Another Bellboy 21

[TheBronze]

Not trying to get into a pissing match or anything, but any boat will exhibit the same behavior whether it is full of foam or air. The only difference is that water cannot displace the foam if the deck or hull is breeched. Having it on the side may help water not stay on the sides if the boat goes sideways, but if you are that far over you are going to lose it anyway. The only way to keep a boat hull down is if the center of gravity is below the waterline. In sailboats they accomplish this by heavy keels. On a runabout, not so much!

I guess the real question is, how does the other 21 handle in the rough?

[Guest]

I realize there are three reasons why I'm more sensitive about this than some people. Yes, I am a bit hard-core on floatation and stablity when swamped. It's not actually that difficult to do, and I don't understand why more people don't do it.

First, I'm either intrepid or foolhardy. I plan on going to some out-of-the way places where rescue might be slow. If I were primarily a lake boater I wouldn't think about this.

Second, I have twice in my life been in cold water, both when I was very young. Once when I fell through the ice crossing a stream, and once when I was in a small plane which crashed into a partially frozen lake. The first was very uncomfortable, and the second should have been fatal. It would have been if we hadn't crashed into the shallows, or if the rescuers were say ten minutes slower. So I I know what it's like to be wet, cold, and trapped. It's not going to happen again to me or my loved ones if I can prevent it.

Third, my brother-in-law, since passed away, and several of this sons were professional fisherman. Some years back he and one of the sons got into bad weather off the Washington coast, I gather about 40 miles out. They were lucky, because the boat started rolling badly and they knew they were in trouble. They had just gotten their survival suits on when it flipped. A couple minutes earlier and they would have been just statistics.

Later I'll try a rough stability calculation in swamped condition. Maybe I'm all wet?

[TheBronze]

The idea is to be dry, not wet!

[Guest]

I haven't posted in a while. I've had some family health issues consuming a lot of my time, plus the rainy season doesn't help. I put down the second floor layer. The cockpit is now 24mm of 1088 Meranti and the cabin is 16mm.

The cabin sides have plywood bonded to the glass, both to add stiffness and to accept screws to attach some fiberglass trim pieces. Much of it was rotted away- see the first two pictures. There are also plywood strips on the forward section. So I pulled that all off and replaced with more of the 12mm Meranti. All surface coated with epoxy, of course. Didn't fit as well as it should have. I used the old pieces as a template. I should have rough-cut the sides, clamped in place, and marked from the outside. It's not bad enough to pull it off and redo, but I'll need some epoxy putty to make it flush when I install the windows.

I know I'm not the first person to notice this, but I never have enough clamps. I have something like thirty of several different types. I could have used three times that many gluing it to the cabin sides.

I also bought a Homestand alcohol stove off eBay and rebuilt it. I need to be able to actually cook, and this is my opinion of the right way to do that without risking and explosion or fire.

I've had the boat covered with one of those cheap blue tarps. The second one has about two dozen holes worn through it, and I know if I buy a new one the first good windstorm will do the same thing to it. I keep getting water in the boat, but I really want to be able to keep the interior dry before I start building the new interior. I could put in the windows and make it watertight, but I'd rather paint first. And I can't paint yet- it's still too much rain.

So I decided I need to make a good fitted cover. I've never sewn before, but I got some good marine canvas and a sewing machine, and I'm the middle of that now.

Now here's where I risk being thrown out of the club. I plan to use this boat mostly in the ocean, and there's a lot of fog around here. I need radar for safety reasons. That means I need a radar arch. I know it doesn't fit the classic look, but I need it. And it makes no sense to make a cover that wont fit over the arch, so...

I figured out what I wanted, sketched it, and had a local welder put it together for me. I think he did a good job. It probably weighs less than twenty pounds and it's strong enough I could do chinups. Well somebody my size but in better shape could. I figure it will give me a place to attach a couple outriggers for trolling, and will be a handhold when going forward, and with a couple battens I can make a simple cover to keep out of the rain.

It's not bolted in yet, but the last picture shows what it looks like.

I've started planning the paint. I've decided on white and two shades of blue. I'm going to try a new water-based polyurethane Sherwin-Williams makes called acrylon 100. Picked up a gallon today, and I'm going to try it first on the trim pieces around the windows. That will let me see how good a gloss it has and how hard it is to apply.

I'll report in when I have results.

[TheBronze]

Good to see your progress. The window wood was pretty rotten!

I doubt you will get kicked from the club for your radar mast. Although, I don't suggest putting it on the side of the boat as you have it (or was that just someplace to put it so you could take a picture?) If you mount it on the center of the roof, it will retain that classic look and not obstruct your vision or cause docking problems.

Your paint... Hm. I'd be cautious. With salt use, it is going to take a beating and may not stand the test of time. As big of a girl as she is, it would suck to have to strip and paint it again. I reccomend a proven marine paint. It may cost more up front, but you'll be happier in the long run.

[Guest]

That's not a mast. It's an arch. Sits on each side deck. I'll post a picture from a different angle to make it clear. But it's BIG.

The issue with paint isn't cost. It's roughly $200 for a gallon of paint plus a pint of hardener. A gallon of Pettit Easypoxy is like $120 locally. The issue is odor. One of the reasons we moved to Eureka is that my wife has pretty serious asthma. If I painted with regular polyurethane she'd have to stay in a hotel for at least a day after I painted, especially if I sprayed. Maybe 12 hours if I rolled & tipped. I'd go with the West Systems stuff, but that's definitely hard to work with, and needs a clearcoat to get a gloss. The acrylon 100 isn't supposed to.

The local Sherwin-Williams guy seems to know his stuff, and got the official expert advice on primer. I bought one gallon, and I'm going to do several tests first. It's supposed to be good stuff- their test data says it's harder than their solvent-based polyurethane. So I have my fingers crossed.

[TheBronze]

An arch? Wow. Seems kind of big then. You should be able to mount a dome on just one of those things as burly as it is!

[Guest]

This is what I mean when I say radar arch. It's surprisingly light, but not unobtrusive.

[Skagitman]

Nice Job On The Bumblebee Ed

I just now saw this string and see that you are the massochist who took on the restoration of the "Bumble-Bee" as it was known in the boat club for many years. Many have tried their hand at the restoration of this old girl, but soon became disenchanted after realizing how far gone she was and how much it would really take to do it right.

It sure looks like you are doing it right! You are a brave soul.

My family now owns a 43 year old 21' Bellboy. It's remakable how much changed in the construction methods over that first decade. Bellboys are wonderful boats. Once finished you will have one of the coolest classics out there.

I was the one who originally spotted your Bellboy abandoned in a driveway and hidden from view due to the overgrown foliage. Who knows how many times I drove past her before finally spotting her when the wind was blowing just right and the blue tarp caught my attention.

I found her in University Place (near Tacoma Washington) about 10 years ago. She was in horrible condition back then as the previous owner had not properly covered her and had allowed her to fill with water.

Totally infested with mud wasps it was quite the battle (armed with hornet spray) inspecting the old girl as I recall. There were no windows, but the window frames were all there. The interior was completly thrashed and disassembled. It also had a makeshift hardtop on it. The transom and floor were mush.

Even so, I could see that she was once a very cool big old cruiser. I knew she was more than I wanted to take on (having just completed a full restoration on a 20' Skagit), so I told my buddy Patrick McKay about her. I knew he had always wanted a big Bellboy.

It was he who purchased her originally from that driveway and drug her home to Aberdeen, WA. He is also the one who painted her yellow and black. He would be a good source for additional history, although I don't know how to get hold of him anymore?



Good luck, and God's speed!

Doug Griffith

[Guest]

Doug- Thank you very much! I have many times wondered about its histor and what color it originally was. Now I know. And thanks for the compliments. I know what you mean about the wasps. There were still some living in it when I got it, but they've all been evicted or executed now.

I've actually got the trickiest bits done. I'm very happy with the basic structure. I'm trying not to think too deeply about either schedule or cost, but if I figure I have a decent chance of having her ready for power by mid summer.

Now if I can just find a great deal on recent low-emissions power.


Thanks again.

[Guest]

It's been several months since I posted. I haven't done much on the boat, thanks to family issues, cashflow, and winter rain, but I have done some work. I got extremely frustrated trying to keep the interior dry using tarps, so I got a sewing machine and some good boat canvas and made a fitted cover. First thing I've ever sewed with a machine. Not a work of art, but it keeps the interior dry. It actually fits a bit better than this picture, but at the moment the radar arch is about two feet aft of its correct position. I'm sanding around the topsides, and keep moving it around as I work.

The decks are done and I've put down one layer of tape to prevent wear. I've done a lot of filleting and taping- I've used up something like 125 yards of 2 inch tape and I'm not quite done. I haven't posted any pictures because there really isn't anything interesting to see. I've taped the hull and top layups together on the inside. Apparently the topsides was just set on the hull layup with some epoxy between and clamped. No bolts and nothing on the inside. Attached is a photo of the joint between the ceiling "reinforcements". They don't connect to each other, or to anything on the sides. When I sanded the top of the cabin you can see the pattern of the reinforcements, and see things have sagged just a few thousandths of an inch. So I filleted and taped all these joints, and I'm planning to so some more work to tie all the various reinforcements together strcturally.

In an earlier post I said I was planning on using this neat water-based paint from Sherwin-Williams called Acrolon 100. It's a two-part polyurethane. Before using it on the hull I figured I better do some tests, so I painted the interior trim pieces. This is the first time I've tried roll & tip painting. I'm not great yet, but the last application was a lot better than the first. I think I worked out about the right dilution with water to get it to level nicely without running. It has a good gloss, is easy to work with, water cleanup, no nasty smell, and is really hard. A really excellent paint.

I highly recommend it.

So long as the thing you paint doesn't go in the water. :NoWay1:

I put a couple of the painted pieces into a bucket of water. The first layer of paint had been on for three weeks, and the last for one week before I put it in the water. After four days I added a second. Blisters started to develop in about three days, and the attached photo shows what it looked like after a week. It's a fiberglass trim piece about 2 3/4 inch wide. After a week or so inside where it's warm and dry the bubbles flattened, leaving a rough patch where they had been. So I'm going to be using Pettit Easypoxy. I'll use the Acrolon inside the cabin where it should never stay damp for long, but not in the cockpit or the hull exterior.

I've been undecided about color choice for months, but after seeing the original pictures I've decided to go with a red hull above the waterline, black below, and white topsides. Partial homage to the original. I just can't do all red.

That's all for now. I'm now working on the cockpit interior, and preparing to paint the exterior.

More to come.

[Helmar]

Good deal on the boat cover :BigHappy1:

Yes on some of the paints. They do not like being, Under water and Salt water is even worse !!!

Glad you tested it and shared it with us.

Doing all that finish work like the taping and such, yes, not too photogenic is it.

Your still making progress which is good

[BellBoyBob]

emblems?

Do you have pics of your new emblems? Id love to see them!
Thanks,Bob

[Guest]

Here's a photo I had taken. They are brass with a hard chrome plating, studs (unthreaded- I'll need to find some of those push-on retainers) on the back. Surface finish is very good, IMHO. PM me if you need more.

[BellBoyBob]

ED, this is EXACTLY what I need. Can you tell me what was charged for a left and right set of these?
Thanks,
Bob