The Saga of Hull 468
Hi, I sent out a message a month ago about a CD14 that I was looking at. The old adage looms, a man's happiest day is day he buys a boat, the next happiest day he has is the day he sells it. I know, I know, been there, done that. This is my 3rd boat, but I'm still young. Any road, the legend told to me about this boat that was an elderly couple, in Melbourne, Florida owned it. They say, the male counterpart was in hospital or otherwise incapacitated, when a fearsome hurricane came bearing down upon their peaceful harbor. As no one (?duh?) could/would pull it out, they pulled the plug and sank it. Now, as I read the spec it has 600 lbs of floatation,, hmm did they fill it with rocks or what? Be that as it may, 6 months elapsed before the poor thing was rescued from the briny depths. Due to some quirk of fate, (I don't want to know!) a distant relative from western NC got it and transported it to the RV Park where he lived. After stripping it of the wood and grinding off most of the barnacles, he replaced the gunwales in preparation for converting it to a bass boat on the small lake where he lived. After a year, he got bored and gave it neighbor, who also had bass boat ideas, but did nothing. Well, they did float on the lake at Christmas with the mast up and lights stung around. Gotta count for something.
Anyway, present day,, back a month or so. I was talking to the security guard (who also lives at the RV park, don't ask) about the foolhardy desire I had to get another boat. "I know just the very thing,” he said, with an evil laugh. Consequently, I rode a 100 miles and bought the boat for about the equivalent of 10 cases of Bud. Whups,, no trailer. Not to be overcome by adversity, I called my friendly Uhaul rep, I called several. At last I found a 5x8 trailer half way between the boat and me. At pick up time, I discovered it was the Model T of trailers. It could have been used as a chariot in the original Ben Hur movie. Next to it was a motorcycle carrier, I ended up with that. After chasing down the former owner I ended up with most of the parts and built a cradle and after a long day, the boat was safely home. Then I had to take the trailer back, 50 more miles, each way.
Now it's safe here and I am working on getting it back to seaworthiness. Did I mention the paint, I got with the boat?
Well, there are 3 kinds. The first, an oil latex that Lowe's thought would do just fine to paint the insideinterior of the boat. Then there are the 2 types for the hull. Did I mention the first guy was an aircraft mechanic? Deary me. A 2 part base coat, suitable for aircraft radar domes (anti-chafing) and a 3
part epoxy finish coat. Reading the labels on these cans (with a large magnifying glass,) gave me the urge to don a thick, chemical warfare suit and hide from the EPA if I opened the cans. So I tried to prepare the hull. Seems to have this grayness worn into it. Tried Bug and Tar remover, tried compounding wax, tried acetone, tried 220 sand paper, tried 80 grit sandpaper. Looks fine till I clean the sand residue off then back to gray. Throw hands in the air and scream curses at the fiberglass gods. I open the Base Coat. Reminds me of when I was kid, how I loved to put together models, cars, boats, planes and plenty of glue, hours of giddy fun! I took the stuff outside and put on a dusk mask. Did a 2-foot by 2-foot section and it seems to work pretty well, if I can stop watching the dust motes.
I still have the rest of the hull to do and make a piece for the lower part of the rudder where it attaches to the transom, and replace all the wood and parts around the centerboard trunk. If any one has any pictures or drawing of these 2 parts
I' be eternally grateful.
Hope to have it in the water this summer, will keep you posted!
Geoff Burgess
Mebane, NC
relayer348@aol.com
CD 14, the Saga of hull 468
Moderator: Jim Walsh
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Jeff Funston