Future Brown Water Cruiser: 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit

[q240z]

After all the exciting posts involved in finally launching the boat and transiting to my new home port, the rest of the refit will probably seem mundane. lol

Since the refit began, mud dauber nests have been a persistent problem. I reckon I could fill a 5-gallon bucket with all of the mud nests I've removed over the years. A favorite point of entry has been the engine room air intake gills on the sides of the hull. I found some 304 stainless wire mesh with eight wires per inch (so ~1/8" square gaps between the wires) that will stop the bugs from entering through the gills without substantially restricting air flow. I used some leftover Bostik 70-08A windshield adhesive because that stuff bonds so well. The engine room is now mud dauber-proof.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Mud Dauber Screens

Cheers,
Q

[Be Free]

Congratulations! That is a beautiful boat! I know you are happy to have it back in the water.

[q240z]

Thanks! You're absolutely right about being happy with the boat. Being out of the tent is a huge deal, but it's got close competition with the marina only being 20 minutes away from my house via country roads. That's so much better than the hour-long slog through DC suburban yaya getting to the previous marina.

Back to mundane refit stuff, I replaced a rotten salon cabinet panel back in 2015 but wanted a better appearance for the inner cabinet than what Chris Craft did. The original mahogany panels were gorgeous, and so were the cabinet doors. But when you opened the cabinets, the interiors were painted flat white or you just saw the bitumastic-coated hull. I made a proper cabinet box using varnished mahogany. It looks a lot better than the original approach.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Salon Cabinet Install

Cheers,
Q

Before


After

[q240z]

One thing I've been plodding away on for the last two years is the salon sleeper sofa, which Chris Craft called a settee in the sales brochures. The missus liked the original design, and the missus gets what the missus likes. The original panels had rot in them, but they're good enough to use as pattern and to help me remember how it was originally constructed. It's a complex piece of furniture, but I've got a plan and this is a good first step.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Remaking the Salon Settee

Cheers,
Q

Before


Step 1

[q240z]

I had some leftover scraps of Tricel lightweight panels, so I'm using them to recreate the salon settee. I'm very glad that I kept the original panels as patterns even though they had some rot in them. Between the patterns and different colored primer lines on the salon floor, I've been able to figure out where the new panels need to be. Then I applied mahogany veneers, Pettit stain, and ICA base coat clear before installing the main settee panel in the galley. It's coming along nicely.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Remaking the Salon Settee II

Cheers,
Q

Step 2

[q240z]

I'm having trouble with my CAPAC impressed current anti-corrosion system controller. The meter swings between 5.5 (barely protected aluminum hull) to 7.5 (fully protected) but spends most of its time around 6-6.5, which is under protected. Turning the set-point adjustment potentiometer doesn't seem to change anything. This blog post has the schematic from the OEM CAPAC manual, and I've noted voltage readings that I took at many components. I also link to the manual, which has an excellent Theory of Operation section. Unfortunately, I don't speak transistor. If anybody with a grasp of electronics can take a peek and let me know what's wrong, I'd be much obliged.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Dialing in the CAPAC Anti-Corrosion System

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

Back to the settee, I reused some of the mahogany and Douglas fir marine plywood that was original to the boat to make the HVAC duct top, with a removable sections for maintenance. It's turning out pretty well.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Remaking the Salon Settee III

Cheers,
Q

Before


After

[q240z]

After cutting all of the major panels for the built-in salon settee, I had to make corner pieces to connect them all together. I wanted the same look as the nicely radiused corner pieces I used on the aft stateroom walls. But I didn't have any more 8/4 (~2") solid mahogany that was long enough. So I ended up making identical halves from a 4/4 board and bonded them together with epoxy, then rounded the outsides on my planer, and finished with a sander. They turned out very nice, and you can (hopefully) finally see the shape of the settee base.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Remaking the Salon Settee IV

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

When you enter the salon on these boats, one of the first things you see is the settee. And one of the first parts of the settee you can see is a drawer that faces directly toward the salon entry door from the aft deck and aft cabin. I saved all of the original drawers, cabinet doors, etc, and this particular drawer was in rough shape. The varnish was 50+ years old, the solid mahogany front and moldings had cracks, and somebody had spilled blue paint inside. It was a mess. But I got it cleaned up pretty good, and now it has modern soft-close slides. You just have to push it within an inch of being closed and it pulls itself fully closed automatically. It's pretty slick.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Remaking the Salon Settee V

Cheers,
Q

Before


After (the camera flash makes the stain appear much redder than in real life)

[JayGetty]

Hey Q!
If you are still looking for some ORIGINAL half oval 7/8" rub rail, I am your guy!

I prolly have 50ft.
Please contact me at 805 714 2545

Thanks !
Jake

[q240z]

Thanks for the offer, Jake, but the rub rails are all done.

That said, it's been a while since I posted an update. I can't tell you how nice it is having the boat so close to home. Getting it out of the tent and on the water has done wonders to reduce my boat-related stress level. It's also very nice to be able to fire up the engines and go have lunch with the missus out on the Potomac.

When the boat was still in the tent, I was rebuilding the salon settee. That's a big piece of built-in furniture, and the salon AC system is built into the sofa. So the settee had to be built for me to start using the HVAC system. I'd previously made all of the panels, corner pieces, and panel edge cap moldings. The only thing left to do was take it all apart, then glue and screw it together. I have to say, it turned out pretty nice. The only thing remaining is for me to make the cushion bases and then have a shop make the cushions themselves, but that'll be one of the last things I do on this refit.

Cheers,
Q

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Finishing the Salon Settee Structure

Before


After

[q240z]

With the salon settee pretty much done, the salon AC unit built into it is ready to turn on. But the aft and forward AC units aren't fully installed yet. Since they're all fed raw water from one pump, I want them all ready to work before I turn them on. So I tackled the aft stateroom AC unit next by plumbing the raw water outlet, building the cabinetry enclosure, and installing the air filter and thermostat. Two down, one to go!

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Wrapping Up the Aft Stateroom AC Installation

Cheers,
Q

Before


After

[q240z]

With the salon and aft stateroom AC units installed, the last one is in the V-berth. The installation went well and the "fan only" test indicates the system is ready to go. Like the others, the unit is installed in an otherwise airtight box built into the cabinetry, with a single filtered inlet for the fan to pull in room air. This is one beeeautiful HVAC enclosure.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the V-Berth AC Unit

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

I've got three AC units on the boat but only one raw water pump. I need a pump controller so if any one of the AC units calls for raw water, the pump will turn on. Fancy pump controllers with proprietary circuit boards start at ~$300. I ended up making one using off-the-shelf components that cost about 100 bucks (part numbers and sources at the link). It works great.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: DIY Marine AC Raw Water Pump Controller

Cheers,
Q

[q240z]

Back on Splash Day in late June 2023, one of the problems I encountered was a very slight leak from the only OEM seacock left on the boat--the one I rebuilt and intended to use for the air conditioner raw water supply. Rather than messing around with it, I replaced it with a Forespar Marelon valve (no more bronze!) and just ran a hose direct to the pump inlet before re-splashing. I left the valve closed for the inaugural trip from Deale, MD to our new home port, but one of my summer priorities was to get the AC system running. I installed a Vetus strainer so the lid is just above the waterline, for easy screen cleaning. Then I flipped the breakers on and turned the thermostat switches to COOL.

Everything worked perfectly!

And now that autumn has arrived, the heat's nice to have aboard, too.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Major System Test -- Air Conditioners

Cheers,
Q