With the full cover on that protects Apropos from the winter wet season, I make progress on my long list of projects.

Boat cover sand bags

There are 19 canvas sandbags used to add weight along the bottom of the boat cover and over the 15 years since the cover was made, a few were accidentally dropped overboard. So during a rainy Seattle weekend, we set about making 5 new ones. We already had all the canvas and webbing, so this project just involved designing the pattern, sewing, and buying a 50 lb bag of sand and plastic clips. Now there are 19 sand bags again plus 1 spare.

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Butterfly Hatch Bronze Polishing

I removed, polished, and applied 5 coats of Everbrite ProtectaClear to the cast bronze butterfly hatch fittings and the 6 bronze rings for the courtesy lights. This adds to my list of interior bronze and brass parts that should never need polishing again, as the ProtectaClear provides a barrier to oxidation. Parts that I finished a year ago are still looking bright and shiny. The key is to do a good job in the polishing step and I use a Dremel tool and a good polishing compound for that.

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Teak Block Cleaning & Oiling

There are 8 teak blocks on Apropos–5 are used for the Main sheet and 3 for the Mizzen sheet. The 5 main sheet blocks have always remained unfinished and left to go naturally grey. I disassembled the blocks by removing the 4 small screws holding on the round stainless steel covers, then unscrewed the round covers and removed the pin and bronze sheave and ss becket. With only the teak parts remaining, I cleaned and brightened them with the same teak system I use for the decks. After lightly sanding them, I applied 5 coats of teak oil.

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Teak Block Finishing with Awlwood Clear

The 3 blocks used for the Mizzen sheet have always been varnished. It had been 6 years since they were last varnished, so I removed them from the boat, disassembled them, used stripping gel and a heat gun to remove the old varnish, lightly sanded them and applied Awlwood primer then 6 coats of Awlwood MA (modified acrylic) Clear. This is the same product that I have used on the exterior of all of Apropos’ brightwork over the past 4 years. It’s more durable than varnish and doesn’t break down from UV as fast as varnish.

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Forward Hatch Acrylic Replacement

The forward hatch acrylic was probably replaced during the refit just before I bought Apropos. Over the years, the acrylic has appeared to have crazed not on the surface, but inside. After buffing failed to make any difference, I decided to replace it. I first removed the hatch by prying off the 3 hinge pins peened-on caps. Next I removed the TDS caulking and pried the acrylic out of the bronze frame. My options for replacement were laminate glass (too heavy and breakable), poly carbonite, and acrylic. I went to Tap Plastics to compare poly carb vs acrylic, and decided to go with 1/2″ acrylic after the salesperson gave me a demo of how to remove scratches in acrylic. Also, it was available in 3 shades of tint and they had it in stock and could cut it while I waited.

Before installing the new acrylic, I cleaned up and polished the heavy duty bronze frame. I used 3M Silicone to fasten the acrylic to the 1/2″ lip along the bottom of the frame. I added about 25 lbs of weight and allowed it to dry 24 hours, then used Teak Decking Systems (TDS) black caulking along the outer edges. After curing for 48 hours, I removed the masking tape, then masked over the caulking and acrylic so I could apply 5 coats of Protecta-Clear to the bronze frame.

With our summer cruise behind us, there were a few projects I wanted to get done while the weather was still nice.

• Windlass Gypsy cleaning–While anchoring, we noticed the windlass making some squeaking noises from time to time. This prompted us to watch some YouTube videos to see how to clean and grease the moving parts, which was long overdue. I removed the clutch cones, then cleaned them with Scotchbrite pads and applied a thin film of lithium grease to the moving parts.

• Anchor Chain Marking–knowing how much chain is out is important while anchoring. In the past, we used a combination of color-coded paint and zip ties to mark the chain every 25 feet. The zip ties last years, but eventually some break off and need to be replaced. After laying out most of the 300′ of chain on the dock, I replaced the colored zip ties and also used molded silicon chain markers in a particular color-pattern. I decided not to repaint the chain as most of the paint was still good (except the the markings below 100 foot). The colored zip tie markings are as follows: 1R=25′, 2R=50′, 3R=75′, 1Y=100′, 1Y1R=125′, 1Y2R=150′, 1Y3R=175′, 1B=200′, 1B1R=225′, 1B2R=250′, 1B3R=275′.

• Adding Cockpit USB Port–We usually run an iPad with Navionics in the cockpit and use it for route planning and as a backup to the Garmin chartplotter. Having a USB charge port in the cockpit will allow us to keep the iPad as well as iPhones charged without needing to take them below decks. I mounted a USB dual-port with digital voltage display inside a waterproof box. The box is held in place with 3M dual lock fasteners (similar to Velcro but much better). I also added a waterproof switch on the top of the box for turning on/off an LED light strip that’s mounted under the dodger.

• Grab Rail Refinishing–The final round of teak refinishing for the summer! I stripped and recoated 2 of the 4 grab rails in the spring-time. These are difficult to strip down to bare wood because of the curves and angles. I finally got the last two refinished during a week of dry weather in September. For stripping off the old varnish, I used a combination of Orange chemical stripper to loosen the varnish, then a heat gun and scraper to remove it. I followed up with 80 grit sandpaper, then 220 grit, applied Awlwood Primer, lightly sanded with 400 grit, then 8 coats of Awlwood clear with a light sanding after every 2 coats. I did this wearing an N-95 mask as Seattle was choked with smoke that blew in from the Oregon and California wild fires.

• Dinghy Air Floor–After several attempts to patch the high pressure hypalon Air Floor during a two-week cruise, it still leaked at places that were difficult to apply a patch (around a doughnut-shaped hole for access to the air keel valve). The dinghy is a little over 10 years old but still in great condition. I decided to attempt patching one more time before buying a new Air Floor for $500, since the overall plan is to replace the dinghy in a few years. After removing the failed patches, I cleaned the surfaces well before applying new patches. It was much easier doing this indoors vs on the boat. The 2-part glue, mixed in a 25:1 ratio, seemed to adhere much better this time. I used 75 lbs of weights placed atop a sandbag over the patches for 24 hours, then let the Air Floor sit another 4 days to fully cure. I also gave it a good cleaning before taking it back to the boat. I put it back in the dinghy and inflated it to 3 psi, then sprayed soapy water around the patches and didn’t see any evidence of leaks. I won’t be too surprised if new leaks develop, but for now i think it’s holding air. I probably won’t be pumping it up to 10 psi any more…

Apropos’ bowsprit measures 14′ in length, and is 8.5″ by 8.5″ at its largest cross-section. It’s by far the biggest piece of wood on the boat, most likely made of Apitong, a very strong/dense hardwood grown in Southeast Asia.

Like most projects, this one started out small. Something I could do in a day or two, but grew into something much bigger. I was only going to touch-up the bowsprit tip–a 16″-long section forward of the cranse-iron where the bowsprit is rounded. There were a few dings and dents from 16 years of docking at marinas, fuel stations, and ramming noisy power boats (kidding!).

But then I started looking at the rest of the bowsprit and realized the entire thing could use refinishing. After all, it would be a waste to buy material (epoxy, primer, paint) for just repairing such a small area. A section along the bottom where the two anchors rest had some large gouges caused from up-anchoring and also from the chain scraping when the boat swings while anchored in windy conditions. There were small pieces of Starboard (UHMW ultra high molecular weight polyethylene) at the rest points of the stowed anchors, but their size and placement were not enough to protect the wood.

At the far aft end on the bowsprit, there was some wear and tear just from normal use (standing on it, dropping things, etc).

There was one more thing that needed some attention–the large piece of teak that is bolted to the top of the bowsprit had cracked a few years ago. This plank is 7′ long, 8.25″ wide and 1.25″ thick. Replacing it would cost a few hundred dollars just for the teak and a few hundred more to have it milled to proper thickness and cut. So before I sink $500 into a new teak plank, I thought I would try to repair it first. Removing it was no easy task–it’s held in place with 5 foot-long thru-bolts to the bowsprit. Also, removing the plank gave me full access to the top of the bowsprit for painting.

So the task grew in scope and or course in time, but I’m glad I did it. Here are the steps I took in completing the bowsprit refinishing:

• sanded the entire bowsprit with 80 grit paper followed by 220 grit.
• used thickened epoxy (West Systems 610) to fill in all the scrapes and gouges, sanded and repeated where needed.
• applied 2 coats of Interlux Pre-Kote primer, sanding between coats and after 2nd coat.
• applied 3 coats of thinned Interlux Brightsides polyurethane, lightly sanding with 320 between coats.
• used thickened epoxy (West Systems 610) to repair teak plank. Clamped tightly for 24 hours, sanded, and applied Semco teak sealer.
• made new protection pads from UHMW polyethylene, rounded the edges with 1/4″ router bit, drilled and countersunk holes to attach with ss screws to the bowsprit.
• cleaned, polished, and sealed the bronze star at the end of the bowsprit.
• cleaned up the stainless steel frame that the bowsprit is attached to.

After owning a boat for a long time (16 years in my case), I find myself repeating certain tasks. A lot of this cannot be avoided (bottom paint, hull polishing, oil changes, etc). But there are some things I do because I like the outcome–like keeping the teak brightwork nice, keeping the bronze ports and pedestal shiny–so I’m always looking for ways to increase the time between when something needs to be re-done. For example, I switched from using varnish to using Awlwood Clear on all the brightwork and can now go 2-3 years between refresher coats.

I discovered another product that helps save time by keeping polished metal from oxidation–ProtectaClear by Everbrite. I mostly use this for interior bronze and brass, but am also experimenting with a few exterior items.

Interior Bronze and Brass

Apropos has a lot of interior bronze and brass. Today when you buy a brass fixture, it usually comes with a coating to protect it from oxidation (it also likely to be only brass coated vs solid brass). When Apropos was built in 1982, all of the bronze/brass was very high quality and didn’t have any protection layer to keep it from oxidizing. The sink faucet and hand pump in the head are the originals, made of heavy bronze. Being in a wet area, they tend to oxidize quickly so I would typically hand polish them once or twice a year to make them shiny again. But this takes an hour and only lasts a few weeks before becoming dull and eventually green again. So I recently gave them an extra good polishing using a dremel tool and polishing compound, then applied 4 layers of ProtectaClear. In the galley, the sink faucet is not original, so it has a protective film (lacquer?) that keeps it shiny, but next to it, the hand pump, water tank vents, and water maker port are all bare bronze, so I polished and coated them as well. I also polished and coated 2 oil brass oil lamps that are gimbal-mounted to bulkheads. I’ll use these items as test cases to see how well they look after a year, then decide if I want to do more interior bronze/brass items. Another nice thing about ProtectaClear is that is bonds to itself and only takes minutes to apply with a foam brush. Re-coats can be done after an hour.

Exterior Bronze and Brass

The main exterior items I used the ProtectaClear on are small brass hardware latches and hinges found on all my deck boxes, helm seat, and cabin hatch doors. These are also protected by canvas covers so I think the coating will hold up well. As an experiment, I also polished and coated 3 bronze deck prism rings and the bowsprit star. These are all exposed to the elements (rain, salt water, UV) and the deck prisms are also stepped on. I applied 4 coats and will see how they look after a season.

After refinishing the boom gallows (refresher coats of Awlwood Clear and polished bronze), I decided to make a cover for it. It’s a 3-panel Sunbrella cover with chafe-guard on the inside and some leather sewn into the center where the boom rests. I used 5 twist-locks along the bottom. This should keep the brightwork looking good and increase the time between refresher coats.

I added a heat-transfer vinyl (HTV) graphic to the new sail cover. This is the same font used on the hull, but I replace the brown outline with white since it’s against a dark green background.

An unusually dry April in Seattle (driest on record) allowed me to get some brightwork refinishing in. There are only a few items remaining on Apropos that haven’t been stripped down to bare wood and re-finished with Awlwood MA Clear–2 deck boxes, the helm seat, and 4 grab-rails.

I started with the deck boxes. The propane box hadn’t been removed from the deck in over 16 years and was difficult to remove because besides the 4 screws holding it to the deck, there was also what I believe to be 3M 5200 permanent adhesive applied to the 2 teak mounting brackets. I eventually worked it free but had to repair some damage to the plywood bottom of the box using a wood repair product. After removing the lids and hardware from the boxes, I stripped the old varnish with a chemical peeler then scraped, then re-applied more chemical peeler and scraped, then sanded. I decided to try this method instead of the heat gun/scraping method I used on all the other brightwork and it worked well, but I don’t think it saved any time because there was a lot of scraping needed to remove many layers of varnish.

After all the old varnish was removed, I sanded with 120 grit followed by 320 grit, applied the Awlwood Primer, then 8 coats of Awlwood Clear. I cleaned up all the brass and bronze hardware and also sealed them with a clear lacquer before remounting.

There are 4 grab-rails on the coachtop roof. Normally covered with canvas, they came back from the South Pacific trip with sun damage mainly to the bottoms where the canvas doesn’t quite cover. I knew these would require a lot of work to strip the old varnish off because of all the rounded surfaces, so I decided to tackle 2 of them initially. Here are the results: