14' Mckee Craft Refurbishment

I took a Old McKee Craft and refurbished it for my own use

1. Orbital Sander
2. Electric Drill
3. various screws (104 stainless steel or higher)
4. 2 quarts antifouling paint
5. Polyether 5200
6. epoxy
7. 30ft 1x5 Ipe wood

The Trailer was in pretty bad condition when I bought it, one of the bunks was busted, and the other looked rotted. The lights didn't work, and the entire trailer had zero conductivity because of oxidation. I bought a trailer light kit, trailer felt, 2 2x4 pressure treated boards to mend the bunks. I removed the old bunks, and wrapped the new boards with the felt, and installed them. For the trailer lights I tore all of the wiring out, to discover it was chewed through by mice. I made sure to tie the new wire to the end of the old wire so it would pull it back through the trailer. A common problem with marine trailers are that the metal trailer loses its conductivity due to corrosion from salt water, so the ground wire wont work far up the trailer like its meant to go. My solution was that I bought extra wire to take the ground wire all the way to the end of the trailer near the lights. Make sure to seal the wire connections very well, I found that using self adhering electrical silicon works considerable better than using traditional electrical tape(which will lose its adhesion in salt water).

On the Deck, the middle board that sat above the drainage canal became rotted, most likely due to exposure. It provided no support and had a squishy feeling to it. I tore it out to see that the fiberglass was indeed rotten. I elected to put a wooden board in place. I chose Ipe(Brazilian hardwood) and was pleased to see that 3 1x5 boards fit perfectly. I screwed a horizontal board to hold the three boards together.

Antifouling paint is necessary for boats, especially those in salt water. It inhibits the growth of sea life on your boat. I chose Rustoleum antifouling paint. Prior to painting, I sanded with 80 grit sandpaper. The quantity needed for the 3 coats was 2 quarts. Be sure to mix the paint well, as the copper will rest on the bottom of the paint in storage. Since I was painting the boat while it was on the trailer, I wrapped the trailer in plastic to keep the paint off it. I also put painters tape along the line that I wanted to paint along. I would recommend using a 1/4 nap for the roller, to leave a thick textured coat. I painted over the uneven, chipped, polyether filled spots with a brush instead of a roller.

The wiring on old boats tend to be a large problem. For me, the manual bilge, navigation, and console switches all were faulty in some capacity.

First, the console must be removed. I found that the contact points of the switches were slightly corroded, and had a green oxidation. By taking apart the switches(found inside the console), and sanding them down on the contact points led the switches to work.

The bilge has two separate wires entering, one from the battery, and runs the automatic bilge, and one from the switch on the console, which allows you to turn it on manually. On Mckee's bilge, wires are brown with a white stripe; make sure that the brown wire goes to the battery, and the brown with the white stripe leads to the main line going to the console.

Unfortunately my navigation lights were not working because of an issue with the wiring between the console and the lights. This stretch of wire is run through a tube cemented into the hull.

I considered a few courses of action; buying a battery operated navigation light, and sending wires through the railing and leaving the old wire in the foam, or a riskier option, attempting to run new wires through the tube. I decided to attempt to run new wires through the tube.

After removing the old wires from the hull, I attached a 5 foot length of string to a cotton ball. Then shoved the cotton ball through the tube, placed a vacuum on the other side of the tube, and vacuumed the cotton ball through the tube.

Once the string is pulled through, tie both the new negative and positive wires to the string, and pull it through.

Once the wires are attached to the respective switches, the lights will now work.

Though not every McKee owner may have this specific issue, the understanding of the wire schematic is important to every wiring project on the boat.

Using toilet bowl cleaner was key in ridding the discoloration of the Gelcoat. Many older boats have a yellowing to them, and the toilet bowl cleaner will bleach it while being safe on the Gelcoat.

For the Name, I used custom vinyl stickers. When applying the stickers be sure to clean the application area, as well as apply a little heat, either from rubbing, or a hair dryer.