Rebuilding the Benchmark Process

8/16/2019 Rebuilding the Benchmark Process

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THE BENCHMARK renovation

A VINTAGE 1967 CHRIS CRAFT CONSTELLATION AFT-CABIN CRUISER

Copyright By

Henri AubePenetanguishene, Ontario

May, 2016705-549-1350


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Table of Contents

Background – How did you ever get it to look so nice! ...................................... ............................................. ........................................... . 1

Through the Shop ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 3

Interim Repairs and Betterments ............................................................................................................................................................. 10

The Interior Challenge ............................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Mechanical Equipment ............................................................................................................................................................................. 23

Second refinishing of the hull ................................................................................................................................................................... 29

Step 1 Remove the existing finish ........................................ ............................................ ............................................ ..................... 31

Step 2 Remove the old seam compound.................................................... ............................................ ........................................... 32

Step 3 Find, mark and remove all deteriorated wood ........................................ ............................................. ................................... 34

Step 4 Prepare the repair areas to receive new wood ....................................... ............................................. ................................... 37

Step 5 Install the new wood .......................................... ............................................. ........................................... ............................. 38

Step 6 Fair the hull ........................................ ............................................. ........................................... ............................................ 39

Step 7 Preserve the hull seams ............................................ ............................................ ............................................ ..................... 41

Step 8 Seal the hull ....................................... ............................................. ............................................ ........................................... 42

Step 9 Prime time 1 ....................................... ............................................. ............................................ ........................................... 43

Step 10 Machine and shape the seams ....................................... ............................................. ........................................... .............. 44

Step 11 Seal the seams again ....................................... ............................................. ............................................ ............................ 46

Step 12 Caulk and radius the seams ............................................ ............................................. ........................................... .............. 49

Step 13 Apply primer coat 2 .......................................... ............................................. ........................................... ............................. 51

Step 14 Apply top coats .......................................... ............................................. ........................................... .................................... 52

Step 15 Repair and paint superstructure ...................................... ............................................. ........................................... .............. 54

Step 16 Mask and prep for stripes ......................................... ............................................ ............................................ ..................... 55

Step 17 Mount hardware and moldings ........................................ ............................................. ........................................... .............. 56

Launch, Admire and Celebrate ................................................................................................................................................................ 57


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Rebuilding the BENCHMARK Page 1

NOTE: Although some photographs portrait a radar dome, the boat no longer has radar or chartplotter installed. New

owners can install up to date equipment to suit their boating areas.

Background How did you ever get it to look so nice

This story begins in 1967 when a 1967 Chris Craft Constellation was delivered to a buyer in Toronto and christened Jack’s Joy. Not much is known of the next 10 years, but the boat was sold in the very late 70’s and re-named the Crown Royal. It was berthed in acovered slip on Lake Simcoe by its new owner at Crate’s Marina in Keswick Ontario.

In 1983, the current owners purchased the boat through Crate Marine Brokerage and assumed the slip rental in Keswick We began

using the boat on Lake Simcoe, gradually widening our cruising radius to include the Trent- Severn waterways, Lake Couchiching andeventually to Georgian Bay for summer holidays as we gained boating skill and experience.

In the early 90’s, the boat was now over 25 years old, and beginning to show s igns of deterioration. These included some soft spots onthe decks, transom corner discoloration, paint peeling in a few locations, worn and damaged vinyl deck coverings and other subtlesigns indicating that repairs were needed. Following consultations with other boat owner friends and a very knowledgeable Mr. Cratehimself, the decision was made to “put it through the Shop” over the winter of ’92.

This was the occasion of its first major repair/re-finish, and it certainly brought the boat right back up to snuff, as the photos and workdescriptions of the next section illustrate.


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The BENCHMARK in the early 90’s


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Through the Shop

Instead of hauling out and winterizing in the slip, the Benchmark was lifted by the Travel-Lift, deposited on a trailer and backed into theshop bay to be blocked and supported by jack-stands.

Over the winter months, the boat was stripped, railings and hardware removed, and toe rails and moldings had to go in order that the

Nautalex vinyl deck cladding could be removed for access to the decks. The boat was repaired in various sections by adding marineplywood decking and new planks and moldings to replace any and all wood showing any deterioration. While repairs, sanding, fairingand re-assembly prep were going on over the coldest winter months, the heat was kept on in the building to dry out the boat in order toachieve the ideal moisture balance in the boat prior to painting. Here are some photos of the process:

This is the boat before the first time throughthe shop at Crate’s Marin Sales in Keswick.

It’s great to start with a boat with such greatlines.

One part of our decision to renew the boatis that we saw nothing on the water that wewould trade this boat in for rather than fixit….Good decision, judging by the 30 +years we’ve enjoyed it so far.


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Some of the planking and rub rail beingreplaced. Soft decks were also found.

Of course the complete railing assemblyand stanchions, as well as the toe rails andvinyl had to be removed to gain access to

all the repair locations.


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The finished planking and decking repairs areevident here. Over 150 hours have been spentgetting it to this point. Plus I was doing some of thework as well….big job.

Boat has been masked for painting.

The hull and decks are being filled and smoothed.

Primer has been applied to the superstructure.

Everything has been epoxy sealed. Modern Sikaflexsealants were used throughout the re-assemblyprocess to really turn this boat into a more moderncreation than what had entered the shop.

In short, the boat was now upgraded to being able tofunction in the outside environment….no need for acovered slip and protection, because of thethoroughly modern methods and materials used tore-bed and seal all the parts as the boat went backtogether.


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Hull has been primed, final sanding and seam shaping isbeing done at this stage.


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First coat of Awlgrip applied…..looking pretty awesome!

Second coat of Awlgrip applied….The blue accent stripes andbootstripe are then applied to the topsides and cabin.

In total, there were 2 primer coats, 2 top coats white, onetopcoat blue and a final coat of Awlgrip ClearCoat over all…

Looking pretty gleaming awesome!


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Launch day…..(and of course Billing Day….Ouch!)

And this is the exterior of the great looking machine we enjoyeduntil the late oughts….(2007), a very respectable relatively trouble-free period of 15 years.

See how the new bow pulpit enhances the appearance?


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Interim Repairs and Betterments

Once the boat was refinished, we decided that we were ready for new horizons, and moved the boat permanently to outdoor open slipson Georgian Bay, where we proceeded to enjoy it with few repairs needed until the early 2000’s.

The weak points on a wooden boat are very similar to those on a car. They tend to go at the seams and in the corners. A slow leak

started in the starboard transom corner, so when we pulled the boat, sure enough we found deteriorated wood…..turns out that somesawdust from the early 90’s repair had not been cleaned out, and that’s where the trouble started….so the bottom transom and rear-most chine planks were removed, the lower corner posts replaced, new planking installed, and the swim platform re-installed tocomplete the repair.


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Ever notice the big square cleats on the back deck? They are in the shape of a post with a pin running through them. They are madeout of a hollow brass casting that is polished and chromed. They are held on to the boat by large and long bolts passing through thewhole deck and secured with large washers and nuts in the lazarette compartment.

Solar Pumps….that’s what they are!!!!! Turns out that 40 and 41 Connies have a slight lift at the aft deck, which results in there being apool of water around these 2 cleats, at least most of the time. No matter how well they are sealed to the deck, the sun warms the hollowcastings up really hot during the day (pressurizing the casting, expelling some air….hot air expands)….and then creating a vacuum asthey cool down overnight. Slowly by slowly, water is drawn in by the vacuum, then partially expressed out through the bolt holes duringthe day in minute amounts until it cumulatively is enough to cause problems like this:

The problem. I repaired it twice and it kept coming back…So itwas obviously time for a new approach! When we removed them,

sure enough they were full of water….This time I was there to seeit personally, and able to plan a solution.

The first thing I did was to flip the cleats over and cut a vent hole inthe base with a hacksaw. The saw kerf is only just as wide as thehacksaw blade but prevents vacuum or pressure from forminginside the hollow casting. A small hole drilled into the castingwould work just as well.

Next I had a scupper installed to drain the deck overboard so no

water could accumulate.

Lastly, the cleats were mounted on a teak block to ensure theproblem would never recur.


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New deck and framing installed.

Teak Blocks under cleats.

Scuppers through toe rails drain deck.

Problem solved!


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New top planks installed in transom…..

bleached, stained and varnished.

Meanwhile, while expert Merv at Nautical Masters was completing the deck, I was busy taking the other “corners” apart so I could cleanthem out, repair as necessary, treat them with preservative and renew the joints with modern materials and improved fasteners.

The outer chine corners were released, and the chine plankingremoved on both sides enabling a very close inspection andframing repairs. Some deteriorated and cracked gussets andframes were found and replaced. The whole area was thoroughlycleaned out, treated with multiple doses of preservative and thenpainted up in preparation for re-assembly using our old friendSikaflex.

The original caulks and bedding compounds were oil-based, andalthough they last a good long time, it’s not forever. Almost allleaks and deterioration can be traced back to these failing oil-based materials…..That’s why I don’t use them inrepairs/renovation work like this.


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New frames built and installed……and the chines re-fastened to the frames….but not with screws but with stainless carriage bolts, andsealed with modern Sikaflex sealant.


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Carriage boltfasteners result in an immensely stronger joint/corner along bothchines.

Oak-Reinforced frame at lifting location to strengthen the hull.


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Travel-Lift straps now force against oak blocks at reinforcedlocations rather than softer mahogany willy-nilly locations. Muchless likely to damage the boat during handling.

Cover it up and put it to bed for the winter ….

And launch it in the spring…..Nice work, Nautical Masters!


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Nice looking symetrical modernized classic yacht


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The Interior Challenge

The boat was looking marvelous on the outside, and felt even more solid because of the stiffening of the hull with improved fasteners

and stiffer chines. We began to think about the bridge and the interior at that point.

Basically, over the course of 4 spring seasons, the bridge area was stripped, sanded re-stained and re-finished, followed by the forwardcabin, main cabin and finally the aft cabin. One area per year was completed and then the boat enjoyed for the summer. All wallpaperand carpets/flooring were also renewed.

New curtains andbedspreads with pillows were created by sewing machine and Mr.Wallet.


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Essentially, the old Avocado Green-inspired finish was stripped and scraped away throughout the boat to bare wood. Everything wassanded, stained, sealed, coated with 3 coats of Pettit Captain’s varnish then finished with Pettit interior semi-gloss varnish.

ALL the hardware was taken off, cleaned and polished. Everything was taken apart and cleaned of old neglect and grime. The boatlooks feels and smells fresh from the factory. Cushions were all replaced. Carpet is very recent.


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New industrial/commercial-grade (….54” wide----no seams…) wallpaper, new carpet, new upholstery and cushions throughout.


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Mechanical Equipment

We replaced the original 327 CID 210 HP engines with a pair of rebuilt 350 CID 260HP engines back around 1990. Since then, those 2have also been replaced; therefore we are on our 3rd set of engines. We like to use the boat!

The engine on the left in the picture above was hand- built from all new parts on a reconditioned short block by a friend andprofessional diesel mechanic. It runs like a charm and has around 1,400 hours on it. The motor it replaced had blown a head gasket,ingested some uncompressible water, and, well, you know the rest.

The other one developed a blow-by problem and although running OK, was simply replaced with a brand new GM Goodwrench factorycrate long block engine around 2008, and currently has around 700 hours on it. As you can see the exhaust manifolds were replacedwith new ones, and while we had the whole shebang out of the boat, that transmission was also rebuilt with all new clutches and plates.

Carburetors have had rebuild kits installed. The ignition system has been upgraded to electronic ignition using the existing distributorsin order to preserve the use of mechanical Tachs. Ignition cables, caps and rotors are all fresh or new. The engines run perfectly. Oneammeter and one temperature gauge do not work, but the rest of the instrument panel is functional.


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A rebuilt Onan 6.5 KW genset replaced the old Kohler in the late 90’s and runs like a charm.


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The Genset is installed forward in the engine room, very accessible for service. House bank consists of 4 golf cart batteries for 440 AHcapacity. The heavy marine grade Heart Interface inverter/charger functions are controlled from the electrical panel. The inverter israted at 2,000 watts, with an integrated 90 AMP (approx.) charger for very fast charging.

The inverter/charger is a very smart machine. It incorporated an automatic transfer switch. Provided it is properly set up, this meansthat as soon as the boat is plugged in to shore power, the transfer switch makes shore power the source for the boat, automatically.

Conversely, as soon as shore power is removed by unplugging or switching the power to OFF on the electrical panel, the unit switchesthe boat power source to the inverter. If the charger is in automatic ON setting, as soon as either the genset or shorepower energizesthe boat, the unit immediately starts charging the batteries. The whole setup is matched for situations where we can anchor out forabout a week at a time, and run the genset an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening and fully replace the 200 AH per day weusually consume with the LED anchor light, refrigerator, freezer, coffee maker, computers, internet hub, toasters, lights, water pumpand other accessories.

A week out is the limit for provisioning….because of the need for fresh fruit, vegetables, wine, fresh water (50 gallon fresh water tank),and waste (28 gallon waste tank capacity). We’ve spent 2 full summers on the boat, and the system and capacities work just fine for ourpurposes.


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The Benchmark at anchor for a week inthe Benjamin Islands in Georgian Bay’sNorth Channel, but it has cruisedextensively too.

This boat is very comfy for extended

travel. The 2011 summer trip:


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Another couple of good photos showing the Benchmark at anchor for a week in the Benjamin Islands…one of the top cruising groundsin the world.

The boat is equipped with the best modern sanitation system available, composed of VacuFlush heads powered by a (2010) SealandHTS-VG-28 vacuum/tank system. Works great…..no funky smells….pleasant boat…..happy crew.


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Second refinishing of the hull

As every long-term boat owner knows, if you want to keep the boat in tip-top condition for a long time, there really is no such thing as amaintenance-free yacht.

Father Time and Mother Nature are constantly working at your pride and joy, but yacht owners are not defenseless. Timely

maintenance, paying immediate attention to small problems before they become big problems, and a focus on quality work can be veryeffective in holding the elements at bay.

In 2007, after taking a long hard look at the boat, an assessment was made that it was time to strip and re-paint the boat. The keyreason for this decision was not so much that the paint had failed, but rather that much of the original, oil-based caulking compoundsused on the hull seams 40 years ago was losing its elasticity. It was drying out and cracking, exposing the hull to unseen dangers.

Here is a picture illustrating the problem:

Notice the cracked compound between the top two planks.The caulk is no longer effective, but most importantly, any

water landing or laying on that hairline crack is going to besucked into the joint through capillary action, all the way backto the batten, and start the process of deteriorating the wood.

Chris Craft, to their immense credit, built these boats byfitting the planks to the hull frames, but then removed eachand every one to seal, prime and paint all 6 sides before finalinstallation.

So the paint seal on the plank surfaces will slow things down,

but eventually, in the presence of water, deterioration willbegin.

This and dirt trapping moisture in corners and in seams arethe biggest threats to wooden boats bar none. Keep themclean and sealed and the boats can last for centuries.


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Instead of taking it to a shop for the job, I decided I would put my by now many years of experience to work and tackle the job myself. After all, most of the process is not particularly skilled although labor intensive, I had the time, the knowledge and was able to rent ashop space on reasonable terms for the time required to do the job.

This will document the steps taken in the hull restoration in the interest of recording and explaining the process, pitfalls and techniquesused to achieve some pretty spectacular end results.

Hopefully this document will prove helpful to others planning or doing their own boat restorations.

I hasten to add that this is not the only way the work can be done, but simply my chosen path to achieve my goals for the preservationof this fine motor yacht we’ve taken so much pleasure in over the last 30 + years.


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Step 1 Remove the existing finish

The first step is to remove all the hardware, moldings, emblems and lights possible to preserve them from damage. The use of smallzip-lock bags labelled and taped to any removed object at this stage will make re-installation a breeze at the end. Take the time to dothis step right…it will be repaid in spades.

In order to strip the hull of 6 coats of an extremely tough epoxy paint system, I tried any and all stripping chemicals I could lay my handson, including professional automotive and aircraft paint strippers. Nothing worked satisfactorily, so as a last attempt before grinding itoff, I tried a heat gun.

Eureka, it worked, and although slow because of the quantity and quality of the paint, I was able to scrape the paint off over the courseof 14 days. The remaining patch of paint you see on the next picture represents most of a day’s work…but it all got done.


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Step 2 Remove the old seam compound

Next, we needed to rid the hull of the root cause of its problems, that is the job of removing all the old seam compound originally meantto seal the hull between individual mahogany planks. This material had by now lost all its elasticity, had dried out, was crackingeverywhere and was as hard as cement. Several approaches were tried, and in the end my friend, mentor and inventor Merv atNautical Masters Inc. devised and made a special tool to carry a saws-all blade wedged in a housing with adjustable depth capability. I

went through a dozen of these blades, but with the help of the heat gun to soften the compound, it became malleable enough to removewithout herculean effort and without having to resort to a router for the job (and all the guides and gouging dangers that that approachentails….hand tools are best for amateurs!).

Notice the before and after shots of the blue seam above. The new “rake” does an excellent job of cleaning out the failed seamcompound.


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Every seam on the hull was cleaned out using the newly invented rake tool. The depth adjustment meant I only reached the bottom ofthe seam and no further, preventing damage to the batten behind the planks. You can tell by the residue spread by the tool’s shoe,(because it all comes out as a powdery dusty mess….wear a good dust and vapor mask with new cartridges if you are going to do this),which seams have been “done” in the picture to the right.

During this process, you become intimately familiar with every single plank of the hull, and it’s the right time to mark any bad wood thatwill need to be removed and replaced to complete the above-water hull overhaul. And that of course will become Step 3.


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Step 3 Find mark and remove all deteriorated wood

By feel, by color, by smell, deteriorated wood needs to be identified for removal, and a clear plan for replacement is needed beforegoing further…..one does not want to remove a 9 foot plank to discover that only 6 footers are available at a reasonable price. Miss thisstep at your own risk, as they say!

Use whatever method appeals, but mark the areas that require repairs clearly and take them apart for renewal.


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You might find surprises such as this one:

See that sawdust in the photos above???? Well that’s been laying there since the boat was built in ’67.

How do we know this?

Look again…the sawdust which held the moisture which led to the eventual plank deterioration after an amazing 40 years, mind you, isdirectly below a window frame installed at the original construction time. The dust had to be there before, as it is impossible to fall therelater because the path is blocked by a window frame spanning from the inside to the outside of the boat.

Somebody forgot to clean up after themselves!

It is what it is, the warranty and the company are both expired, so we deal with it.


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Carefully review the whole hull, make decisions on whether or not action is required, and then execute the master plan. The plankidentified on the right was a bit dark but not bad enough to require replacement. A good preservative treatment will be applied andspecial attention paid to sealing the area to extend its life.


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Step 4 Prepare the repair areas to receive new wood

Even though the deteriorated wood is gone, there are inevitably spores of bad things left behind. So it is a great practice to clean up theareas through scraping, sanding and vacuuming, and then to apply a wood preservative to any exposed wood before sealing andpainting everything before new wood is installed. Clear wood preservative can be found and used to great advantage. It is invisible butvery effective. The material I used was called Zinc Napthanate. The green stuff we usually see is a close cousin, Copper Napthanate,

and works very well if you can’t find the other product.

Prepare as good a foundation as you canfor the new wood. You don’t want to dothis again for a long, long time.

Notice the long, flexible plastic clear tubingthat you can buy at Home Depot. It’s theperfect size to extend a ShopVac hose andto snake down the inside of the hull for a

thorough cleaning, anywhere you haveaccess like this.

The planks you see have already beenfitted, drilled, and fastened to the boat for atrial fitting and final adjustment. Then theyare removed and take a few days off whilethey are treated with preservative, sealed,and painted twice on 6 sides prior to finalinstallation. The same has been done tothe frames and battens.


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Step 5 Install the new wood

I’m just not handy enough, nor do I have the tools for this, so I enlisted a master craftsman ( Check outhttp://www.nauticalmasters.com/index.htm for more examples of restoration genius).

http://www.nauticalmasters.com/index.htmhttp://www.nauticalmasters.com/index.htmhttp://www.nauticalmasters.com/index.htm


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Step 6 Fair the hull

I thought I was now ready to start priming and painting and boating!

But….Not……So….. Fast…..On Merv’s absolute insistence, the hull needed to be completely faired in his opinion, so that the boatcould look its very best. He could either lend me the tools for the job, at my peril, or take a couple of days out of his busy schedule to

help me out yet again…….Wisely, I chose option 2.


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This step is especially messy. Check out the top right hand photo.

About 20 lbs. of dust were created and had to be cleaned up from everywhere.

Notice how the boat superstructure has been bagged.

Even the shop area containing the ship had to be sectioned off with large tarps hung from ceiling to floor, such was the quantity ofsanding dust created by the high speed disks and large wheels used to remove almost all the usual lumps and imperfections inherent ina big old wooden hull built in a different era.

The rough float sanding was then finished off using a pro 6 inch autobody air powered sander to further refine the surface.

This is the basis of how the Benchmark looks to-day. Its hull shape is both exquisite and exceptional because we took the few extradays and dollars to do the project justice in terms of preparing the surfaces to be finished.

As usual, absolutely spot-on advice from Nautical Masters.

http://www.nauticalmasters.com

http://www.nauticalmasters.com/http://www.nauticalmasters.com/http://www.nauticalmasters.com/


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Step 7 Preserve the hull seams

To protect the renovation for as long as possible, the hull seams were treated with Zinc Napthanate. Anyone doing this must rememberthey are working with poison, and must wear protective clothing, rubber or nitrile gloves and a full face respirator withappropriate cartridges. In this case, the preservative was applied by hand spray and took about a gallon of material. Remember…..it’sa poison….protect yourself fully before working with this material.

Apply preservative toall seams, includingthe vertical butt joints.

Concentrate on gettingthe material to theback of the seams, allthe way to the battensbehind the planks.

Saturate the wood.Two applications wereused on this hull.


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Step 8 Seal the hull

Remembering that all the seams had been gouged out by a saw blade, destroying any previous seal, special attention is paid toensuring this area is re-sealed when applying the excellent Pettit 2018 Old Salem clear sealer to the hull.

First, take a fully loaded brush and

carefully gob the sealer into eachseam.

Then apply the sealer with a smallroller, as you would normally do.

Finally, brush the sealer in vigorouslyto ensure it gets into the bottom of allthe grain.


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Step 9 Prime time 1

The first coat of primer is applied to the hull plank faces. No need to work it into seams yet, because more machining work will beneeded later to make the seams straight and even. The main purpose of this primer coat is to enable you to see and deal withremaining defects and imperfections in the hull.

You can now see all the little divots and imperfections, as well as how good a job was done in sealing to the bottom of the plank seams.Shiny reflections from there are good.

This is the stage where you can use a fine fairing putty such as Pettit’s Z-Spar glazing putty to fill and sand smooth any imperfections.The putty is hard to find, however.

You can make your own by going to the drugstore and purchasing some med-grade talcum powder. It has no scents or fillers in it. Youdon’t want baby powder. Then you simply mix some into a small quantity of primer and Voila!, you have DIY putty that is guaranteedcompatible with the primer …..because it IS the primer.


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Step 10 Machine and shape the seams

Even if seams were perfectly even before, they won’t be now. This is because the fairing process has altered the thickness of theseams somewhat by removing wood is that was especially “proud” from the boat. Therefore it is advisable to re-machine the seams toeven everything out so the boat will look its best when the project is complete.

The first thing to do is to make up a V-block to help shape the seam and chamfer the edges. Make it from hardwood so it will keep itsshape through the project. A deeper V shape gives you better control of the width dimension. Ensure the sanding will not reach thebatten and destroy the seal. Make it as long as the sheets of sandpaper you will be using. In this example, a stout sanding belt waspurchased and cut to fit. It really is very tough because of the fabric backing and the strong resins used to adhere the grit to the belt.

Lasts forever compared to ordinary sandpaper.

Length will also help control depth of cut, the longer the less aggressive the cut, the more control. This block is about 9 inches long.

Make up a gauge for your width target. I used a Vernier caliper, but any gauge will do the trick in helping achieve consistent seams.


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Don’t forget to clean things out again, removing all the sanding dust to prepare for the next step.


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Step 11 Seal the seams again

Machining each and every seam destroyed a small portion of the sealing step taken earlier.

Re-sealing the plank edges will restore the sealing integrity to the planks.

A second reason to do a great job here is that the seams will next be filled with Sikaflex caulking. A little-known property of this materialis that although it will stick to raw wood, it will stick 10 times better than that if is applied to a sealed non-porous surface. A second goalof this step is therefore to provide that non-porous surface as a caulking base.

Time to make up another tool, a small 1 inch brush is cut back to a V shape, but left thick to carry lots of product. Working in sections,sealer is applied liberally to the seams and plank tops to make certain that a full seal is achieved.


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While the sealer is still wet, blow it in so it gets into every nook and cranny possible.

Then, using a solvent-dampened cloth, wipe away the excess. The other photo shows a nice reflection from the seambottoms…..exactly the result needed for best caulk adhesion.


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The hull is starting to look very, very good by this point:


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Step 12 Caulk and radius the seams

Warm up the tubes of white Sikaflex by leaving them in the sun awhile, otherwise a very sore forearm will result because there are a lotof feet of seams to fill squeezing the trigger of a high quality gun.

After paying in the caulk in a seam, establish a consistent depth and radius by making up and using yet another tool, created by usingthe crushed dollar-store teaspoon-in-a-vise trick.


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There will be overflow onto the plank faces which can be cleaned up with a putty knife and a solvent-dampened rag. It is important notto leave any caulking lumps because they will show as uneven areas in the finished painted hull.

By now the hull is looking fantastic.


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Step 13 Apply primer coat 2

From here on, the project becomes a straightforward painting project. The quality of the results are, as usual, in direct proportion to thetime and effort paid in preparation.


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Step 14 Apply top coats

The topcoats were applied using my standard method….Roll on the paint using a small foam roller to ensure as even a coating aspossible, followed by a vigorous brushing using a good wide high quality 4 inch or wider brush. The final finish of each coat is achievedby a very light tip-off with a 4 inch foam brush. This eliminates almost all brush marks. Pettit White Semi-Gloss is the perfect match.


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Step 15 Repair and paint superstructure

At this point in the job, the cabin was stripped, and a few more problems found and repaired. The same preparation and finishingprocesses were applied before the accent and boot stripes were painted on the boat.


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Step 16 Mask and prep for stripes

At the very beginning of the project, I had taken a Dremel tool with a small wheel and cut a very thin saw kerf into the hull at one or twofoot intervals all along the length of all the stripes. Using those marks as a guide enabled a fairly straightforward masking process to re-establish the lines in their original positions.


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Step 17 Mount hardware and moldings

This is where the screws in the baggies trick pays off by providing every piece with exactly the right type, quantity and length of fastenerrequired for replacement.


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Launch, Admire and Celebrate


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The Benchmark was in the Thousand Islands area over the summers of 2010 and 2011, and was entered in the Antique BoatMuseum’s Annual Boat Show competition. Benchmark won her category both years. The following pictures show the boat on the MaryStreet dock adjacent to the Antique Boat Museum during the show in 2011.


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The following are scans of the original 1967 Chris Craft catalogue pagesthat were devoted to the 40 foot Constellation model:


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70/70

The BenchmarkThe best of both worlds:

A thoroughly modern and capable Yacht….

A true Classic Wooden vessel rebuilt to provide all the comforts and charm of yesteryear in a long lasting modern structure that willremain easy to maintain. The “heavy lifting” has been done!

Comments and suggestions welcomed. The author can be reached:

[email protected] 705-549-1350
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]

Documents

Rebuilding the Benchmark Process