint or so of mineral spirits. And probably a roll of paper towels.

As you know too well, 90% of the time is spent on prep.

 

[Kris Cringle]

Interesting. I've never used a foam roller for varnish before. I mostly use foam brushes for touch-up, and occasionally to build up on trim before putting on final coats with a regular badger brush. I have trouble getting enough varnish on anything but a flat surface with a foam brush.

I get a much more even layer of the coating on with a roller than brush.

I even use a roller on toe rails (especially toe rails which need an even coat to last), as it distributes an even coat. Plus it's much faster.

I learned this watching the experts at the wooden boat yard.

I sometimes cut a roller down if I have a lot of tight spots. I'll use a bristle brush on more finicky tipping-like toe rails. The foam brush is more like a squeegee for me.

Good tips on brush cleaning. There is a lot of throwing away junk with brushing on coatings.

 

[mgs]

When I was varnishing my canoes, I rolled and tipped the varnish on. worked great on the exterior and interior.

I've since learned from some varnishers at the yard, that I'd be considered a hot dog roller, a being to be looked down upon.

the finish looks great, and the paddling set doesn't care about such things. I'm not sure boat owners would either though...

 

[Kris Cringle]

When I was varnishing my canoes, I rolled and tipped the varnish on. worked great on the exterior and interior.

I've since learned from some varnishers at the yard, that I'd be considered a hot dog roller, a being to be looked down upon.

the finish looks great, and the paddling set doesn't care about such things. I'm not sure boat owners would either though...

'Hot dog roller',...good one.

I prefer the square cut 4" foam rollers. If you use 1 1/2" painters tape along the edges, you can lay a full even coat right up to places like the bottom edge of the coamings, toe rails, and house where varnish meets the deck.

 

[accnick]

'Hot dog roller',...good one.

I prefer the square cut 4" foam rollers. If you use 1 1/2" painters tape along the edges, you can lay a full even coat right up to places like the bottom edge of the coamings, toe rails, and house where varnish meets the deck.

Could you give brand/source for those foam rollers? There seem to be a million types of them.

 

[Kris Cringle]

Could you give brand/source for those foam rollers? There seem to be a million types of them.

I get these at the local building/hardware:

You can cut them cleanly in half with a hacksaw blade.

 

[mgs]

thats foam alright.

I used some west system rollers, cut in half on a band saw....

WEST SYSTEM® FIBERGLASS ROLLER COVERS FOAM 2 PER PKG

These specially designed, high-density polyurethane foam disposable rollers are for West System epoxies. Also recommended for wetting out reinforcing fabrics, and for paint and varnish applications over epoxy coated surfaces. Ideal for epoxy application. Can be cut into shorter lengths to match...

shop.hamiltonmarine.com

 

[Israel Hands]

Foam roller and foam brushes would work for applying polyurethane to a cabin sole? I'm finishing up the forecabin and it has been difficult to evenly apply. Looking for a better technique before I start the main cabin sole.

 

[Kris Cringle]

Foam roller and foam brushes would work for applying polyurethane to a cabin sole? I'm finishing up the forecabin and it has been difficult to evenly apply. Looking for a better technique before I start the main cabin sole.

For sure. You'll get a better, more even finish than with a brush alone, in half the time. I see there are many boat builders that have posted 'varnish roll and tip' on Youtube. You'll notice most of them do a cross pattern with the roller to get the most uniform thickness.

 

[accnick]

Foam roller and foam brushes would work for applying polyurethane to a cabin sole? I'm finishing up the forecabin and it has been difficult to evenly apply. Looking for a better technique before I start the main cabin sole.

Cabin sole would be an ideal location for this technique.

 

[Kris Cringle]

First, you find one of those suitcase-shaped gallon oil jugs, that is empty.

Then slide the jug in from the cabin, sideways, and under the engine. Then with a stick, you slide the jug aft under the engine.

Next, lower yourself into the cockpit manhole and sit on the bench over the stuffing box.

Then assemble a two piece funnel (plastic threaded) under the transmission and stick it in the neck of the oil jug.

Finally, with a 7/16" open end wrench, find the drain plug - solely by feel - under the transmission, and while imagining yourself below - looking up,... turn clockwise (from above) to loosen the plug.

Could be worse.