Waxing the brow?

I decided to get out of the house and do a full compound/wax job on Rendezvous. It's going well so far, but I have one conundrum that I don't think I've had to deal with in the past.....

None of my previous boats have had a "brow" like hers, and I cannot for the life of me figure out how I am going to get my buffer and everything else up into the middle and top sections.

I could potentially un-snap the flybridge canvas windows and reach over (ouch) and get down a foot or two that way without toppling down the thing, but how in the heck am I supposed to get the middle portion? Some sort of ladder arrangement?

You do as much as you can from the deck and then have someone hold on to your ankles as you lean out of the fly bridge. Ok, just kidding a bit. You should be able to reach far enough down to finish if you are out just above your hips.

If really necessary you may be able to rig up a ladder system from the deck to get you up higher but that would be complicated.

Ok, the final answer is to hire someone. That's what I do. I just had my hull and the visor done by the professionals. I will do the rest myself.

RickyD said:

You do as much as you can from the deck and then have someone hold on to your ankles as you lean out of the fly bridge. Ok, just kidding a bit. You should be able to reach far enough down to finish if you are out just above your hips.

If really necessary you may be able to rig up a ladder system from the deck to get you up higher but that would be complicated.

Ok, the final answer is to hire someone. That's what I do. I just had my hull and the visor done by the professionals. I will do the rest myself.

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Yeah I had visions of falling out of my flybridge, gripping my buffer tightly, sliding down the nicely waxed brow and into the water

I contemplated paying someone to do just that part, but I'm not sure if they'd take a small job. I need to find a really tall friend.....

Got any friends with a 6'+ son who would like to pick up a quick $50 on an afternoon. 6'5 with long arms would be best.

That's the kind of kid I use to change my fart filter.

I built a scaffold like system to work on mine. Took some long 2x8s and ran them from the handrails on each side. Supported them in the middle down to the deck. That got me high enough to be able to reach the middle of mine.

I have long arms and just flop over the instrument panel/venturi (thick foam pad to protect my hips and stomach). Used a large, cheap, HF variable speed buffer when I did the compound job. Lost control while running it one handed (stretched out) and it launched itself over the side and into the drink. Fortunately, the cord unplugged in the process and it didn't hit anything. I thought about tethering the second one, but decided it would just flop around if it got away....better to let it fly. That was 15 years ago, and I was in a lot better shape.

I still hand wax the brow every two years using the same method...half from the bottom half from the top. I use Meguiars Ultimate...one of those polymer liquid products. Holds up well and doesn't leave swirls and smears like conventional waxes.

I used to do the acrobatic things like that, now I tend to stop and think about what could go wrong and then how to get ahead of the wrong things before they happen.

We had the same problem this winter. Our boat is in inside storage. We used a ladder strapped across to both side rails and supported by a foam board. It was an ugly contraption but we got the job done (we hope). Haven't been able to get her out into the sunshine to see how well of a job we did. Fingers crossed we won't see swirls once we get the boat outside.

GFC said:

Got any friends with a 6'+ son who would like to pick up a quick $50 on an afternoon. 6'5 with long arms would be best.

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Yes, that sounds like a good option!

Comodave said:

I built a scaffold like system to work on mine. Took some long 2x8s and ran them from the handrails on each side. Supported them in the middle down to the deck. That got me high enough to be able to reach the middle of mine.

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I had thought of that, but it does require having those materials and then getting up on it. I am not known for my balance

Rufus said:

I have long arms and just flop over the instrument panel/venturi (thick foam pad to protect my hips and stomach). Used a large, cheap, HF variable speed buffer when I did the compound job. Lost control while running it one handed (stretched out) and it launched itself over the side and into the drink. Fortunately, the cord unplugged in the process and it didn't hit anything. I thought about tethering the second one, but decided it would just flop around if it got away....better to let it fly. That was 15 years ago, and I was in a lot better shape.

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I laughed out loud imagining this. I would prefer not to be "that guy" at the marina who ends up having this happen!

Comodave said:

I used to do the acrobatic things like that, now I tend to stop and think about what could go wrong and then how to get ahead of the wrong things before they happen.

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Same - I used to just do things and deal with the physical pain or stupid mistakes afterwards. I tend to think a lot more about how I want to approach something so I am not in pain or hurt later on

We have a marina neighbor that adapted a weed eater as a long reach buffer! I just go out on ours....very carefully.....we are thinking of a couple stripes of nonskid out there.

I was working on my boat in the boatyard barn and asked the boatyard owner if I could do some work on my boat. He said that he does not let owners do that type of work on their boats, but that he had watched me work on my boat over the several years that our boat had been stored there and that I always did the work safely, so go ahead and do what I wanted to do. I was not always that safety conscious but I do look at what I think could possibly go wrong and then look for ways to mitigate the dangers. Working on your brow is certainly an area things could go wrong, up high and reaching to get that extra inch could lead to a fall, or worse damage to your boat... At my age a fall could end my boating career so I really try to be careful. You too. Good luck.

Suction cups

Some good quality suction cups can hold a lot. Do some searching and you may be able to make up something up?

Maybe a roofing bracket and a couple suction cups? If you can't bring yourself to trust the suction cups you could always tie safety ropes from the roof bracket up to the flybridge.

Yup, thats what I would do.

When I had to do my radar on top of my bimini, I took a long ladder and put it at an angle. It sat on the deck and the brow. Then, I tied the ladder fairly high up from both sides going back and to the rails, so it couldn't move from side to side out of under me. I think I may have done similar near bottom, but don't remember.

gkesden said:

When I had to do my radar on top of my bimini, I took a long ladder and put it at an angle. It sat on the deck and the brow. Then, I tied the ladder fairly high up from both sides going back and to the rails, so it couldn't move from side to side out of under me. I think I may have done similar near bottom, but don't remember.

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That's the safest way I've seen it done.
Tie bottom low towards rear - mid cleat if available
Mid ladder to rail as mentioned
Step ladder more than enough
I've replaced some snaps that way with "helper" bucking the bottom of a step ladder

Bacchus said:

That's the safest way I've seen it done.
Tie bottom low towards rear - mid cleat if available
Mid ladder to rail as mentioned
Step ladder more than enough
I've replaced some snaps that way with "helper" bucking the bottom of a step ladder

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Good advice / idea!

gkesden said:

When I had to do my radar on top of my bimini, I took a long ladder and put it at an angle. It sat on the deck and the brow. Then, I tied the ladder fairly high up from both sides going back and to the rails, so it couldn't move from side to side out of under me. I think I may have done similar near bottom, but don't remember.

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Sounds like a good approach. Probably what I'd do...

Duvie said:

Some good quality suction cups can hold a lot. Do some searching and you may be able to make up something up?

Maybe a roofing bracket and a couple suction cups? If you can't bring yourself to trust the suction cups you could always tie safety ropes from the roof bracket up to the flybridge.

Yup, thats what I would do.

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I think I'd rather have a rope than suction cups. I need some big ones - I'm pretty big!

When I put the hardtop on the flybridge we did it when the boat was in the barn for the winter. A friend that has no fear of heights went up into the rafters and we laid 2x6s across the bottom cords of the trusses. He was able to drill and screw the top together as I put them up from the flybridge. It was really handy to do it from above. Nobody had to overextend themselves to reach far away fasteners.

I pile my extra fenders on the foredeck and stand on them. But I also have a dock box aft of the hatch that keeps them in place while I stand on them. Probably not the smartest thing I have done but I got it finished. May rethink this next time.

I used a bosun's chair tied off in the flybridge with a cam lock mainsheet block. I had to retie and make three trips top to bottom to get the whole thing.

stevemitchell said:

I think I'd rather have a rope than suction cups. I need some big ones - I'm pretty big!

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I suggest that you not be so quick to dismiss this idea. We have a couple of Woods Power grips on board and the grip is very strong. We once secured a tender to the side of another boat and no one could pull the grip off the hull after the sundowner challenge. One of the participants was a body builder.
https://www.wpg.com/catalog/hand-held-vacuum-cups

The brow on an OA 420/440 is long and the layup is fairly thin. Putting significant weight on it is a recipe for stress cracks. The forward edge is also set back a couple of feet from the base of the steeply angled windscreen glass and frames. I hesitate to put significant weight on that area either. So you start off well away from the brow at the bottom end. This is a different animal from boats with short, near vertical brows. Slinky on an efficient semi-displacement hull bottom has it's tradeoffs

The options are hire a gorilla, hire a helicopter (with a gorilla), build scaffolding up from the side walkways, or explore the variable speed weed eater idea (which I like very much). The gorilla option seems the least costly and most expeditious.

Here's a side photo of the brow/windscreen arrangement (I was preparing to replace seals and repaint the frames).

Yes finally

stevemitchell said:

View attachment 101607

I decided to get out of the house and do a full compound/wax job on Rendezvous. It's going well so far, but I have one conundrum that I don't think I've had to deal with in the past.....

None of my previous boats have had a "brow" like hers, and I cannot for the life of me figure out how I am going to get my buffer and everything else up into the middle and top sections.

I could potentially un-snap the flybridge canvas windows and reach over (ouch) and get down a foot or two that way without toppling down the thing, but how in the heck am I supposed to get the middle portion? Some sort of ladder arrangement?

Click to expand...

I have the SAME issue. I can wax to just above the blue strip, then I have to take all my electronics down and lean over the wind deflector to get the last 10 inches of so.

I thought I was the crazy one trying different ideas.

Hey TF any pictures of your contraptions and waxing solutions??

Now that is funny and you beat RT at it! Congrats

Xsbank, that’s exactly what I thought when I read the title of the thread. Now I’m kind of disappointed in the thread.

Duct tape the buffer to your boat hook?

Xsbank said:

https://www.wikihow.com/Wax-Your-Eyebrows-at-Home

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I was waiting for someone to comment like this!!!!

Redneck Engineering

The following is due to redneck engineering and a few beers.

All you need are the following:

Adjustable Dock Pole

Duck Tape

Someone to hold the cord so you don't trip on it.

Variable low speed orbital polisher (I use a Shurhold buffer)

Apply compound or polish.

Keep it slow

Alaskan Sea-Duction said:

The following is due to redneck engineering and a few beers.

All you need are the following:

Adjustable Dock Pole
Duck Tape
Someone to hold the cord so you don't trip on it.
Variable low speed orbital polisher (I use a Shurhold buffer)
Apply compound or polish.
Keep it slow

Click to expand...

I like it! - creative solutions are very interesting.

You need to patent that an market them as an acc'y for polishers - really