Boat Repair, Restoration, Building
The Swan Point 19 is a great boat, but a small update makes accessing the anchor much easier. We added a hatch opening to the foredeck and added a mahogany bracket to hold the anchor. Continue reading “Anchor Locker Update for Swan Point 19”
It’s not uncommon for a boat to develop soft spots in the sole around the console. Any unsealed penetration, like a console hold-down screw hole, will allow water intrusion. This boat has a fiberglass-over-plywood sole. So once the water gets to the plywood, it will eventually rot. Continue reading “Swan Point 19 Sole Repair”
In my last post I said I would tell you more about making the hatch in the waterproof bulkhead, and finishing it. Well, I’m still waiting for some of the hardware, so it’s time to move on and we’ll come back to the hatch later.
Time to build the Stem of the boat! I decided to laminate this stem because it’s easier and stronger than the traditional method of sawing it out of solid lumber pieces and bolting them together. Laminating is just gluing together multiple layers to produce a larger piece. It’s also used as an alternative to steam bending wood. We’re going to do a lot of laminating on this boat. So let’s get started.
The water-tight bulkhead forward of the engine compartment needs a hatch opening so you can access the area forward of frame 3. We have to cut an opening and frame it and the hatch. We’ll have to design the frame for both pieces, determine proper placement of the hinges and opening hardware, and make it waterproof. Continue reading “Building a Hatch Opening”
I recently got a call to diagnose and repair a Xantrex Freedom 20 inverter-charger. An inverter-charger is a dual purpose machine that can either charge your batteries using shore power, or create AC power from your batteries while you’re away from shore power. What’s more, it can share your shore power feed between whatever you want to use it for on the boat and the battery charger, giving some power to each. So you can charge your batteries and enjoy using your air conditioner while making margaritas with your blender! Continue reading “Xantrex Freedom 20 Repair”
We’ve been talking about making all the pieces for the transom of our Palm Beach 22. If you missed that part of the discussion, you can check it out at making the Transom Cheeks and Making the Transom Bows. Now it’s time to put these parts together into a unified whole. We need some guideposts, something to tell us how this piece should look when we’ve put it together successfully. Continue reading “Assembling the Transom Frame”
The transom bows are the curved top and bottom pieces that give you the shape of that beautiful transom you see on classic runabouts. Nelson Zimmer’s plan calls for a 5 foot radius curve. He also calls for a deck crown or “camber” of 2-1/2 inches at the transom.
So we’ve got two pieces to make, bent to a 5 foot radius. And the top one has to have a curve cut on top of it to support the crown of the deck as well. Continue reading “Making the Transom Bows”
It seems like forever since I talked about working on the Palm Beach 22 in this space. Intervening boat repairs do have a way of taking up time here at the boatworks! Anyway, when we left off I was talking about the plan for framing the transom. I had made up 2 blanks with the curve of the transom cheeks. You can read about it here.
You can see the blank laminated to the curve here. Now it’s time to cut the compound curve out of this blank. Remember this piece not only curves inboard, it also curves aft when you look at it from the side. Take a look at Zimmer’s drawing again. It’s at the top of this post. Continue reading “Cutting the Transom Cheeks on the Palm Beach 22”
In my last post I talked about the plan for adding a windlass to a medium sized powerboat, a 2008 SeaRay 240 Sundancer. If you missed it, you can read more about it here. When we left off, I was fabricating a platform to fit where the lid for the anchor locker is. There’s a recessed gutter around the opening that’s ideal for a trapezoidal frame that supports the platform. Continue reading “Add A Windlass to a SeaRay Sundancer–part 2”
Not too long ago, a customer came in needing a windlass installed on his SeaRay Sundancer. Luckily, he had some excellent plans for how he wanted it done. He wanted to take the lid off the anchor locker and fabricate a piece to fit over it that protrudes enough from the bow to stow the anchor. Sort of like a mini-bow pulpit. This was a great project for my shop because it encompasses a variety of skills, all of which I’m pretty good at, even if I do say so myself.  Continue reading “A Windlass for a 2008 SeaRay Sundancer-part 1”