1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 refit

[q240z]

Before I can splash the boat, I've got to have hardware in place so I can tie it up to whatever dock I'm on. I installed chocks and cleats on the port and starboard side decks a couple months back, but the main attachment points are bollards on the bow and aft deck just above the transom. I had the original Chris Craft bronze bollards rechromed and just got them installed last week. I think they turned out very nicely.

The linked article also covers the Lofrans ProgressII windlass that I partially installed several years ago but never got around to writing about.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing Fore and Aft Bollards

Cheers,
Q

Before


After


Installed

[jim rosenthal]

Q, there is quite a bit of solid stainless 1" rub strip at Bacon Sails in Annapolis. I measured some of the pieces for center to center distance, and none is 7.5", but some are close. They have a whole pile of different used pieces. The prices of new stainless rub rail is astonishing. Perhaps you could use some of this stuff? You might have to weld some holes and grind it but perhaps it would fill the gap from the piece that the PO lost or threw out.

[q240z]

Thanks!

I'll swing by Bacon this week.

For chrome work, I've used Metro Plating & Polishing in Kensington, MD, Hanlon Plating in Richmond, VA, and most recently Frankford Plating in Philly, PA. Metro did good work but was expensive, then it got sold to a new owner and it was just expensive. Tyrannical government in 2021 caused Hanlon to close for good. Frankford's prices seemed fair, the quality was fine, and turnaround was pretty fast.

[q240z]

Q, there is quite a bit of solid stainless 1" rub strip at Bacon Sails in Annapolis.

CORRECTION: there's a lot of solid bronze 1" rub strip at Bacon Sails. The dude at the register was also super rude. First words out of his mouth after I said good morning and asked where I could find rub rail were "You need to give me your backpack," followed by a short lecture about how they don't have much rub rail and there's too much variation between boat builders for them to stock it all.

I told him I don't trust him with my backpack and took it to my car. When I re-entered the store, I asked the fellow behind the sail counter about rub rails. He pointed me to a small pile of rails of varying length on the floor at the back of the store. Most of it was almost black. At first I thought it was the dirtiest stainless I'd ever seen, but then I saw the verdigris and realized it was old bronze.

[Retired1]

CORRECTION: there's a lot of solid bronze 1" rub strip at Bacon Sails. The dude at the register was also super rude. First words out of his mouth after I said good morning and asked where I could find rub rail were "You need to give me your backpack," followed by a short lecture about how they don't have much rub rail and there's too much variation between boat builders for them to stock it all.

I told him I don't trust him with my backpack and took it to my car. When I re-entered the store, I asked the fellow behind the sail counter about rub rails. He pointed me to a small pile of rails of varying length on the floor at the back of the store. Most of it was almost black. At first I thought it was the dirtiest stainless I'd ever seen, but then I saw the verdigris and realized it was old bronze.

It’s been my experience that when wearing a white cowboy hat, that no one tells you what you must do. If you have a CWP, and a bulge , even more true. BTW -totally am blown away by your skills and fortitude. Keep on keeping on.

[jim rosenthal]

Sorry about that. A wasted trip to Annapolis. I thought they were SS, too.

It's a shame, I've found occasional good deals, there. I'll keep my eyes open.

[q240z]

No problem, Jim. They had me fooled at first, too!

I finally got my trim tabs hooked up and working properly. The only problem I have with them now is the original tab angle (AKA Roamer Cruise Control) gauge. One of the resistors inside let the smoke out catastrophically, leaving nothing behind to tell me what value it was. I installed a resistor with the same ohm value as two other resistors in the gauge but can't get it to work on the boat. Off the boat, I can trick the needles into moving. Hooked up to the boat wiring, the needles don't budge. But if I hook up an incandescent bulb and run the tabs up and down, the bulb gets correspondingly dimmer or brighter. So the rheostats at the tab actuators are sending a proper variable ground signal... I'm stumped. But the gauge being out doesn't hold me up from splashing the boat, so I'm moving on to the next priority.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Recommissioning the Trim Tabs

Cheers,
Q

The starboard trim tab


The smoked gauge resistor

[jim rosenthal]

How many 46 Roamers were made, and in what years? This is the only one I can recall seeing.

[q240z]

I don't know how many were made. There was a dude keeping an online database, but he's sort of vanished into the ether.

I know there was a skinnier version than mine maybe as late as 1966, 48' LOA with a 13 or 14' beam. There was a major design break between early and late 1960s Chris Crafts, and the skinny Roamers definitely looked like the older styling. Mine was the 5th aluminum 46 made in 1969. I'm in contact with 3 other owners of the same model, 1968-1970.

[jim rosenthal]

I looked on YW. There are a few out there for sale.

I'd much rather have yours. Not that I'm parting with my Hatteras.