Window restoration

Well I also took care of the window restores. Just a little fine rubbing compound and good as new. There is two before pics and one after. The plexiglas sure got clear! I will put a fine bead of caulking around the outer edge of the frame before I spray the outside of the boat.

I also took a pick of the original company name/logo decal before I scraped it off. It sure was hardened after 33 years! I'll have to get this made up. Enjoy the pics.

Rudder work

I have taken care of the wood restoration on the boats rudder. The rudder is South American Mahogany. I utilized scrapers and sanders to remove the old finish. The finish consists of 3 coats of spar varnish with a final top coat of polyurathane. I am hoping that will help resist scratching but still expand and contract. The tiller is red oak and I will be utilizing the same finish.

The stainless steel brackets will be cleaned up and reused. I will post drawings of all the parts soon.

Eventually I would like to develop a bracket to allow the rudder to be lifted out of harms way.

Tomorrow I begin sanding the bottom. There is cracks to repair and a boat to lift off the trailer! I hope!

Tall ships were fun!

Here is a pic!

Time to get going!

Well it has been to long since I last posted here! Been so hot here in Southern Calif. it's been hard to keep a good work schedule going. I took some time off last weekend and went to a tall ship gettogether down in San Diego. It was a thrill to see all of the ships and to get to do some exploring!

I have begun the cleanup of my boat. Last couple of days I have been prepping and cleaning some of the hardware on the outside of the hull. Been removing lines and cleaning. I have removed all of the old lettering and have cleaned the areas with lacquer thinner. It is a good glue cleaningsolvent and dries quickly with no residue. I had new lettering for the boat name made at a sign shop, stick on vinyl letters. That is what the previous lettering was and it lasted for years. The new lettering comes printed in the sheet and should be no problem. I have done a couple of banners in the past.

Some pictures, the beginning

This is how the Flying Fox looked when I first saw her. She had been floating in the marina for 5 years. I went in halves with a friend in buying this boat on ebay. We brought the boat to Riverside, Ca. from its home there in Redwood City, Ca. We found the bottom of the boat covered with barnacles. Having a swing keel there is a slot in the bottom of the boat. This slot had driftwood caught in it. I scraped as much of the hull as I could and then we hired a diver to finish the job. We also had him reconnect the keel winch cable as it had broke. We found later there was a small crack where the keel slammed into the hull. The Flying Fox also came with the original trailer which will also need restoration.
Upon bringing the boat to Riverside we began the task of cleaning her. I say "we" my boating partner did as little as he did when I first scraped the bottom in Redwood City. Then he had read the manual as I scraped, once in Riverside the first thing he thought he needed to do was go shopping for deck shoes! I was proud and happy to have the boat but I had to give up after a couple of days of working alone. After a year of the boat just sitting I got my partner to sell me his share.

Hello to the "Flying Fox"

Hi, My name is Kevin Deal. I'm the proud owner of the Flying Fox! Caretaker would probably be more appropriate. Someone owned her before me and someone else may own her after me. We shall see. This blog will be an account of the work I do restoring the Fox and the fun sailing her whereever I can! I will try to keep this updated with pics and techniques as I can. Thanks for spending time here, Kevin