Completing Panagea's teak deck and covering boards

We are closing in on completing our work on this superyacht. Pangaea was relaunched yesterday and then sea trialed and was pretty much unavailable to us so we had the day off.

In addition to the new teak decking and the teak decking repairs on this boat we have also contracted to fabricate and install teak covering boards and coamings on the new swim platform. Like everything else on this superyacht the swim platform is super sized as well. It is 14' long and enclosed with full bulwarks with boarding doors on each side and a pair of large doors in the transom. Below we are laminating the starboard aft corner of the coaming.

Here you can see the aft doors and the port side door as well as the size of covering boards and coamings.

The notch in the covering board is to allow the aft door ,when open, to be in line with the covering board and latch open.

Below is the covering board return. This part was made thicker and framed to visually provide some differentiation. It was also installed level so as to function as sort of an end table.

In addition to installing about 1200 sq ft of new teak decking we also were asked to sand the existing decks and repair the seam caulking as required.

The view from your knees where we spent a lot of time. From this angle it seems like acres of teak decks.

There are five deck levels on this yacht that have teak decks. From the top they are the sundeck, the bridge deck, the owners deck, the main deck, and the swim platform. The two pictures below show the port side and aft areas of the bridge deck.

These next two shots show the main deck cockpit and the starboard main side deck. It's frequently difficult for us to get good pictures of our work because as soon as we complete an area it gets covered with protective material so that other tradesmen can move in and complete their work, and then it's dark, and then the boat leaves. Oh well.

This photo show the starboard side of the owners deck.

Below is the sun deck. The pipes are for bar stools that haven't yet arrived and the stainless steel angle is the base for the new bar.

Here is Pangaea returning from a sea trial. She is certainly a pretty yacht and we have enjoyed the opportunity to be part of this project.

Beat and Beatrize's Tiki 38 set for launch

Beat has moved his hulls to the waterside in preperation for launching.

He has parts scattered around and we left our job a liitle early so that we could come by and help muscle the beams and cockpits and the pod into place.

First we installed the beams and then lowered the pod down.

Handing up the spars for later installation.

Below the crew gathers for a group shot.

Happy captain

The launch is scheduled for dawn on Sunday the 21st at the launch ramp at the San Leandro marina. It will definately be a momentous occasion.

Boatsmith's Pacific Coast Facility

August 18, 2008

We needed to transport ourselves and our tools to California for a big deck job. We also needed transportation and office space while we are in Alameda working.Sort of a base.

As long as were at it , why not some walls, and howsabouta roof.

This southern yellow pine t&g was leftovers anyway.

Some lexan windows and a teak faced door and some shingles,

Presto, a genuine old hippie wagon from back when.

Currently only ROUGH interior bunks and dinette with a little air conditioner and a shelf for a small generator.

This rig brings out a lot of smiles. way cool

Teak deck for Pangaea 191' expidition yacht

August 18 2008

We are fabricating and installing new teak decks for several areas of the motor yacht Pangaea. Boatsmith is working for Bay Ship & Yacht at their Alameda California facility.

Here is the boat under its shrink wrap/scaffold tent. Pangaea is hauled out on a dolly on tracks that cross connect with a large scyncrolift.


We flew to Ca and made patterns and crated and shipped them back to Fl. Below is one of the piles of teak lumber used on this job.

The photo below shows us building panels. We use starboard spacers with aluminum flat bars and wooden wedges to clamp every thing up tight and straight.

Here's a larger scale view of 1/2 of one area of teak decking

Below shows sections where most of the spacers are removed after gluing on small strips of wood to hold the spacing and alignment of the individual planks. Then we fill the caulk seams with a one part silicone deck caulk from Maritime Wood Products in Stuart Fl.

Some panels made up to "finger" into the existing teak.

When the caulk cured the panels are sanded flat and smooth on a wide drum sander.
Below is about half the decking for the Pangaea

The next step is to mill out the margin stock and fit margins all around the perimeter and any mid deck protrusions. Then all of the material will be crated and shipped to Bay Ship and Yacht's Alameda Shipyard.

TEAK DECKS ON A LARGE CUSTOM EXPEDITION YACHT FOR BAY SHIP & YACHT IN CALIFORNIA

August 26, 2008

Here we are back at the motor yacht Pangaea currently in for refurbishing and enlargement at Bay Ship and Yacht in California. The boat is mostly painted and the staging is coming down in a few days.It's a long walk up to the sun deck, about six flights.

The shot below shows the sundeck. There used to be a hot tub in the center of this deck. This has been eliminated in favor of a large horse shoe shaped bar. We are removing enough of the existing teak planking to be able to fit in new deck planks so as to keep the same butt pattern and render the new decking indistinguishable from the original decking.

We also were requested to complete the repairs to the plywood sub deck and fairing required before installing the teak deck. In the photo below you can see the base frame for the new bar.

Here we are cutting back existing planking in a staggered pattern to conform to the existing deck. The pipes are part of the staging and are quite in the way as well as hordes of other craftsman trying to complete their work in the same area at the same time. Just a little bit more challenging than normal.

The bar base and bar stools. The sub deck is installed.

Nicely built Wharram Tiki 38 in San Francisco

Boatsmith has a contract to fabricate and install new teak decking on several areas of the 190' motor yacht Pangaea. This boat is currently at Bay Ship and Yacht yard in Alameda California undergoing a major refit. I was very happy to get this job as I've worked many years for this company in times past. We have lots of friends in the bay area and it is a chance to visit and reconnect with them. I flew out to California the weekend of the 4th of July to make patterns of the new teak decks. The patterns were then crated up and shipped back to Jupiter FL for fabrication. Once complete we will drive out to Alameda for the installation.

One very special bonus of this trip was that I was able to hook up with Beat Rettenmund who along with his partner Beatrice Restrepo and her mom Arisili (I hope I spelled that right) are building a wonderful example of James Wharram Designs Tiki 38. Over the years I've seen many Wharram catamarans and honestly most did not impress me favorably as to the quality of workmanship.

Beat and Beatrice's Tiki 38 is finished off to a very simple level but is very craftsman like in every detail. To me a yacht is a vessel where anywhere you look you see something that makes you say,wow look how nicely that was done. They have accomplished this in a most admirable manner. They stayed focused on their goals and have built a truly marvelous yacht that is almost ready to take them where ever they so desire.

I was invited to the build sight by Beat to checkout their boat and "talk madly about boats, the sea and mermaids". A not everyday invite. This was my first day with a new camera and due to my excitement over the boat and my electronic ineptitude many of my pictures were not very good but I will share the ones that turned out.

The "CULPRITS"

Beat, Beatrice, and Arisili

Cat eyes. Most of the windows have some sort of decorative shape to them

Below I am in the pod and looking into the stbd companionway.

Here you can see the watch berth and the storage below the seats. The pod seems to be a very nice space on the boat. The wheel steering is here, and good shelter for making passages to weather. Forward of the pod there is an open cockpit with outboard wells under the seats. Beat has purchased 15hp E-tech motors and plans on installing these in place of the gas power heads on two outboard motors. I am looking forward to seeing these when completed.

One detail I was very impressed with was the simple solution to a galley cooker. It is very easy to spend hundreds of dollars on a proper marine stove and still not have an ideal setup. This cooker costs $70 at Harbor Freight and works at least as well as most marine stoves. Okay, so maybe it will rust out in a year or two, but it can be replaced several times for the cost of even the most inexpensive equivalent marine stove. As George Beuhler said in Backyard Boatbuilding, you can go sailing cheaply now or be a melon farmer forever while building the perfect museum piece boat. It would appear to me that Beat and Beatrice are definitely not melon farmers.

Everywhere I looked on Aluna I saw clever little things that will make the boat much more pleasant to sail on. Below are pictures of the stbd companionway ladder. In the photo on the left, you can see that there is an additional step added below what the plans called for. Beat said he noticed that it was a very large first step and designed and built this lower step to alleviate this. I tried it out and it is a very nice improvement. I would certainly recommend this to other Tiki 38 builders.

Beat and Beatrice have about 6,000 hours invested in this project over five years.One way they have kept their hours reasonable is they have left the interior with a natural finish. They were careful with their epoxy and fiberglass reinforcement applications and didn't sand and fair the insides for paint. The result is utilitarian and clean. It also saved them many hundreds of hours, hours spent sanding, which is not most peoples favorite pastime.
The photos above and below are of the cabin interiors and you can see the workmanlike manner in which the filleting has been done.

Here is a little detail I wish we had used on our Tiki 30.Beat ran his wiring for his lights and fans thru the foam core of the deck. Very clean.

The two pictures below are of the outboard mounts.

Here's a shot of the forward deck.

This is a close up of the anchor rollers.
This photo shows the frame of the aft boarding ladder.It will get wooden treads lashed into the center area.

Sometime ago, Beat and Beatrice were able to go sailing with Glenn Tieman aboard
Manu Rere, a Tama Moana design from Hanneke Boon and James Wharram.This is a relatively new ethnic design and is powered by two crab claw sails. This is a very old sail plan design that has seen somewhat of a resurgence of interest in the last few years. While cruising on Manu Rere Beat became a new convert to the crab claw rig and is installing this sail rig on Aluna.

Part of the appeal of the crab claw rig is the simplicity,the low tech materials and the associated low cost . Below are the pine saplings that are becoming spars. I have not had the opportunity to sail one of these rigs and am hoping that I can finagle a ride.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and am looking forward to going back to California next month for our job and especially to revisit Aluna Beat and Beatrice. I hope that everyone enjoys this post.