Small Boat Restoration: September 2016

Sunday, September 18, 2016

Barbashela Log 18 Sep 16

18 Sep 16:

Barbashela ready to flip, we moved the Penobscot and Sailfish out of the way and called out reinforcements.

Ergonomic testing.

She's got some rocker!

We are down to a few punch list items. Make rail caps, trim the forward seat, seal the bilge keel, fair the inside seams, sand, finish coat of paint, bow ring, skeg strap, install floor, fit dolly/cradle and fit to trailer. And whatever else pops up.

Click here for Barbashela's full story.

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Barbashela Log 15 Sep 16

15 Sep 16:

Sanded the EZFair and applied another coat of Valspar Armor Mark Twain House Brown. The Skipper instructed, no ordered me, to tape off the waterline. I did and it came out great.

With the exception of the keel strip and skeg, all of this wood is original Barbashela (1880s - 2015).

We have been using Barbashela and St. Jacques to figure out how we want to set up our Small Boat Restoration shop. Over the last few months we have added a work deck to the outside for paint and cutting, and inside we added some wire shelving. Tools have come and gone, materials as well. We are finding the good work flow areas of the shop and where a bench might go. We also like things that are on wheels. And as I get older, Skipper wants me make sure all the heavy stuff is not high on a shelf or buried under something. Today's goal was to get the temporary work table cleaned off and figure out where hand tools would go (close to the bench) and where power tools will live when not in use. As this project winds down the bench table will clear off and the rolling table will host a basic set of hand tools. Storage will change down the road as our plan is to insulate the shop and add shiplap walls and ceiling, and possibly some 1x6 decking over the plywood floor.

See if you can find Barbashela's new bow ring!

Click here for Barbashela's full story.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Barbashela Log 13 Sep 16

13 Sep 16:

Countersunk and pilot drilled #10 silicone bronze screws through the batten.

The keel btten is 4 inches wide and 15/16th of an inch thick. We scarfed them together using a 2:1 scarf. The 4 inch wide batten matches the witness marks we found when assessing Barbashela's hull planks.

We filled the screw holes with Pettit EZFair. We chose EZFair because it should be easier to remove than full strength epoxy should we need to repair a section of the boat at a later date. Another option woild have been to plug the holes with cypress plugs.

Need more paint. We considered one and two part marine epoxies, but they would not have been available in the colors that we needed. A good alternative is an oil based pain or alkyd enamel, it conditions the wood, penetrates better and provides protection in an outdoor environment. We found that Valspar had alkyd enamel and we could get it tinted in many colors at our local Lowes. The colors chosen match the original colors that we found hidden under years of dirt and multiple layers of grey and green paint. We surmised that the boat had been painted to match the Beauvoir house during later years, as it had a similar grey base with green trim scheme. Another interesting aside is that the original colors we found on Barbashela match many of the colors used on Captain Leathers' steamboat Natchez, white, butter yellow, oxide brown and ruby red....Spoiler Alert! Barbashela will have her name in red on the bow, as it appears in her 1921 photo :)

The colors we found in Valspar Ultra alkyd enamel satin were Whipped Apricot and Swiss Coffee.

The other paint we used was Valspar Armor Anti-Rust enamel, Lowes was not able to mix the Mark Twain House Brown in the Ultra base. Armor is also oil based.