I just checked. Our first video, the 1946 Chris-Craft brightside U22, arriving from Canada, is dated May 23, 2016. We flipped her about a month later, which tells me we’ve had her upside down for over a year!
That fact makes today’s milestone particularly sweet for us, and even more for her owner! As you can see in the clip, we use a winch and length of soft line that wraps around the hull and is secured to a bilge stringer, to control the rate at which she turns. She represents a huge mass, one that will have lots of momentum should it begin rolling uncontrollably.
To our surprise, however, she behaved herself while RJ and I rolled her almost effortlessly.
The real challenge is keeping her upright and stable once she has flipped. Her widest and heaviest components are now above the straps, and they really, really want to roll through 90 degrees.
Didn’t happen though, and she’s now happily resting on a pair of boat dollies as we begin stripping “everything else” at and above the gunwales.
An odd silence engulfed the shop once we had her resting on her dollies and back in her work station. For the first time in over a year, we, and especially John, were viewing down into her bilge from above, rather than up into it while lying on our backs beneath her. John finally exclaimed, “I can see the results of all my framing work right side up for the first time!”
While we’ve had some comments that all that bracing was at best overkill and probably not necessary, remember that the hull arrived with a huge hog and what I call corkscrewed. We took no chances once we had the hull true again.
That bracing ensured that she would not get twisted again. So now comes the Circa 1859 Heavy Bodied Paint and Varnish Remove, Sandvik scrapers, stainless steel scrubbing sponges, and reefing hooks with which we will remove all remaining varnish on the decks, covering boards, dash, etc., and what we suppose is Sikaflex from the deck seams. Varnish cannot be that far away …. Can it?
Thank you for the many requests for a video-taped Dutchman “clinic” that follows John through the process of fabricating and executing Dutchman topside repairs.
As several earlier ’46 Brightside U22 videos have illuminated, John begins by inspecting every square inch of the topsides, marking any spot or area requiring cosmetic attention/repairs with blue painter’s tape.
The Dutchman begins with cutting the channel or slot in a plank using a plunge router, or what is the female component of the Dutchman. A key to achieving an invisible Dutchman is that the slot run with the grain to the maximum extent possible.
After cleaning and carefully defining the slot’s edges and shape using hand chisels and selecting a piece of old mahogany having color and grain properties similar to the plank being repaired, John fabricates the plug, sanding on it until it fits perfectly.
It is subsequently glued in place using Jamestown Distributors’ TotalBoat Thixo Wood 2.0 to which a bit of the stain we will use on the hull has been added.
As we detailed in the last video, stirring stick “stitches” that will hole the plug in place, are secured by wood screws passing into countersinks from which those securing the plank have been removed.
Twenty-four or so hours later, the Thixo Wood 2.0 has cured, the “stitches” are removed and John fairs the plug to the plank with a wood chisel. He leaves the blue painter’s tape in place as a depth guide for his chisel.
Finally the tape is removed, screws are driven home into the countersinks, bungs are inserted and glued in place using Thixo Wood 2.0, and the area is ready for sanding.
We hope to have the topsides and transom sanded, and the hull flipped upright sometime next week.
Following this morning’s video update on the Dutchman repairs John is executing on the port topsides of the 1946 Chris-Craft Brightside U22, he reached for a heavy, 1-inch chisel and began shaving each repair and its associated TotalBoat Thixo Wood 2.0 two-part squeeze-out until it was fair with the topside planking.
He then ensured there will be zero voids in the seam around each Dutchman.
John release the bungs using a Rota Broach, which increased the diameter of several countersinks, so, rather than using Gorilla Glue, which is cures blonde, he used the same tinted Thixo Wood 2.0 as the adhesive.
He will shave the bungs fair using a Japanese cabinet makers saw, at which time the port topsides will be ready for final longboard sanding.
Once he has completed Dutchman repairs on starboard and sanded it fair, we will flip her over and strip the decks, covering boards et al, sand these surfaces fair and be ready for bleach.
So … you have the slots dadoed and the Dutchmen shaped and trimmed to a perfect fit, all 14 of them on the port topsides in our 1946 Chris-Craft Brightside U22.
Using Jamestown Distributors’ Total Boat Thixo Wood 2.0 two-part epoxy, it is now time for gluing them in place. (We rely on Thixo Wood for all such applications. It contains wood fibers, mixes easily, and issues from the 10 oz. caulking tube in a hue that mimics unstained mahogany incredibly well. (We do add a bit of Interlux Interstain Filler Stain while mixing, which ensures that it disappears when we stain the hull.)
That Thixo Wood 2.0 delivers incredibly strong bonds seals the deal for us.
But how are all those Dutchmen secured in place while the epoxy cures? Standing before you is the broad, smooth expanse of the U22’s port topsides. The bottom paint has been applied and cured. These Dutchmen must be clamped tightly into their slots for a permanent repair.
I will ask again, “But how? Ever resourceful, John released selective bungs and fasteners around each Dutchman and then reached for paint stirring sticks and longer #8 wood screws.
As you see in the clip, after he carefully masks the topsides around each slot, John applies the Thixo Wood 2.0 to the Dutchman and drives it home with a rubber mallet. He then secures each Dutchman with a series of “stitches,” having first placed a sheet of wax paper between the Dutchman-epoxy surface and the wood paint sticks.
The repairs are allowed to cure for at least eight hours, at which time all the stitches are removed.
New silicon bronze screws are driven home and bungs are glued into the countersinks that were released for stitching purposes.
With the wax paper released, John will next carefully chisel each Dutchman, which are fabricated to be proud of the topside surface, until it is fair with that surface.
Now final sanding can begin, followed by flipping her upright.
Once we have stripped the decks and covering boards, bleaching, staining, sealing and, yes, varnishing (!) will follow.
For now John still faces executing five or so Dutchman repairs on the starboard topsides. In the end, though time-intensive, insisting on using a Dutchman strategy, allows us to save every plank on her topsides, transom, decks and covering boards. Every plank that someone replaces is a bit of originality and history lost forever. We save old wood boats rather than transforming them into new “old” boats.
Since the last update video, we have applied five coats of Interlux 2000E two-part primer, followed by the requisite blue bottom paint, ePaint’s Ecominder Antifouling Bottom Paint in this case.
One more coat of ePaint Ecominder, a water-based one-part antifouling paint and this 1946 brightside U22’s True 5200 bottom is complete.
What is ePaint Ecominder antifouling paint? Here is what Jamestown Distributors answers:
New ePaint Ecominder is the greenest and most effective copper-free antifouling paint available.
Ecominder uses a copper-free, water-based, zero VOC paint formula that is safe and easy to apply. It keeps boat hulls clean using hydrogen peroxide generated from sunlight and the environmentally preferred booster biocide Zinc Omadine.
Designed for use on all rigid type surfaces including fiberglass, aluminum, and wood, it is compatible over other bottom paint systems, and can even be applied in cool ambient temperatures. It is very popular in the pontoon market due to its compatibility with aluminum substrates. Ecominder is available in a variety of colors including White, Gray, Green, Blue, and Black.
ePaints contain no tin or copper. Instead of following the age-old method of leaching toxicants that persist in the environment, ePaints employ a novel mechanism to control the attachment of fouling organisms. When immersed in oxygenated water, all ePaints photochemically generate minute levels of peroxides. The minute levels of peroxides make the surface inhospitable to the settling larvae of fouling organisms. Hydrogen peroxide is a potent, but short-lived chemical that has traditionally been used as an antiseptic. Peroxides have been demonstrated to be effective antifouling agents. The peroxides do not persist in the environment because they quickly decompose back into oxygen and water by natural ions dissolved in the water.
Because ePaints contains no copper, they are available in white as well as a variety of bright colors. The lack of copper also ensures that ePaints are compatible with aluminum and other metals in the marine environment. This is not the case with copper-based paints that promote galvanic corrosion with metal boats. ePaints are safer for you, your boat, and our environment.
With a home port of Ahmic Harbour in Magnatawan, Ontario, this U22 lives and plays on one myriad of lakes in Canada’s Muskoka lake region where the water remains clear and pristine. By using Ecominder on her bottom, we ensure that, at least she, will introduce no additional copper to Ahmic Lake. That the paint is water-based, has zero VOCs is a plus for us while applying it in the shop. One more coat, then the paper comes off. One the remaining topside Dutchman repairs are executed and the entire surface, including the transom’s, is sanded fair, she will be flipped upright for the first time in over seven months.
We are just beginning to see a glimmer of the finish line peeking over the horizon!
Paint! I could claim that it seems like only yesterday when we launched the preservation of the mahogany (Brightside) 1946 Chris-Craft U22, but I can’t. In truth it’s been a long, long, and sometimes frustrating slog.
As we replaced most of the bottom and transom framing, both chine frames, and most of both chines; and worked to remove the corkscrew and hog from the hull, days, weeks and months flew by. Were we making progress? Yes, but it was so difficult to see and feel any.
Not now! Her True 5200 bottom is complete to the point of applying her Interlux 2000E InterProtect Primer and her Econominder, copper-free, Chris-Craft blue antifouling paint.
The last of four coats of Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer has been applied. Tomorrow, after it has cured, we will hand sand the bottom lightly, thereby preparing a smooth and uniform surface for the first coat of 2000E, which I will apply later today.
We apply the first coat from the keel to the top of the boot stripe, let it cure 24 hours and then mask the boot stripe so we do not build layers beneath the Interlux Brightside Enamel we will use for the boot stripe. Brightside adheres better to Interlux PreKote than it does to 2000E in our experience. PreKote in turn adheres tenaciously to the 2000E.
Four additional thin coats of 2000E will be applied, followed by four coats of Econominder antifouling paint.
Then comes a truly BIG day. We will flip her upright and begin stripping varnish off and bleeding old stain out of the decks and covering boards.
Next comes sanding fair, bleaching, staining and, yes, varnish! Now that will be the day to smile.
With our 1946 Chris-Craft Brightside U22’s bottom paint is fully cured, our attention turns to the topsides and transom.
Dutchman repairs of dings, dents and gouges will be followed by sanding the surfaces fair, bleaching, staining and sealing with multiple coats of CPES.
Then we will flip her upright and proceed to stripping the decks and covering boards, sanding them fair, bleaching, staining and sealing them with CPES.
Then, finally, finally, finally, we can move towards building what will be 20 coats of varnish.
Time to fill a few – thousand – countersink holes!
We use 3M Premium Marine Filler and its associated crème hardener for this purpose.
A caution. Mix the filler in small quantities, maybe about half the size of a golf ball, and drizzle a small dollop of the hardener on it. (If you mixture is noticeably bluish, get spreading NOW because the pot life will be a scant few minutes – 3 – 4.)
John and RJ prefer a yellow body compound spatula to my flexible putty knife, but either can apply the material to the hole.
In theory you make a first pass laying material into the hole, followed by a second one back and 90 degrees from the first. In fact you will, or at least I do, soon discover that three or four swiped removes the excess from the surface surrounding the hole while also filling the hole flush with the surface.
We mask off the seams with narrow blue painter’s tape to ensure that the Premium Filler does not find its way onto the 3M 5200 lying therein. Yes, it will appear to adhere, but be forewarned, it will not and your subsequent “beautiful” bottom paint will end up have splotches everywhere that the 5200 shed the filler.
Allow the first coat to cure, apply a second, and then remove the tape, which reveals more rows of empty countersinks. Yes, the fun is near endless.
Once both sides are filled, fair with a longboard sander and 80 grit, seal all of it with at least two coats of CPES, and begin laying on what will be five coats of Interlux 2000E Two-Part Epoxy Primer (Barrier Coat), followed by the bottom paint of your choosing.
3M5200, signals a major, major milestone fading into our wake, as we work towards completing this 1946 U22’s True5200 bottom.
Just as this one disappears over the aft horizon, a new one has popped up ahead of us – filling and fairing thousands of fastener countersinks with 3M Premium Marine Filler.
But first we will allow the 5200 to cure, while the Acetone we’ve applied to the seams and butt joints following cleaning with Interlux 333, accelerates the curing process.
Before that can happen, however, each seam and joint must be masked with blue painter’s tape, lest the Premium Filler finds its way onto the 5200. The filler will not adhere well to the 5200, which guarantees flaking paint down the road.
In our experience filling the countersinks requires three applications with sanding between the first and second, and thorough fairing after the third will cure.
But for now she will just sit, and then my fun begins.
