1986 Tournament 27 projects

[Ed]

I liked the paint a lot. Easy to mix, the shine is great and the paint is very tough. However, I have zero prior experience shooting paint, so I don't have a lot of comparisons.

I have wetsanded and buffed another brand of paint a bunch of times and I found that a lot easier than the Quantum. I think perhaps because Quantum is a much harder paint and I probably should have gotten after it sooner in its cure cycle than I did (waited a week)

I am looking forward to using it on some other projects I have planned.

[gofastsandman]

Thanks for the feedback. Waiting may be a mistake with any paint.

[Rlbol]

Very nice boat! Do you know much of. The history on it.. I have always loved the 27. There was a burgundy center console for sale a long time ago up by you. I always wish I would have bought it.

[Ed]

Yes, I know the entire history of the boat as I bought it from the original owner last September.

The burgundy 27 you are referring to "Fin Fighter" went from an owner in Cape Cod, to a new owner in NJ and then it was sold to a charter guy on the Cape, where it is now.

[Ed]

With the boat on the hard for the winter, I decided to remove all of the in-deck floor hatches and bring them home so I could cut the undersides open and recore them.

The aft fishbox hatch was the worst and in dire need of repair. It was completely soaked and weighed 40lbs. IThe reason why is that someone at the factory, in their infinite wisdow, decided to trim off the aft lip (to make the hatch fit) and in doing so, exposed the plywood core.

The other in deck hatches appeared to be okay. However, after cutting them open I found damp plywood and was glad that I went ahead and opened them up.

The plan is to recore them with 3/8" Coosa, epoxy and 1708. Divinycell H-80 would be somewhat lighter, but I have a full sheet of Coosa in my garage, so that it was what I will be using. The epoxy and 1708 were ordered from Joel at Gulfstream Composites. While I could easily get this stuff from suppliers where I work, I appreciate Joel's personal service, expertise and willingness to answer questions.

I also picked up a "new to me" console. The existing console was too short and in my opinion, the boxy shape did not complement the lines of the boat. So, I started hunting around and I found this used console which is exactly what I was looking for.

Lastly, I also picked up a Garmin 7215 with an enormous 15 inch screen, which will be a huge upgrade from the Furuno 1650 that is on the boat now.

Will post more pictures in a few weeks after hatches have been recored.

[Bigshrimpin]

Nice work Ed!

[Ed]

Thanks, Tim. I am going to keep plugging away on it over this winter.


Here is a picture of my new Garmin 7215 plotter that just arrived. This thing is massive! Supposedly is the last model that Garmin will use an aluminum housing. Radar and black box sounder will be added in a couple of months.

I also went back to the boat and was able to remove the two inspection/service hatches that were screwed and caulked into place on either side of the center console. I figured that while I was recoring the other hatches, I may as well do these too.

Attached are some pictures of the hatches, the foam filled stringers (very dry) and the massive amounts of space below the decks.

[Ed]

Well, we backed the 27 into the shop on Saturday and I started removing the original fugly hardtop from 1986.

The plan is to go with an oversized cored fiberglass top that will have the front legs mounted on the gunwale and rear truss styled legs mounted just outside the leaning post over the stringers. The goal is to make the boat as fishable as possible (the aft legs on the original top were always in the way) while providing the most protection from the sun while giving me the ability to add some strataglass curtains if needed.

I also have a new console for the boat, but that tear down and upgrade project will have to wait until next year as I don't want to miss half the season again this year.

[uncleboo]

I think the console & top on the hull behind yours would look sweet! ( For a minute, I thought it was yours.)

[Ed]

UncleBoo-

Yes, the hardtop and console on the boat in the background do present a bit of an optical illusion.

Will post some pictures as the project progresses.