How to Strip Bottom Paint Off a 1955 Penn Yan Commander

1955 penn yan commander aristocrat strip bottom paint

The 1955 Penn Yan Commander Aristocrat left the factory with her transom, topsides, decks and interior finished bright. She was painted ivory below the spray rails.

By noon today RJ and I released my Commander’s hardware, as well as the seating, bracing in the bilge, steering, coaming boards, rub rails and spray rails.

The good news is that we found neither soft wood nor rot anywhere. Even the undersides of the spray rails are solid. The finish, however, its beautiful patina notwithstanding, will be difficult to save, but we will try to save it before we strip it away.

The painted topsides, transom and bottom are very much another matter. The paint, especially that hideous purplish blue bottom, must go. As always, I was suspicious that varnish had been replaced by paint as part of an effort to hide condition issues in the planking.

Happily, as RJ noted once I had it about 95% clean, “Looks like we can work with that transom.” Yes we can. The planking, which is clearly original, is in excellent shape. The same holds true for the bottom now that we have it about three-quarters stripped.

Patience, combined with not brushing stripper out like it is paint are the keys to efficient paint stripping. Trying to stretch the stripper is pure folly in my world.

Patience means, “Let the stripper work.” I apply it liberally, almost as though I am frosting a cake. Indeed, I pour it from the can and spread it with as few brush stroked as I can. Then I leave it alone for at least half an hour, but even as long as an hour.

Now it’s time to scrape? No. Apply more stripper on top of what is already there, and go away again.

Our go-to stripper, Jamestown Distributor’s Circa 1850 Heavy-Bodied Paint and Varnish Remover, has softened the paint down to the wood by now. It’s time to begin scraping, in our case, with a BAHCO scraper, rolling the material off the surface.

We complete the task using ordinary stainless steel kitchen pot scrubbers purchased from a local super market. Apply a thin layer of remover, begin scrubbing with the grain immediately, and watch the residue disappear.

To be sure, nothing about stripping paint or varnish is glamorous, except being done.

1954 Penn Yan Captivator Aristocrat Preserved!

1954 penn yan captivator preservation complete

She arrived at Snake Mountain Boatworks last fall having been “restored” by someone about whom I can say nothing nice, so I will say nothing at all.

Revisit some of our early videos on this project and hear the despair in our voices.

But we have saved her. I misspoke a bit on her post-preservation originality in the clip. In addition to the seating, we fabricated new thwart bracing and replaced her transom and transom framing. So she leaves us with much less than 90% of her original wood.

The important fact is that she has been saved and will leave shortly for Lake Simon in Tupper Lake, NY, where we hope for a long fall boating season for her owners

1954 Penn Yan Captivator Preservation Nears the Finish Line

1954 penn yan captivator preservation near complete

Preserving her has been extremely challenging, but this 1954 Penn Yan Captivator is finally nearing the finish line. While all three of us have worked on this project, John has taken the lead and executed most of the structural work involved in reshaping her hull; and fabricating and installing her new keel, transom framing and transom, ribs, athwart braces, splash rails, rub rails and much, much more.

As is evident in this clip, all that hard work is returning substantial dividends in the form of a stunning outcome. Shortly we will begin installing her new seating and hardware, racing towards the target completion that will have her back with her owners by Labor Day.

1954 Penn Yan Captivator Varnishing Update

1954 penn yan captivator varnishing

The finish line on our 1954 Penn Yan Captivator project is just peeking over the horizon. We have rolled and tipped the first seven coats of Interlux Perfection Plus two-part polyurethane varnish, with sanding three times between coats thus far. We began with 400 grit and progressed through 600 and now 800 grit along the way.

Now there is sufficient film thickness that John has been able to sand more aggressively towards a uniform snow field that we dared to between earlier coats. Sanding too aggressively risks cutting through the varnish down to bare wood. It happens, but building it back without producing visible boundaries around the “patch” is horribly difficult.

We will roll and tip two additional coats and then sand on last time before we apply the 10th and final coat to the decks and covering boards.

Anticipating your questions, yes, we are varnishing over the Sikaflex U295 seams. Perfection is crystal clear and, unlike some spar varnishes, it adheres tenaciously to the Sikaflex, and it imparts the same UV protection to the seam material as it does to the planking.

We have applied five coats of Pettit Hi-Build varnish below the rub rails, and on the transom, with three more to go.

We should be installing wiring, gauges, seating, the windshield and hardware by this time next week.

Happy 4th of July!

1954 Penn Yan Captivator Preservation: Spray Rails On!

1954 penn yan captivator spray rails preservation

Finally! The spray rail milestone was among our most challenging in our preservation of this wonderful little 1954 Penn Yan Captivator.

John began with 8/4, air-dried, FAS grade white oak and then fabricated a pair of almost 17-foot-long spray rail blanks the cross-section of which matched her decayed, too-far-gone-for-saving original rails.

Next came the steam-bending challenge, which began with soaking the blanks by standing them in a 12 foot x 8” PVC tube standing upright for three weeks. We shared our successful initial bending and installation of the rails in an earlier clip.

We left them on the hull until our moisture meter read 10%, then came endless hand sanding and final fitting of the ever-changing angles so that the rails set tightly against the hull.

We bleached them with Klean-Strip Wood Bleach and then stained them with Sandusky Chris Craft Corina Blonde stain, which will also be applied to the half-round rub rails we have been able to save. Two coats of CPES were followed by an initial coat of varnish.

Today, bedded in 3M5200, John and RJ installed them permanently.

We will spend the balance of today installing the mid-deck seat supports and the coaming that encircles the gunwales and both cockpits.

Two coats of varnish have been applied to the decks, topsides and transom at this point. Once the coaming is installed, sealed and stained – yes, in place, we will continue varnishing until she presents a deep gloss.

She could be home in time to celebrate July 4th with her owners! Let’s hope.

1954 Penn Yan Captivator Preservation Update

195 penn yan captivator preservation update

The little Penn Yan Captivator is truly “coming into it,” our shop phrase for projects that moved past major preservation milestones with flying colors.

Speaking of color, I hope you will agree that the TotalBoat JD Select Bottom paint complements the mahogany topsides and transom very nicely. It also echoes the upholstery, which is the same forest green.

The newly-fabricated white oak splash rails have been bleached and the final sanding is finished as of this morning. We will stain them blonde to match the half-round white oak rub rails that have yet to be fabricated.

Varnishing is next, but wait. Why have the seams been filled with white Sikaflex 295 UV already? Because the decks, coaming boards, dash and gunwales will be varnished with Interlux Perfection Plus Two-Part Epoxy Varnish, which is crystal clear. As corroborated in the current issue of Practical Sailor magazine, Perfection Plus delivers incredible UV protection and, in PS’s tests, retains its gloss for years – 5 in the PS tests.

We will roll and tip at least eight coats of Perfection, sanding after every three and then every other coat.

As I type Pettit Hi-Build Gloss Varnish is being rolled and tipped on her topsides and transom. We will build at least eight coats, sanding with ever-finer dry paper between every 2 coats.

What great lines! What a truly neat little boat, especially once we hang her 30 HP Johnson Javelin on her transom!

1957 Penn Yan Captivator Bottom Stripped 12 15 2014

DeWe flipped the Captivator, fully intending to extract all of the residual black walnut stain from the topsides using Circa 1850 paint and varnish remover. But I decided to test removing the bottom paint, first with a heat gun and scraper, and when that failed, grabbed our infrared Silent Stripper.
The entire bottom had been glazed with the same wood filler we have already encountered elsewhere. In some places the “glaze” was as much as 3/16” deep. The heat gun softened the paint, but scraping it off the filler proved impossible.
Even though its operating range is 300-500 degree Fahrenheit, the filler began vaporizing and smoking, and quickly even a full-face respirator failed to protect me against the noxious odors and gases, so away it went.
While I do not enjoy using a chemical removed in the presence of what I am virtually certain is lead paint, a test with the Circa 1850 not only bubbled the paint, it also softened the filler to the point that, with lots of effort, I was able to scrape 95%+ of it down to bare wood.
My attention turned to stripping the bottom below the waterline, so the topsides are still waiting to be de-stained.
Sanding the entire bottom with 100 grit followed the stripping, and then I began inspecting the bottom for issues and defects, of which you will see were many indeed.
At this juncture our hope, not our expectation, is that we can repair the damage and issues you will see in this clip. Time will tell whether repair morphs into required replacement as we begin working on the red cedar bottom planking.

1957 Penn Yan Captivator Stripping Milestone

1957 penn yan captivator stain stripping

It was a long, long day. With heat gun in hand, RJ completed stripping the coamings and the dash, but the starboard topsides were all mine. Several of you questioned why I am not using a chemical stripper like Circa 1850 on the painted splash rails and eventually the bottom. We cannot be sure that we are not dealing with lead paint. Since lead will not vaporize below 1,000 F, so we set our guns at 900 F, which keeps the lead encapsulated with the scrapings, which remain dry and safe to handle. RJ carefully released the stem-to-stern long spray rails, despite the forest of sheetrock screws from the outside-in, and an even denser forest of stainless square drive screws driven from inside and through the topsides every 8-010 inches. Happily with a bit of repair using Total Boat Thixio thickened epoxy, the starboard spray rail can be saved. And the best news of all is that there is no rot in the topside planks behind the spray rails. We did unearth some rot in the three aft-most starboard ribs. The ribs will be sistered using steam-bent white oak. The aft section of the port rail must be fabricated anew. We will match the factory scarf joint found on the starboard side, thereby producing a result that, other than the new white oak, matches the original design. I misspoke in the video when I said she is ready to move into the main shop and flip. Before that can happen we must extract all of the residual black walnut stain out of the mahogany topsides, decks, coamings, etc. using Circa 1850 Heavy Body remover, scrapers, brass brushes and repurposed stainless kitchen scouring pads.

1957 Penn Yan Captivator Stripping Continues

1957 penn yan captivator how-to strip stain

This video contains a plea, “If you do not know how to repair rotted members, please do not try. You only make matters worse.”

And whoever had his/her hands on this boat clearly lacked the knowledge, but did not allow that fact to stand in the way of what must be the most abysmal work we have seen, and now must undo to date.

The aft half of the part spray rail must have begun rotting. In fact , as is clear in the clip, the rot had progressed well beyond “just starting.” The below-waterline transom plank was in even more severe dire straits. Band aids do not a proper repair make.

Indeed, what was done to the spray rail only succeeded in trapping water and propelling the rot, as you can see by viewing the aft-most foot or so. A proper repair, releasing the rail and replacing the rotted aft section using a scarf joint, must have been well beyond this person. Better to glop the goo into place and hope for the best.

We must carefully release the rail, if only to see what trapped water has done to the planking behind it, and then fabricate a new section that will be scarfed to the forward portion.

But the transom work is truly special. All the filler that is visible along the entire lower edge of the bottom plank made me wonder is any of it had survived. When my scraper blade unearthed a brass strip nailed across the entire bottom of the transom and riding on the bottom planking, I knew. No wood had survived so the wood putty was inserted into the void across the entire bottom edge of the transom.

Then there is the rest of this plank, a good 70% of it being completely gone and replaced with more putty.

What is our plan forward? I just do not know until we have flipped the boat to reveal the bottom planking. As you can see at one point in the clip, I have already revealed more wood putty just ahead of the transom where the first bottom plank and it meet.

I fear that my adventures with wood putty have just begun.