CP-16 Complete Refitting

[bruce]

The valve stems are nice touch, a little bit of resiliency. A least you didn't find soda cans!

I worked a couple of fall seasons at a tire shop, back when everyone mounted snow tires seasonally. My friend, the bosses son, dropped a GTO on it's belly as I removed the RR wheel. We were using a hydraulic bumper lift, bumpers being structural back then, and the car's bumper slipped off the lift and the lift slammed into the wall next to my head. Nobody was hurt, not so sure about the car. I was glad it was him and not me!

[Hutch]

Hello, Bruce and Carl! 

I also found a brake cylinder, a lug nut, and a decorative lug cover.  But, no soda cans!  By the way, I live in the snowiest part of the entire United States.  We average 360" of snow in the Keweenaw every winter, so snow tires are still very necessary up here.  I don't often change them though, since it is easier to simply keep a separate set of wheels and tires.  I still haven't swapped them out yet, as we just got a small dusting of snow last night and the lake is still frozen.  Last week, when you guys were getting hit on the East Coast, we got another 12" of snow! 

I was always mechanically oriented, since I was young and started taking things apart: the Bell telephone, lawnmower, etc.  I didn't always figure out how to put them back together then, much to the chagrin of my father.  By the time I was 14, I was fully motorized and mobile with my moped license.  I had a piece of junk 70s Motobecante, which required I take a set of tools with me to take her apart and make adjustments on the road.  I didn't care, because I found freedom. 

I made a lot of mistakes working at that shop over the summer, but what I learned was that we could bill the customer for the extra time it took to fix my mistakes!  I also learned that anything could be fixed, it just took extra time.  The first time I snapped a bolt in a transmission housing, I thought the manager would kill me.  He was such a nice guy, never got upset, and taught me to drill and tap.  He then told me that we would just bill for the extra time!  It was a win-win!  Plus, it wasn't a GTO that I screwed up either!  Anyhow, this made me confident in fixing anything, even if I don't really know what I'm doing.  You are seeing this unfolding now, as I just began sailing three years ago, and this is my first real boat! 

My uncle always wanted to teach me to sail, but it never seemed to work out that I could spend a few days at his house, other than for large family get-togethers.  When he passed away, he left me a couple of Sunfish from his fleet.  He loved Sunfish, and always said that it was the purest form of sailing.  Anyhow, I live on a lake, so I trailered them home, and I began sailing.  I was hooked immediately!  I remember the moment, going slowly along with the sail luffing, when I pulled the mainsheet tight and took off.  It felt like I just stepped on the accelerator!  From then on, all I do is read about sailing, magazines and books.  I have also studied a lot sailing dynamics and mathematics, as I am a professor with a PhD in engineering.  It comes as nature to me to read a lot of books, write a couple, and then give it a try!

I have made up for my lack of previous experience by sailing as often as I could the past three summers; at least twice a week.  This was after I had read a couple of books on the subject, including the Sunfish Bible, which my uncle also left for me.  That is a great book to learn sailing dynamics, because many of the articles are written by competitive sailors and world champions.  Last summer, I started sailing weekly with a colleague who owns a CP-16, so I finally learned to use a headsail (after reading about it) and developed an appreciation for the CP-16.  Anyhow, here I am. 

To answer Carl's question, that is the very widest point at the bottom of the keel.  It doesn't taper off though till much further fore and aft.  Also, it widens to 9" at the very top of the keel, 12" deep.  I figure the lead and epoxy resin will take up about 3" along the bottom, maybe a little more if I glass over it a bit, just out of caution to Tim's point from the other day.  Even then, I should have enough room to box and glass-in a standard 22nf marine battery, which is 5.5" wide, 12" long, and around 9" tall.  That is another 40lbs of lead weight that I can put in the keel and below the waterline.  Before, it was mounted up front, above the waterline, which made it counter ballast. 

Cheers fellas!

Robert

[Wayne J]

Hutch!

From my experience, a few cases of PBR could be an excellent ballast/stabilizer, as PBR contains all kinds of exotic additives!

Welcome to the Forum!

Wayne J

[Hutch]

Ahoy, Wayne!

I have a lot of time to post this weekend, because it is the second day in a row that it is snowing here in the Keweenaw Peninsula!  I am sure the weather is much nicer in VA, now that the storms have passed. 

I'm not quite sure about the love of PBR I am feeling on this forum.  I definitely remember Pabst Blue Ribbon, back in the day when it was really Pabst.  My grandmother bought it occasionally, and I certainly remember the jingle from the commercials, "I demand real true blue flavor!"  We are really part of Northern Wisconsin, here in the Upper Peninsula.  So, you know that there are much better beers than PBR. But, for ballast, it may have some value...

Anyhow, I weighed the bucket of wheel weights, and it was about 45 lbs. 

Cheers!

Robert

[Hutch]

Well, in case you are interested, here is my daily update.  What didn't surprise me, at this point, is the amount of water trapped under the fore deck in the cabin and the amount of rot on the bulkhead compression box.  I debated ripping this out, but I felt justified when I saw the rot, mold, and water.

[Hutch]

Ahoy, sailors!

Okay.  It was a beautiful day today, and I had a lot of other things to do, but I did get a little time at the end of the day to flip the hull over and begin stripping the bottom paint.  My son was able to help me with this, as it really is not an east one person job.  I let him do the heavy lifting. 

Getting a closer look at the keel, I can see some chips and gouges in the gelcoat that I hadn't seen before.  I will fix those before I repaint the bottom. Any suggestions or thoughts about a barrier coat?  I guess I should probably see what I am working with first. 

By the way, I put it on a lighter trailer I have for my Sunfish sailboats.  I cut a couple of 2X4 braces across the bottom and screwed them to the hull lip to stabilize it.   

Cheers!

Robert

[Renae]

She's gonna be a whole new boat.  Dang near literally.

[Bob23]

Robert: you're doing a great and thorough job! Years ago there was discussion here about doing a keel cap in copper both for protection for the fiberglass and also a guard against the growth of barnacles. I'm not sure you sail in salt water so this could be a moot point.

Bob23

[Hutch]

Ahoy, Bob!

Thanks for the positive feedback and encouragement; I really appreciate it.  And, I like this idea of a copper cap on the keel.  I stripped off the majority of the bottom paint, and I found some epoxy repairs that had been made already.  I don't sail in salt water, but I don't want to limit myself either.  I have a dream to sail to Norway from my home in Chassell, across the North Atlantic, and spend a year sabbatical in Trondheim, where I have close family.  After a year, I would sail back.  I am a professor, so I could use my sabbatical year, take all summer both ways.  I wasn't thinking of doing it in a CP-16 though.  My idea would be more like a Pacific Seacraft Flicka or maybe a Halman 20. 

Cheers!

Robert

P.S. I am stripping it one more time to get the rest of the bottom paint off.

[Bob23]

Funny you'd mention a Flicka. I was (and still am) considering one up in MA. I spent a weekend going over her and all I needed to do was hear the Yanmar run. Then this dang virus showed up and no travel from NJ to MA. It's still on the dream board though!
Cheers! Bob23

[Hutch]

Ahoy, Bob!

Yes, I think the Flicka is a beautiful boat, and all you need to sail around the world!  I think that the market is going to be good for boats and cars.  I am very much a petrol head as well, and own a '72 MG Midget in tip-top condition.  Not that the Midget is worth much, but I am always watching the classic car market.   At the top end, it already appeared to have peaked.  But, the bottom end was still pretty crazy, with $20K+ for a Porsche 914 or $10K+ for a 944, only because regular Joes cannot afford to buy a 911 these days.  Anyhow, the good news is that the Flicka will probably still be there after this passes. 

I saw a nice Flicka on Lake Ontario east of Toronto.  You could sail her down to Buffalo and take the Erie Canal all the way to NYC.  A couple of summers ago, I met a family from Boston that bought a large boat (I don't remember what it was) and sailed her from the Apostle Islands in Minnesota back to Boston.  They were going to take St. Laurence Seaway back.  Their diesel engine needed some repairs, so they came into Houghton, MI (where I live) and made repairs.  It was fun seeing them for those few days, while they were waiting for parts to arrive.  Anyhow, you could make a nice trip out of it!

Cheers!

Robert

[Bob23]

Hi Robert...I'm also a gear head. I was involved in foreign car repair way back when foreign cars was still a real thing. Today it's blurred.
   I have a very rare one-off collaboration between Porsche and Toyota. Not many people have heard of this or even are aware that yes, the joined together in 1993 and built only one car, the very same one I own. Of course there are those skeptics who say I simply took a 1993 Camry Wagon and adorned it with Porsche stickers...but you know me better than that, don't you!

   My very favorite cars include the Cittoen DS, AC Cobra (who wouldn't love one of those! My marina owner has a real one!) the Volvo P1800 wagon and of course a 1967 Karmann Ghia convertible. None of which I've ever owned, by the way.

  The Flicka is still available...the Admiral has threatened to throw me out if I buy her. Good thing she's got standing headroom!

Cheers!
Bob23

[Hutch]

Hey, Bob!

That is very interesting.  I'd like to know more about that car.  In the early 90s, Toyota was helping to save a lot of sports car manufacturers.  Lotus, always on the verge of extinction, needed an engine deal, but didn't really have the cash.  Toyota wanted a mid-engine sports car, so Lotus helped them on the design for the MR2, the "poor man's Ferrari 308".  My dream exotic car is a little more attainable, and that would be a Lotus Elise. 

I also like the first generation Lotus Esprit, only because it debuted in The Spy Who Loved Me with Roger Moore when I was a kid.  There is a very cool story about that.  Colin Chapman, who like always was broke, needed free advertising for the new car.  He found out about shooting at Pinewood Studios and parked the prototype outside on the street when he knew that Broccoli and others would be there.  When they came out, saw the unmarked car, they went crazy trying to find out who made it.  When they were tipped off, they had to have it.  So, they came to Colin, who had the advantage in negotiations.  Another funny story, Sir Roger Moore asked for the road car (not the submarine version) after shooting.  Colin told him he'd have to pay full price, so he walked away!

Anyhow, I saw a beautiful looking Flicka on sailboatlistings.com this morning.  Also, a Nordica 20 with BMW diesel inboard, the "poor man's Flicka", as it was called in its review in Small Craft Advisor.  This particular boat has been for sale for many years now, not too far from my home in the Keweenaw, on Lake Superior near Duluth.  That is an interesting boat.  The hull was made in two pieces, but with the joint running fore and aft along the keel line.  It was shipped from Europe to Canada for final assembly.  There are two things wrong with this boat in Duluth: the owner painted it an ugly color and at $10K they are asking double what these boats typically sell for.  When people say "rare" in their advertisement, I say it was rare for a reason, no one bought them new!

Bob, if you are an open wheel and sports car racing fan, then it appears we were separated at birth somehow. 

Apologies to everyone else who doesn't care about cars.  Back to my CP-16, I have found some widespread blistering along the hull bottom, along with a few more ugly epoxy repairs along the keel bottom.  I put one more coat of stripper and covered with plastic, and this should be enough to have removed all the bottom paint.  I went ahead and ordered some epoxy barrier coat, which I will put on before the bottom paint.  First, I will make some epoxy repairs to the gouges, chips, and larger blisters that have opened more.  Then I will lightly sand the gelcoat before applying the barrier coat. 

By the way, for anyone who wants to know.  I did not use any heavy duty aircraft stripper.  This was the very pleasant smelling Citrustrip, which you can buy at Walmart in the paint isle.  The best way to do it is like I did it, flip your hull over and cover it in plastic to let it do its job over night.  Obviously, that involved some other work as well.  But, I think you could still roller the stripper gel on to the bottom, and use plastic wrap to cover it.  I did it by myself, with a large industrial roll of packing wrap (also from Walmart).  Once I laid down a foot or more on the gel, smoothing it out, the suction force held it down and I could pull the roll out along the hull.  Once you get a few overlapping rows, the plastic clings to itself, making it easier.  I think you could probably do this on the trailer without it falling off.  That allows the gel to really soak into the old bottom paint. 

Also, one more tip, I originally started scraping with my metal scraper.  That was fine, but always left streaks of gel and paint.  When I went to Walmart to pick up one more quart of Citrustrip, I also bought a large, cheap plastic scraper for $1.  That was the best, as it contours to the hull shape better. 

I'll post up more photos soon.

Cheers!

Robert

[Hutch]

Ahoy, Sailors!

Okay.  This is after three times stripping.  I still have some bottom paint left in a few places, but I should be able to get it with the little bit of Citrustrip left over.  I used straight acetone to wipe off all the residual.  I am including a few photos of damage to the keel, some previous epoxy repairs, and you can see the blistering, particularly aft.  I will begin sanding when the weather improves, grind out some of the gouges that still have paint in them, patch everything with epoxy, and then apply a two part epoxy barrier coat before the final bottom paint. 

My plan, right now, is to get all that done, get her upright in the trailer again, and then begin working on the inside of the hull. 

Cheers!

Robert

[5monkeys]

Hi Hutch,
     Ok, now I have questions. I'm about to get started on my 19's bottom. This is the first I've seen of someone using stripper on a bottom as opposed to sanding it off. I like the idea of not having all that airborne dust and if this stuff is chemical friendly it sounds wonderful.  How much citrustrip did you need to treat 3x? What are the negatives to this method?