60 ft on the Chesapeake - It Begins !

[DSDman]

In the midst of all my winterizing and sail removing and oil changing here comes Sandy! So hurricane prep has been the word of the day for the last two days. I think she is all buttoned up and tied down. We will see how we all fare. Good luck to everyone on the Chesapeake and Jersey. My biggest fear is the old docks across the river from the boat. They look like they are ready to come down any minute. I could easily see all that stuff flying into my boat!

[DSDman]

Airborne stuff waiting to happen!

[minaret]

Scary! Good luck.

[shamrock]

How did you make out?

[DSDman]

Thankfully, no damage at all. We are fairly protected on the Sassafras and because the eye basically went just north of us we were on the weaker side of things.

[DSDman]

First attempt at building frame for shrink wrap, spent all day doing it. Spent all day today trying to get pink stuff on all the water lines. I'm beginning to understand the logic in having only one head instead of four! Dang big @$$ boat!



She looks kind of naked without the cockpit cover on!

[shamrock]

Frame looks great! at least it will be faster next year.

Wait until those heads need to be rebuilt!!

The boat looks great!!

[minaret]

Originally Posted by DSDman

First attempt at building frame for shrink wrap, spent all day doing it. Spent all day today trying to get pink stuff on all the water lines. I'm beginning to understand the logic in having only one head instead of four! Dang big @$$ boat!

Attachment 49587

She looks kind of naked without the cockpit cover on!

Nice looking Conestoga Wagon. Did you cover each zip tie with tape so they don't slip around? Careful with the duct tape, it makes a terrible mess wherever you stick it to the boat. Did you ever find any preservation seal? Are you doing your own shrink wrap or Max Katz? Keep at it man, when you get lights and heat in there and it's dry and toasty midwinter for working on you'll be happy. What size PVC did you use? Sometimes it helps to hook a spin halyard or jib halyard to the frame in the middle of the foredeck and put a little tension on it, helps it keep from getting a low or wobbling around too much.

[DSDman]

I did use zip ties and did tape them, also taped the joints between sections since I didn't use any glue to join them. figured I can take it apart and reuse. it's all 3/4 inch pvc. I'm planning on using shrink wrap. I'm just a little uncertain about the foam block comment you made earlier. Where do they go? What's the purpose? Also is it ok to shrink wrap against the paint on the hull as long as I dont get it to hot? I've read it could blister, what's that all about?

[minaret]

Originally Posted by DSDman

I did use zip ties and did tape them, also taped the joints between sections since I didn't use any glue to join them. figured I can take it apart and reuse. it's all 3/4 inch pvc. I'm planning on using shrink wrap. I'm just a little uncertain about the foam block comment you made earlier. Where do they go? What's the purpose? Also is it ok to shrink wrap against the paint on the hull as long as I dont get it to hot? I've read it could blister, what's that all about?

Next time use 1" or more for a tent that size, it's much stiffer. The foam blocks are to keep you from shrink wrapping to the hull, it's not OK to do that. Tape to the hull with preservation seal only, with the foam blocks just above the tape line to hold the film off of the hull and prevent paint blistering. Here's a link to some cheap foam blocks made for the purpose, but any foam that doesn't hold moisture will do fine, like cheap styro. Are you going to rent the nozzle and do your own shrink wrap?


Amazon.com: SEAFARER MARINE PRODUCTS 27170 SHRINK WRAP FOAM BLOCKS 2X3X24 SHRINK FILM PADDING ACCESSORIES: Sports & Outdoors

[minaret]

Oh, make sure you wrapped the ends of the PVC pipes with rags and tape or similar. If a frame starts slipping around or god forbid breaks loose from a stanchion in a storm you want the end covered so it doesn't scratch everything up. If you end up with a low that fills with water the end of the PVC frame will be forced against the deck and padding prevents scratching there as well. That shouldn't happen but better safe than sorry, I've seen amazing amounts of damage from failed tents. Can't be too careful (think snow).

Here's some preservation tape links. I always use the 3M because it works great, but the Dr. Shrink is way cheaper, Seafarer cheaper still.

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Preserva...servation+tape

http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Shrink-180-...servation+tape

http://www.amazon.com/Seafarer-Shrin...servation+tape

[DSDman]

Now I'm worried about the paint blistering. The guys that were helping me out don't have much experience with shrink wrapping painted boats. So thinking of going the tarp route. Already got the frame up and tractor supply sells some pretty heavy duty hay tarps that might fit the bill. Still researching. Thanks for the education!

[malbert73]

Originally Posted by DSDman

Now I'm worried about the paint blistering. The guys that were helping me out don't have much experience with shrink wrapping painted boats. So thinking of going the tarp route. Already got the frame up and tractor supply sells some pretty heavy duty hay tarps that might fit the bill. Still researching. Thanks for the education!

Depends on how much wind you expect to have, of course- i have used the harbor freight silver tarps for 3 years and they have worked well....

[minaret]

Originally Posted by DSDman

Now I'm worried about the paint blistering. The guys that were helping me out don't have much experience with shrink wrapping painted boats. So thinking of going the tarp route. Already got the frame up and tractor supply sells some pretty heavy duty hay tarps that might fit the bill. Still researching. Thanks for the education!

Anytime. You won't get blistered paint if you do it right, but shrink wrap is a bit of a process. You can shrink wrap without taping to the hull in various ways, too. You can tape to a rail sometimes, be it rub rail, toe rail, or hand rail. Or you can stretch pres tape frame to frame at the desired height and tape to it, then stretch a light line and roll it in the tape, lots of ways to do it.

Tarping is a whole different art form, it can be tricky to do well. Don't use grommets, use tarp clips.

[DSDman]

Spent the day putting the two tarps on. 25 x 33 is a bunch of tarp! It's about 95% done and secure. enough for wind and rain, might need a little more securing for heavy snow. It got too dark for me to take a picture. I removed one of the hot water tanks and as I was disconnecting the ground it sparked! Now it seems that my battery chargers are not charging...so maybe my electrical system issues are not over. Tell me again it's all going to be worth it someday!