Plastic Classic Forum

I used a household product on the inside of the San Juan: Zinsser. http://www.zinsser.com/product_detail.asp?ProductID=35 According to the manufacturer: "Mold & Mildew-Proof paint film- guaranteed for 5 years Beautiful, durable, washable, stain resistant finish Self-priming ? sticks to surf...

I found a little squirt of olive oil (extra virgin, of course) lubricates the Marelon seacocks nicely.

Reading my second favorite magazine, BoatWorks, (second to Good Old Boat) there was an interesting article on LED lighting that mentioned a source of LED's. I thought I'd pass it on: http://www.superbrightleds.com I ordered a few to try on the San Juan's interior lighting, as presently I have 3 powe...

Just in case there is one other electronically challenged person on the forum, I thought I'd pass on this great explanation for connecting ones Autopilot to the GPS.
http://blanketabsolution.org:81/captain ... opilot.asp

I struggle(d) with double braid splices until I found the book "The Marlinspike Sailor" by Hervey Garrett Smith.

I have better results with his instructions than with any others. The rest of the book has all kinds of rope projects that are interesting, too.

On my San Juan 24, what's better to use on the mast head fore and back stay pins; cotters or rings? I have some rings that are like key rings ... real fingernail breakers ... that look as though they would hold well.

Comments anyone? Thanks!

Bill: I have a Garmin GPSMAP 76 that I'm very happy with. It's about a year and a half old. Here's a link listing it's features: http://www.garmin.com/products/gpsmap76/ I find it very easy to use, and it allows different configurations and sizes for the windows you use the most ... great for us old...

There's a neat web page about Tom Tweed's project: also a Chuck Paine Francis 26. He built a flush deck model and did an incredible job of it.

The web page is at http://members.rennlist.com/tweedt/boat.htm
I go there quite often just for inspiration.

Figment:
My 6 mil poly from the building supply (uv resistant) is 3 years old and still holding up well. Today it was cold enough to stretch it real tight and when it rained it was like working inside a snare drum.

I've just restored mine (on a San Juan24). Had to weld in some aluminum patches, fill some gouges with epoxy, and give them a paint job. They are held down with 48 #10 nuts and bolts per side, also clamping the hull-deck joint. The nuts had very small washers under them, so I'm putting back the larg...

... and who was it that said "Above all else, Go Sailing" ? I think it was Jerry Powlas of Good Old Boat magazine.

My barn would have a dropped floor in one bay to allow a boat to be backed in on the trailer with the water line level with the rest of the barn floor.... no more up and down and up and down ladders all day! The dropped floor could be filled in with some small trusses and plywood covering when there...

The dirty deed is done ... and went a lot better than expected. A little more fairing, as Tim suggested, glued in the new pieces with thickened epoxy, then 2 layers of heavy woven roving, and sealed the edge in the bilge with thickened epoxy and a layer of cloth ... all covered with another coat of ...

Tim: How often do you think you'll need to open these?

Oh boy, what a shame. But it's amazing how well some of it it held together! My shed originally sat on the ground, closer to the garage, without the sidewalls. I had a nice level floor (on pallets) of 5/8" t&g OSB with 1/4" sanded plywood on top, painted off-white. At the time I planne...

David:
I place a long 2x4 across the cockpit, perpendicular to the center line of the hull, and put a carpenters level on it.

Fore and aft I level by measuring from the painted waterline to the ground, bow and stern, as long as the ground is fairly level.

I anchored my shed because of high winds. (I love my Stimson Shed !!!) I built side walls out of old pallets, set vertical and screwed to pallets sitting on the ground, protruding outside of the shed. Angle braces were added every 3 feet, then water-filled 45 gallon drums set on the pallets to hold ...

With all this talk about heads, has anyone on the forum tried, or have experience with, the AirHead composting toilet? http://www.airheadtoilet.com It seems there would be a bit of regular maintenance and monitoring to make sure it was working, but surely no more than on a conventional head. I'd be ...

Has anyone used POR-15 Topsides Yacht Enamel? Reading the blurb at http://www.por15.com/product.asp?productid=359 it sounds interesting.

Tim. I found the (hopefully only) source of water intrusion. (See above close-up photo on the rightside). The layer of glass layed on top of the coring was folded over the edge of the shallow bilge and glassed in. In the picture I had cut along the bend in this layer, planning on leaving the part ex...

I tried thinning some West Systems epoxy once. Heated it a bit on the top of the shop wood stove. It thinned it alright, but on my way up the ladder into the boat I noticed smoke coming off my rubber glove holding the tin. Wow, it was solid in no time. A waste, but a valuble learning experience!

You'll never get rid of all the rust because of the irregular surface on cast iron. I like the sand blasting idea. After that you'll need something to chemically stabilize it. I'd try something completely different: POR-15.
Check it out at http://www.por15.com/product.asp?productid=6

Ahhh ... just the kind of advice I was looking for. The hull-keel joint appears to be good, on the outside. After I removed the bottom paint I raised the boat off the keel and tried to move it laterally to see if any cracks showed up. Looked good. The dark marks are where I got a little too ambitiou...

Well, it looks like I'm going to have to join the legions of amateur recorers out there. I discovered wet balsa in the floor of my San Juan 24. WET AREA http://www3.telus.net/sailing/floor1.jpg For those of you unfamiliar with the boat, there is a section of cored hull on the starboard side of the k...

After a little exploratory sanding I suspect water in the fibreglass itself. The primer/surfacer was put on under ideal conditons (too expensive to do otherwise) and is a recommended substrate for Du Pont Imron topcoats. I'm wondereing if, after sanding off 3 layers of old paint and some of the gel ...

Tim: The 16hp model looks like a pretty nice engine for a Triton. Same weight and size (1 1/2" wider) as the 11 and 13 hp models.
Any thoughts?

I'm in the process of re-building my San Juan 24. It's sitting in a fully enclosed Stimson Marine-type plastic covered enclosure, with ventilation at both ends. I sanded several layers old paint off the hull, right back to the gel coat, and used Du Pont 1141SC 2K Urethane Primer-Filler to resurface ...

Ah ... here is when I have to confess: it's not a Triton ... it's a San Juan 24. It's sort of a low key 'stippled' finish right in the gel coat ... almost like a non-skid deck surface. It would be quite a lot of work to grind off, and the result would not be too pretty. I don't mind putting in the e...

Hey ... How did I get "Bottom Sanding Grunt" posted under my name? I finished that part weeks ago ;) Anyway, the interior is a combination of smooth and textured surfaces. I can handle smooth surface restoration, but where holes have been filled on the textured overhead I'm left with many ...

I'm looking at my interior liner, with all it's filled holes, stains, and general wear and tear, and am wondering what I can paint it with that will hide as much as possible. I've filled all the holes and sanded it, and I'm thinking of a not too glossy paint that will roll on with a bit of texture t...