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Saloon |  |
Aft Cabin | |
Aft Head | |
Owners Cabin | |
Owners Head | |
Engines | |
Fore Deck | |
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Deckhouse ~ Bow
seat - The paint on the bow seat had
weathered off. The wood frame on the seat
had extensive rot. The framing around
the forward wheelhouse windows was rotting.
There was a soft spot in the middle of the
deckhouse roof that caused leaking into the
Saloon below. Everything that was not fastened down was removed. Next came the initial cleaning and then a detailed inspection. |
| Deckhouse ~ Saloon Window -
The area around the outside window
frame where the window meets the frame had become
built-up with alternating layers of caulk and
paint. In order to achieve a clean look the
decision was made to remove all of the old caulk
and paint. First the edges of the
glass was lined with duck-tape to help guard
against scratching the glass. Next a
Dermal tool equipped with a cutting/milling bit
was used to quickly cut away everything down to
the bare wood. Any nicks, dings, scratches or blemishes were repaired using Famowood mahogany wood filler. With the surface repaired, the wood was smoothed using 120 and then 220-grit sandpaper producing a clean smooth finish. With the area cleaned, a thin bead of 3M 4200 was run around the outside frame. Using a tongue depressor held at a 45 angle to the window and starting in the corner of each frame and working towards the middle the tongue depressor was repeatable run along each frame to remove any excess caulk. This procedure forced the 4200 down into the area where the frame and glass meet and produced a small clean and neat concave seal. After the 3M 4200 had cured for a week the excess on the glass and frame that had squeezed out from the tongue depressor was cut away using a razor blade. The frame and the edge of the caulking was then lightly sanded again with 120-grit sandpaper. |
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Deckhouse ~ Saloon Window - In
preparation for the finish paint, two coats of
Interlux – Pre-Kote White primer were rolled and tipped using a
1/8” nap foam roller and a 2" foam brush.
After each coat had dried, the paint was smoothed with 220-grit
sandpaper. The primed wood was then rolled and tipped using a
1/8” nap foam roller and a 2" foam brush with
two coats of Interlux Brightside - White. After the
first coat had dried, the paint was smoothed with
220-grit sandpaper. Before final painting, the wood
was vacuumed and then wiped-down with a tack-rag
and paint thinner. The original stainless steel window molding was missing from Independence. Replacement molding was found on an old wooden boat that was scheduled for the chainsaw. After trimming to size the molding was installed on Independence. |
| Deckhouse ~ Hand rails - The original zamak (a zinc-aluminum alloy) fittings had long ago lost their shine and no amount of rubbing or buffing was going to bring it back. Both of the forward handrail ends were cracked and in the late stage of deterioration. The decision was made to replace all of the fittings with new 7/8" stainless steel fittings. |
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Deckhouse ~ Hand rails - Bob Bothum of LPX Sales & Service supplied the handrail ends. The decision was made to mount the handrail ends on top of gaskets in order to help seal the fitting. The gaskets were cut from a tier inter-tube. A small under size hole was punched in the gasket for the bolt to pass through. Both sides of the gasket were buttered with 3M 4200 around the bolt hole to further seal the fitting from leaking. The handrail ends were then fastened from inside the Saloon using new stainless steel bolts and washers. |
| Deckhouse - The Deckhouse top was striped of all the hardware and forty years of accumulated paint was sanded off. The Wheelhouse was then re-fiberglassed to provide additional structural strength. After fairing, 5 coats of US Paint Awl-Grip - Snow White paint was applied. |
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