paint, varnish and rivets are flying!

a great day today (Dec 10 11) - lots got done...

Quail was taken outside and washed to remove the residue from the oxalic acid bleaching. George and Bob neutralized her with a baking soda wash as well. Next she can be sanded to see if that process did much to get rid of the water stains.

Scott, Grant, John and MB hauled the two Peterborough cedar strips and the 1946 Lightning down to the Norval barn and stowed them away inside. Now we just need a place to store Wings.

George and Bob sanded and applied the first colour coat to the inside of the skiff - it looks great! We'll leave it for a few days to set, give it a light sanding and another coat of Epifanes Buff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris and Scott applied the first coat of varnish to the Lightning coamings and deck trim parts. They'll need a coat a day for the next 4 or 5 days then sit to harden a bit before another sanding followed by a few more coats. Further research and conversations with Rick at Noah's has led us to come back to using real canvas on the deck, but set in epoxy.

 John and MB went at the copper rivets in the bottom of the 16' Shepherd and by late afternoon today at least half are out. We're thinking of setting the boat up on it's side for the next phase of the restoration - removal of the outer bottom planks

 

See you Tuesday and Thursday evening, 7 - 9 or next Saturday 9 to at least noon!

Lost Souls show up! and stuff happens...

Scott jumps in - well, leans in...

Lots happened this week in and around the shop....including the return of our long lost core volunteer Bill Bowmer! (and our only somewhat lost Scott)

Trevor preps the skiff for paint

Trevor sanded and helped apply another coat of paint to the skiff while mastering tossing a line!

Line laid out like a bar!

Trevor winds up for the toss..

 

Skiff is almost ready for colour on the inside...

 

 

 

 

 

Lightning is ready for deck covering and Chris has almost decided how we are going to do that. More original trim is ready for varnish as well. We are trying to retain as much of the original material as possible but still have a beautiful result.

 

the cleanup after the dumking

Three projects moved along this week!

 

16' Shepherd is out of the pond and back in the shop after a rinse out. The Merc Marathon is being reduced to it's components towards a full restoration - John in charge of that one.

6 weeks ago like this...

Today a bit more promising!

 

Quail our cedar tender was bleached with oxalic acid to reduce the black iron stains. Again we are hoping to be able to return it to a bright finish - won't be perfect but we'll see. Huge improvement so far!

 

This week we' hope to get the Shepherd off it's trailer and onto dollies. While it did take up immensely after 3 weeks in the pond, it is not tight by any means so...we'll be doing a bottom rebuild before anything else. A venture into new territory!

Quail will next be sanded with 60 grit to see what happens to the stains and to smooth our the best of the damage to her planks.

Colour coat on the skiff

and Lighting trim ready for varnish? (Chris?)

Of outboards and sailboats..sinking and otherwise!

Here's what's up at our community boatshop this week...

Lightning sailboat:

Chris and Trevor restoring trim

Kayce poping plugs for Chris

• method of canvassing the deck is pretty much settled, real canvas laid in epoxy - just a bit of research into the best epoxy for this app to complete.
• team has decided to retain as much of the original trim parts as possible so we have been repairing, plugging, sanding and staining all the miscellaneous coamings, corner blocks etc getting them ready for varnish, possibly this week.

Skiff:

Kayce sanding skiff

first coat of primer

• first coat of primer on the inside on Saturday, more this week.

Shepherd Outboard:

really - it will float (next summer)

Merc 6 cyl outboard attacked by John & Anton

• John pumped out the hull which is sunk in his pond and she floats far better than when first immersed (water level didn't change as it went in the first time - leaked literally like a sieve!) One more week in the water then a final test to see how much it tightened up - then back to the shop.
• Mercury Marathon 700 (70 hp) has been partially disassembled on the way to a full restoration although there doesn't seem to be any serious damage. We did hook it up and get it running first.

Chris Cavalier:

• acquisition of this 30' 1961 ChrisCraft Cruiser is complete, she has a good survey and will take very little to be ready for the water in the spring. Plan is to truck it to Manotic near Ottawa, do minor spring maintenance then cruise her to Picton.

Why not come out and join us Saturday mornings (9-1), Tues and Thus evenings (7-9) or pass this on to someone you know who might enjoy messing about in boats while helping kids learn new skills! Perfect for parents and their kids to share a learning experience over the winter then go boating with us next summer! We teach boating skills to our youth and adult volunteers which is part of the reason for the restoration of the Shepherd Outboard (the other is that it is really cool) - if you have some or even NO boating background we can take you from rowing to small outboards, big outboards, small inboards up to twin screw inboards and of course sailing!

See you soon!

November in the boatshop and beyond!

Well the 27' Shepherd is covered and over at the quarry - not a perfect solution but OK. Next year hopefully we can afford a fitted cover if we still don't have indoor storage.

 

We have the materials to make a similar cover for Wings too if a team can come together to tackle it.

 

 

 

Still have 2 Peterborough's and our 1946 Lightning to go to the Norval barn from behind the boatshop.

 

The 16' Shepherd is soaking in the pond at the quarry to see if it will take up over the next couple of weeks. If not it is new bottom time - curious though because the inside of the bottom looks good with no obvious failures...

 

 

 

1960 Lightning has been the subject of research into the various ways of covering the deck - boy lots of opinions out there in the ether! We are considering a hybrid of our own creation - 1. epoxy the deck and perfect it. 2. lay 96" wide real canvas in wet epoxy. 3. apply several coats of S1 epoxy sealer to the canvas. 4. prime and paint with Epifanes yacht paint (our usual technique). Our thinking is that this will make the canvas impervious to moisture intrusion but leave the look of canvas when complete.

 

 

 

Quail, our 10' cedar dinghy has it's bottom stripped and ready for bleach which we now have. The bleach is Oxalic acid which is specifically used to remove the black water stains from the wood. Now if we just knew how to mix it and apply it....anyone? The 5 1/2 HP Johnson outboard has been somewhat torn down in the process of seeing if it will run and be restorable - needs coils, points and condensers for sure!

 

31' ChrisCraft Cavalier, a new donation. This boat was offered a few years ago but we didn't have the formula to accept it then. It was re-offered a few months ago and we have gone through the process of surveys and other due diligence and reached the conclusion that we should accept it. The boat is in very fine condition with very minor work required to put it in the water next spring near Ottawa. K&C volunteers will cruise it to it's new home in Picton where Grant will care for it and where we will be looking to create a new local K&C programme with youth in that area as well as using it for volunteer outings similar to last summer's Supertest outing in Picton.

 

Come on out to the Boatshop in the Glen on any Saturday morning between 9 and noon - see what's happening and join in by all means.

Boatrides, new deck and other September wonders!

Well a huge milestone has been passed with the installation of the new deck on the Lightning, Tuesday evening! Many hands "on deck" was never more appropriate...

George, Scott, Chris and Jim - Ready!

 

Next the Sikaflex...

Lots of bronze boatnails...

DONE! off to the pub...

Next it will need to be faired (Anton are you listening?) then painted and canvassed. 

Meanwhile the skiff parts need a few coats of varnish to be finished, although the painting can begin on the hull.

Motorhead Volunteer Bernie has taken on the restoration of our 5 1/2 HP Johnson over this winter and to go with it we have brought a pretty little 10' cedarstrip tender called "Quail" into the shop for restoration over the winter as well.

Jim records how the rope gunnel fits.

Stripping under way..



With a new jug of stripper on hand, the final layer of bottom stripping can be completed on Quail. 

So far it looks like the planking is all OK although she will need a new external keel and skeg.

Lots of us have been out riding in Despina, our 27' Shepherd which is based at Outer Harbour in Toronto until after Thanksgiving. If you would like to be a Gatsby supporter and be invited, let us know!

Grant, Roni & Hunter and Gretchen all smiles...

Our primary purpose (with Despina) is to promote a new Sick Kids Boatride programme for next summer. If you would like to be part of this programme either with connections to kids organizations, connections to sponsorship or an active roll in delivering the activities, let us know about that too.

Picton, Miss Supertest and Us

Report on K&C Footprint in Picton...On Aug 6-7, several of us went up Picton, invited by Grant, to see/stay at his new cottage, and take in the anniversary of the record breaking races won by Miss Supertest. We all converged on Prince Edward County on Friday: Rob and Scott, hauling the Richardson cedarstrip, John by himself with the Hunter and Malcolm and Gretchen with the big Shepherd.
All the boats were put in the water for the weekend thanks to the good graces of the PEYC, all boaters fed and watered by same. What was the name of the beer again...?
Weather was gorgeous on Friday, a mix of sun and cloud and a little rain on saturday, and ditto on Sunday, but nothing to discourage boating.
Went to the Picton airport Sunday morn to see the race boats on display. Miss Supertest, Canadiana, Mickey One, many others. Excellent display of boats and engines by the Antique Outboard Motor Club.
Good runs with Shepherd and Hunter, Saturday: on bay of Quinte, up to Deseronto, initial docking at deseronto yacht club, then moved to docks by the ramp at centennial Park.
Lunch in Deseronto, a bit of a hike, which could have been avoided if we'd just used our first dockage.
Sunday: Shepherd experienced some starboard engine hiccups after fuelling, which meant not going too far afield, but Scott and Rob got driving lessons, each taking the helm for good chunks of timewhich made the day infinitely more enjoyable.
Grant's house is amazing, as was the hospitality of Grant and Lois, as is the whole area. Hopefully there will be many more expeditions!

Kids Transform Skiff this week!

great progress at the shop! Trevor and Scott (jr) have been out several times and are getting into raising their skills levels. They are becoming quite productive and self motivated - great to see!.

 

The skiff is all sanded and stained, ready for a few coats of S1 Sealer this week

 

 

The lightning deck assembly is sealed on the underside and ready to be flipped and fastened to the boat - a huge milestone! It is looking really fine.

 

 

 

Despina still needs to have a bit of carpet work done but she is just waiting to see if we can arrange a slip this week.

 

A new development! Volunteer Bernie would like to restore one of our outboards and we settled on the '57 Johnson 5 1/2 hp for a start. Parts will be relatively available and this will create a little brother to our trusty '57 Johnson 18 that you may have seen on the Richardson cedarstrip.

 

We have a 10' cedarstrip skiff which looks to be in fairly good condition but needing restoration, it is a pretty boat and would look great next to the Richardson with the 5 1/2 on it. Would this appeal to a team for restoration this winter?

 

 

Boatrides wonderful last weekend!

A wonderful time was had on Sunday when volunteers George, Anton and skiff builder Trevor trailed our Hunter runabout to the Humber ramps. The lake was a touch bumpy with 3' rollers but no problem! We headed around the point to the MCC and fellow volunteer and now Folkboat sailor Chris. After a lovely lunch on the balcony of the club, we haeded off in the boats.

 

Anton elected to go sailing with Chris and Lisa in "Puffin" - a beautiful sight out on the lake - and the rest of us headed off in the Hunter to give George and Trevor their first experience running an inboard.

 

We ran over to Ontario Place then part way up the Humber River - perfect day on the water. Later we headed back to Chris' club for a refreshment and to collect Anton. Back to the ramps to close a great day!

 

As for this week at the boatshop, here's what's up:

• Trevor's skiff, more sanding and detailing - starting to look pretty good.
• Lightning, add deck
• 27 Shepherd, continue reworking fuel fill plumbing and tail end of the wiring.
• 17' Shepherd, trailer needs to have other side wheelbearings done. Boat can come over from quarry for this.

 

Day Out in the Toronto Islands

Pictures, courtesy of George and Malcolm, of the Hunter out yesterday  in and around the Toronto  Islands.
They cruised around the point to MCC and met up with Chris and Lisa - on their new folkboat - had lunch at the club then off boating. Some of it was slow going with the rollers coming in but as long as you pick a line you can make out pretty well. Everybody in the Hunter got wet but it was warm! Lovely day! Boated until about 4:30 or so.

(Your esteemed blog writer was putting out marks for the Cross Border Open Design Races hosted by the Mississauga sailing club that same morning and we had waves of 4-6 ft. and very dicey conditions.
How you guys managed it is beyond  me!)