Plastic Classic Forum

I own a Pacific Seacraft 25. Thirty years old. In great shape. Canoe ended with rudder/tiller. Bowsprit and rigged as cutter. Fiberglass hull but scored to look like planking. All hardware is bronze.

I'd like to add some classic details to make her look more like an older wooden boat.

Some thoughts include faux painting AL mast to look like wood but add bright white paint to mast head (say last 3') and maybe spreader ends.

Perhaps a mix of bright white paint and natural wood on the tiller.

Classic wood block for mainsheet.

Use of the new manila-look-alike lines that are available now for all the sheets and halyards.

Change out fiberglass front hatch with a wooden one with glass panes that are hinged down the middle and are protected with some SS?

Teak grate cockpit flooring

I haven't had a chance to visit any classic wood boat shows. Have any of you seen any other ideas that would be tasteful but add an interesting dimension?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Marshall

Of course, nothing adds the look and feel of wood like...wood. So add lots of brightwork and wooden trim.

Marshall Wright wrote: Use of the new manila-look-alike lines that are available now for all the sheets and halyards.

Been there.
"Leoflex-X" looks salty as all getout, but it's essentially brown snaggled waterski rope. Stretchy and slippery when wet, hell on hands.

the 3strand buff polyester (used to be available via the wooden boat foundation, now through classic marine) is worlds better. I had it on my main halyard for a season, but it was a bit on the stretchy side. Now it's my mainsheet. Tougher on hands than your typical double-braid, but not so bad.

Marshall Wright wrote:I own a Pacific Seacraft 25...

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Marshall

I love those boats! Suggestions? Yes. Lots of pictures!

Faux-wood grain would look good on your mast, but may be hard to pull off effectively. Buff coloured with the top few feet painted white is a traditional look, and easier to do.

Of course if your a master at faux finishes/heart set on faux wood, it would be worth the added effort.

For ideas: the Wooden Boat Calendar with photos by Benjamin Mendlowitz always has great pictures. I get one every year for Xmas. :)

There was an article in Good Old Boat a number of years ago that detailed a father/son extensive refit of a MacGregror "Venture of Newport" (23' faux-clipper look from the 1970s). The father worked as an airbrush painter, so he was experienced in that - and also they kind of thought outside the "boat box."

They went to paint the aluminum mast brown, and he tried a woodgrain look just on a lark - it looked so good they did all the spars. I'm not a "faux finish" kind of person, generally, but it looked fabulous in the photos. They also made wooden trim rings for the ports (I believe they may have been saving up money for the real thing) and painted them with a green/bronze patina look. Again, looked great.

I like the buff/white idea too though. Especially if one is not able to pull off a good faux grain look.

I bet you could turn up the article by checking www.goodoldboat.com, or by giving them a call.

Rachel

I like the buff/white idea too. Very traditional; at least in my area.

Those board thingies in the shrouds for mounting navigation lights (lanterns)?

-Britton

bcooke wrote:Those board thingies in the shrouds for mounting navigation lights (lanterns)?

Which reminds me of another possibility: Pinrails, in the shrouds or around the base of the mast.

bcooke wrote:Those board thingies in the shrouds for mounting navigation lights (lanterns)?

I believe they are called buckboards. My neighbour had them on his 39' Atkins cutter. The ones he had he took down, as they were a little overpowering. You would have to be careful about the scale - start with very small nav lights, and build small buckboards.

You could mock some up out of cardboard very easily, spray bomb them, and try them. Get a feel for size and placement.

Perhaps some name boards on the bows, and gilded star on the end of the boom.

Some good marlinspike work - french spiraling on the stanchions, topped with runing turk's heads and the like.

I think the real trick is to get it looking very traditional without cluttering things though. If it were me, I would use lots of mockups to get the feel of what is going to look good, and what is going to be too much, or the wrong scale.

I second Mike D's request too - plenty of pictures. It sounds like a very interesting project.

I always thought the boats with the tanbark sails looked old, traditional and salty. Also, take a look at Wooden Boat magazine. Ben Mendlewitz (sic?) has a knack for finding and photographing the finer points of a wooden boat.

Instead of fussing up a boat to make it appear as it always wasn't, why not buy my my boat www.woodenboatholdfast.yolasite.com ? She was built salty, looks salty, sails awesomely, and best of all contains many new parts. HOLDFAST is a Bristol Channel Pilot Boat, 6.5 tons, full keel. I spent 3500 hours on a 2.5 year rebuild. sailed her 4 years in Georgian Bay. Gorgeous 25 ft teak, mahagony, oak sitka and copper boat that's afloat. Tanbark full batten main,new tanbark 150 Genoa, tons more stuff, check the website. Take care, Simon Minc

Marshall Wright wrote:I own a Pacific Seacraft 25. Thirty years old. In great shape. Canoe ended with rudder/tiller. Bowsprit and rigged as cutter. Fiberglass hull but scored to look like planking. All hardware is bronze.

I'd like to add some classic details to make her look more like an older wooden boat.

Some thoughts include faux painting AL mast to look like wood but add bright white paint to mast head (say last 3') and maybe spreader ends.

Nice idea, but I don't think you need faux woodgrain, just a nice colour of brown

Perhaps a mix of bright white paint and natural wood on the tiller.

I wouldn't put any paint on the tiller

Classic wood block for mainsheet.

Nice idea

Use of the new manila-look-alike lines that are available now for all the sheets and halyards

Not when you can get better performance from modern lines, and they don't spoil the look.The contrast could be clean and striking

Change out fiberglass front hatch with a wooden one with glass panes that are hinged down the middle and are protected with some SS?

The wooden hatch sounds great, but I think the "skylight" idea could be overkill on a 25 footer.

Teak grate cockpit flooring

Sure, it's only another $1000 ;)

I haven't had a chance to visit any classic wood boat shows. Have any of you seen any other ideas that would be tasteful but add an interesting dimension?

Bronze traveller, if you haven't got one already.
Brass kerosene running lights if you keep them small and in proportion.

NO trailboards, and no teak name boards unless they are small and tasteful.

If it starts to look like a Bayfield 25, scale back. You don't want it to look phoney, just classic.

Synthetic rigging seems to be getting closer to the mainstream now, and it has some classic aspects (deadeyes, etc.). It would get you away from the shiny stainless stuff. Galvanized "plow wire" rigging, too, which doesn't suffer from metal fatigue the way stainless does. Check Brian Toss on the rigging, perhaps?