Bob Brown’s Belle

[BobBrown55]

... continuing the prior update.

The cover boards took quite a bit of time. Fairing the frames underneath and cutting them to those curves is challenging for me. And so is getting them faired down to the Barrelback transom! Almost there.

Plus, this shows one of the vents purchased for the deck. Many thanks to TomB for the source for these, Classic Boat Supplies in Australia.

The cover boards are roughly done and the plywood sub-deck has been cut to fit.

Along with the deck vent covers, I also found windshield brackets in Australia. They were actually cast and chromed in the UK, then shipped to Australia and on to me in Oregon. Ordered in late November, they arrived in mid-February, which works well with my schedule and isn't bad in the middle of a pandemic.

To be continued ...

[BobBrown55]

continued ...

Decided to trim the sub-deck to the frame for the hatches, and apply the sub-deck to the hatches separately. I'll need to be careful to line the deck planking up well across the hatches.

Finally, here are the hatch frames with the sub-deck glued and screwed.

Plan for the next week or so is to finish fairing the deck framing, get the sub-deck glued down, finish fairing the cover boards, and get them glued down. Putting the sub-deck on really showed the nice curve of the deck and was the first time I got a good view of how she'll look when completed.

Still a lot of work to do, but this stage is a lot of fun!

[TomB]

Nice work Bob.

[Aussie]

Looking good Bob!

There is a lot of work in the shaping on the transom for the barrel backs, lines look great

Classic boat supplies are where I got my vents, windshield brackets, fuel cap, fuel vent and bow light.

I actually requested that they source the vents and step pads from foresti Saudi an Italian mob. They we’re very helpful and we’re impressed with there products and started stocking them

You will be very happy with the vents.

Did you go all one size or some small and larger?

Jamie

[BobBrown55]

Looking good Bob!

There is a lot of work in the shaping on the transom for the barrel backs, lines look great

Classic boat supplies are where I got my vents, windshield brackets, fuel cap, fuel vent and bow light.

I actually requested that they source the vents and step pads from foresti Saudi an Italian mob. They we’re very helpful and we’re impressed with there products and started stocking them

You will be very happy with the vents.

Did you go all one size or some small and larger?

Jamie

Hi Jamie,

Thanks for helping Classic Boat Supplies stock these parts. I'd been talking to the General Manager of Glenwood (a company related to Glen-L) since last March and due to Covid restrictions the foundry they use in California had not been able to supply them with any new vents. I like the shape of the Foresti Saudi ones better anyway. Plus, I'm really happy with the windscreen brackets they had on their webpage. They source those from the UK, and there were some pandemic-caused delays there, so that held up the order for a while. (Ordered in late November and received everything last week).

I went with 6 of the larger vents. Going to put 2 over the stern deck (there's a bilge blower back there that will vent through one) and 4 over the midships deck (there's another bilge blower there that will vent through one).

Thanks!

Bob

[Aussie]

Hi Bob,

I went with 4 large (2 forward facing and 2 rear) over the engine bay and 2 small rear facing that both have blowers that vent towards the rear, works a treat.

I also have the same windshield brackets and am extremely happy with them, I waited 18 weeks for mine! They even got lost on the way to being chromed.

Jamie

[BobBrown55]

Hi Bob,

I went with 4 large (2 forward facing and 2 rear) over the engine bay and 2 small rear facing that both have blowers that vent towards the rear, works a treat.

I also have the same windshield brackets and am extremely happy with them, I waited 18 weeks for mine! They even got lost on the way to being chromed.

Jamie

Thanks for pointing out you have the same windshield brackets I bought. Took a look at your boat and love the way they look and the shape of the windshield you put in them. I will try to copy!! Thank you.

[BobBrown55]

Just spoke with Mike Schreiber on the phone. He's the proprietor of www.cutwaters.com and I'd planned on him fabricating the cutwater and transom bands for my Belle Isle, as I know other Glen-L builders have.

But no! He's not doing that anymore.

He said he has been trying to sell the business for two years, but no one is interested.

Bummer. Now I need to fin another source.

Any suggestions on what type of business would do this?

[mickfly]

Cutwater...tough one. I found a local guy, sent him the youtube video of the Mike the "cutwater guy."

After he got started I told him what the cutwater guy charged per welded inch. He said he wanted to be part of my project, but asked that I not give his name to any other builders!

As it ended up, I got two transom bands and a cutwater for $800. Good guy, but he definitely lost steam and ended up dropping off the parts still in need of polishing. Don't know how long the polishing will take. There are also a few imperfections that I can't sand or polish out...so I've got to find a solution for that.

I met another local guy who said he paid $2000 for his cutwater with a similar promise not to tell anyone who made his cutwater.
His was flawless.

I'm guessing others will have suggestions. I feel lucky to have my guy get me most of the way there... but it will be one more imperfect bit, among hundreds of other imperfect bits that collectively, should look spectacular!

[BobBrown55]

Cutwater...tough one. I found a local guy, sent him the youtube video of the Mike the "cutwater guy."

After he got started I told him what the cutwater guy charged per welded inch. He said he wanted to be part of my project, but asked that I not give his name to any other builders!

As it ended up, I got two transom bands and a cutwater for $800. Good guy, but he definitely lost steam and ended up dropping off the parts still in need of polishing. Don't know how long the polishing will take. There are also a few imperfections that I can't sand or polish out...so I've got to find a solution for that.

I met another local guy who said he paid $2000 for his cutwater with a similar promise not to tell anyone who made his cutwater.
His was flawless.

I'm guessing others will have suggestions. I feel lucky to have my guy get me most of the way there... but it will be one more imperfect bit, among hundreds of other imperfect bits that collectively, should look spectacular!

Thanks. Appreciate your experience, and the price range. Hopefully, there’ll be some guys in my local network that can point me in a good direction.

Also, love your comment about imperfect bits. That sure rings true, and I hope they look spectacular collectively!

[BobBrown55]

On the cutwater problem, I am very happy to know that Jim West, proprietor of West Coast Classic Boat Restoration in Vancouver, WA, will fabricate the cutwater and transom bands for me!

Last fall, Jim inspected my boat, aligned the engine and prop shaft, and went for a test run with us, so I know he does good work. After talking with another Glen-L builder about his bad experience with Schreiber's work, I feel lucky that he wasn't doing it anymore as Jim's work will be great and he's close by (sort of).

[BobBrown55]

Making progress on the deck …

Trim around the rear cabin attached.

I like the way the eyebrow over the dash turned out.

The solid deck after filling and sanding.

[BobBrown55]

More deck progress, staining and coating with epoxy …

Stain applied. Took some experimentation to get a color I liked for the cover boards.

Three coats of MAS epoxy.

[TomB]

Bob,

Very nice!!

Tom

[Roberta]

Looking Great!

Roberta