When we wrapped up the last of the paint work in November, Tent Model IX was on its last legs. I originally intended to have the paint work done in early summer 2013, but contractor problems put the kibosh on that schedule. So the tent/paint spray booth, which was gargantuan in size–a real wind catcher–had to hold up much, much longer than it was designed to. The tape holding the bottom shrink wrap skirt section to the top plastic was coming loose, and there was so much dust and dirt on both sides of the plastic that new tape just wasn’t sticking. Seven days after we sprayed the last of the MS1 on the toe rail and pulled the plastic down, Mother Nature let me know that she was sick of looking at that ugly monstrosity of a tent.
I knew there was trouble when I got a call from the marina the morning after a day of 20-25mph winds, with gusts to 40. I have to admit that I wasn’t surprised when the marina owner said, “Your tent’s come apart.” So off to the marina I went. New No. 1 item on the Honey Do list: patch the tent in the very short-term, and get a new tent up ASAP.
Tent Model IX Got Scalped!!!
When I arrived at the marina, I found that the entire top piece of shrink film had peeled off, starting at the back. I’m assuming the big winds out of the NW came straight through the vents for the exhaust fans and popped the tape loose. The top plastic was still attached at the front of the tent, so at least I didn’t have to try to attach new plastic to the old skirt.
One good thing about the top coming off was that I could finally see the paint job in natural light. Fortunately, the weather after the wind storm was brilliant…further proof that the goddess of the seas loves old Chris Crafts! 😉
Niiiiice 🙂
That’s some kinda shiny!
Tinted glass is definitely the way to go
Toupée back in place
Since the tape wouldn’t stick to the dusty, dirty plastic, I had to cut strips of 1/4″ plywood to use as battens to hold the top piece to the bottom skirt. It wasn’t pretty, but it’s good enough to keep the rain and birds off long enough for me to get the materials together to build Tent Model X…the last full-size tent I hope I ever build for this boat.
1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the Stainless Rub Rails.
1969chriscraftroamer46 