Restoration of EULALIE, Kettenburg PCC, hull #1.

Most people familiar with Kettenburg boats know Kettenburg Boat Works as a premier West Coast boat builder, and yacht designer. When Kettenburg boats are mentioned, most people think of the famous Pacific Class (PC) one design race boat designed by George Kettenburg Jr., or the K series of cruisers designed by Paul Kettenburg. Especially the K-38. However, the Kettenburg Pacific Class Cruiser (PCC) Design No. 363 designed by George Kettenburg Jr. is one the most significant ocean racers in the heritage of American yacht design. In it’s own era, the PCC is no less famous than the Sparkman & Stephens’ ocean racing yachts DORADE (1929), and STORMY WEATHER (1934). In fact, the PCC dominated all major West Coast ocean races from post World War II through the mid 1950s. The ocean racing record of PCCs EULALIE, RAY, MICKEY, KITTEN, BALLERINA, BOLERO, GOSSIP, SELENE, UNDINE, and others speaks for itself.

The Kettenburg PCC was designed by George Kettenburg Jr. in 1945. The Kettenburg Boat Works built PCC hull #1 in six months. PCC #1 was built production style over an inverted jig, like every wooden boat constructed at Kettenburg Boat Works from the 40s on. PCC #1 EULALIE was launched in May 1946.  EULALIE was built as George Kettenburg Jr.’s personal boat, and he named the boat after his wife, Eulalie. George Kettenburg Jr. raced EULALIE extensively, and won numerous major regattas. EULALIE was one of twenty-five PCCs, which were built between 1946-1959.

John Vallone, the previous owner of EULALIE , PCC hull #1 had her transported from Ventura, California to Salt Lake City, Utah on September 24, 2002. That is where EULALIE sat on a metal cradle uncovered, outside the rented warehouse, in the parking lot of an industrial park. Salt Lake City is high desert at 2,000 feet above sea level.

Steve Barber, the owner of the Kettenburg Boat Works Owners Association web site became aware of the sale of EULALIE, and the related circumstances in June, 2004. John Vallone, the  owner had died suddenly in March 2004. The owner of the industrial park had another person renting EULALIE’s owner’s warehouse, effective as of October 1, 2004. Consequently, EULALIE had to be moved by the end of September, or she would be literally cut up, and hauled away. Steve Barber began posting distress signals in June 2004 on the Kettenburg Boat Works Owners Association web site’s bulletin board.

The pictures above were taken in July 2004 of EULALIE sitting next to the warehouse in Salt Lake City, where she had spent the previous two years. Click on each picture to enlarge.

A couple of individuals expressed an interest in restoring EULALIE. However, only the Classic Yacht Foundation stepped forward. After six weeks of negotiations with all of the interested parties, EULALIE became the latest yacht to be donated to the Classic Yacht Foundation.

EULALIE had lost her structural integrity because all of the seams below the water line had opened so much from the extreme heat and low humidity after two years in that environment.  The structural integrity of EULALIE’s hull had to be re-established to be able to lift her with a crane, and load her on a yacht transport truck.

The pictures above were taken in July 2004 of EULALIE’s bottom, after being exposed to the extreme weather in Salt Lake City for the previous two years. The picture to the right also shows the condition of the hull. Click on each picture to enlarge.

The ideal situation would have been to add moisture to the hull to create swelling in the planking and the timbers as the first step. However, using lawn sprinklers, garden hoses, humidifiers, burlap bags, or re-circulating pumps, etc. were not an option. Steve Barber recommended using Life-Calk, which is a caulking seam compound product that never gets completely hard, and will therefore expand and contract. Life-Calk can also be sanded. CYF hired Merry Leach (formerly from Ventura Boatyard) to re-caulk the bottom. Merry had a strong emotional attachment to EULALIE, and was willing to provide safety and security for EULALIE while in Salt Lake City (EULALIE had already been broken into once while there). CYF had a case of Life-Calk shipped to Salt Lake City from Seattle. Merry was then able to then determine how many cases of Life-Calk would be needed, based on how far the first case went. It was determined that it would take ten cases (120 canisters) of Life-Calk to re-caulk the bottom, below the water line.


The previous owner had taken the bottom to bare wood in 2001, when he contracted with the Ventura Boatyard to refasten the hull with approximately 1000 new screws. There was very little of the new bottom paint remaining on the hull because of the desert environment. The process of re-caulking the bottom (below the water line) was done in this order: (1) sand the bottom planks where needed, (2) remove the old caulk, leaving the cotton in place in the seam, (3) sand the edges of the of the planks using sand paper wrapped on a cut sail batten, (4) paint the seams with bottom paint, and (5) paying the seams using black Life-Calk seam compound, and smoothing it with a plastic putty knife. This process took Merry two months, with a week to spare. This was important because it allowed the Life-Calk to cure for a week before the lift. Lifting EULALIE onto the Associated Yacht Transport truck in a parking lot, in an industrial park, took coordinating the crane company, the yacht transport truck company, and a fork lift operator.



The pictures above were taken September 2004 in Salt Lake City, and shows the result of Merry Leach’s two months of hard work, finished with applying 10 cases of caulk to EULALIE’s bottom. Click on each picture to enlarge.

The object was to lift EULALIE a minimal height, for a minimal lenght of time. The crane company operator used straps and two ten foot metal cross bars, which minimized the side pressure where the hull meets the deck. EULALIE was sitting on a metal cradle that the previous owner had made for her. A welder named Chris with a cutting torch standing by in case we needed to cut the cradle apart. However, the metal cradle only had cross beams on one end. Consequently, the crane operator lifted EULALIE about two feet. The fork lift driver then quickly pulled the cradle away using a chain. The yacht transport truck was already prepped. So, the driver backed the transport trailer under EULALIE once the cradle was removed. The crane operator then set EULALIE down on the trailer, and the lift was over.

EULALIE arrived at Seaview Boatyard-West in Seattle, Washington on September 24, 2004. Exactly two years after leaving Ventura, California. Once safely at Seaview Boatyard-West, the next project was the work to be done on the hull above the water line, to finish the work to the bottom, and to strip the bright work. CYF hired Kelly Orchard, and Keith Holm to help with this part of the renovation.

The picture above shows EULALIE being off-loaded, after her arrival at Seaview Boat Yard-West on September 24, 2004. Click on the picture to enlarge

The paint on the hull above the water line had cracked, and blistered in the desert environment. CYF volunteers involved in the Mentor program began opening these areas using a plastic putty knife. It was discovered that the most recent coat of paint came off easily in three to five foot strips. The hull apparently had not been sanded prior to applying this last coat of paint. Therefore, this layer of paint was removed with plastic putty knifes. Doing this exposed the seams. The seams had not only opened, most of the caulk seam compound had literally turned to dust. Therefore, the whole hull above the water line also had to be re-caulked.

Re-caulking the hull above the water line would be done using the same process as was used to re-caulk below the water line. The only difference was that white Life-Calk would be used. It was originally thought that we could “feather” the hull paint with a sander from the edge of the seam inward on each plank. However, there were too many coats of paint to do that. If fact, every coat of paint for the last fifty-eight years was still there. That meant that the hull would have to be taken down to bare wood, which was done prior to removing the old caulk, sanding the plank edges, painting each seam, and re-caulking with seam compound. When this process was finished, the hull was painted with four coats of primer.

The four pads from the cradle used in Salt lake City caused indentations in the hull from applying too much pressure, and remaining that way for such a long period of time. However, the hull regained it’s original form after a few months in Seattle. This occurred naturally due to the humidity in the air, and the pressure being removed from these areas.

The Life-Calk in the seams below the water line were flush with the planks while in Salt Lake City.  However, after a couple of months at Seaview Boatyard-West in Seattle, the Life-Calk had pushed out a quarter of an inch in most seams because the planks began to swell due to the humidity in the air. The seams were sanded flush with the planks, and the bottom was painted with two coats of bottom paint.

EULALIE has now been completely re-caulked. The process in Seattle to finish the hull to this point took three months, and over five hundred man hours of time. Plus, the two months Merry spent re-caulking her in Salt Lake City. EULALIE was originally launched at the Kettenburg Boat Works yard in May 1946. EULALIE was re-launched at the Seaview-West Boatyard December 28, 2004.

The pictures above were taken December 28, 2004 at Seaview Boat Yard-West. The first two pictures show the condition of EULALIE’s hull and bottom at the time of the re-launch. The third picture shows EULALIE on the way to re-launch, and the forth picture shows EULALIE back in the water after more then two years. Click on each picture to enlarge

The Beta diesel engine had a complete tune-up, all engine gauges where needed have been replaced, and a new diesel fuel tank has been installed. The next phase of restoration for EULALIE was to re-step the mast, and to balance the boat. In this case, the Beta diesel at 335 lbs. replaced the original gasoline engine, and the gasoline fuel tank was removed from the bilge.

The next phase  of the renovation was be to refinish the outside bright work, refinish/replace the non-skid deck, sand and apply two finish coats of paint to the hull above the water line, and sand and apply another coat of paint to the hull below the water line. This phase of work took until November 1st, or nine months. Which includes over one thousand man hours of time, plus the hours of work done by Howard Hawk, Master Craftsman, and others at Sea View Boat Yard-West, Seattle, Washington.

The pictures above show the condition of EULALIE’s deck and bright work after being exposed to the extreme weather in Salt Lake City for two years. Click on each picture to enlarge.

This phase of EULALIE’s renovation began when she was splashed at Seaview Boatyard-West on December 28, 2005. The first thing that needed to be accomplished was to get the hull to swell. EULALIE remained at the Seaview Boatyard-West dock (salt water) through the month of January. The object was to gauge the swelling progress by timing how long it took to activate the electric bulge pump. Which was done on a daily basis, until she stopped taking on water (about three weeks).

The next project was to paint, and re-rig the mast.  Also included was refinishing the boom, and the spinnaker pole. This part of the renovation was reasonably straight forward, with only a couple of surprises. EULALIE’s mast had been suspended diagonally eight feet off the ground in the warehouse in Salt Lake City. While suspended from the ceiling, it appeared that there was a bow in the mast, because the mast was held at two points for two years. However, the bow was not permanent, and EULALIE’s mast is perfectly straight. Unfortunately, the boom and spinnaker pole had been left on the deck of EULALIE for the two years in Salt Lake City uncovered. Consequently, the boom and spinnaker pole had to be taken to bare wood, before they could be refinished.

All of the standing rigging, and the running rigging were coiled, and not labeled. The metal straps used to secure the spreaders had been removed. These straps are not designed to be removed, so refitting them took some time. It was also discovered that the front and rear lower shrouds are not the same lenght. However, the mast looked perfect, when the re-stepping was complete.

The picture above shows EULALIE’s mast being re-stepped May 27, 2005 at Seaview Boat Yard-West. Click on the picture to enlarge.

The next challenge was to design spacers for the mast that would not leak rain water into the boat. There is a quarter inch lip at the bottom of the metal mast housing in the front, and the back. Therefore, wood was cut the correct thickness to fit on either side of the mast, and that also rested on the forward and rear lip. More wood was cut the correct thickness that was fit and positioned in the front and rear space, which rested on the lip, and at a width that met the side pieces of wood. The wood thickness for the spacer at the front of the mast is three times the thickness of the wood spacer at the back of the mast. This thickness difference allows for the proper rake to the mast. All of the voids were filled with Life-Calk. The mast also has a boot to cover this area.

The deck had been covered with three coats of non-skid paint, over two layers of fiberglass cloth. Multiple layers of the non-skid paint had blistered and cracked from being exposed to the heat and the sun in Salt Lake City. Some of the paint had come off in mutable layers by itself in large chunks. There was no choice other than to recover the deck.

It was discovered that the layer of fiberglass cloth that been applied directly to the original marine plywood deck had “gone off” too fast. Consequently, this layer of fiberglass cloth had not adhered to the marine plywood deck. Because of this, It was possible to pull and chip all of the deck covering off. The same thing was not true of the fiberglass cloth applied to the top of the deck house. While the condition of the non-skid paint on the deck house was the same as the deck, the fiberglass cloth had been applied correctly. The three layers of non-skid paint on the top of the deck house had to be removed by grinding it off, down to the fiberglass cloth. This was accomplished by using a seven inch disk grinder, and many sanding disks. This grinding was followed by using an orbital sander, which was then followed by using a vibrating sander.

The pictures above show EULALIE’s exposed marine plywood deck, after removing the two layers of fiberglass cloth. Click on each picture to enlarge.

The original marine plywood deck was in excellent condition, with no dry rot. However, because the original marine plywood deck had been exposed, it was then important to completely re-seal it. Especially where the horizontal deck meets the vertical deck house and toe rail. Life-Calk was used to fill all seams, and exposed deck screw heads.

The decision was made to not recover the deck with fiberglass cloth. This decision was made because the deck will be covered with three eighths inch teak during the last phase of renovating EULALIE, using the Teak-Deck Systems application. The weight of the two layers of fiberglass cloth that was removed, will be replaced with the weight of the teak. Adding a layer of fiberglass cloth beneath the teak would have added too much weight. Adding additional weight would also change the righting moment, and the ballast to displacement ratio.

Consequently, Once the deck and seams were sealed, the deck was painted with four coats of oil based primer. This was followed with two coats of non-skid paint, and three coats of oil based finish paint.

The varnished exterior bright work had also blistered and cracked from being exposed to the heat and the sun in Salt Lake City. The exposed wood also had various dark water stains from the rain. All of the exterior bright work had to taken down to bare wood. This was done using a heat gun, followed by an orbital sander, followed by a vibrating sander, and finished with hand sanding.

The pictures above show EULALIE’s bright work, after being taken to bare wood. Click on each picture to enlarge.

The only way to properly remove the dark water stains from the exterior bright work was to bleach the entire bright work surface. The individual dark water spots could not be bleached individually because those spots would be lighter then the remainder of the wood. Therefore, the best immediate solution was to stain the wood, and seal that with three coats of clear gloss Cetol.

The above pictures show EUALIE’s deck and bright work after being refinished. Click on each picture to enlarge.

EULALIE was hauled at Seaview Boatyard-West in October 2005, and the bottom was in excellent condition. While out of the water, the bottom received another coat of bottom paint, and two finish coats of paint were also applied to the hull. Four hull gate valves were replaced with new ball valves, and one through hull fitting was replaced. The zinc and electrical bilge pump were also replaced.

The pictures above were taken in October, 2005, and show EULALIE’s hull after applying the finish coats of paint, and the bottom after repainting. Click on each picture to enlarge.

EULALIE was splashed October 21, 2005, and the additional work was completed. After two week in the yard, the additional work at the dock would take another week and half to complete.

The pictures above were taken October 21, 2005, and show EULALIE on the way to launch at Seaview Boat Yard-West. Click on each picture to enlarge.

The additional work included replacing six feet of the port side cap rail, and re-installing the missing track. There were many holes in this section of the toe rail, where many former screws had been placed. These holes were filled by placing tapered wood pegs in the holes, and securing them in place with epoxy resin. Once the surface was also sealed with epoxy resin, a new mahogany cap rail and wood spacer were installed. Then the track was screwed into place.

The pictures above show the tapered wood pegs in the holes on EULALIE’s port side toe rail, and the new mahogany cap rail installed with the track in place. Click on each picture to enlarge.

The majority of the 12v electrical system was re-wired, the complete plumbing system (fresh water/salt water/waste water) was overhauled, and the electrical instruments (GPS, Radar, knot meter, depth sounder, wind direction/wind speed, and VHF) were installed. This work at Seaview Boatyard-West took three and a half weeks.

The pictures above were taken after October 2005 launch, while EULALIE was docked at Seaview Boat Yard-West, when the final work to the electrical and plumbing systems were being completed. Click on each picture to enlarge.

The former owner had converted to original V berth to a single berth. He had also constructed two storage cabinets in the V berth, and covered the surfaces and cabinets with knotty pine paneling. The V berth was changed back to it’s original configuration. One of the constructed storage cabinets was removed, and all of the knotty pine paneling was removed. The salon and V berth painted surfaces have been repaired, and painted.

The pictures of EULALIE above show the deteriorated condition of the ceiling by the companionway, the  deteriorated condition of the ceiling by the forward hatch, with the knotty pine paneling, and the altered V berth with added storage and knotty pine paneling. Click on each picture to enlarge.

EULALIE’s restoration to date has taken fifteen (15) months, and approximately two thousand (2,000) man hours.

The next phase of renovation will be to finish the needed interior cabinetry work in the V berth, repair and paint the painted surfaces in the head, replace the missing doors to the head and hanging locker, and replace five drawers in the galley. The last phase will be to install the teak deck.