Thread: Potential Rebuild

Strewth Ruth, that will keep you busy for a while.

I'd be going for a combo of plan B & C.

Yep, the obvious advise it to run as fast as you can, directly opposite of direction of this project.

The hull isn't very fair and I'll suspect the assumption about the planking is about the same as the condition of the rest of the boat. I see rot in the hood ends (the worst place BTW), multiple repairs over several attempts, some not so good, with others being adequate.

The best thing you could do is use this boat as a mold for a new build, in the shape of this boat. She literally has everything wrong that can be, so you might want to act accordingly.

Hi Rod,
She looks lovely from a distance
A much bigger job than I went through as the ribs were all quite sound in mine.
I remember talking to the boys at Duck Flat some years ago about a different technique. In simple terms the idea is to:

• repair and skin the outside with glass
• turn over and remove all the ribs
• skin the inside with glass

The theory is that the epoxy and glass replace the strength previously supplied by the ribs. I imagine that a certain amount of framing may have to be added.
Food for thought.
Cheers, Mark

Alright - not a unanimous "run away" - that's good. Yes I really like the shape and I want to have a crack - of course plan B & C will can still be the goto options but I would love to have a crack.

The option of skinning both sides is very appealing and was my first train of thought, firstly because it is within my skillset and secondly that I think it the most time efficient BUT I like the idea of maintaining the ribs and as I have never steam bent anything before, it would be a good opportunity to learn.

I remember many years ago there were a couple of stray cats floating around and I told the kids not to feed them, touch them, or even look at them 'cause they'd worm their way into your heart and then we'd own a couple of cats. Should have taken my own advise with this boat 'cause that's exactly what's happened. I know I should run away but I just can't. By the way it was me who ended up feeding the cats - too soft!

So I'll have a go at replacing the sternpost, and moving the transom, and laying a few ribs and see how I go - all the time with plan C in the back of the mind. Thanks for the input.

Cheers
Rod

Don't forget the photos and commentary as you go along. Unless you revert to plan C that is.

Ok Mark - I think Plan C would make for good photos as well don't you think!

Hmmm.

If you're going to have a stab at it, you should concentrate on getting her shape back to what it's supposed to be. Her bilges are sagging, because the frames are cracked and broken, letting the weight of the planking distort her, especially aft. Her stem and/or keel must have a fair bit of rot in them as the bow is drooping too (look at the rabbit), which means it needs to be jacked back into shape. The stern is also probably hanging a little lower then is should, likely for the same reasons. It's probable the rabbit is dead straight for most of it's length, so this would be a guide as where the pushing, pulling and jacking might need to stop. Another indication is, to even up the seam gaps, with shape adjustments.

If you look carefully, you'll see the midship seams are wider then the ends. This is what happens as the bilges droop. The ends of the boat are have closely spaced fasteners, so they grip a little better, while in the fatter portions of the hull, there's more weight and less fasteners, comparatively, so less support. This coupled with the usual quick bilge turns from midship and aft means the frames just don't have as much leverage over the planking.

For an light (relatively) internal and external skin to work, the planking must be sound and solidly fastened, to a sound and solid structure (frames, floors, stringers, etc.). There's no way around this, which is why conventional repairs to a boat like, this are cheaper then a successful "skin" job. Simply put, if the skins are placed over open seams and marginal structure, it'll just rip loose. This is because the structure isn't holding the planking firmly enough to prevent excessive movement. This movement will cause the planking to "saw" back and forth, which will shear the sheath skins, off the inner and outer planking faces.

Now, on the other hand, you could wedge the seams, which is fairly easy. You plow out each seam with a circular saw, so you have fresh meat to glue to. You then cut long strips that will fit into these newly opened seams, usually a slight bevel to them, so they wedge into place. Epoxy is the common choice, though resorcinol is another option, but the joints need to be perfectly fitted, whereas epoxy doesn't. Once the wedges cure, they are planed flush with the rest of the planking and you've taken a loose assembly of planks and turned them into a homogenous wooden hull shell. Of course if the frames aren't strong enough to resit the planks moving apart as the wedges are driven in, you'll just have a floppy mess when you're done.

A really thick 'glass skin, both inside and out can work, but it'll weigh and cost a lot, in materials, effort and the burden the boat has to bear underway. Done this way, you are simply replacing the internal structure with 'glass laminate. You'll have a wooden core composite when you're done and it'll be water tight, but again heavy and costly.

This is why I say it's cheaper and easier just to use traditional methods to fix her (if she's worth the bother), as you'd have to do a fairly good job of this anyway, if you want a thin 'glass skin job or wedge seam deal to work. The thick 'glass skin approach can avoid much of the structural repairs, but you'll use 3 times as much (probably more) goo and fabrics with this method.

Picking your poison is the name of this game, which is why I suggested you run away. The alternatives to a conventional repair have a pretty high "goo factor", with the wedge seam method being the least of these and the heavy skin technique being the worst, but with less (wooden) structural effort. All of these alternatives assume the boat is braced, jacked and cursed back into a shape, relatively close to what she's supposed to be. If you go for the thick skin method, put the boat into a firm building jig, so she can have her internal structure removed and still retain her shape. This will make thing much easier. In fact, I'd do this for any method you employ, as it's cheap insurance.