1940 16′ Lyman Yacht Tender Interior Stripping & Finishing

1940 lyman yacht tender interior stripping finishing

What a “wonderful” work environment! Not! I have enjoyed two weeks “down under” the flipped 1940 Lyman Custom Yacht Tender hull removing all traces of paint and varnish and then sanding all surfaces smooth.

Finally all surfaces have received at least one CPES application, and the bilge and transom have received three. I will next apply a second coat of CPES to the interior topsides, and all of it will be ready for finishing.

The bilge will receive three coats of Sandusky Lyman Sand Tan bilge paint up to the floor level. How the interior topsides are finished remains TBD at this point.

As is evident in previous videos, she arrived painted – blue, green and finally tan – up to and including the stiffening rail that runs longitudinally about halfway up the topsides inner face, and varnished from that rail to the gunwales.

Thanks to the New England Lyman Group, and the 1941 catalog a member shared, we know that Lyman offered a base configuration that buyers were invited to customize. The aft seat could face forward or, in very few cases, aft. The exterior could be finished bright or painted white. The interior was offered completely varnished from gunwale to keel, but owners could specify various combinations of bilge paint and varnish according to their wishes.

Susan’s original owner chose the completely-bright option based on what I found when stripping the paint. After an informative dialog with the NELG membership, and with the help of Ryan Koroknay, I confirmed that the inner-most, oldest layer, a bilious robin’s egg blue, had been applied directly over varnish. Very careful scraping yielded several paint chips with strong evidence of varnish on their inner sides.

Susan sports cypress topside strakes from her waterline to her gunwales, or so I thought. However, once I had everything clean inside, the strakes running between the stiffening rail and floor level are noticeably darker than those from the rail to the gunwale. And there is evidence of the speckled grain that we often see in early mahogany planking.

So … what to do? Finishing everything bright down to the floor is my preference, and my research, which informs me that bright is how she left the Sandusky factory.

We will do some test varnishing early next week once the final CPES applications have cured, and make a final decision then.

Any ideas or preferences you wish to share will be most appreciated!
Time to go down under again, armed with a 3” chip brush, respirator, fan for fresh air and a pail of CPES!

1957 Lyman Runabout Paint Varnish Stripping Update

1957 lyman runabout paint varnish stripping

We are so close to being able to shout, “There! The topside paint and transom varnish are gone!”

Yes, so close, but also just not quite there. We’ve completely stripped the starboard topsides and the transom, but the port topsides have dug in and are battling against our Circa 1850 Heavy Body Paint and Varnish Remover and our Sandvik scrapers.

RJ and I leave each day with ever-stronger, but always tired shoulders and lower backs. But we are about halfway through to watching the exterior stripping challenge fade into our wake … at least the one above the waterline.

Some years back we preserved a 1955 20’ Lyman runabout, for which I kept “score” as I stripped the topsides. When I hit 93 lbs., all I could say was, “This is silly!”

Well, since I’d collected all of the scrapings from starboard into two big garbage bags, why not? They weighed close to 50 pounds in total. Stripping the 8 or so layers of paint has not been our biggest challenge here. Somewhere around layer 4 or 5, someone decided to apply some sort of battleship gray fairing compound to almost the entire topsides.

Yes, on both port and starboard. This stuff is like concrete and takes four applications of the stripper to begin softening.

On the happy news front, what a fantastic hull! She’s 60 years old and there is nary the tiniest spot of rot anywhere, strakes and transom planks included. Moreover we have yet to come upon a clench nail that is other than as tight as the day it was pounded home in Sandusky, OH.

It’s a real honor to be trusted with preserving such an original boat that is in such good shape. I know we will find issues as we keep working, but at least the hull’s major components are straight, true and strong.

1946 Chris Craft Brightside U22 Stripping Milestone

1946 chris craft brightside u22 stripped

Another milestone, well, almost fading in our wake. John has a bit of Sikaflex to release from foredeck seams before he can insert a few Dutchman repairs on the decks and covering boards and then sand all of these surfaces one last time.

Then it’s bleaching time with staining and sealing with CPES to follow.

It won’t be long before we are filling seams with Sikaflex and varnishing.

1960 Cruisers Inc Seafarer Milestone: She’s Ready For Paint!

1960 cruisers seafarer ready for paint

What a major milestone we see fading into our wake! The 1960 Cruisers Inc. Seafarer is ready for paint on the topsides and bottom, and CPES and varnish on the transom.

After applying 3M Premium Filler three times, and sanding it fair between each application and after the last one, finally, all the countersinks and declivities are filled and sanded fair.

We began sanding with 40 grit, graduated to 60 grit and finally to 80 grit using our inline longboard sanders until the surface – strakes, plywood garboards and filler – was silky smooth.

Following Danenberg, we applied the first two coats of CPES one right after the other, waited 24 hours and then applied the final coat. We will allow the CPES to cure for four days, until next Monday, before we tape off what will be an Interlux Brightside fire red boot stripe and begin priming below and above the bottom line.

Below the waterline will receive three coats of Pettier Tie Coat Primer, followed by three coats of Pettit Hard Racing Bronze Enamel.

The topsides will receive three coats of Interlux Pre-Kote followed by multiple coats of semi-gloss white Interlux Premium Yacht Enamel.

We will block sand both surfaces by hand between coats using 100 grit followed by 120 grit.

We also sanded the transom fair and stained it with brown mahogany Interlux Interstain Filler Stain, which we will allow to cure for several days until we apply three coats of CPES to it.

1960 Cruisers Seafarer Bottom Refastened & Countersinks Filled

1960 cruisers seafarer bottom-refastened countersinks filled

Bottom fastened! Well, almost. RJ and I still must team as we tighten the tiny hex nuts on every machine thread screw that secures the strakes to one another between the ribs.

But at least refastening the plywood skin and below-waterline strakes is behind us!

RJ and I have also filled the fasteners countersinks with three applications of 3M Premium Marine Filler, and begun sanding them fair.

We have also stripped and bleached the transom, and will be staining it with brown mahogany (042) Interlux Interstain Wood Filler Stain, and then sealing it with CPES.

Stripping the topsides and stem will follow, after which I already know from inspecting them that we will face another round of refastening strakes and filling and fairing the countersinks with 3M Premium Marine Filler.

1960 Cruisers Seafarer How to Fill Fasteners Holes With Toothpicks

1960 cruisers seafarer how to fill fastener holes with toothpicks

Refastening the 1960 Cruisers Seafarer bottom has launched in earnest.

Here I share the how and why of filling fastener holes with hardwood (maple) toothpicks and glue. Doing so gives us fresh wood into which we will drill pilot holes and new countersinks. Not doing so risks having screws spin out, or worse, never bite into the wood.

Tomorrow I will use a Japanese cabinet maker’s saw and trim off the protruding material flush to the surface.

We will also replace the original #8 x 3/4” silicon bronze screws with #8 x 1”. Given that the sheathing is half-inch thick, the longer screw will be driven about 5/8” into the ribs thereby assuring stronger fastening.

1949 Lyman Leader: How to Fair Strakes

1949 lyman leader fairing sealing strakes

Ninnyfish is slowly coming together, but only after she rose up and demanded more attention than we had included in our expected scope of work.

Once released for cleaning, sealing and priming, we discovered that the keelson and keel were badly hogged in a matching pattern. And there is a full ¼” deep layer of rot on the keel’s inner face. Neither could be saved, and both have now been fabricated from FAS grade white oak. Both have been sealed with three coats of CPES and primed with multiple coats of Interlux 2000-E. As you see in this clip, the new keel has been installed and is as straight as an arrow. Yahoo! (not @yahoo… )

Happily, a close inspection of the hull confirmed that every clinch nail remains solidly in place and tight, but wood shrinks just enough over the years that most of the heads were proud of the surface. Fairing every strake from stem to stern using 3M Premium Marine Filler, which is approved for both above- and below-waterline applications provides the solution.

But first RJ sanded the entire strake surface with 80 and then 120 grit longboard paper. (We use the longboard here to protect against producing the moonscape look we have encountered in way too many hull surfaces.) Three full coats of CPES followed the sanding.

John then taped all of the strake-to-strake seams to keep the Filler out of these difficult-to-sand areas. Applying two coats of the Filler followed. He has completed applying the Filler on port and is now sanding the surface, again with 80- and then 120-grit paper. The sanding is accomplished with a dual-action random orbit sander, which John moves quickly over the surface.

Once the sanding is complete, he will seal every strake-to-strake seam with white 3M 5200. Starboard awaits…..

1946 Chris Craft Brightside U22 Varnish Stain Removal Update

1946 chris craft u22 mahogany planking stain removal

The 1046 bright U22 is finally looking, well, a bit bright. Her port topsides are now bereft of varnish and stain. I have taken a first pass at marking all of the dings and related physical graffiti with blue painter’s tape. (I erred on the clip by referencing what we are looking at as the starboard topsides.

Just when I have the sides sorted out while she is flipped, we will return her to right-side-up!)

Once John and RJ finish their inspections, it will be time for John to correct each and every ding, scratch and split, most of which he will accomplish with what I characterize as “feathery” Dutchman because they are. The smaller issues will be addressed using a mahogany-stained filler we make up with mahogany sanding dust and mahogany Sikaflex.

Serendipity visited us today. Just as I finished slathering Circa 1850 onto a section of planks, the cell rang and I was away from the work for several minutes. Upon returning to scrubbing, I noticed that allowing the stain to work, even if unintended, improved the scrubbing effect materially. If you watch the clip again, notice how much cleaner relative to the aft section the hull is amidships forward.

Lesson: Be patient. Give the stripper a few minutes to draw the stain out of the wood, and your efforts will return larger dividends in less time.

Why not wait longer? I did some informal testing as I continued. Since a very thin film of stripper is applied at this stage, I discovered that it began drying after three minutes or so, and that those dry areas resisted my efforts quite well. Two or three minutes seems to be the point at which diminishing returns to waiting set in.

We purchased several cases of 12 stainless steel sponge scrubbers from Amason.com Prime – today’s price is $13.45. Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00…

Next comes cleaning the starboard planks.

1946 Chris Craft Mahogany U22 Bottom Stripping

1946-chris craft brightside u22 bottom stripping

Now that the 1946 Chris-Craft mahogany U22 is flipped, we are launching into the True 5200 Bottom fabrication process.

Actually, deconstruction of the outer and inner bottom planking begins the process. Given all the evidence found in the bilge that she has endured major oil leaks from the engine and transmission, step one involves breaking out the Silent Remover infrared stripping tool.

We use it sparingly, largely because its bulk makes using on a vertical surface exhausting, but primarily because it delivers even more than the hype you will find on the Web site. Aggressive hardly describes is capability to virtually pull paint or varnish from the wood. That aggressiveness, combined with gauging when it is time to lift and scrape, also makes it a dangerous stripping methodology for plywood strakes and surfaces that will be finished bright. Leave it on a few seconds too long and that smoke you see is wood burning, which leaves a charcoal-like surface behind it.

In this application, however, and especially when testing bottom planking for its paint adhesion retention, the Silent Remover’s aggressiveness is your friend. As you see in the clip, it literally sucks the oil out of the wood, leaving bubbling pools. The paint, and there were at least four layers here, just rolls off the surface, glistening with oil.

The other lesson of this clip is, “Take shortcuts at your peril.” Sure, fill the space left at a bottom planking butt joint with a thin sliver of mahogany rip. Why not? No one will see it behind all the paint. Hmmm…. except if and when the bottom is stripped the next time. Agreed. FAS grade, quarter-sawn mahogany is expensive, but that plank he/she cut too short could find a home elsewhere on the bottom. Why comprise the bottom’s integrity by taking shortcuts, especially almost directly beneath the engine.

We are preservationists who try to save every bit of old wood we can, but the integrity of oil-sodden wood is compromised, and it will not hold paint. We will be replacing virtually all of the planks, including the garboards from a bit ahead of the engine to the transom.

1953 Shepherd Sportsman 22′ Varnish Stripping Update

1953 shepherd sportsman varnish stripping

My wife keeps asking, “Why is it taking you so long to just strip the varnish from that Shepherd?”

Well, 22 feet long, almost 3 feet from chine to gunwale translate into lots and lots of surface area. Lots!
And, whoever varnished her last made sure the stain penetrated the mahogany, and then must have applied something like 18-20 coats of varnish.

I have complete a first pass on port and about 40 percent on starboard. Once the balance of the starboard side and the transom are denuded of all varnish and bottom paint, I will begin another lap using the Circa 1850 Heavy Bodied Stripper and stainless pot scrubbers to pull the stain out of the wood.

I have exhausted 3 gallons of Circa 1850 to this point, and expect to go through at least another 2 gallons before I have the topsides and transom down to truly bare wood.

As you see in the clip, and as is our custom, the spray rails have been released. Doing so is the only way to inform ourselves about the condition of the topside planking behind them. We are also afforded an opportunity to examine the fasteners – stainless square drive here – and toothpick the fastener holes with waterproof Gorilla Glue so the new fasteners have something to bite on after we have drilled new pilot holes and countersinks.
Even though they appear to be fine, never, ever will we use stainless fasteners at or below the waterline, or anywhere else on a wood boat save for hardware installation. Stainless is completely unforgiving, and they weaken very quickly when exposed to water, especially in an anaerobic environment.

For the same reasons we will likely replace the chine fasteners as well, but first it is slop on, scrape off, slop on, scrape off… So much fun.