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I need to refinish the bottom of my 17' Chetek lapstrake. Please help with any tips on flipping and supporting the upside down boat. Any plans for a handy dolly so I can move the boat once flipped? I don't know if this is possible or not, but I really don't want to remove the wood-framed windshield. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance

I would not recommend trying to flip the boat with the windshield on. Sounds like a recipe for disaster. The windshield is one of the hardest parts to duplicate on these boats. Take the time to remove it.
The other option is to refinish the bottom with the boat in the upright postion. Working from underneath it. That is the way that many boat shops would do it unless they had to replace wood. And even then sometime they do it that way.
I am getting ready to flip my 18' Off Shore. I will be cross bracing the cockpit with 2x4's. Using a group of friends we will roll it over using tires and carpet to protect the hull.Once the boat is flipped it will be sitting on 3 flat furniture moving dollys($20.00 each at HD). Two at the stern and one at the bow. I can move the hull around in my garage for easier access plus when I want to raise the boat I can use blocks on top of the dolly's.
Hope this helps you out.
Karl.

I second Karl's motion.

Remove the windshield frame.

Just use a bunch of friends to roll her over. 5 or 6 should make the job simple.

If it's just going to be a few months upside down, don't worry too much about extensive bracing. A brace side to side from gunwale to gunwale is probably enuff.

Rolling dollies are nice so that you can move it around if needed.

Andreas