Companionway project

[ShadowRWolf]

ok my old Companionway is literly dicentagrating, the plexie is craked, and it leeks, the turtul for it is in my locker, and in bad shape. the slire rails are in bad shape, and leeking in to the core i beleve.

so now i nee to figure out how to make a new one. and restore the turtle.

currently its youre clasic V bord with 2 wash bord vents near the top, the roof cover is a tinted plexie.

il post pix on my photo bucket as soo as i can finde the cord for my camra.

i want to make something that will ventolate the boat nicley, keep watter out, and be strong in a storm.

[MarkJ]

A new companionway, these days, can spell too


.

[ShadowRWolf]

well concidering i cant spell even if i want to,and spell check takes time.
and i dont want to buy an entire new one. im looken for ideas on what to make one
materials, stuff, and junk :-P

[ShadowRWolf]

hmmm... what wood would be best to use on a new dore frame? teek?
im going to line it all with mettal to reduce ware on the wood, incresing its life.
maby do barn dores for ezey axces, thow i want to make a bord one for any nasty
days on the water. i need to have good ventolation, and keep the bugs out....
been finding mud wasp nests in my boat (ducktape over washbords fell off).



i have to restore the turtle and see how it fits, maby il make that tomaros project.
il take pictures.


o last question of the night, ezes whay to get wood like teek and speciality stuff, and plexi glas and its alternitives (rember im on guam, hae a home depo, thats bout it)

[ShadowRWolf]

well seems its a wee bit slow on the responces, all these jobs seem will need fiberglas work, i have some old west products, but whats best to stock up on for all these projects?

[Meridian]

OK, I'll take a stab at it...
The turtle...are you talking about a cloth that covers the c-way to keep sun, etc off it? If so, I'd wait to do anything with it until you have designed and built the hatch itself.

Choice of wood...teak is generally preferred due to its weather resiliency, but if you will be lining the outside with metal anyway, you could get away with something like oak.

Hatch material/ doors...my suggestion/ preference is wood doors (louvered for ventilation, and easily removed), and either thick plexi, or perhaps starboard, weather boards.

Is your c-way so far gone that you can't restore it? There are very good clear penetrating epoxies (CPES) for wood that are made with wood resins. These products "bind" with the existing wood, making a previously rotted structure strong again.

Good luck.
John

[ShadowRWolf]

ya il order some but the wood is reoly on its whay out its got to be as old as the boat, nothing much hase been changed on it since it was made.

the turtle is the fiberglas cover that the slideing part slides in to. with out it watter slips in under the bottom of the hatch .

as to wood, whare can iget it online, dont think i can get it here on guam easly. no reoly boat shops here. and fiberglas, what should i get to do a deck repair, plan on drilling some holes to dry out the core if its not shot on the deck.

[James S]

I'm thinkin we need some good close-up pictures...may help to know what kind of boat she is as well.
If your thinking about teak for your washboard sliders and you cant find an easy source...go back into Pedy back bay (my spelling may be off...its where the Atlantis sub is) You can probably salvage enough from some of those wrecks to make a couple sliders.
Also consider putting stainless steel runners on the wash boards instead of lining the tracks...It'll do the same for keeping down the wear and may be a lot easier to execute.
You can see the sliders on the sides of the one I made.

As far as ventilation goes...if I was only going to make one go of it, it would be as weather tight as possible, with no vents.

If I could go further, I would make a stainless steel frame that would have enough bars to keep the bad guys out, and would have bug screen....this would fit where your washboard goes....and then a rain fly to keep the inside dry.

Lets see some pics!!

[ShadowRWolf]

thanks il take a poke around and see what i can finde after work tomaro, kinda crunching this week, heading out for a fue weeks soon :-(

[Lil'un]

SRW,
We recently did some work on our companionway too. We had new pieces made for the sliders and took off the old ones. We put a white epoxy into the old screw holes and drilled new ones to match the new pieces (counter sunk with teak plugs). Before final installation of the screws, we put a small dab of 5200 and a bead around each hole to prevent leaking into the cabin roof. We have a net with lead weights that we put over the entire hatch to leave it open when we are on the boat but have to close it if it rains. We have seen Mahogany used on interior work on boats sometimes. West System makes some easy to use two part epoxy for multiple uses - I don't know how easy to obtain in Guam.

Hope this helps some - keep posting about your progress on the boat - I have been following since before you bought the boat and enjoy reading about your struggles. Hey and thank you for serving our country - hats off to you!!!

Ann

[witzgall]

Shadow;

Whatever you do, don't use 5200. If you get anything wrong and have to re-do, you are screwed. lifecaulk, silkaflex or 4200 would be a better choice.

Building a turtle out of fiberglas would be a big project. Having a carpenter make oe out of teak, or epoxy encased marine ply, might be a better option.

Oh, and where are you? It does not say under your name in the posts. THis is very helpful and friendly for all of us!

Chris

[slomotion]

Rebuilding a sliding hatch and companionway is not too difficult - getting it all to move and seal properly is considerably harder.

We had a problem with what you call the turtle on our old Hunter. There was water in the surrounding core, stains on the interior ceiling, and we got water on the steps and sole every time it rained hard. We tried rebuilding the rails and fabricating drains. Ultimately, we were told we would have to rebuild the hood (aft end of the cabin roof) to get it right. About that time our long awaited dodger arrived (we already had a bimini). After installing the dodger, no more leaks, and we were able to keep the companionway open for ventilation in most rain conditions.

[Cheechako]

The Turtle is the hard cover the companionway hatch slides into when it's open. Whatever you do use 5200, dry fit and screw it all before final assembly. ;>)

[ShadowRWolf]

hmmm now im wondering if some of the problems are comming frome the turtles old holes that may be under the deck.... im defonitly going to scavenge those wreks tonight after work. see what i can come up with.

thanks for all the help

o yes il pdate my info, im in guam and i got my cord for my camra tonight so il be linking pictures tonight.

[ShadowRWolf]

well seems im not going to get any work done for 2 more weeks, since im going on this little circles around guam for 2 weeks wasting fule and all that fun navy BS.

o well thanks for all the good ideas and assom comments il post pictures if i can finde time :-(

thanks for all the help