Okay...Let's try this again...

Well, life got in the way of getting Knuckles fixed up but I am committed to getting her in the water this Summer.  I won't waste too many more bytes talking about my plans but expect to see some updates here once the snow finally clears and I can get to work on Knuckles!

When she is done she will maintain her wood mast and boom and many of the traditional elements but with a few updated items such as a carbon fiber mast rotator and some other trick pieces adapted from other classes I sail.  I'm looking forward to getting the finished product on the water!

Come on Baby!

I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel at this point.  I tried a different technique this weekend as evidenced by the spray bottle on the port bottom of the hull.  I applied the Aqua Strip liberally and then sprayed the area with water every half an hour or so for about four hours.  The end result is the paint was eaten away quite well.  The only exception is the area I tried scraping too early.  That's a bad habit of mine that only costs me more time but I have trouble not scratching that itch.

As you may also be able to see the rudder is completely stripped now and the centerboard is under way.  I need some muscle to help me flip the penguin so I can remove the centerboard but in lieu of that I'll strip what I can see and continue to work on the hull.  The good news is that everything which shows (centerboard) stripped quite well with the new technique so the board must be about half way done.  The other good news is the port side of the hull is almost done and the transom is close to being ready for sanding.

I think, next weekend, I'll be applying epoxy cover coats to the rudder, daggerboard and transom.  I am quite excited about the possibility of getting going the other direction; namely putting the boat back together.

Progress(?)

The rudder is just about completely stripped of paint. The bottom, though it may not look like it, is just about free of everything except what must be a primer. The topside paint is next, of course, and then all of the sanding begins. I'm starting to sense progress is being made but with two little girls a job which takes me away from home a lot and other commitments it is going to be a while before Bumbles the Penguin gets finished.

Strip Tease

As I mentioned in my last post the Aqua Strip didn't do the job I was hoping for or expected.  Here is the end result.  When the temperatures warm up a bit more we will give it another shot; hopefully with better results next time.  That will have to wait a couple of weeks, however, as I have plans next weekend and this wasn't the weekend to get things done on the Penguin.

Saran Wrapped

The first step involves stripping paint from the hull.  I bought Aqua Strip from Jamestown Distributors and applied a test coat to the port half of the hull.  It worked decently well but it dried out fairly quickly so I did some research.  One of the recommended methods was to use saran wrap to keep the moisture in.  So, I applied Aqua Strip to the entire hull and then laid down a bunch of cling wrap (I bought my own so my wife wouldn't have to wonder where the supply in the kitchen went).

After about four hours I removed the cling wrap and started scraping away on the hull.  The Aqua Strip did well in some places and not so well in others.  The end result isn't shown but the long and short of it is there is still a lot of paint on the hull.  I'll try another method next time and, in the interim, work on stripping the mast and boom of their varnish.

How it all Began...

Last year (2010) while working on a project for a health insurer in Rhode Island I started looking at classifieds for used wooden boats.  My mind was fairly idle owing to the very slow pace of the work I was doing at the client so I had plenty of time to think about how fantastic it would be to restore a wooden sailboat to its former glory.  Further, I have two small girls who I really want to learn how to sail.  More importantly, I want to teach them to love sailing.

I found a Penguin class sailboat for next to nothing in Attleboro, MA.  I went once to look at it and decided it was the project for me.  The class has a few features which are attractive including the fact that the rigging options are fairly open - just like my favorite boat; the International 505.  With the help of the former owner I put this boat, Penguin 3244 "DONSUBARB" on top of my Passat and drove it home to New Hampshire.  Here are a few pictures of the boat after I brought it home.

The former owner told me as much as he knew about the history of the boat.  His grandfather had purchased it as a kit and had had a local boat builder assemble it for him.  Apparently, this was fairly common.  The boat was built in 1953 and, according to Sean, the former owner, was season champion more than once on the lake in Foxborough, MA where it sailed.  His grandfather put it away in the 1970s after becoming unable to sail any longer and there it sat until his father, who I believe lived in the same house as Sean's grandfather, passed away, just recently.  The boat was named "DONSUBARB"  after Sean's father, Don, and Sean's two aunts Susan and Barbara.  The boat will be re-christened "BUMBLES" which is a nickname I gave my wife years ago.  My last 505 was named "MERI" after my first daughter and my Laser is "LIZZIE" after my younger daughter. 


The plan is to begin removing the layers of old paint within the next few weeks.  I am going to focus on the exterior of the hull and the spars for the moment.  Once all of the old paint and varnish is removed I plan to fair the hull and then refinish everything using ecopoxy, epifanes varnish and awlgrip.  The hope is to have her sailing by the week of July 4th.  After this Summer the interior of the boat will get refinished and, assuming I don't run her aground this Summer or cause some other catastrophe, I will be able to enjoy a few years of sailing with my daughters before they get sick of me.