thompsondockside.com

As you can see the repair worked out beautiful


By txcaptdan at 2011-01-11

Several members have asked about repairing laps on their boats, so here is how I repaired the laps at the starboard stern of my 20' Cruisers Inc. Initial inspection showed a hole in the lowest lap and rot in the ends of several others. I sanded all laps to expose puttied over screw heads. http://img...

Her is a recap of fun had during warmer weather this year. She is currently in shop getting a new coat of varnish. What a fun year, got a newer outboard which has made a huge difference in usability. These images are hot clikable to see larger! Have a great winter! http://img513.imageshack.us/img513...

The other tool I used to remove putty from bunged holes was a flat blade screw tip in a battery powered drill. This reamed out that top layer of putty quickly then I used an ice pick to clean out screw heads.

Decorated up "Big Fish" my 1965 Cruisers Inc 20' Seacamper for the annual Parade of Lights on Eagle Mountain Lake in Fort Worth , Texas. Had a couple of long rods with inflatable fish attached and a Santa coming out the hatch. My friend Raymond and I decorated her and braved the cold 45 an...

Phillips heads are easily cleaned out with a sharp ice pick, I have done hundreds that way. My 65 Cruisers Inc had lots of phillips style screws.

Yes, refinish hull under decks before putting new decks on front, its a LOT easier that way.

Are you replacing bottom sheets because of rot or de-lamination?

Clean up all the surfaces on the sheets first you are worried about then make that decision.

The boards that support floor could have a little bow to them so the floor has a crown to let water run off. When you removed deck plywood the hull may have opened a little but it can be pulled back with a comealong or by hand. use your removed pieces for rough patterns. The delamination on inner pl...

I used a belt sander to create scarf then chiseled and hand worked area under lap above. A multimaster tool seems to be a good choice for that area also. I reused holes from hardware to reattach new lap. Had to adjust thickness of standard marine plywood to match old dimensions. Dry fit and trim unt...

Yes, you can replace a partial lap at the end. I replaced several at the transom on the starboard of my Cruisers Inc. Here is a link to a repair I made on the side of the same boat, http://thompsondockside.com/views/viewtopic.php?t=2840 I would go back far enough from the transom so that you will co...

No mishaps or mechanical problems. All three boats performed beautifully and took on very little water over three days.
Andy is an old hand at river camping and took the lead in planning this adventure.
The only problem was finding a ramp that suited us. But our second choice worked out great.

My two good friends Andy and Mark and I trailered our boats from Eagle Mountain Lake near Fort Worth to the Colorado River on the upper stretches of Lake Travis outside of Austin. Andy brought his 23' 1963 Thompson Sealane, Mark brought Andy's 19' 1959 Thompson offshore and I pulled my 20' 1964 Crui...

That is white caulk between planks. It is very difficult to keep that look when varnishing because the varnish turns the caulk yellow. Many people paint the stripes with white paint.

John,
Glad to hear you are OK. Hope you were wearing your PFD.

I sunk one years ago and thing happen pretty fast when disaster strikes.

Dan

I am a big fan of easypoxy, I have painted 5 different hulls and have been asked multiple times if they were sprayed. I rolled and tipped all. Easy paint to touch up, blends well. Very tough surface. Extremely good coverage. A friend of mine took some to Lowes and had a custom color made from easypo...