Rick J: pics from TDB-17' you requested

R

RLLigman

Well-known member
They (Clark brothers) used a Cabot's semi-transparent stain to apply the camouflage patterns on their blinds. Someone on here with the specific newsletter Dean authored in-hand may actually be able to provide you the color numbers, or contact Tom Olsen and ask him what they are currently using. The new blinds use 1000D Cordura mil-spec in Tan 499 with a very heavy urethane double coat I was able to steer Tom to; better quality material and heavier, with the added benefit of lower acquisition cost per his statement. Nice folks

These interior pics show the Parker' Marsh Grass paint I rolled on in the interior of the boat against the contrasting tan Tuff-Coat heavy grit applied to the work deck. You will note the tape is still in place from the applications (2) over their base coat of primer. As I mentioned in our phone conversations, the primer "fish-eyes" on initial contact with the application surface, so just keep rolling it back out to a uniform coating and it will eventually lay down. As I said, Wearlon's Wetlander behaves the same way as well, which can be more than a little vexing, since you are working to apply it on the hull contact area with the boat up on blocks, while laying on your back. I get mildly nauseated in that position, so I am not real keen on extending the duration of time I have to spend in that position. If you go the Wearlon route, with that 60hp Suzuki on the transom, you may experience some sketchy side-slipping in turns, particularly on flat water. The jack plate may enable you to set the motor to "dig" a bit deeper and offset this. Dry, that boat should get up and nearly fly!

This is the earth yellow Rapco spray I mentioned. All other flat tans I have tried over the years are too flesh toned or far too pink.

After our conversation on your problems with your Sea Class electrical panel shorting-out via saltwater dripping on it. I am going to paint all my connections on the back of the panel with liquid electrical tape to protect them from condensation...


I opted for the tan Tuff-Coat so that the sun wouldn't heat the work deck up to the point of burning bare feet. I assume the Easter Shore is warmer than summers here...


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The first pic illustrates the blind color difference, original versus the tan 499. I used the extra aluminum pipe from the rain roof set-up from the old blind and picked-up another set of connectors via a canvas shop order here; cut a section and then Karen and I made a pattern to sew-up the spray shield, which I use fishing the boat on Lake Superior. The second pic is the boarding ladder I fabricated from 2" PVC filled with tire balance weights. Originally I ran traction strips in the splash well as the step-in spot, but often I just step on a section of the transom adjacent the motor, which also has a traction strip mounted. Steve is shorter and drops down on his right knee on a non-skid and steps on the coaming edge to get in. With those vertical stantion pipes since via the thumbscrews and the blind tubing reinforcement, you can steady yourself by dropping one or both hands on the blind as you step in.

The other things we discussed: cargo nets fore and aft to keep gear in place. The rear net is actually a bag from our old 4 Runner cargo area. I used the same metal hammock support clips that the decoy curtains employ to mount these; ordered from Hamilton Marine.

As I said in that PM, Sea Dog makes solid brass horn cleats like the ones you already have, fore and aft, if you want to mount any mid-ships for additional anchoring options. Use substantial area and thickness backing plates which you can make from the Starboard scraps you have access to.

You also can see where I installed the hard rubber clips we discussed on the underside of the coaming, to store my boat hook, bungee cord loops for the push-pole, and the color contrast of the tan Tuff-Coat versus Parker's Marsh Grass. One thing I didn't think to mention is that Lock, Stock and Barrel MAY be able to supply you with a better paint color match, closer to the original gel-coat color, since you are obligated to paint the boat. I don't know whether spraying the boat down with a couple of cans of adhesion promoter will benefit the application of Parkers of Lou's Flat Marine Enamel (FME). I did this on my TDB-14 and the paint held-up really well. Lou may be able to recommend a specific roller to generate the pebble finish you want on the boat as well as "coach" you on application techniques far better than I can.
 
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I don't know whether there is a limit to the file size, total, that I can add in a post, so I'll just separate these in a second reply.

This will give you another color contrast view of the Parker's Marsh Grass against the Tuff-kote Tan. The olive green is either Rustoleum spray or Rapco spray paint that I decided to not use. Additionally, it provides a view of one of the five waterproof six inch LED banks I installed on a separate circuit from the interior lights. I ripped a piece of scrap 1" dowel and secured it with 3M 5200 to protect the plastic light bank fixture from knees, swinging anchors, and dogs. I sank two stainless wood screws in via the backing after drilling pilot holes just to make sure it will take a blow and not break-off. You can also see the bulkheads I fabricated out of 3mm core and 3/4ounce CSM, "sandwich" fashion.

Now that you have had a chance to "experience" the joys of working with 5200, I am just trying to expand your exposure.


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You can see the hull side existing Aramid 49 Kevlar cloth in these two photos, extending back from bow's nose; as well as the fiberglass encases forward hull stringer sections. I laid a scrap over each stringer and then overlapped these with a second layer with the weave running at a 45 degree angle to the initial ply per instruction on laying Kevlar. I installed the bulkheads, plumbed them and anchored them in place through the forward work deck with mastic on the faces where they mated with the epoxy resin coated wood bracing on the work deck' underside that I installed, glued and clamped, until the epoxy set-up. I plumbed these to vertical and attached them to inboard faces of the hull stringer sections. I put three more layers of Kevlar down on the bottom of the compartment's inside hull side and then fabricated a drain tube out of PVC that I can rotate to enable the compartment to drain. As we discussed, the foam pours (2lb. density) were more for support to break ice and absorb collision impact than pure floatation. Even so, I installed more floatation than the total weight of cloth and resin I added to the boat.

The last photo contains the knurled rubber knob I bought from the link I posted in the PM to replace the wingnut on the electrical panel. I will add the link to the sign tab company I tracked down for the plates. I used Deck Lights for the LED circuit.

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I did contact Tom Olsen to suggest they change from Servus back to the quality Nexus mil-spec blind clamps and switch to two-way zippers on the rainroof. After hunting a season with the rainroof as-is, I am going to add four Velcro tabs to the side flaps on each outside edge and a pair fore and aft to secure these sections to the erected blind so that, when water pools on the roof, the panel doesn't simply sag until the water flows off, into the boat. I pulled the three battens I made for my old blind and I am fabricating another to install, held in place by a pair of Velcro fabric loops to support the roof against pooling water during a deluge. I installed addition Velcro last year to unzip the rain roof partially and then swing the suspended section up and secure it rather than have it hanging in the boat. Very nice and toasty to run by catalytic heater with this set-up. Wish I had this set-up when Steve Lewis and I hunted in constant rains for three days a couple of years back. He estimated dumping twenty-plus gallon out of his boat one morning prior to getting it to float free from where we had beached them the night prior.

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As you can readily note, the current rain roof design actually functions as a rain catcher in its current configuration. The webbing straps and clips are just not strong enough to keep tension of the panel as the rain falls on it, allowing it to pool and sag even more, rather than "shed" the moisture cascade.

IF you can't decide one way or the other on Wearlon Wetlander application. I would contact Tim Speight via PM and get his feedback, since he has it on one of his hulls, too. Pricey stuff, but it works well.

I ran through my notes from our phone conversations and PMs: First, as I said, I added the Kevlar for it crush resistance benefit. We rent cabins from a variety of owners when we hunt the outflow of Lake Superior; all are below the Rock Cut on the west side of Neebish Island. As I outlined, I hit a dead head running in darkness in that area with a Boston Whaler outrage with bad results to the boat hull and my crew years ago when I was working as a fishery biologist. Luckily cuts and broken fingers heal and the serious broken bones were mine. Since we hunt further away from the shipping channels, which are kept debris free by ship traffic passage, particularly in fall. We are often out in full darkness, as well as on open waters of Lake Superior and Michigan, all in sparsely populated areas. I want a boat that is likely going to remain intact if I do something stupid, hit floating debris, or collide with one of the thousands of chunks of dolomite limestone rocks and boulders strewn about the Bays de Noc and Epoufette to Pottagannising Bay on Lake Michigan and northern Lake Huron.

These provide views of the 12" wide swath of Kevlar I laid, with 1708 biaxial cloth over it, prior resurfacing and rolling two layers of Tuff-kote on. The second photo provides a better view of the LED bank's mounting and wire-in. The supply wire leads on these are gossamer-thin gauge wire, so be careful. I chose red so I would not lose my night vision.

I screwed-up the sequence...the first shot is a view of the Wetlander brown on the hull.

Please post-up some pics of your refurbishment work on you TDB classic. I ordered the thumb screws and the shrink wrap tubing for the blind support poles. Good suggestions!

I hope the boat provides you years of sound service.

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I beefed-up the bow hatch compartment's door,after I stripped the back side back to CSM by adding a layer of 5mm core mat, overlain with 3/4ounce CSM. I put a stainless pull in the hole as well...
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When you get the boat back from the transducer install, would you be willing to take some pics and post them to this thread? I have kicked around installing one in that small bilge well by the drain plug, but I would have to mount it on a fairing block to position it to vertical and I don't know how much signal clarity I would lose shooting through two different materials. I can "pull" the proper angle by working-off the transom/hull edge at the stern to get within a couple of degrees of vertical. I had a flasher unit I installed in my TDB-14' with the transducer mounted inside the boat, shooting the signal through a section of hull with no balsa, just solid fiberglass, it "behaved" fine as a sounder unit. Trout and salmon, particularly brown trout, followed by Chinook, are excellent "boat avoiders", so a fish finder used for inshore fishing is not really a high value resource...I know the fish are there, and what they tend to hit at this point in my life.

Ordered the rubber shrink wrap tubing for the support stanchions; thanks much,good idea, particularly when compared to road bike inner tubes I have been using! I save my flats still and use them as cushions on my bar ends on my two mountain bikes, so I still have a purpose for them. As I said, Tom Olsen is using a tubing with a smaller I.D. (greater wall thickness) for his new blinds (Steve Sanford, you may want to ask Kessler if he wants to beef his up via an order through them.), than Tony Homer's boats, but the same seamstress Team. Karen was quite impressed with their work. With two blinds and two storage covers, you are in a better initial position.
 
Lewis' summer neighbor's Bankes Freedom. Three duck hunts and a pleasure cruise or two in three years of ownership. Now a garage queen since he is on to deer management of his new dirt. View attachment JD Bankes.jpg Me with average size Chinook from Lake Michigan side. Fish do run up into the low 40s, but my fish have never tipped 30lbs.View attachment Faiport salmon.jpgJim McDonald's mate with a Green Bay brown trout trophy fish.View attachment 100MEDIA36IMAG0268 (1).jpgKane at 2.5YO in SE NoDak 2016.View attachment NoDak+field+2016.jpgView attachment Ruby #1.jpgView attachment Ruby.jpg Flynn's dam, Ruby at age 1.7 and again at age two prior her first breeding. The kennel I buy from has breeding rights to her, but she is northwest of Wichita with her owner's family. Her owner's two oldest sons guide. Her sire is Sempre Fi. Both Kane and Flynn are sired by Sempre's sire, Windancing Sailor's Warning with Majestic and Ruby Jewels as dams. within the Craighorn Bracken line. We just came back from a training session, prior your call, where we worked on honor and stay after a three month lay-off due to snow depth. It did not go well...one of those sessions where you keep at it to try and end it on a high note for them both. I am waiting for a breeding of her newest sire, Royal Marine Sniper, and Ruby. What I have learned after nine Labradors is that socialization of the puppies and clean health certificates for the sires over-rides everything else.
View attachment 20150819_140649.jpg An interior shot of JD's Freedom after Steve Lewis set it up completely for him. Two blinds (one open water gray, and advantage camo), boarding ladder, through hull transducer for the electronics, group 27 wet-cell marine batteries, and every other bell and whistle that Michael offers...to gather dust in a garage. I would guess somewhere in the next handful of years it will come up for sale.
 
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