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The Schooner Etain
08-14-2001, 03:38 PM
Well, I finally got my little schooner up from Florida by truck and she now sits on the hard here in Toronto. I've cleaned all the loose gunk out of the inside, found a full set of sails which was a bonus. Looks like the main sail will need to be replaced but the other sails look not too bad, except for the rust and mold stains. I'll try to wash those out and see how I do.

Took a powerwasher to the hull on Sunday to clean all the growth off so she no longer looks like she's been sitting on the bottom for 5 years. Next job is to try and clean the bilge out, I'll use TSP for that. There is some standing water in the bilge too, which surprised me, since she'd been hauled out for more than 3 months now. I even hammered in a screwdriver through the garboards where the worm damage was really bad, which happened to line up with the area the water was standing. Seems like it doesn't want to come out though, the hole just seemed to run water for a minute, then close up on itself. Thought that was odd. Oh well, it will come out when I have remove the boards for replacement anyways.

There's so much to do, I almost don't know where to start. I plan to sit down with a boatwright or a naval architect to work out a plan of action. I'll keep you all posted.

By the way, anyone know a really good chemical paint stripper? I really don't feel like heat stripping the entire hull and deck of a 42' boat, just to see what I need to replace. I don't need all the paint gone yet, just enought to see what the wood looks like.

Oh, and another surpise, the deck, which I was told was iroko over plywood, doesn't actually have any plywood in it at all. Nice 2" thick boards on her. http://media5.hypernet.com/~dick/ubb/smile.gif

Chris

BrianCunningham
08-14-2001, 04:03 PM
People thought I was nuts when I suggested bringing a boat up from Florida to the Great Lakes, nice to see someone on the forum got it done! http://media5.hypernet.com/~dick/ubb/biggrin.gif

Good luck!

Bruce Taylor
08-14-2001, 04:10 PM
Can you post a picture?

Alan D. Hyde
08-14-2001, 04:49 PM
Winston Churchill wrote a motto for a monument after WWI. It wasn't accepted, so he used it for the motto of his book on WWII.

I think it's not entirely inapplicable to restoring an old wooden boat:

"In War:Resolution"(or, in our case, in work)
"In Defeat: Defiance"(maybe, discouragement)
"In Victory, Magnanimity"(humility when she's beautiful again)
"In Peace: Goodwill" (share her, bring along some recruits, as another thread discusses)

Well, this may be getting deeper than my boots...

Anyway, congratulations and good luck!

Alan

RGM
08-14-2001, 05:32 PM
For a chemical stripper that might work out very well for you try one made by an outfit called "Chemsearch", www.chemsearch.com (http://www.chemsearch.com) . Good luck finding a distributor.

Concordia41
08-14-2001, 06:26 PM
A. Congratulations
B. For strippers, www.starten.com (http://www.starten.com) is a Wooden Boat advertiser
C. Before starting stripping on a wholesale basis, do a search and try to find a couple of the posts on strippers that discussed possible damage to future adhesion properties.
D. Congratulations (again)!

Nicholas Carey
08-14-2001, 06:33 PM
Originally posted by The Schooner Etain:
By the way, anyone know a really good chemical paint stripper? I really don't feel like heat stripping the entire hull and deck of a 42' boat, just to see what I need to replace. I don't need all the paint gone yet, just enought to see what the wood looks like.

You might find that heat gun or torch and a scraper is faster and more pleasant than using chemical strippers. Not to mention Cheaper.

Do a comparative test. Strip one 2x2 foot square with stripper and another with a torch and scraper. Which is better?

Don Z.
08-14-2001, 09:28 PM
Star Ten... Great Stuff... Follow the directions, use plenty of the #2, and scotchbrite pads. Far easier than a heat gun (I've used both).

The Schooner Etain
08-16-2001, 12:45 AM
Thanks for the info guys. I'm going to give that Star Ten a try. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Chris

Tom Beecroft
08-16-2001, 06:12 AM
The chemical scrapers I've used leave a gooey sticky mess all over the garage, er workshop floor. I've yet to see or hear of a chemical that works faster, better, or cleaner than a heat gun. Although I try and fool myself into thinking I'm not old by learning new tricks, I'm very sceptical of this one. Let us know how it goes.