Don Silsbe

Here is the ultimate solution. I saw this on a friend’s boat today. Should work like a champ, as long as you have deep pockets. But this is a good thought starter. I believe somebody here will find a thriftier solution.

Two days in the sunshine seemed to help some. I’m gonna wait and see.

Not so fast! The varnish is still tacky on the troublesome piece. I varnished the other side, and it is just fine. I’m letting it bake in the sun, but I don’t have high confidence in that. What do y’all think? I believe my next steps are: 1. paint stripper 2. Solvent wash 3. Soap and water wash 4. A bit of sanding. (220?) 5. Varnish Am I wrong? Is there a better way?

I think I’m in the clear! My cabinet scraper and I had some quality time this morning. We got rid of a lot of spongey material. Then, I gave it a coat. Looks like I’ve solved my problem. The video showed all three hatches, taken about 45 minutes after application. The first hatch in the video was the culprit. It looks a whole lot better now, except for a few scratches left by my scraper. (Not my go-to tool.)

HELP!!! I happily applied a second coat of varnish to my hatches. One of them got very ugly, indicating soft epoxy or blush beneath. IMG_6654.mov I’ve removed the varnish with mineral spirits (it was still wet). I took lacquer thinner, a Scotch rite pad and a cabinet scraper to the panel. There is still some residual goo. Any suggestions? OK, there’s a holiday on the third panel in the video. I’m not worried about that. What the heck am I gonna do? Use 120 grit sandpaper? I hope not.

I’ve already started walking. LOL We will already be in Michigan. It’s what we do to escape the Carolina heat. Since we’ll be pulling our travel trailer, I will be bringing Two Bits. If I had a fifth wheel, I could tow both the trailer and the 20.3. That idea was nixed by the War Department.

Yes, Andy. Jay used White Oak throughout, which is abundant here in the south. I had some of that in my scraps, so It matches rather well. For the white strips, I used epoxy and WEST 410 filler. That filler was less white than the micro balloons I have. Not perfect, but better. My big mistake was not rinsing the blush off of the panels before applying varnish. It wouldn’t dry fully! I had to strip it off with lacquer thinner, and apply new varnish.

I’m done with my fix, except for a few coats of varnish. It’s not perfect, but it is good enough for now. We’ll see what the future brings. This and the companionway hatches also got a layer of 4oz glass. This should prevent any more intrusion.

Are the sliding hatches removable for maintenance?

Googling…

@Steve W— I agree that Dawn Patrol 2 looks like the way to go, if I go in that direction. Alan plans to measure up what they did. My current plan is to sail now and work later. (With a few exceptions.) I won’t do anything like that until after the Messabout this fall. That way, we can all inspect my repair job. LOL

As many of you already know, I bought Jay and Carol Knight’s lovely boat from them last November. After a brief cruise in the Everglades last winter, I settled into making a bunch of minor adjustments to her, including renaming her. I liked the name I picked for my CS 17.1 so much, I carried it over, adding a “2”. Her nickname is Two Windy (or Too Windy). As with any 11 year-old boat, there were a few maintenance items, as well as changes for personal preference. About a month ago, I had a little issue pop up— literally. The hatches on her are built up strips of White Oak. They are gorgeous! But some water seeped into a crack, and buckled a couple of strips on the forward hatch. I’ve been ruminating over how to attack this. If I took the Rambo approach, I’d replace the entire companionway/hatch system with something similar to many other 20.3’s. But I like the look of the current design. Besides, right now I want a boat, not a project. I’m going to try repairing it. If it looks ugly, I’ll consider a more extreme course of action this winter. So far, so good! After I fill the cracks, I’ll apply a barrier of 4 oz glass to this and the aft hatch. That should prevent further intrusion. Stay tuned for the results. It’ll be a week or so, since I have to entertain the doctors for the next week or so. But I did get to take my “grand-neighbors” out for a sail last week. It was the girl’s first sail, and she loved it. IMG_6612.mov

@paul_stewart— Am I understanding this correctly, that the aluminum runner is only attached to the hatch with epoxy? Also, is there much advantage to adding graphite to the epoxy in this application? I’ve not yet used graphite.

I have something to add to this discussion. First of all, the insurance I was using was Farm Bureau, not Farmers. When I bought Carol & Jay Knight’s Southern Express that all changed. The word “homemade” appeared on the paperwork. Farm Bureau balked. My agent tried several other companies, and gave up. I contacted Hagerty’s, and ended up with a liability-only policy for the boat and trailer for $100 per year. Yes, they wanted to know all about my boating experience, but I did get what I needed.

Sometimes it’s just easier to find a good 2x6x10’, and rip out a new, longer sprit. And don’t fuss over drilling holes in the sprits. Just keep them as small as possible.