Cape Dory Typhoon, Weekender

Cape Dory Typhoon, Weekender

Friday, October 16, 2015

Sanding & Taping-off the Waterline

October 16, 2015

The task for the evening was to prep Alva Anne for her first coat of primer.  Leaving the office this afternoon, I swung by the tool depot to exchange a defective sander and then stopped by the local marine chandlery for some Interlux 233N and other various painting supplies.  Saturday will be the day that Alva Anne gets her first coat of primer, and begins her journey towards looking 20-years younger! 

The black 'splotches' that you see across the sheer lines and the large patches on the transom are a result of me trying to shield the epoxy work from the harmful UV rays of the sun.  


These painted areas were the first order of business this evening.


Using the Porter Cable 8335, and 6" 80-grit PSA disks, I made very quick work of the protective paint.


Once the sanding was finished, I worked my way around Alva Anne with Alex Seal degreaser, removing sanding residue from the factory scribed waterline, including 4 to 5 inches above this line.


With the topsides "freshened up" a bit, I couldn't help but get excited to see a fresh coat of white paint on her...the rebuilding phase of a boat renovation is so satisfying.


The port side of the hull ready for primer!


Once I had the surfaces clean of sanding residue and any other potentially annoying contaminate, I moved into the taping phase of this evening's work.  The previous owner struck an extremely high waterline.  The only thing that I could reasonably consider as justification for such a high waterline was the fairly heavy 5hp Yamaha outboard that was a permanent fixture on the transom.  The older model (80's) was in fact pretty stout in terms of weight.  But even this fairly heavy outboard should not have necessitated such a high waterline - there was actually bottom paint on the extreme lower portion of the transom, near centerline.


My intent is to bring the waterline back to more of the traditional Typhoon look, but I wanted to reserve some room for a "margin of error."  I located the original factory scribed line - the line  that is molded into the hull as the boat was originally laid up - and then proceeded to apply 1.5" tape above the scribed mark.  This will provide me with a waterline that is raised 1.5" from the factory scribed waterline.


The engine that I will be using to come out of the dock (and for approaching the dock) will be a Nissan 3.5hp - a good size engine for this size boat.  The engine is light enough that I will be able to pull it while sailing and store it below.  I also returned to the original fold down bronze motor mount. This particular motor mount can be removed, leaving a small bronze cleat for which the motor bracket attaches to.


With the tape applied, I called it an evening.  In the morning, I will finish wiping down the topsides and begin to mix the epoxy-based primer.


Total Time: 1.5 Hrs.

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