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Sea Maid

1984 Shamrock 20' Walk-Thru Cuddy

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The Swim Step

It started out as bad as the Bench Seat (shown below in its finished state) or see it here. The Swim Step was also a victim of being asked to support too much weight. It has two swim ladders now, and I will remedy that as well. Below is how it starts off. I am soaking the bolts now in WD40 Rust Remover in order to loosen their grip. To be continued.....

Swim Step Before 

 

It's finished! My first completed boat project (of many, I am sure)... Take a look!

Finished Bench Seat

Tools For the Job:

Protect your eyes! I use a variety of items as necessary. The snap caps were not a huge item, so I just used my Dremel with a cut-off disc.

You can choose to use a cut-off tool, your prerogative. I feel that would cause more damage than it would cure. So, the Dremel is the way I went.

Caveat: I am not concerned with it appearing "perfect." If you are, then I am not the one to follow. I want it to be usable, durable, fixed RIGHT if not PRETTY. Plus, it's a classic boat, and it should show it's character and I embrace that, and leave some of the flaws in - but repaired and sealed properly!

 

General Precautions

The tool is grinding metal, take care of you and your surroundings. Most especially your eyes! I cannot emphasize this enough. Maybe the reason why is eye protection has been a priority in another line of work I did - I managed a shooting range, and let me tell you. When you have 'problematic' customers who come up to you and say 'I want to thank you - you and your staff saved me from eye surgery today by forcing me to use my eye protection,' you'll think about it. This customer, who previously had never wanted to wear his glasses on the range - became our biggest assist on the firing line. The customer's rifle barrel had blown apart unexpectedly and shot backwards into what would have been his right eye. It was stopped by his safety glasses, which he had just replaced on his person after one of my line safety officers had instructed him to do. They did this several times an hour with this gentleman, always with an argument.