Retrofit Project

[therrick]

Just finished the new helm station and installed it. In various phases of doneness are the new pilot's seat, galley, dining area, V-berth storage, cabin walls and door, and complete rewiring. Just had to post this one 'cause I like the way it looks. The trim is white oak salvaged from a home built in 1803. I left a few of the adze marks just to remember.







Everything else is coming together pretty well and I hope to get it back in the water before it freezes...

Just noticed you can see the 28 gallon tank in the V-berth. Apparently there were five of these installed back in '84. I added the inspection port and fuel gauge sending unit. Can't wait to get the 32-gallon tank made for the space under the engine well. Might actually get somewhere with that much fuel...

T

[Chester]

Nicely done, keep those project photo's coming.

[thataway]

Beautiful work! The craftsmen of the C Dories!

[Sea Wolf]

Tom-

Beautiful work!!!

Be sure to document everything you can with photos and write a full description, either in this ongoing set of posts, and/or captions under the descriptions and comments with the photos.

The photos and narrative will serve to help others who want to make the same or a similar conversion.

Thanks for sharing your work with us and keep it coming!



Joe.

[Chris Bulovsky]

Very nice work. Good choice with the Oak. I too used Oak for the counter top and for the end caps of the 3/4" Ply wood ends. Not a big fan of Teak. Also used Oak for the overhead shelf. So far it has held up fine.


Looks like a fun rebuild project. Im looking for an other one to rebuild someday. I'd prefer not to tackle any more fiberglass work for a while. Nice find! How did you come across this boat?

Chris Bulovsky
Washburn Wi

[therrick]

Thanks, guys, for the compliments. I'm fairly happy with the work as well. I've not done any boat work since the mid-70s as a gofer/laborer at the Annapolis Sailing School when there was no work to be found for a cartographer. Haven't been around boats much since then but have been restoring/renovating old houses for the past 16 years.

We decided to move from Kentucky to the north east shore of the Olympic Peninsula and a boat that was languishing in a farm field suddenly became of more interest to me. My father-in-law loves to acquire well-designed and built vehicles of all types; he ran across the C-Dory and decided he had to have one. He found this '84 for sale in California, bought it, and towed it back to Kentucky. He repowered it with a used Honda 90. I've never understood why, but he never really took to the boat. I don't think he used it more than five or six times. So it sat in a field on his farm for about 10 years, acquiring quite a patina of mildew, rodent nests, snake poop, and a nice varnish job on the carbs. After we decided to move to salt water, he offered the boat to me. I offered to build him a barn in trade; he accepted. Barn's done, boat's here at my shop, and the house still hasn't sold. So I decided to go ahead and retrofit the boat here rather than waiting to do it in the Port Angeles/Townsend/Hadlock area.

Several of the larger teak-veneered sheets were rotten quite a way inside. I tried to salvage them by pulling out the rotten material and mixing sawdust with West System epoxy and tamping it down into the cavity between the verrrry thin teak veneers. A little at a time tamped hard with waxpaper lined plywood holding form. Looked like doo-doo when I was done. The original owner had also drilled lots of holes all over the rear cabin walls and, it appeared, most anywhere there was plywood to drill. I decided to replace the rear walls with a hickory veneered cabinet plywood with antique white oak trim; we liked the look so well we decided to redo the whole interior with the stuff. I'm hoping that epoxying the edges and an oil finish will work to keep the plywood from delaminating on the Peninsula. It will be trailered and stored inside. Thinking of coating the outside of the rear walls with West System and sanding it to a satin finish to help protect it. Gotta do some research on epoxy and UV.

Anyway, lots to learn and I'm having a hell of a good time with it. Other than staying afloat, that's the objective anyway - isn't it?

T

[ffheap]

Beautiful work.

I have been working on my 83 C-Dory using teak plywood. Not much rot to deal with. I have to say that my workmanship, though good compared with the original C-dory work, is as good, but is nowhere comparable to your workmanship.

Keep the pictures coming.

Fred

[Mr. Fisherman]

Lookin good.
Maybe I'll see you sometime up in the Sound... Of course your odds of seeing me are far better out in the Pacific...
Good luck with your move and I look forward to updates and more pics...

[C-batical]

Tom:

You are correct epoxy is UV sensitive and needs to be final coated with a UV protectant. I have built a few wood/ West System epoxy kayaks over the years and have finished coated them by spraying with clear Imron. You don't need to do this, however. I have seen several boats final coated with a good marine polyurethane varnish over the epoxy and they looked great. The final coated was wet sanded with 800 - 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper, just like you would final finish an automobile paint job. In fact, this is the finish recommended by most kayak companies, including Chesapeake Lightcraft Check out their website: http://clcboats.com/, for finishing tips.

Best regrds,
Rollie/C-Batical

[oldgrowth]

therrick – very beautiful workmanship. You will have a classic C-Dory Classic when you finish.

[therrick]

Thanks, Dave. Perhaps I'll be able to show it off a bit at the next Sequim gathering. That is, if this house ever sells...

Rollie, I've been researching epoxies that are resistant to UV and even the best seem to be, well, not good. I'm wondering if an exterior epoxy coating is the way to go anyway. My whole concern is that the plywood isn't an exterior variety and that it will likely delaminate over time if I don't protect the daylights out of it. I don't care for the orange twinge of one of the oil finishes I bought to try (can't remember its name just now). I'm not fond of the look of glossy varnish either. Still researching options, but may focus on finding a UV protective satin (or duller) marine varnish. Perhaps there's something I can add to such a varnish that will dull it down to a reflectance similar to the hand-rubbed oil look.

Fred, I'm envious that you're in an area where teak plywood is available. Whatcha doing with your interior???

Tom

[C-batical]

Tom:

Applying a marine polyurethane varnish as a final topcoat and wet sanding it with 800-1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper will give you the satin finish you desire. It is when you buff it out using rubbing compound that it becomes glossy; just like on an automobile.

Best regards,
Rollie/C-Batical.

[Sea Wolf]