Biscuit Updates

A quick hour on Biscuit this evening to bung the taff rail, to apply the final coat of varnish on the aft cockpit...

Continuing with the brightwork installation, my tasks for the day would be to complete the companionway...

Over the last couple of days, the installation projects are beginning to gain in momentum, and the.....

With the coaming boards to their varnish coats and fasteners on, I spent the day at the shop installing them..

Wanting to get the coaming boards mounted onto Biscuit's molded fiberglass cockpit coaming, I grabbed...

Getting a jump on the work this coming weekend, I made my way over to the shop to apply the first coat of...

Grabbing a bit of time in the late afternoon, I made my way over to Biscuit to tape off the nonskid areas on...

Continuing the weekend effort, I arrived with at least a portion of the items required to move the ball down...

The day had finally come to install Biscuit's new Spartan Marine bronze deadlights. These finally crafted...

I cleaned the coaming boards with a quick wipe down yesterday evening to prep for a quick coat of varnish...

In an effort to complete the foredeck's nonskid and move on to other tasks in the coming weekend, I took...

Another milestone for Biscuit...nonskid. There was time today to at least apply the nonskid to the foredeck.

As I had done in the previous work session on biscuit, I repeated the process for trimming and preparing the...

I worked on trimming the bungs today, beginning with the starboard toe and rub rails. I gathered a number...

With the rub rails and the toe rails recently undergoing final install, I decided to brings the rails closer to....

I intended to secure bungs in the toe and rub rail bungholes, but forgot that I had taken the varnish to the...

Over the weekend I began the install of Biscuit's new brightwork, beginning with the toe and rub rails. I ...

With Biscuit's hull, decks and cockpit in final coat of paint, I resumed the work on varnish build to prepare...

Over the last few days, I worked in getting paint to the point of its final coat - the several areas that I am....

Over the last two days my focus has been on applying the boot stripe for Biscuit, as well as securing her...

After a couple weeks of travel and holiday festivities, I resumed work on Biscuit with a focus on completing...

As mentioned previously, I made it out to the shop, and Biscuit, to continue the Alexseal paint application to

Back from a recent trip, I wanted to get back to Biscuit to continue the effort on Alexseal application to the

Over the last two days, the work focus moved from the hull to the cockpit and decks - being in their final....

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I swung by Biscuit in the early evening to complete the installation of the seacocks and thru hulls. Only....

I stopped by Biscuit this evening to continue the progress towards completing the thru hull installations. I...

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Yesterday I installed the seacocks - a careful and deliberate process since we are dealing with below the ...

I took time on Friday, the 24th of October, to focus on the installation of Biscuit's seacocks. Going forward...

With the first coat of Alexseal on the hull and fully cured, I took advantage of some time off from the "9-5" to

The time for finish paint, Alexseal, has come...for the hull at least. I started by hand sanding the hull....

Quick update on the ongoing effort to build varnish on the various piece of brightwork. This involved a...

In further prep for applying Biscuit's new topcoat of Alexseal (hull, decks, cockpit), I worked over the weekend...

Over the weekend I managed to complete the dry-fitting of the toe and rub rails, marked areas on the rails...

Continuing on with the brightwork dry-fit process, I turned to the port rub rail for its initial installation and...

Getting Biscuit's entire suite of newly fabricated brightwork fit in place is the immediate goal. By mounting...

Dialing in the brightwork and continued coats of varnish are taking me through the weekdays, while I reserve...

As I had done the day prior on the port coaming return block, my effort today was on the starboard side of...

With the blanks glued up for the coaming return blocks neatly trimmed, I got to work today on the port...

Continuing the effort to get all of the various brightwork components completed and dry-fitted prior to paint...

The goal in the week was to complete the brightwork and prep for the dry-fitting of the toe and rub rails prior...

Two critical components remain to be fabricated for the brightwork: the taffrail and the aft cockpit trim. Today...

I've reached yet another milestone in Biscuit's restoration with the mast finish paint completed and the primer...

Over a stretch of days around the weekend of the 10th, I covered several items on Biscuit from deck fittings to mast...

With the hull ready for finish paint, I moved on to the cockpit and decks to also ready them for applications...

With the topsides ready for finish paint, and now wanting to turn to priming the decks, it was time to...

I am continuing the build of finish paint on Biscuit's mast, with a couple coats remaining before the...

A quick afternoon session on Biscuit resulted in bringing the intricate work of the cockpit seat gutters to...

The painting of the mast and the priming the hull continues...Friday evening I was able to get another coat...

Today's focus was to scuff the hull topsides for another application of Alexseal finish primer, as well as getting...

It was a quick session at the shop today due to the heat, but good progress made in prepping the companionway hatch...

After the application of the Alexseal finish primer to Biscuit's topsides, I moved back to the bits and bobs: the...

It's time for Biscuit to move into the paint booth! This is a milestone moment for this Cape Dory Typhoon...

Taking a break from painting the interior, allowing for cure time, I turned to the brightwork and established...

Biscuit's interior paint session this afternoon was for all intents and purposes the completion of her interior...

Stealing one to two hours in the afternoons is helping to bring the interior painting to a close, with the...

A quick visit to Biscuit helped to progress the completion of the interior fairing and paint process....

Back from a week's vacation and tackling the needed items off of the chore list, I managed a few hours at...

With a trip coming up that would take me off the refit for a week, I was focused on getting at least one coat...

Continuing with the prep for paint - both the mast and the boat - I sanded the prior day's fill work, as well as...

With family in town but the need to sustain forward progress, I stole a couple hours on Saturday to move...

Looking to keep the momentum going, I grabbed a couple hours in the last afternoon to complete the toe...

Wanting to seal off the freshly exposed aluminum to prevent further oxidation, I headed to the shop in the...

With the mast full stripped, I took the opportunity to prep it for paint: sanding, etching, and priming.

I returned to the shop today to complete gluing up of the toe rails, as well as complete the stripping of the...

With a majority of the brightwork nearing completion and approaching the varnish room, I turned to the rails...

Having to devote all of Saturday to removing two mature southern yellow pine trees - the last of five that...

A day of brightwork fabrication, from cockpit seat trim to companionway trim and washboards...

Having the coaming boards nearly complete - needing to dry-mount and locate fastener holes to secure to the fiberglass cockpit as well as securing the cleats and winch bases - I decided to move on to the cockpit and companionway trim boards...

Working to complete the coaming boards was the goal for the week, and I'm happy to say the goal was met.

Before continuing work on the new coaming boards, I went below to continue work on painting the v-berth...

Brightwork fabrication begins! Starting with the coaming boards, I took the port and starboard blanks....

The painting continues on the boom and the interior, and brightwork fabrication begins...

The seacocks are now ready for final install, and the boom gets its first coat of finish paint...

Carrying on with the prep work for both the new flanged seacock installation and painting of the boom...

With the new hardware in and backing plates fabricated from G-10, I took the weekend glue-in the backing plates...

Knowing that the new flanged seacocks were arriving today, I could not resist stealing a bit of time in the shop after the day job to fabricate the new backing plates for said seacocks...

Wanting to complete the interior in the coming weeks, among other tasks, lead me inside Biscuit for the day...

Today's work was focused on finishing up sanding on the cabin sole, as well as drilling out for the hull for the thru-hull fittings, and applying a second coat of primer to the boom...

I got back in the interior today in an effort to close out the work here, at least the bulk of it, in the coming two weeks. Today, working towards installation of the new seacocks...

A major part of the refit of Biscuit is the fabrication of new brightwork....time to begin processing the rough-cut boards.

First coat of primer on the deck!

Final prep prior to priming the deck....

Painting the spars made the list for Biscuit's refit and I decided to begin with the boom...

Continued prep of Biscuit's boom for paint and reassembly...

The mast and boom will also receive a refresh, with paint and new hardware where necessary, so with the low temperatures I decided to get started on the boom...

Let's get some paint on somewhere!

Continuing work on the aft deck repair...and of course, sanding!

In preparation for primer across the decks, coachroof, and cockpit, I needed to remove one stubborn fastener for the backstay's padeye...turned into a whole thing...

Getting the first fairing coat on the fiberglass repairs to the interior liner...

...Continuing the repairs to the interior fiberglass liner...

With the grinding recently completed on Biscuit's interior, it was time to begin rebuilding the damaged areas...

With the day's high reaching only 60 degrees, I jumped at the chance to suit up for some grinding...

The deck, cockpit, and topsides are nearly ready for their coats of primer. So to that end, I began the final fairing work with Total Boat's Total Fair product...

The final sanding work prior to primer application commences...

Prepping for primer paint to go down on the topsides, deck and coachroof, and having a couple hours of available time....

Completing the bottom is a first milestone achieved in the restoration of this Cape Dory Typhoon, Biscuit...

Time to beautify the bottom with fresh antifoul paint and this Total Boat product did not disappoint...

Areas hidden by her trailer were the focus on final sanding to Biscuit's bottom, and prior to applying the barrier coat...

Prepping for a weekend bottom job, Biscuit arrives at Sadler Point Marina and is promptly set on stands and blocking...

Prior to the coming bottom job, and with the final thru-hull removed and the hull repaired with new laminate, I visited Biscuit for a quick sanding and fairing application...

Wrapping up the majority of the surface prep (a.k.a. SANDING!) is always a significant milestone in a restoration....looking forward to rebuilding this classic!

With a few hours available in the evening, I outfitted myself in Tyvek and the full face respirator to continue the interior sanding...

With deck prep nearly complete (cutting out and removing wet core, replacing wit new balsa, and then applying a new top skin of fiberglass), it was time to get some UV protection on those renewed portions of the deck. I included a couple photos of the application of 410 micro-light fairing compound as that final coat to fill in minor imperfections on the deck, and as I arrived to the shop I water washed and sanded the fairing compound to remove the high spots. Satisfied with the results, I vacuumed and solvent-washed the surfaces and prepped for application of a two-part epoxy primer.

With the two-part epoxy primer mixed, I set it aside for the 20-minute induction period and turned my attention to the application prep: gloves, assembling a foam roller and removing foam lint, paint tray, etc.

The induction period expired, and then I got to applying the epoxy primer. The results were great and set me to looking forward to the balance the deck and cockpit. Certainly there is work to come, but the small glimpse of newly rebuilt surfaces are motivating to say the leas.

Total Hrs: 1.25

With weather turning, the humidity on the decline, I turned my attention to prepping the interior for new paint...

One of those dirty jobs, suited up in Tyvek from head to toe.....taking the bottom down to its gelcoat.

Grabbing a couple hours on Thursday, I made my way to the shop and Biscuit for a first sanding and a second skim coat...

With the fiberglass patches installed as well as the new solid fiberglass core for the deck plate - which the removable motor mount attaches to - I turned to the fairing work...

With the old thru-hulls and seacocks removed, I planned to use the weekend work sessions to patch the hull...

I dipped below the water line to begin work on updating the thru-hull and (much needed) seacocks...

A quick visit in the later afternoon to continue fairing in the repair to the coachroof...

A quick stop by the shop to continue the progress on Biscuit - this time a skim coat on the coachroof repair....

With the shop's new roof completed, I was excited to get back on Biscuit and continue the work in prep for primer...

Getting back from vacation, and after addressing a few of the endless tasks required to get the shop up and running, I managed to get back on Biscuit with what seemed like the appropriate next step: sanding and fairing!

Continuation of filling the old toe and rub rail fastener holes....this session focuses on the port side of Biscuit...

As it was decided to fabricate new brightwork (rail, coaming boards, etc.), I took the opportunity on late Monday afternoon to countersink and epoxy fill the original fastener holes on the starboard side of Biscuit...

Continuation of the removal of the toe rails and rub rails- Port side edition...

Finding a block of time over the Memorial Day weekend, around visiting company, I managed to remove the starboard rails...

Carrying on the removal of the old paint scheme, I set out to complete the majority of the sanding on Biscuit. A turn to rebuilding could be felt on the winds...

Reaching completion on sanding the aft deck, cockpit and up to the companionway, I began removal of the old paint scheme on the coachroof and moved forward to the foredeck...

Other work prevented any significant time on Biscuit, but I did manage to apply a second round of fairing compound to the three primary cockpit repairs...

There were three areas in the cockpit that represented more involved repair efforts - not just filling and fairing. These areas, both port and starboard side decks where the winch bases are through-bolted, and the forward portion of the port cockpit seat where a through-hull emptied the bilge water. Having bilge water cascade onto your ankles is not ideal, and after speaking with the owner, it was decided to move this through-hull to the port topsides.

These three repair areas required some grinding, application of a couple layers of 1708oz fiberglass, and then an initial coat of fairing filler. So to that end, I broke out the Makita 1"-wide finger sander and ground tapers into the repair areas - essentially dishing out a gradual taper to accept the two layers of glass. With the tapers ground, I vacuumed and wiped the surface with a solvent. Next, I used a piece of plastic and traced patterns for two layers of 1708 each.

I took the patterns into the shop and cut out the small layers of glass. With the fiberglass ready, I mixed up some epoxy and wet out the surfaces of each repair area. I traced back to the shop and wet out each of the 1708 pairs. I then mixed some filler (406 and 407) into the epoxy and squeegeed a thin filler layer onto each of the repair surfaces, then applied the wet fiberglass. With the remaining thickened epoxy, I applied a first layer of fairing compound. To finish, I applied peel ply to reduce the need for surface decontamination and prep for sanding and further fairing. A quick working session to complete the month, and the cockpit is coming along nicely.

Total Hrs: 2

The grueling marathon of hand sanding the fiddly areas of the cockpit came to a conclusion in this work session....more sanding to be done, but a lot of the worst is over!

With the bulk of the open field sanded in the cockpit, it was unfortunately time to break out the precision tools....hands and fingers!

Sanding continues in the cockpit, with a focus on the port side...

Bringing the aft deck core repair to a fair surface...

The inevitable sanding work commences. The time has come to begin removing the existing paint surfaces, and so decided to start with the cockpit: aft deck and starboard side...

With a third layer of 1708 biaxial cloth, the top skin was completed on the aft deck. Fairing the area would begin, along with removal of the taff rail for structure work...

With the new core in place on the aft deck repair, it was time to apply the new top skin - ultimately 3 layers of 1708 biaxial cloth...

Aft deck core replacement, with the likely potential for more of the same (motor mount substrate is suspect); and interior organization and prep for work below...

Surveying Core Damage to the Poop Deck & Mast Stowage

Completing the Removal of Biscuit's Topsides Paint

Beginning the Removal of Biscuit's Topside Paint

Biscuit, Cape Dory Typhoon (Hull #466) Arrives

Biscuit is scheduled to arrive at the Northeast Florida shop sometime in mid-October on her own trailer. This ’74 Cape Dory Typhoon is a freshwater boat, with her captain hailing from my birth state, Alabama. The owner has provided for her maintenance, and taken great in effecting some deeper repairs, correcting issues requiring more than a bit of stainless polish.