Small Sailboat Cruising's video: SAFFRON - OUR SUNMAID 20 Fiberglass Boat Project: Fixing up Decks

Saffron, my latest fiberglass boat project, was discovered sitting on her mooring in the Bribie Passage. She had been stripped of her rigging and was being used as a motorboat to cruise the canals. Years of exposure to the Queensland sun had taken its toll, and she needed stripping right back to the bare bones to get her looking smart again. She was designed in New Zealand, and originally known as a Coronet. The Kiwis by necessity know how to design a seaworthy vessel. I was attracted to her traditional lines and recalled my brother having owned a Sunmaid back in Tasmania. We took her on a sail down the Freycinet Peninsula, enjoying some abundant tuna fishing and romping pods of dolphins. Many of these early fiberglass trailer sailers were robustly built, so they can be given a second life with a bit of TLC. I wanted her to be fit to sail for the next 50 years. The hull of Saffron is solid glass and bullet-proof. The cabin top however is of foam sandwich construction so as to save weight. A combination of leaking fittings, and many summers of blistering heat had caused the foam to break down causing extensive soft spots. Often people will remove the top layer of fiberglass and replace the foam with sheets before glassing it all back together. I found that I could drill some strategically placed holes and pump good quality foam into the void to get excellent firmness and resilience. I performed several biopsies that revealed the original foam had virtually turned to powder, and when I pumped the new foam in, there was a satisfying "crinkly" sound as the remaining foam dissolved like a fruit tingle and retreated under the persuasion of the polyurethane foam implant. Removing the fittings that are fastened with slotted screws, and often overlength threads are time-consuming and difficult single-handed, but fortunately, I had the assistance of Jayce, whose flexible and slender frame enabled him to work his way into the tightest corners and remove the nuts and washers. I completed the transom refurb with Dave a few weeks back, and started using black butyl mastic tape to positively secure and seal the fastenings. They are just waiting for a quick trim with a Stanley knife to tidy them up. I sand timber floors for a living, so I am very experienced in stripping back to bare timber. Even with my "take no prisoners" approach, it took a full day to get the deteriorating polyurethane off, and the first coat of 2-pack Resene was applied. I'm using the same product to maintain several cafe tables that get heavy sun exposure and I'm impressed with its resilience and long life. When you are working on an extensive project like Saffron, it is important not to take your eye off the reward when you are dealing with hot sticky days, sanding, scraping, and painting. The nights on the couch, dealing with prickly fiberglass dust making your skin crawl, and the fact that the budget always blows out. I need to take a deep breath, and get out on the water, despite poorly tuned rigging, flapping sails, and messy patchy surfaces. All this is forgotten when the breeze hits 10-15 knots on a perfect spring day at the Bribie Passage. Saffron will soon be all sparkly and new in her fresh coat of paint, and fully fitted out for some serious coastal sailing. Sadly, it won't be me sailing in her, as no sooner did she hit the water than my imagination was gripped by the opportunity to undertake the refurbishment on a classic John Philp 18' daysailer. My loyalties are divided at the moment, but the fact is, 3 boats on our small property are a bit overkill, so Saffron is on the market. The videos I create here are possible because of the work I do in my day job as Wood Underfoot. If you are interested in Having your wooden floor restored or a new overlay floor installed you can find plenty of tips, testimonials, and examples of my work at https://woodunderfoot.com Follow Christopher's sailing trailer boats, wooden boat projects, fiberglass boat restoration projects on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sailingmoonlight Follow Sailing Moonlight on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sailing_moonlight_dinghy/ Get Updates on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dinghymoonlight These videos are made possible by people like you. If you would like to get early access to videos and behind-the-scenes insights, consider supporting the channel via my Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/sailingmoonlight There are some affiliate links on this page that give us a small commission. All our music is licensed from Artlist https://artlist.io/Christopher-1171683 unless otherwise noted. Predict Wind is an app I use and highly value. See just how helpful it is for sailors like you and me. Go to https://www.predictwind.com/?ref=christophersly Copyright 2021 Vinsek Pty Ltd