My 1968 Olsen Nimbus restoration project.
Discussion
I used aluminium oxide, quite a heavy grit, but I can see if you're not carefull with it, you could end up doing a lot of fairing !
I just gave it a sweep to open it up a bit. No need to blast the hell out of the glassfiber.
I spoke to the Guy today about blasting below the waterline, and I asked him about soda, as I know he does it, and he said it costs about 3 times as much as the grit.
I will have him use soda though, as I only need the old anti-fouling/epoxy, or whatever has been put on there in the last 43 years removed, and I don't trust other people, so at least I shouldn't be left with half my hull blasted away!
There's no gelcoat, and I can see from what I've already done, it'll come off real easy with soda.
Been back tonight, and given it all a good blast with fresh water
I just gave it a sweep to open it up a bit. No need to blast the hell out of the glassfiber.
I spoke to the Guy today about blasting below the waterline, and I asked him about soda, as I know he does it, and he said it costs about 3 times as much as the grit.
I will have him use soda though, as I only need the old anti-fouling/epoxy, or whatever has been put on there in the last 43 years removed, and I don't trust other people, so at least I shouldn't be left with half my hull blasted away!
There's no gelcoat, and I can see from what I've already done, it'll come off real easy with soda.
Been back tonight, and given it all a good blast with fresh water
Mmm... something to ponder.
I know the soda is very gentle, as a friend of mine started doing it here, and I lent him my small blasting cabinet for the local boat show.
He had the kids blasting coke cans with a masking on, then would remove the masking, which revealed the name of the company soda blasted into the can, then give to Coca Cola to the kids
But maybe the grit would give a better substrate for the Gelshield?
I'll have a word with our friendly Akzo Nobel rep, he'll love an excuse to wizz up North on his motorcickle
I did have my tempest 44 sand blasted before gelshield a few years ago. It came out fantastic!
I know the soda is very gentle, as a friend of mine started doing it here, and I lent him my small blasting cabinet for the local boat show.
He had the kids blasting coke cans with a masking on, then would remove the masking, which revealed the name of the company soda blasted into the can, then give to Coca Cola to the kids
But maybe the grit would give a better substrate for the Gelshield?
I'll have a word with our friendly Akzo Nobel rep, he'll love an excuse to wizz up North on his motorcickle
I did have my tempest 44 sand blasted before gelshield a few years ago. It came out fantastic!
Well, I ended up washing it down three times, and all the dark spots have gone.
The Akzo Nobel Guy (International paints) recons it was just some Glycol trapped between the glassfibre and the epoxy boot stripe.
He says the Glycol absorbs moisture, but is water soluble.
That makes sense to me, as most of the dark spots vanished after the first hose off with fresh water.
It seems pretty dry now, apart from a section that has a built in water tank behind it, which I plan to cut out anyway. So it's probably the core behind that, which is showing a high moisture content. No chance of that drying out though, but it doesn't overly concern me.
It's foam and not balsa, and I'd be very surprised if a 43 year old foam cored boat didn't have some wet in it somewhere.
So on with some more primer...
The Akzo Nobel Guy (International paints) recons it was just some Glycol trapped between the glassfibre and the epoxy boot stripe.
He says the Glycol absorbs moisture, but is water soluble.
That makes sense to me, as most of the dark spots vanished after the first hose off with fresh water.
It seems pretty dry now, apart from a section that has a built in water tank behind it, which I plan to cut out anyway. So it's probably the core behind that, which is showing a high moisture content. No chance of that drying out though, but it doesn't overly concern me.
It's foam and not balsa, and I'd be very surprised if a 43 year old foam cored boat didn't have some wet in it somewhere.
So on with some more primer...
Yes it is 545, the deck is also 545 in white. We've used gallons of the stuff!
The fairing is interfill.
What do you use on your wooden hull?
My wooden boat knowlage is limited, and I always assume you'd use oil based paints.
Undecided about choice of topcoat at the moment. Maybe Awlcraft 2000.
The primer isn't disimilar to the finish colour I want. But very shiny!
I'm realy looking forward to getting the platinum leaf name on her bum!
Fairing sanded, and a coat on the W/L and rubbibng strake area that was sanded back, and then another coat over the whole lot today.
We'll leave this 2 or 3 days to go off now.
The fairing is interfill.
What do you use on your wooden hull?
My wooden boat knowlage is limited, and I always assume you'd use oil based paints.
Undecided about choice of topcoat at the moment. Maybe Awlcraft 2000.
The primer isn't disimilar to the finish colour I want. But very shiny!
I'm realy looking forward to getting the platinum leaf name on her bum!
Fairing sanded, and a coat on the W/L and rubbibng strake area that was sanded back, and then another coat over the whole lot today.
We'll leave this 2 or 3 days to go off now.
Painting has come to a standstill for a while.
The paint Guys have a couple of Sunseekers to do, so I can't see much happening now untill after Christmas.
But the pushpit and pullpit have come back from the metal shop, after being straightened out, fettled and re-polished.
I also had a mount for the Garmin GPS antenna welded on.
Next job is to put these babies in my luggage next weekend, and get them over to Blighty for stripping, polishing and re-anodizing.
The paint Guys have a couple of Sunseekers to do, so I can't see much happening now untill after Christmas.
But the pushpit and pullpit have come back from the metal shop, after being straightened out, fettled and re-polished.
I also had a mount for the Garmin GPS antenna welded on.
Next job is to put these babies in my luggage next weekend, and get them over to Blighty for stripping, polishing and re-anodizing.
Thanks Guys I really am having trouble with the Guys doing the paint though. The work is great, but they just don´t show. Don´t answer my calls, or call back.
They dropped off it over 6 months ago, (you´ll see my last post was November) as they had 3 or 4 30m ish Sunseekers to do, and as they where doing me Mates rate, I didn't´ expect them to drop big money jobs for my little jigger.
Now the jobs are done, they haven´t got on with mine. About 4 hours this week, and the same last week
Trouble is, every time I´ve gone down and expected them not to be there, and I´ve decided to tell them get their gear out of the tent, they´ve done a bit that I´m really happy with! It´s really frustrating! The tent isn´t cheap, and the rent on it is up on Friday, so I have to pay up front again.
I can see it´s going to get messy, as I´ll be docking the extra cost of the tent off their bill.
I really am having trouble with the Guys doing the paint though. The work is great, but they just don´t show. Don´t answer my calls, or call back.They dropped off it over 6 months ago, (you´ll see my last post was November) as they had 3 or 4 30m ish Sunseekers to do, and as they where doing me Mates rate, I didn't´ expect them to drop big money jobs for my little jigger.
Now the jobs are done, they haven´t got on with mine. About 4 hours this week, and the same last week
Trouble is, every time I´ve gone down and expected them not to be there, and I´ve decided to tell them get their gear out of the tent, they´ve done a bit that I´m really happy with! It´s really frustrating! The tent isn´t cheap, and the rent on it is up on Friday, so I have to pay up front again.
I can see it´s going to get messy, as I´ll be docking the extra cost of the tent off their bill.
Hi KT 
I don´t particularly want it to go fast, I just want them on it.
If it takes them twice as long to get it perfect, I´m O.K. with that. Gawd knows I´m slow myself, but I like to take my time and do a good job, so I´m not demanding on folks if it´s nice work.
Look at the carpentry, I´m over the moon with it. I think I kept the guy in full time work for about 6 weeks. But he started, and didn´t stop, or shoot off onto other jobs until it was finished.
Spoke to him yesterday, as it happens, about making new toe rails, and a teak and holly tiller But not until the paint is done...Grrrr...
Anyway, been down tonight after work, and the hull is flatted, so it is moving.
My deckie also came down for a look after work today, as he helped me strip it out, and he said it looked like a different boat, but it must be 18 months since he´s seen it
I have the cleat parts and fairleads back from the anodising, but they didn´t come back as nice as I expected. Lots of inclusions and pitting. I expected some pitting after 43 years, but the cleaning process seems to have highlighted them. Oh well, I´ll put it down to patina...
Maybe I can contact Bjorn Olsen again.
The yard which is still in business, may still have some kicking around covered in dust.
He sent me an original sales brochure from the 60´s a couple of years ago He´s the Son of the fellow who built my boat. Also Bjorn Olsen.
Cheers,
Mick.
I don´t particularly want it to go fast, I just want them on it.If it takes them twice as long to get it perfect, I´m O.K. with that. Gawd knows I´m slow myself, but I like to take my time and do a good job, so I´m not demanding on folks if it´s nice work.
Look at the carpentry, I´m over the moon with it. I think I kept the guy in full time work for about 6 weeks. But he started, and didn´t stop, or shoot off onto other jobs until it was finished.
Spoke to him yesterday, as it happens, about making new toe rails, and a teak and holly tiller
But not until the paint is done...Grrrr...Anyway, been down tonight after work, and the hull is flatted, so it is moving.
My deckie also came down for a look after work today, as he helped me strip it out, and he said it looked like a different boat, but it must be 18 months since he´s seen it
I have the cleat parts and fairleads back from the anodising, but they didn´t come back as nice as I expected. Lots of inclusions and pitting. I expected some pitting after 43 years, but the cleaning process seems to have highlighted them. Oh well, I´ll put it down to patina...
Maybe I can contact Bjorn Olsen again.
The yard which is still in business, may still have some kicking around covered in dust.
He sent me an original sales brochure from the 60´s a couple of years ago
He´s the Son of the fellow who built my boat. Also Bjorn Olsen.Cheers,
Mick.
Well you couldn´t make this stuff up! All my pieces came back from anodising, quite disappointing as I think I mentioned, they where quite badly pitted, but they were clean, so I put it down to patina. However, one piece an aft fairlead, had to go back as it had been polished, but they´d forgotten to anodise it.
Got a phone call today. The piece was on its way back, and the van it was in caught fire in Spain. It´s gone! A piece of cast aluminium off a boat built in 1968, and it´s gone.
They´re sending me a claim form, how can I put a price on an irreplaceable piece? Gutted isn´t the word.
Oh, and to top it all off, I may not have a job at the end of next month.
Got a phone call today. The piece was on its way back, and the van it was in caught fire in Spain. It´s gone! A piece of cast aluminium off a boat built in 1968, and it´s gone.
They´re sending me a claim form, how can I put a price on an irreplaceable piece? Gutted isn´t the word.
Oh, and to top it all off, I may not have a job at the end of next month.
Thanks Mate. Slim chance I think, as I´ve only ever seen three other Olsen Nimbus on the web, in Denmark.
That´s the price of exclusivity I guess
I think I´m going to re-design four new ones, and get them made in Stainless.
I have fired an e-mail off to the yard, on the off chance they have some dusty old stock somewhere, but the last time I had contact with Bjorn, it took a year to get a response!
That´s the price of exclusivity I guess
I think I´m going to re-design four new ones, and get them made in Stainless.
I have fired an e-mail off to the yard, on the off chance they have some dusty old stock somewhere, but the last time I had contact with Bjorn, it took a year to get a response!
I have the teak grating already made. Same as this piece on the companionway. I like it, as you don´t get bits under your bare feet. The bits drop through to be cleaned up from underneath later
I got hold of some samples of the plastic stuff, and laid it in the sun next to some real teak, and I measured the temp with my heat gun. The plastic stuff is 6-8 degrees C hotter. No thanks.
I got hold of some samples of the plastic stuff, and laid it in the sun next to some real teak, and I measured the temp with my heat gun. The plastic stuff is 6-8 degrees C hotter. No thanks.
gary71 said:
Shame they were lost, as you say you aren't going to find one down the local shop!
Have you considered having the remaining part reverse engineered, by scanning, surfacing, then 3D printing a replacement? It would be a shame to lose the original look after the work you've put into the rest of the boat.
Hi Gary, good suggestion. I've given the problem some thought, and to be honest, the original parts didn´t come back great. I think I can come up with a nice design, that won´t look out of place. The boat is hardly going to be as it was built anyway. Better! Have you considered having the remaining part reverse engineered, by scanning, surfacing, then 3D printing a replacement? It would be a shame to lose the original look after the work you've put into the rest of the boat.
Cheers Motorvator, I looked at the plastic decking for the deck itself, but decided apart from getting too hot, it would add quite a bit of weight, so I decided to go for the non-skid in the paint. The mast winches have their own built in handles, so no chance of dropping a winch handle on deck and chipping paint
Thanks for reading KH
Deck has been sanded, and the stopper knocked off. A bit more stopper went in yesterday, so that´ll be hard enough to nib off on Monday.
We might see the oyster white go on the decks next week. Then we can think about masking up for the non-skid.
I bought the 1500 pads, 3M fast cut and finishing compound yesterday.
Thanks for reading KH
Deck has been sanded, and the stopper knocked off. A bit more stopper went in yesterday, so that´ll be hard enough to nib off on Monday.
We might see the oyster white go on the decks next week. Then we can think about masking up for the non-skid.
I bought the 1500 pads, 3M fast cut and finishing compound yesterday.
Thanks KT I have an idea for some stainless ones, but I may have to wait and see what the job situation is first.
It´s a bugger as the toe rail fits into the fairleads, and that´s the first thing to do after paint.
Hopefully something will turn up. "The job" I was after isn´t going to happen Apparently, the Captain "wants a younger age structure on board" 
That was a low blow! Oh well, onwards and upwards. Their loss as well as mine. But they´ll never know.
Hope life on the Island is good?
Regards,
Mick
I have an idea for some stainless ones, but I may have to wait and see what the job situation is first. It´s a bugger as the toe rail fits into the fairleads, and that´s the first thing to do after paint.
Hopefully something will turn up. "The job" I was after isn´t going to happen
Apparently, the Captain "wants a younger age structure on board" That was a low blow! Oh well, onwards and upwards. Their loss as well as mine. But they´ll never know.
Hope life on the Island is good?
Regards,
Mick
Cheers Mate, thanks for the offer Can´t see me getting away for a while though.
Enjoy Galicia Last time I was in Muros I had a bowl of steamed mussels to die for! 
Anyway I digress.. Oyster white went on the deck today, I think it´s going to look great with the teak once I get the masking off the deckhouse.
So next is to flat it down with 1500 and cut it back. There´s hardly any dust in it though.
Then we can mask up and put the non-skid on. I think I´ve spotted a bit of core compression around one of the cleat bases though. Didn´t see it until it was shiny!
I´ll have another look at it in the week.
Here´s couple of snaps. Very happy I changed my mind about the colours
Need to start looking for some rubbing strake. I think Vetus make one for a shoebox hull/deck joint?
Cheers,
Mick
Can´t see me getting away for a while though.Enjoy Galicia
Last time I was in Muros I had a bowl of steamed mussels to die for! Anyway I digress.. Oyster white went on the deck today, I think it´s going to look great with the teak once I get the masking off the deckhouse.
So next is to flat it down with 1500 and cut it back. There´s hardly any dust in it though.
Then we can mask up and put the non-skid on. I think I´ve spotted a bit of core compression around one of the cleat bases though. Didn´t see it until it was shiny!
I´ll have another look at it in the week.
Here´s couple of snaps. Very happy I changed my mind about the colours
Need to start looking for some rubbing strake. I think Vetus make one for a shoebox hull/deck joint?
Cheers,
Mick
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