Teak, the "Brilliant" story......long

[D. Stump, Hanalei]

Went down to Noank Friday morning with the "Ajax" chemistry set proposed by Larry DeMers to clean and bleach the teak on Hanalei so that I could apply Armada teak finish and get Hanalei in the proper seagoing rig.

As I'm walking down the dock, what appears before my eyes but the gaff rigged vessel "Brilliant", five days out of Bermuda for Mystic Seaport (her home port), after completing a rough passage that consisted of three days beating to weather with storm trys'l, working jib, and reefed mains'land a lot of motor sailing to avoid weather cells. "Brilliant" was tied to the dock directly in front of Hanalei's slip! Now, if ya want to see some "Brilliant" teak, there is nothing like a vessel that was built in 1937 with teak that is as smooth as a baby's behind. This just wasn't fair! I could see that I had some real work in store for me aboard Hanalie!

Speaking the crew, I met Mr. David Sabourin, off of Mad Hatter, a Cape Dory 36, home ported in Maryland. David is one of the founding fathers of the CDSOA. He had signed on Brilliant to help in her return to Mystic. He said that he will post a short story of his experinece aboard "Brilliant", and may send it to the Masthead publisher. Should be good reading. Asked what problems they encounterd, David related that one of the heads ceased to function, the engine gave some trouble, but the food was great! Now, Brilliant is a vessel that has the support of an entire museum shipyard behind her, the Head didn't work! The engine had problems! Sounds like a normal weekend cruise aboard Hanalei to me! Anyhow, I think we will all look forward to David's story.

Now, for Hanalei's teak. I used a mixture, recommended by Larry DeMers, of 1/3 bleach, 1/3 409 Cleaner, and 1/3 water. Put it on with a sponge,let set a few minutes, scrubbed lightly with a soft scrub brush, and rinsed off. If that didn't do it, I used a product called "Roll Off" suggest by the yard mechanic. This stuff worked almost as well as Larry's mixture all by itself! Saturday morning,
I returned and lightly sanded the teak I had cleaned the day before and applied the first coat of Armada to the coaming boards and the bowsprit. The teak was beautiful, if not "Brilliant". I used Satin finish Armada. Sunday morning, I applied the second coat to the coaming boards and bowsprit and the first coat to the starboard toe rail, eyebrow, and companion way slides/frame and grab rail. The starboard side is completely covered with at least one coat. She looks good! The port side toe rail, dorade box, and grab rail are all that remains to be done. When finished, Hanalei will then be "Brilliant"!

Hey, no matter what Larry DeMers says, this is NOT an easy task. You MUST spend a LOT of time in preparation. If there is ANY black left on the teak, it WILL show through the final finish. But, if the prep is right, the results will be nice. Armada requires 12 hours before top coating, you CAN NOT do three coats in one day! We hope to complete the task before Memorial Day!

Other than all that, it was a beautiful weekend in Noank, no sailing, but still beautiful!

Fair winds to all, I remain....

David Stump
Captain Commanding
s/v Hanalei CD-30

[Larry DeMers]

Great Story Dave. Sounds like one of those synchronistic coincidences with the "Brilliant" and CD36 owner.

Also, I am really glad that your "Hanalei" responded well, if not slowly to the 'Ajax' chemistry set! How long it takes is a large variable Dave. It depends on a number of factors that will vary from person to person. How much old finish to be removed, how large those black spots are and how frequent. It also depends on how picky you are to some extent..I know that we sometimes get down to actually using a toothbrush..no not mine, in the corners and more difficult areas.
If the 1/3 concoction does not seem to work well, increase the clorox percentage up to 1/2, with 1/4 water, 1/4 soap. Dip a rag tip into the concoction and dab it on the area..leave it sit a minute or two, and see what happened. It will invariably work. It just depends on the clorox strength. Why I don't go full strength at first is that for the majority of problems, you do not need that strength, so why over do it. The stronger the concoction, the harder it is to get off completely..and it absolutely must be all removed, or what you put on as finish will be eaten up from the inside over the next month or so, eventually ending up with a finish that looks burned and crispy..or soft and falling off the surface. So you did right starting with the low power cleaner, and then switching to the higher power one when needed.

Do you have a picture posted anywhere Dave?

Cheers,

Larry

Went down to Noank Friday morning with the "Ajax" chemistry set proposed by Larry DeMers to clean and bleach the teak on Hanalei so that I could apply Armada teak finish and get Hanalei in the proper seagoing rig.

As I'm walking down the dock, what appears before my eyes but the gaff rigged vessel "Brilliant", five days out of Bermuda for Mystic Seaport (her home port), after completing a rough passage that consisted of three days beating to weather with storm trys'l, working jib, and reefed mains'land a lot of motor sailing to avoid weather cells. "Brilliant" was tied to the dock directly in front of Hanalei's slip! Now, if ya want to see some "Brilliant" teak, there is nothing like a vessel that was built in 1937 with teak that is as smooth as a baby's behind. This just wasn't fair! I could see that I had some real work in store for me aboard Hanalie!

Speaking the crew, I met Mr. David Sabourin, off of Mad Hatter, a Cape Dory 36, home ported in Maryland. David is one of the founding fathers of the CDSOA. He had signed on Brilliant to help in her return to Mystic. He said that he will post a short story of his experinece aboard "Brilliant", and may send it to the Masthead publisher. Should be good reading. Asked what problems they encounterd, David related that one of the heads ceased to function, the engine gave some trouble, but the food was great! Now, Brilliant is a vessel that has the support of an entire museum shipyard behind her, the Head didn't work! The engine had problems! Sounds like a normal weekend cruise aboard Hanalei to me! Anyhow, I think we will all look forward to David's story.

Now, for Hanalei's teak. I used a mixture, recommended by Larry DeMers, of 1/3 bleach, 1/3 409 Cleaner, and 1/3 water. Put it on with a sponge,let set a few minutes, scrubbed lightly with a soft scrub brush, and rinsed off. If that didn't do it, I used a product called "Roll Off" suggest by the yard mechanic. This stuff worked almost as well as Larry's mixture all by itself! Saturday morning,
I returned and lightly sanded the teak I had cleaned the day before and applied the first coat of Armada to the coaming boards and the bowsprit. The teak was beautiful, if not "Brilliant". I used Satin finish Armada. Sunday morning, I applied the second coat to the coaming boards and bowsprit and the first coat to the starboard toe rail, eyebrow, and companion way slides/frame and grab rail. The starboard side is completely covered with at least one coat. She looks good! The port side toe rail, dorade box, and grab rail are all that remains to be done. When finished, Hanalei will then be "Brilliant"!

Hey, no matter what Larry DeMers says, this is NOT an easy task. You MUST spend a LOT of time in preparation. If there is ANY black left on the teak, it WILL show through the final finish. But, if the prep is right, the results will be nice. Armada requires 12 hours before top coating, you CAN NOT do three coats in one day! We hope to complete the task before Memorial Day!

Other than all that, it was a beautiful weekend in Noank, no sailing, but still beautiful!

Fair winds to all, I remain....

David Stump
Captain Commanding
s/v Hanalei CD-30

demers@sgi.com

[D. Stump, Hanalei]

Larry,

I don't know hoe to attach a file to a message posted here, so I will send you and E-mail with the jpeg file attached. Maybe you can post it back here so everyone can take a look? It is a picture of Hanalei, out of East Harbor on Fisher's Island, NY making way with all flags flying to Noank, CT. That is the Captain at the helm, and the 1st. mate relaxing in the cockpit. The teak you see in the picture was VARNISHED! That went away, to oil first and finally to Armada now. The Armada looks a little darker than what you see in the picture, but it is still MUCH better than the oil ever was!

David Stump
Captain Commanding
s/v Hanalei CD-30

[Bill Goldsmith]

Ahh the Brilliant.... She is a beautiful vessel. As a teenager in, well let's just say "the 70's" I sailed on her for a week as part of Mystic Seaport's youth sail training program. Now I am looking forward to when my son is old enough to send him.

I think sailing on a traditional vessel such as "Brilliant" influenced me to prefer more traditional vessels and probably contributed to my appreciation of Cape Dorys when it came time to find my own boat.

Thanks for the memories........

Went down to Noank Friday morning with the "Ajax" chemistry set proposed by Larry DeMers to clean and bleach the teak on Hanalei so that I could apply Armada teak finish and get Hanalei in the proper seagoing rig.

As I'm walking down the dock, what appears before my eyes but the gaff rigged vessel "Brilliant", five days out of Bermuda for Mystic Seaport (her home port), after completing a rough passage that consisted of three days beating to weather with storm trys'l, working jib, and reefed mains'land a lot of motor sailing to avoid weather cells. "Brilliant" was tied to the dock directly in front of Hanalei's slip! Now, if ya want to see some "Brilliant" teak, there is nothing like a vessel that was built in 1937 with teak that is as smooth as a baby's behind. This just wasn't fair! I could see that I had some real work in store for me aboard Hanalie!

Speaking the crew, I met Mr. David Sabourin, off of Mad Hatter, a Cape Dory 36, home ported in Maryland. David is one of the founding fathers of the CDSOA. He had signed on Brilliant to help in her return to Mystic. He said that he will post a short story of his experinece aboard "Brilliant", and may send it to the Masthead publisher. Should be good reading. Asked what problems they encounterd, David related that one of the heads ceased to function, the engine gave some trouble, but the food was great! Now, Brilliant is a vessel that has the support of an entire museum shipyard behind her, the Head didn't work! The engine had problems! Sounds like a normal weekend cruise aboard Hanalei to me! Anyhow, I think we will all look forward to David's story.

Now, for Hanalei's teak. I used a mixture, recommended by Larry DeMers, of 1/3 bleach, 1/3 409 Cleaner, and 1/3 water. Put it on with a sponge,let set a few minutes, scrubbed lightly with a soft scrub brush, and rinsed off. If that didn't do it, I used a product called "Roll Off" suggest by the yard mechanic. This stuff worked almost as well as Larry's mixture all by itself! Saturday morning,
I returned and lightly sanded the teak I had cleaned the day before and applied the first coat of Armada to the coaming boards and the bowsprit. The teak was beautiful, if not "Brilliant". I used Satin finish Armada. Sunday morning, I applied the second coat to the coaming boards and bowsprit and the first coat to the starboard toe rail, eyebrow, and companion way slides/frame and grab rail. The starboard side is completely covered with at least one coat. She looks good! The port side toe rail, dorade box, and grab rail are all that remains to be done. When finished, Hanalei will then be "Brilliant"!

Hey, no matter what Larry DeMers says, this is NOT an easy task. You MUST spend a LOT of time in preparation. If there is ANY black left on the teak, it WILL show through the final finish. But, if the prep is right, the results will be nice. Armada requires 12 hours before top coating, you CAN NOT do three coats in one day! We hope to complete the task before Memorial Day!

Other than all that, it was a beautiful weekend in Noank, no sailing, but still beautiful!

Fair winds to all, I remain....

David Stump
Captain Commanding
s/v Hanalei CD-30

goldy@bestweb.net

[Don Carr]

Dave;
Yeah, I was wondering why you didn't have some of the 8 or so bodies
(crew of the 'Brilliant') working on your boat. Maybe you should have had that female bosun's mate show you how to do it. Anyway the teak is
looking much better and you'll be glad you used the Armada come July /August when you'd be busily oiling. You'll be even more thankful come fitting out time. Time to get her out to let that ablative paint work now..right?
Finally got Lolita out on mooring. Hope to see ya next week.

Regards.
Don
s/v Lolita CD25



carrd48@netzero.net

[Larry DeMers]

Hi Dave,
Please send that photo to me at: ldemers@win.bright.net
I'll look forward to seeing it.

Larry

Larry,

I don't know hoe to attach a file to a message posted here, so I will send you and E-mail with the jpeg file attached. Maybe you can post it back here so everyone can take a look? It is a picture of Hanalei, out of East Harbor on Fisher's Island, NY making way with all flags flying to Noank, CT. That is the Captain at the helm, and the 1st. mate relaxing in the cockpit. The teak you see in the picture was VARNISHED! That went away, to oil first and finally to Armada now. The Armada looks a little darker than what you see in the picture, but it is still MUCH better than the oil ever was!

David Stump
Captain Commanding
s/v Hanalei CD-30

demers@sgi.com

[Jon]

Dave,

If you'd like, I'll post it to my site and link the jpeg. Just email me a copy of the file.

All the best,
Jon
s/v Sovereign



ringj@mediaone.net

[D. Stump, Hanalei]

Don,

You weren't there when Brilliant put to sea again about 1500 hrs. The Bosun's mate, FEMALEbless her heart, was on deck directing the 8 or so mates in how to let go the lines from a dock. It was funny. Both the wind and tide were blowing Brilliant off the dock, she was facing up river, so did not have to turn. I mannned the forward spring line, that was basically holding Brilliant to the dock. The Bosun's mate came over to the rail and hollered at the crew to make sure they did NOT drag the fender ends in the water! Fore and aft lines were let go, I handed the spring to one of the crew and she was gone. Sometimes it amazes me as to how intense people can get when doing something as easy as letting the lines go. Oh, well, she is still a BEAUTIFUL vessel.

Hey, Don, can you imagine the scene when the cat is taken out of the beize bag aboard Brilliant????? Now THAT could be intense!!!
Hope it don't rain this weekend, see ya....

Dave Stump

[D. Stump, Hanalei]

Jon & Larry,

I have sent an E-mail to both of you with the .jpg file attached!

Larry, yesterday I sent the same to you at demers@sgi.com.

D. Stump