White bulkheads?

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Sanlen
Posts: 66
Joined: Tue Nov 26, 2013 1:41 pm
Location: Stockholm

White bulkheads?

Post by Sanlen »

Hi all,

This is my first post in this excellent forum, although I have been following it for many years. We own a 1974 Ballad since 20 years and have now started a complete restoration of the interior (actually, we started 10 years ago but then work came and took all time). The interior is now removed from the hull and all defective parts will be replaced. Only the main bulkhead is left and will be restored in place to reduce the risk of deformation of the hull.

Many investments have already been made like new engine, new sails, new windows, furling system, complete overhaul of the electric system including solarpanels, professional respray of the hull and so on.

Our goal is to mildly modernize the interior while restoring it and make it a little brighter. One thought is painting some or all of the bulkheads and foiling the worktops and navstation top in white. All other plywood and wooden frames will be varnished.

I know there are a few that have done some of this (more or less) and kindly ask for their experience. How did it turn out? Pictures of a Ballad with white bulkheads would be most appreciated. Maybe we can pay a visit and have a look in IRL?

Best regards,

Jan
Best regards,
Jan
#547 Sanlen
Owner since 1993
User avatar
dahlke
Posts: 111
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 5:20 pm
Location: Randers, Denmark

Re: White bulkheads?

Post by dahlke »

Hi Jan

Welcome :) It's great to see a new member :)

I am in the process of restoring hull #332 (1973). There are some 400 pictures in the link below if you scroll to the bottom there are a few of the white painted bulkheads. My plan is to paint everything white except the solid mahogany and teak pieces.

https://plus.google.com/photos/+MadsDah ... ZKQ7oaNngE

I really like the contrast between the white and the satin varnished mahogany. My biggest fear is that the salon is going to become "too" white. Bob (member of the forum) suggested to simply add more mahogany if that happens. Excellent suggestion :)

Image
Image
Image

Please post lots of pictures of your progress :)
Mads
Ballad #332 (aka. Obelix)
Restoration blog
Boat and restoration pictures
User avatar
Sanlen
Posts: 66
Joined: Tue Nov 26, 2013 1:41 pm
Location: Stockholm

Re: White bulkheads?

Post by Sanlen »

Hi Mads,

Thank you very much. I have been following your progress with great interest but must have missed these pictures. I totally agree - it looks great with the contrast between the white bulkhead and the varnished mahogny :D . Keep up the good work - it is really inspiring :D

I see that you have painted the inside of the roof in a brighter tone than original - this makes the contrast between the roof and the white bulkheads more smooth. We aren't planning to do this so I am a little concerned that it might be too sharp with "plain" white against the roof. Maybe we will use a darker/greyish tone on the bulkheads to minimize the contrast. What colourcode have you used on the bulkheads?

I took some pictures of the interior when we initiated the work 10 years ago - she has been sitting on the hard ever since :oops:
Well, at least she is very dry in her hull now :mrgreen:

Here's how she looked like when we started - she wasn't in that bad shape but we (merely I :D ) felt it was time to do something about the interior after all the other work had been done. As you can see we had already addressed the backdraw with bolted bulkheads and chainplates. We added large stainless washers on all bolts and made stainless backing plates where the chainplates are bolted to the bulkheads.
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Best regards,
Jan
#547 Sanlen
Owner since 1993
User avatar
Sanlen
Posts: 66
Joined: Tue Nov 26, 2013 1:41 pm
Location: Stockholm

Re: White bulkheads?

Post by Sanlen »

Here are some more pictures. As you can see I placed the electric panel above the engine (where all the wiring connects originally). It was my intention to place it at the navstation but I found out it would mean to much work rerouting all the wires. It is mounted behind an acrylic cover for protection against shoes and works very well - it is also easy to reach from the cockpit. Now I will make a more tidy fit in whitepainted plywood.
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Summer of 2002 (last time in water)
Summer of 2002 (last time in water)
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Best regards,
Jan
#547 Sanlen
Owner since 1993
Bob McGovern
Posts: 283
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 3:08 am
Location: Wyoming, USA

Re: White bulkheads?

Post by Bob McGovern »

Looks very nice! We are turning the cooktop cover into a side table like that. Not much working surface in that galley.:) We are also thinking of moving the main electrical panel to the nav station, but since our nav faces aft (old boat), that's not very far. We would run the primary battery cables to the new panel, then smaller fused wires to the existing bridgedeck panel for nav lights & blower controls. Then wires forward to another subpanel in the V-berth. The voltage drops are so great with our 12VDC boats, multiple home-runs of oversized wire becomes expensive & too bulky.

A white painted interior with teak or mahogany trim is sometimes called the 'Herreschoff aesthetic.' Original:
Image
More modern:
Image
A tasteful Morris Yacht:
Image
Perhaps overdone:
Image

Some wood-on-white interiors cross the line from "bright and spacious" to "cold and blinding". Some of that is in the wood-to-paint ratio, but much of it is what you noted: the choice of 'white' is important. Herreschoff actually used an off white in his interiors. It looks very white next to a medium dark red/amber wood, but if you hold a pure white color card next to it, the paint is actually quite ivory. That reduces contrast a little without sacrificing the feeling of size.

Our current plan is to keep the Ballad mostly wood from a 'beltline' down '': probably countertop height. Bulkheads will be wood on bottom, off-white above. We need to paint the roof anyway, so color clash will not be a problem. Then we will keep adding mahogany trim to the upper white parts until the boat feels warm and balanced. Since we are bringing in much more light with new hatches and ports, we will need to work towards a good ratio.

Good luck with finishing the refit! We would love more photos as you progress.:)
User avatar
dahlke
Posts: 111
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 5:20 pm
Location: Randers, Denmark

Re: White bulkheads?

Post by dahlke »

Thank you :)

I'm using Hempel (http://www.hempel.se) Multicoat in "10000 White" for both plywood and fiberglass (inside and above the waterline). Sorry, I was not able to find a color code.

Image

Most of the plywood in my boat was either damaged by water or the outer veneer was worn thru. Basically I had no option but to remove all the old plywood. Your plywood looks a lot better :) I think painting the bulkheads white and varnishing the rest of the plywood is going to look very nice. My original idea was to do exactly that :) Sadly I was not able to find a suitable stain (for the new plywood) anywhere in Denmark and therefore I chose to paint everything white.

I really like what you have done with the electrical panel and backing for the bolts in the bulkheads - I'm definitely going to steal those ideas! ;)

I bet it's going to be great getting her back in the water after 10 years on the hard :) Where are you planning to take her? Perhaps we will run into each other this summer. I'm planning (hoping) on doing two weeks in Denmark and Sweden before heading to either the west coats of England or Norway (for 5 weeks).
Mads
Ballad #332 (aka. Obelix)
Restoration blog
Boat and restoration pictures
User avatar
dahlke
Posts: 111
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 5:20 pm
Location: Randers, Denmark

Re: White bulkheads?

Post by dahlke »

Bob McGovern wrote:Looks very nice! We are turning the cooktop cover into a side table like that. Not much working surface in that galley.:) We are also thinking of moving the main electrical panel to the nav station, but since our nav faces aft (old boat), that's not very far. We would run the primary battery cables to the new panel, then smaller fused wires to the existing bridgedeck panel for nav lights & blower controls. Then wires forward to another subpanel in the V-berth. The voltage drops are so great with our 12VDC boats, multiple home-runs of oversized wire becomes expensive & too bulky.

A white painted interior with teak or mahogany trim is sometimes called the 'Herreschoff aesthetic.' Original:
Image
More modern:
Image
A tasteful Morris Yacht:
Image
Perhaps overdone:
Image

Some wood-on-white interiors cross the line from "bright and spacious" to "cold and blinding". Some of that is in the wood-to-paint ratio, but much of it is what you noted: the choice of 'white' is important. Herreschoff actually used an off white in his interiors. It looks very white next to a medium dark red/amber wood, but if you hold a pure white color card next to it, the paint is actually quite ivory. That reduces contrast a little without sacrificing the feeling of size.

Our current plan is to keep the Ballad mostly wood from a 'beltline' down '': probably countertop height. Bulkheads will be wood on bottom, off-white above. We need to paint the roof anyway, so color clash will not be a problem. Then we will keep adding mahogany trim to the upper white parts until the boat feels warm and balanced. Since we are bringing in much more light with new hatches and ports, we will need to work towards a good ratio.

Good luck with finishing the refit! We would love more photos as you progress.:)
Great pictures Bob :)
Mads
Ballad #332 (aka. Obelix)
Restoration blog
Boat and restoration pictures
User avatar
Sanlen
Posts: 66
Joined: Tue Nov 26, 2013 1:41 pm
Location: Stockholm

Re: White bulkheads?

Post by Sanlen »

Thank you! Nice pictures, I think these interiors balance on the edge of too much white panels without crossing it. Looks great, especially the wooden trim on the roof. Gives me new ideas. :D Maybe later on, I really want to sail next summer.

When we installed the new engine we also moved the engine panel to a nice recessed box with acrylic lid (same as Hallberg-Rassy) in the right seatback of the cockpit. No more broken engine key :mrgreen:

Subpanels is a great idea to reduce voltage drop. From what I recall this wasn't a problem for us, probably beacause we switched all main wires to 70 mm2 and upgraded all other wires. I wonder what all this extra copper weighs, running to the bow and back.
Bob McGovern wrote:Looks very nice! We are turning the cooktop cover into a side table like that. Not much working surface in that galley.:) We are also thinking of moving the main electrical panel to the nav station, but since our nav faces aft (old boat), that's not very far. We would run the primary battery cables to the new panel, then smaller fused wires to the existing bridgedeck panel for nav lights & blower controls. Then wires forward to another subpanel in the V-berth. The voltage drops are so great with our 12VDC boats, multiple home-runs of oversized wire becomes expensive & too bulky.

A white painted interior with teak or mahogany trim is sometimes called the 'Herreschoff aesthetic.' Original:
Image
More modern:
Image
A tasteful Morris Yacht:
Image
Perhaps overdone:
Image

Some wood-on-white interiors cross the line from "bright and spacious" to "cold and blinding". Some of that is in the wood-to-paint ratio, but much of it is what you noted: the choice of 'white' is important. Herreschoff actually used an off white in his interiors. It looks very white next to a medium dark red/amber wood, but if you hold a pure white color card next to it, the paint is actually quite ivory. That reduces contrast a little without sacrificing the feeling of size.

Our current plan is to keep the Ballad mostly wood from a 'beltline' down '': probably countertop height. Bulkheads will be wood on bottom, off-white above. We need to paint the roof anyway, so color clash will not be a problem. Then we will keep adding mahogany trim to the upper white parts until the boat feels warm and balanced. Since we are bringing in much more light with new hatches and ports, we will need to work towards a good ratio.

Good luck with finishing the refit! We would love more photos as you progress.:)
Best regards,
Jan
#547 Sanlen
Owner since 1993
User avatar
Sanlen
Posts: 66
Joined: Tue Nov 26, 2013 1:41 pm
Location: Stockholm

Re: White bulkheads?

Post by Sanlen »

Hi Mads,

Thanks for the information about the color. I believe 10000 is pure white.

The pictures are somewhat lying since they were taken 10 years ago. I plan to make new panels beneath the V-berth, new seatbacks and frontsides of the berths in the salon, new closet panel, new chainplate covers, new panel at the navstation, new boxing where the main electrical panel is located and put new panels on the cockpit bulkhead. I also need to replace the galley bulkhead. Is it possible to remove the trim from the bulkhead and reuse it?

Your planning for next summer sounds great! I've always wanted to make a roundtrip like that, Sweden - Norway - Shetland - west coast of England - Irland and then back to Sweden. We have previously sailed all around the Baltic including Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Bornholm. Our plans for next summer are sailing north to The High Coast of Sweden but it depends on the weather situation and where the summer high sets.
dahlke wrote:Thank you :)

I'm using Hempel (http://www.hempel.se) Multicoat in "10000 White" for both plywood and fiberglass (inside and above the waterline). Sorry, I was not able to find a color code.
t
Image

Most of the plywood in my boat was either damaged by water or the outer veneer was worn thru. Basically I had no option but to remove all the old plywood. Your plywood looks a lot better :) I think painting the bulkheads white and varnishing the rest of the plywood is going to look very nice. My original idea was to do exactly that :) Sadly I was not able to find a suitable stain (for the new plywood) anywhere in Denmark and therefore I chose to paint everything white.

I really like what you have done with the electrical panel and backing for the bolts in the bulkheads - I'm definitely going to steal those ideas! ;)

I bet it's going to be great getting her back in the water after 10 years on the hard :) Where are you planning to take her? Perhaps we will run into each other this summer. I'm planning (hoping) on doing two weeks in Denmark and Sweden before heading to either the west coats of England or Norway (for 5 weeks).
Best regards,
Jan
#547 Sanlen
Owner since 1993
Bob McGovern
Posts: 283
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 3:08 am
Location: Wyoming, USA

Re: White bulkheads?

Post by Bob McGovern »

We knocked the bulkhead trim off without difficulty. It seems to be glued only to the plywood edge and the old glue is quite brittle, so it removed cleanly without veneer damage. A block of hardwood laid flat against the panel, parallel to the trim, and a sharp rap with a hammer is all it took. If you clean up plywood edge & trim channel, it could glue back on no problem.:)

We want to add a vertical post near the companionway on the port side, at the head of that settee. There is a step or two in the Ballad's salon with no high hand grips, & my partner finds coming down the stairs without something to grab at the bottom a bit nerve-wracking.

The other decorating issue that will affect the wood/white balance is fabrics -- cushions and curtains. It is a third variable that can change how warm or cold a Ballad feels inside. Herreschoff liked ivory and green-gold Jacquard fabrics for his interiors; we probably want brighter colors on Fionn, but it may be some time before we get to cushions and curtains!
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