1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 refit

[dottieshusband]

As an empty nester, if I ever finished my boat projects, I'd have to spend more time with my wife.... time to start the second engine rebuild!

[UNIQUE_NAME]

You do nice work, but are you making this your life's work? It looks like you have been working on this boat since 2004 or 2005. When are you going to finish it so you may enjoy it? I've seen people drag out projects but you definitely win the prize for one of the longest and slowest people out there.

when i first read this, i thought maybe it was just a case of you phrasing your words poorly.
i stand corrected.

i wish you good fortune in the bantering to come....

[34Hatt]

You don't know me and to attack me based on the assumptions you have made is as bad as what you claim I did to Quentin. I remember him from the old Roamer club when he first bought the boat and started the projected. So I do know some of his history with the boat.

I have done 2 DIY restorations in my lifetime and have a lot knowledge with boats. I am in my 80s now and retired living in Denmark. I know it never took me so long to do either project and I wasn't rich and did almost all the work myself. You owe me an apology young man.

I still stand by anyone that has done a BIG DIY project and still had a life and didn't get divorced doing it should understand and would never Claim he is taking to long!
I have done 3 boats that were trashed and been involved in another 2. If I add them all together it is about the same scope as Quentin and if you add all the years together it also about the same so that makes me slow also. So you can apologize to me right after you apologize to Quentin
But Thanks I haven't been called a Young Man in Many years

[Westfield 11]

I don’t understand why anyone would care how long someone else’s project is taking. Really, what business is it of yours? This is a mystery to me.

[oscarvan]

I don’t understand why anyone would care how long someone else’s project is taking. Really, what business is it of yours? This is a mystery to me.

Some people seem to care, but really they're just projecting their own misery on others. I ignore it.

Years ago there was a story in Wooden Boat magazine about a gentleman who spent more than 2 decades building a large (50+') wooden schooner with his two hands and no one else. He got it done, and it was stunningly beautiful. I mean, furniture quality stem to stern. It sailed once, they took the pictures. Then he sold it and passed away.

Everyone's journey is different. Whether they lived it or just sat through it is what counts. Q is doing his thing, and we ALL agree he's the real deal. The outcome matters less. That said, he's getting close and I trust we're gonna get some spectacular boat porn out of it. Heck, like someone poked at me before, he might get it done before I get my Hatt.

[q240z]

Hey. Long time no see.

Looks like there was a bit of a dust-up in my absence. Also looks like everybody said what was on their minds, so I'll just leave it at that.

Some non-Roamer unpleasantness has been thrust upon me, which has taken me away from the project almost entirely. I haven't even had time to keep up on blog posts. But I finally got a small break and posted an article on the bi-fold hatch I made for the salon entry. I've still got to make some mahogany pieces to finish the edges, but it's looking lots better than the Dutch door approach the boat had when we first started the project.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Salon Entry Folding Door

Cheers,
Q

The old Dutch door


The new bi-fold hatch

[SEVEN]

Much better look.

[Dan Mapes]

Indeed a much better look, and visibility is improved.

[q240z]

Thanks guys!

There was a problem I first noticed when I was test fitting the folding salon hatch that became even more obvious when I took the next step and installed the original door. I've mentioned before that it looked like something heavy had fallen on the port side of the cabin top/dashboard. There was evidence of a major fiberglass repair there, and when we were installing the headliner tracks we had to add material to the bulkhead cleat to bring it into alignment with the salon ceiling frames. The whole thing was low by ~3/8". Which meant the dashboard in that area, which is supported by the same frames, was also low. Which meant the bulkhead it attaches to had been pulled out of square. Which means that the reason the boat had that Dutch door when we found it wasn't because a previous owner liked Dutch doors. It was because the original folding hatch probably got smashed when something heavy landed on the dashboard. But in any case flat hatch panels and doors don't fit right in a structure that's been twisted out of square.

My solution to this will be to 'average out' the gaps by attaching the hinges in non-OEM spots. I don't see any other way of fixing this.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Salon Entry Door

Cheers,
Q

Test fitting the door and hatch panels


The door gap


The hatch gap

[oscarvan]

You could make a small steam box and a torture rack and bend that hatch to conform......