2010

[kokko]

To a great year of sailing in 2009, and to a better year yet in 2010. Many thanks to all of those who ask and answer questions on this forum.

Fair Winds

[GreenLake]

As by (shifting) convention it has become popular to review the preceding decade at the end of any year ending in '9', I have noted that people are beginning to call the last decade the "worst decade".

To me, it represents something entirely different, because it pretty much coincides with my having taken up active sailing as well as the purchase and ownership and, not least, enjoyment of a DS.

In that spirit: To a great decade of sailing and a better decade to come!
Thanks to all who make this forum such an interesting place to visit and interact!

[algonquin]

Looking forward to a great 2010. 2009 was also noteworthy. Despite all the consensus about a lousy last decade none of that matters to me. What mattered was being free and able to sail and mess about in my DS. Brad

[K.C. Walker]

Well... I've definitely enjoyed the last year and a half of owning my DS! I am looking forward to more sailing and less working on the boat, though. There is no question that a lot of my enjoyment of owning this boat has to do with all of you on this forum. Thanks! And!... have a great sailing 2010.

KC

[Peterw11]

Well, I'd have to say that my rediscovering the joy of sailing, and my recent acquisition of a DS1 (April '09) are definitely the high points of a fairly crappy year.

The fact that I have lake nearby, to dock and sail it, made it all that much better. I was lucky enough to get about 35 sailing days in. Considering the miserable spring and early summer we had, I'd say that's a pretty good year.

Hopefully, I can top that in '10.

I'm planning a few projects before I get her bottom wet again, so Mother Nature better cooperate. I removed the coamings for refinishing, and would like to do the floorboards as well. I also have to replace my floatation as it's the original 40 year old foam and I'm sure it's adding considerable weight to the hull. I also plan to add a reef hook, topping lift, and some additional deck cleats and eye straps to make things a bit more convenient and accessible.

Oh yeah, I want to fabricate a more stable boom crutch with pintles to mount to the rudder gudgeons and relocate my jib cleats to make them easier to reach while singlehanding.

I'd love to do a repaint, but that may be pushing the envelope a bit. I've got the garage space (4 bays), but right now, three of them are clogged with cars, lawn tractor, assorted homeowner landscape equipment, and other family junk.

Asking my wife to give up the remaining spot may not be such a good idea, so any hull work will have to be done outside.

[seandwyer]

Peter11

You and I are coming to this at identical times - with what seems to be identical boats - type and age both!

Although I'm not worried about my floor boards and coaming this year, that's only because the PO was very nice to the woodwork. Maybe in about two more years I'll be looking into that as well.

But I definitely am right there with the flotation, reefing hook, and at least an eye strap for my boom vang. I've never liked just tying it around the tabernacle. One other thing I'd like to do is to finally fashion my self a tiller extension. I also need to replace the center board gasket - it leaks unless the board is all the way up or all the way down - and I'd also like to replace one of the pintles on the rudder with one that has a locking pin to keep it from possibly coming out of the gudgeon. I worry about that because the spring that is supposed to do that just won't work anymore. I replaced the shrouds and forestay, but never got to try them out!!

I agree - sailing was a high point. OK - sailing and music were high points in an otherwise terrible year - one of the worst ever. I am thankful.

[kokko]

Since I have done most of what Pete and Sean are proposing, I would be happy to consult, although you may find all you need in previous posts.
As for painting, I thought about that too. After using polishing compound, the hull cleaned up nicely. The bottom was a different story - full of blisters. That required opening up the blisters, fairing, an epoxy barrier coat and then VC-17 bottom paint. THat was too big a job, so I turned it over to the local boatyard.

[Peterw11]

"I agree - sailing was a high point. OK - sailing and music were high points in an otherwise terrible year - one of the worst ever. I am thankful."

I wish I could say my guitar teacher would agree with that statement, but as sailing took up more time, guitar practice took up less, much to his consternation.

Once the boat was put away, my musical progress showed considerable improvement, or at least as much as my barely measurable ability allows.

Kokko:

I welcome any recommendations you might have regarding the brightwork refinishing. The finish is pretty much down to bare wood in some spots, and I'm looking for a durable gloss or semi-gloss surface that can stand up to the weather.

Any imput as to products and procedures would be greatly appreciated.

[kokko]

I stripped, sanded to 150 grit and then used West Marine WoodPro. I applied 4 coats, sanding between each coat. It was pricey since WM added a surcharge for shipping "hazardous material"

I also completely disassembled the footboards prior to refinish.
THere is an article in Practical Sailor and their tests of many wood finishes. I'll see if it is still online.

[K.C. Walker]

The recurring topic of the floorboards has me thinking again about the subject. When I did my core project I pulled the floorboards out and took them apart. I have them nicely sanded down but have decided that I may not put them back in. The hull/cockpit sole feels great now with no flooring. I always found it a pain to bail out and sponge out the bilge with the floorboards in place. I figure I'll save 50 pounds in weight by leaving them out. It's not what I expected when I first started that project. Of course, they do look great and add a nostalgic flavor to the boat.

I will, however, be refinishing the cockpit coaming along with cutting it down. I decided I will finish that with epoxy covered by a urethane clearcoat. I tried it out on my thwarts last summer and it looks great and it's supposed to last for 10 years before needing a re-coat.

KC

[GreenLake]

The state of my brightwork is as follows:

Floorboards were sanded to remove loose lacquer (I couldn't get them to bare wood with the tools and techniques I had then). Refinished with Benite (a hard drying oil) to seal any bare wood, then with un-catalyzed water-based PU, 3 coats, if not more. That was done three years ago, and there's some localized blistering and flaking, but not enough to worry about redoing the floors. This may change depending on how they survive the winter, but this winter, they did not stay in the boat.

(ditto for the Little shelf below the transom).

Coamings and thwarts were done with three coats of epoxy on bare wood, then catalyzed water-based PU (System Three), multiple coats of this one as well. That was done at the start of last year's season. Too soon to see any weathering.

Tiller was sanded rough over existing finish, then given 6-8 coats of water-based, un-catalyzed PU. I added some coats later, but there's some very localized flaking off - it's tricky to get PU to adhere to existing PU. That was done a long time ago, perhaps as long as 8 years. The basic coat was still sound, but there was cracking where the tiller had banged into something. There were also microscopic cracks along the grain of the wood, apparently due to differential expansion.

I just took all of this off to bare wood just now and will most likely use the epoxy/catalyzed PU treatment next. Anybody know what species of wood I can expect for an original DS tiller ('63)? Just curious.

It seems that whatever the original finish was on all the woodwork had an amber cast to it, or they used a light stain. On the coamings, although they appeared to be sanded to bare wood, I had problems with differences in coloring due to, what I surmise, original stain or oil that had penetrated deeper in some spots and then showed a color cast. Impossible to see that on the sanded piece. Only showed up when coated.

2010 will thus be the year of the tiller (and I'll probably undo my attempt at single-line reefing and go to a two line or reef-hook system). Oh, and I plan to devise some hiking cushions similar to what Calden shows in his gallery. I found suitable foam already. No cut-down coamings for me.

[algonquin]

The hull/cockpit sole feels great now with no flooring. I always found it a pain to bail out and sponge out the bilge with the floorboards in place. I figure I'll save 50 pounds in weight by leaving them out. It's not what I expected when I first started that project. Of course, they do look great and add a nostalgic flavor to the boat.
KC

I would hesitate to sail or just move about in my DSI without the floorboards or some other similar support. Outside of looking “salty” they do help in distributing crew weight on an old DS hull. I know on my DS the exposed floor does flex and the area where my CB trunk and floor join has been repaired a few times by previous owners who weren’t using the floorboards. Brad

[Peterw11]

I like the "salty" look of the floorboards and since I sail barefooted when the weather allows, I also like the way they feel.

They are a pain to deal with when bailing so I usually pull the aft and center sections up and store them on the seats at the end of each sailing day. That way, when rainwater leaks through the cockpit cover and pools in the cockpit, the boards are high and dry.

My usual drill when getting the boat ready, is to strip off the cockpit cover, and drop my battery powered bilge pump into the accumulated water while I'm raising the sails. Once the pump starts sucking air, it's only a few scoops with my bailer to get the remaining water out.

I drop the boards in place and I'm ready to go. There may be a slight amount of water puddled along the keelson, but with the floorboards down, who cares?

[K.C. Walker]

Algonquin,

Yes, I would have hesitated to walk around inside of my boat without the floorboards before doing the core. It now feels like walking on a very solid floor. I also did a lot of reinforcement at the centerboard joint because mine also had previous repairs.

Peterw,

Because of the foam core, it's also insulated and nice on bare feet even in cold water. My floorboards are 2 sections on each side that join under the thwart and definitely a wrestling match to get in and out, especially while on board. It sounds like yours are 3 sections each side. I was thinking about cutting mine into smaller sections. Where do yours join? I've also considered raising the front flooring to ride on top of the keelson, maybe putting a lip on the aft end of that, to keep gear higher and dryer.

KC

[algonquin]

KC,

I missed that you had done a core on the floor of your DS. I tried a search but didn't come up with anything. Could you kindly direct me to your posts on that. I am interested. Many Thanx. Brad