The way my family ended up here in Hawaii is the result of my Father. He doesn’t have a mechanical bone in his body, but is a great sailor. In 1982 he sailed a 43’ monohull cutter, a Hans Christian, from Longbeach to Honolulu with my Moms Dad, my grandfather, with plans of continuing on to Asia. The continuation never happened obviously, and that’s how we all got here.
That boat was eventually sold, but my Dad kept the wheel. After sitting in storage for 30+ years it has seen better days, and my plan is to restore it and fab a stand along with a picture of the boat underway, as a Father’s Day gift. I’m not a Father yet, but I think he’s going to like it.
Before sanding:
The wheel is about 30” in diameter, and more intricate than the photo shows. I fear I’ve bitten off more than I can chew. I explored dismantling it, then making replacement plugs and assembling again, but the plugs and interior spaces are all stuffed with epoxy… I doubt I could get it apart without destroying it.
So here I am. I’ve found a good way to get in most areas but I’m having difficulty with the tight places near the handle bases, and the hub.
Anyone have a hack for sanding tight spaces like that? I’ve tried folding a piece of sandpaper around some light gauge metal but the edge just gets beat up.. I’m figuring there must be a bette / faster way.
The dark spots you see are salt damage and I will likely need to remove all the old varnish to get clean wood, so there is some work to be done. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
