Refitting a Compass 47

[Misiu]

Here is the FAQ from Tiflex (Treadmaster maker) including tips how to remove treadmaster...
Congratulations on your boat!

[Jim Cate]

CPA...

By the way, is your Compass glass or cold moulded? Built in SA? We are talking a Lavronos (sp?) design, aren't we?

Cheers,

Jim

[cpa]

Originally Posted by Misiu

Here is the FAQ from Tiflex (Treadmaster maker) including tips how to remove treadmaster...
Congratulations on your boat!

Thanks for the info. We have been going at it with a scraper and a mallet. It is not so bad when we have my two brothers helping. But when its the two of us we might get off 2 sheets a day. I have a feeling the adhesive will be much more time consuming.

[cpa]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

CPA...

By the way, is your Compass glass or cold moulded? Built in SA? We are talking a Lavronos (sp?) design, aren't we?

Cheers,

Jim

She is glass and was built by Kearly LTD in 1984 in SA. I spoke to Angelo Lavranos about the builder, because I thought there were a few cold molded, a few steel, and the rest out of fiberglass built by Compass Marine. Apparently there were many builders: Gulf Marine products, Kearly Marine, Telford Marine, Macdev Marine. He said that only Compass and Kearly built completed vessels and the rest had the HDB (Hull Deck and Ballast) built by third parties and then finished them. I thought that was pretty interesting.

[Banjo]

Hi cpa,

Good boat you bought there.
The Compass 47 was very popular here in South Africa in the late 1979, mid 1980's. The guys who sailed them, loved them.

They were built at a time when builders built yachts to sail ALL the world's oceans in safety. I like those big selftailers! Lewmar 65's?

What is the name of yours?

Compass Marine built about 5 in could moulded timber and then changed over to glass. Kearly Marine later took over the moulds and their construction was headed by the South African sailing legend Bertie Reed.

Kearly only built 5 boats and packed it up. (info from Bertie Reeds biography)

Reed finished second in the first BOC singlehanded round the world race and then sailed two more BOC's. He passed away a few years ago.

Regards,
Banjo.
South Africa.

[cpa]

Originally Posted by Banjo

Hi cpa,

Good boat you bought there.
The Compass 47 was very popular here in South Africa in the late 1979, mid 1980's. The guys who sailed them, loved them.

They were built at a time when builders built yachts to sail ALL the world's oceans in safety. I like those big selftailers! Lewmar 65's?

What is the name of yours?

Compass Marine built about 5 in could moulded timber and then changed over to glass. Kearly Marine later took over the moulds and their construction was headed by the South African sailing legend Bertie Reed.

Kearly only built 5 boats and packed it up. (info from Bertie Reeds biography)

Reed finished second in the first BOC singlehanded round the world race and then sailed two more BOC's. He passed away a few years ago.

Regards,
Banjo.
South Africa.

Great info! Thank you very much. I suspect I have to buy one of Bertie Reed's books. I have always been interested in SA sailing boats. When I was younger I had the opportunity to crew on a family friend's Miura. It was such a nice boat. This guy with no sailing experience other than a week course set of and did the Cape Town to Rio race in it with a few crew members of similar experience. Although I believe this is the first Compass I have seen in person, I have read a bit on them and it was definitely on my list of post college boats. I will also say that the boat is very well constructed and the glass work is as good as I have seen. Thanks again!

[Dyevochka]

Originally Posted by Banjo

I like those big selftailers! Lewmar 65's?

What is the name of yours?

Banjo - those are indeed Lewmar 65s. Good eye!

The boat has two previous owners that we've been able to find information about. The last owner sailed her as TABITHA since 1987, but we're not sure if he was the one who gave her the name. Unfortunately he has passed away, so we can't ask him the million questions we have about this awesome boat. For the time being, we call her "Compass 47."

Thanks for the information. We're loving learning more details about this boat's history!

[Misiu]

Originally Posted by Dyevochka

For the time being, we call her "Compass 47."

I am sure "DYEVOCHKA" may be one of the future boat name possibilities

[Banjo]

When I was younger I had the opportunity to crew on a family friend's Miura. It was such a nice boat.

Ah, a MIURA! Now that is considered to be the LANDROVER of South African offshore sailing.
In the 1970's and 1980's I don't think there was one single offsailor in this country who did not serve time on a Miura. The Miura was the poor guys' boat and the Compass 47 was the boat for the rich folk.
During the apartheid era lots of people used upmarket boats as a means of getting capital out of the country. Very few Compass 47's remained in South Africa.
All the doctors and orthodontists had Compass 47's. The rest had Miuras. I think every second Miura to hit the water circumnavigated or at least went round Cape Horn!

Regards,
F.

[cpa]

The last two days have been spent pulling treadmaster off, which for the most part is not too much fun. But then we encountered this on the bridgedeck.

[cpa]

Here are some shots from our rainy day work. Just some cleaning. We are getting ready to head down to the boat for some more work. I hurt my right hand yesterday skateboarding, so I am not sure how well I will hammer my scraper through treadmaster today.

[witzgall]

It is amazing what a little elbow grease will do! Taking off treadmaster is the devil's work. I used a heat gun to move things along. It is too easy to take off gel coat as well using that method. This meant that I had to fair a bit with epoxy after the removal.

Chris

[Dyevochka]

Originally Posted by witzgall

Taking off treadmaster is the devil's work

I just had to quote this and agree. We just got back from five hours of scraping and, man, are our hands ever sore! Gross-out couple language time : we measure our progress in "squares." Anywhere a sheet of Treadmaster was cut can delineate the edge of a "square." I think there may have been thirty of these sections on the boat when we started, and from what I can tell, thirty different people applied them with thirty different methods. Sometimes you can tell that one section was put down with a thin, wispy brush of contact cement. Those are kind of fun to pull up.

Sometimes it looks like someone took a gallon of the stuff, poured it right on the deck, and used that to apply a one sq/ft section. Perhaps they also set an anvil on to help it set. At first I thought that some sheets were put down with epoxy. We'll put the hammer and chisel to it, and only the top of the TM will come off. The little diamond shapes will be gone, but there will be this flat blue layer left, almost like a second level.

Obviously we've developed a whole language around this Treadmaster removal job, and its become so much a part of our days, that I can spend this many words on it! I've never dealt with Treadmaster before, only painted-on non-skid surfaces. I'm kind of glad there are people out there who understand what a job this is! CPA, though, put Treadmaster on his former Arpege. He put it on pretty well, and always said that he felt sorry for anybody who had to take it off. This is his payback.

[cpa]

Hello,
We have been too busy to post, but we are getting work done. We have removed all the Treadmaster, inflated the monster dinghy, and compounded and waxed the hull. Here are some pictures. Next step is removing the remaining contact cement and getting started on the nonskid. We are thinking of trying out Kiwigrip. We just finished repainting the nonskid on the G&S with Interdeck. It worked well, but I have heard good stuff about Kiwigrip. Can't wait to try it. We hope to haul in a month and do:

Bottom
a few thru hulls
motor/saildrive

It is late and I need to catch some sleep.

[James S]

That hull cleaned up real nice....Looking good...