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Thread: Ugly Skerry

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2020
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    Queensland
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    49
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    Default Ugly Skerry

    Hey All
    I'd like to introduce myself, Geoff and my very second hand Skerry 15' recently dubbed Ugly Skerry.

    The name is a bit of play on the ugly duckling. The design of the boat is lovely, but the construction and finish are not.

    The idea is to get on the water cheaply, learn to sail and see how I will use the boat most, sailing, fishing or just messing about.
    I live in Toowoomba and plan to use the boat on lakes and dams near here.

    I have no sailing experience, basic woodwork skills and have never fibreglassed.
    I do have a good selection of tools, am keen to learn and like to do a good job of things.

    I'm posting here in the hope of some sound advice on the minimum repairs to get on the water.

    I do have limited capacity due to health issues, I fatigue easily and often suffer joint and muscle pain from not much physical effort. As much as hand tools appeal to me if i can find a way to reduce effort by using power tools then I will choose that out of necessity.

    I guess that's a fair introduction. I look forward to meeting you all

    Geoff
    Attached Images Attached Images

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Toowoomba
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    72
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    Default

    Hi Geoff - just great to see another build in the area. More than happy to supply any support required for your build. Contact info?

  4. #3
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    If it doesn't leak and it doesn't break you are good to go. Especially in safe inland waters. Just wear a Personal Flotation Devise.

  5. #4
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    Feb 2020
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    Default

    Thanks Drywater. I'll send you a PM. I cant edit my profile atm. It seems I'm banned. I suspect its a system glitch.

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Mt Crosby, Brisbane
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    Default

    Is that the one from ipswich that was advertised a while back ? I'm at Mt Crosby so not exactly down the road but I'll help if I can...
    I'm just a startled bunny in the headlights of life. L.J. Young.
    We live in a free country. We have freedom of choice. You can choose to agree with me, or you can choose to be wrong.
    Wait! No one told you your government was a sitcom?

  7. #6
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    Hi Damian
    I bought it in December from a guy in Beaudesert, advertised on gumtree.
    Geoff

  8. #7
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    Feb 2020
    Location
    Queensland
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    Default Fix List priorities

    Thanks for the offers of support. There's lots of things that could be fixed. I could use some help working out the absolute bare minimum that must be fixed before I use it.

    1. Plywood edges of the daggerboard slot is unsealed

    2. Inside of the daggerboard case is rough, either the coatings cracked/weathered or was never sealed.

    3. Daggerboard looks more like a banana board and is twisted too. The foil shape of it looks pretty bad too.

    3. Paint/varnish on Breasthooks, seats and gunwales is cracked and flaking. Scrapes off easily

    4. The skeg is neither perpendicular to the hull or parallel to the centreline of the hull

    5. Fibreglass on the inside between the floor and first chine is 'open' not filleted or wetted out properly. There are holes through the glass. Condition of the timber underneath is unknown.

    6. Inwales are popping off

    7. Bulkheads are pulling away from or there are gaps to the sheer strake

    8. Small hole in the fibreglass at the top of skeg, between the skeg and the hull

    9. Gap between the sheerstrake and second strake , inside

    10. Fibreglass on the floor faded white-ish

    11. The Mast, boom, rig. Joint on the mast has failed, is too flexible, boom is PVC , sail is about 40% too small (compared to sprit rig designed for the boat.

    12. Oars need resealing and have some splits in the blades.

    I think that covers most of it. Ill add some more photos soon
    Geoff

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Mt Crosby, Brisbane
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    Default

    Well you have 2 issues.

    Areas that are unsealed will allow water into the timber and damage it. You may be able to recover from this by drying it out for a long time in low humidity but better to seal it first.

    Second problem is mechanical problems. It's not pleasant when things break on the water. It sounds like you already have broken bits and others that probably will fail. So you need to do all that before sailing it IMO.

    Glass is usually wetted out with either polyester, vinylester or epoxy. The first 2 are resins, they stick to themselves but don't stick to other things well. They get a mechanical key into glass and foam etc. The third is epoxy which is a glue. It keys mechanically but also bonds chemically. It is much stronger. The resins don't key well into timber because it's basically smooth, so they should not be used on a timber boat. The BIG problem with epoxy is it is susceptible to UV. It sounds like some parts of your boat have been left exposed and the sun has killed the epoxy, or maybe the builder used a resin and it's peeled away from the wood. Your descriptions could be either.

    If it has the typical "fiberglass" smell it's a resin. You might save it by peeling parts away, painting on epoxy and clamping the glass back down, but you would be better off just re glassing it. If there is no smell try abrading part of it. Still no smell then it's probably epoxy. make your repairs and either paint it or use a UV blocking clear coat of some sort.

    If the face of the timber is damaged in the daggerboard slot your going to have a devil of a time recovering it. Might be quicker to make a new one. Likewise the board, if it's that bad might be easier to make a new one.
    I'm just a startled bunny in the headlights of life. L.J. Young.
    We live in a free country. We have freedom of choice. You can choose to agree with me, or you can choose to be wrong.
    Wait! No one told you your government was a sitcom?

  10. #9
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Central Coast, NSW
    Posts
    3,330

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    Mast and sail appear to be from an early windsurfer. Maybe the original wishbone boom would work better then a single pole, as it would bend the mast and tension the sail.
    Apologies for unnoticed autocomplete errors.

  11. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
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    Mt Crosby, Brisbane
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    Beach cat and small dinghy rigs are heap. Laser rigs are unstayed and you get more sail area into the bargain, but the rig isn't the big problem.
    I'm just a startled bunny in the headlights of life. L.J. Young.
    We live in a free country. We have freedom of choice. You can choose to agree with me, or you can choose to be wrong.
    Wait! No one told you your government was a sitcom?

  12. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2020
    Location
    Queensland
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    49
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    Default

    20200208_132603.jpg20200208_131522.jpg20200208_143154.jpg
    So . I sat it in the boat today and just looked. Found a nasty bit of rot on the starboard sheer strake.
    Then I got out my carbide scraper and got stuck into the garboard chines. I now know that there are voids behind the fibreglass on all the joins between strakes.

    It also looks to me like there are blisters under the glass on the floor. The best approach might be to just rip it off and re glass.
    A friend gave me some leftover glass mat from his kayak. I have techniglue r60 and bought a litre of west systems epoxy and slow hardner.

    If i do go ahead with a full reglass inside then I think it makes sense to build a new centreboard case and mast step. These are quite simple components so they shouldn't take too long to remake.

    Then I broke the mast hehe. A little wiggle and some gentle pressure and snapo! I particularly love the bit of split pvc pipe the last owner put up the centre.

    Atm a balanced lug rig is my preferred option, but also the most expensive.
    I'll focus on getting the glass off the rest of laps first.

    Geoff

  13. #12
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    Feb 2020
    Location
    Queensland
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    Got some time to work on the boat this week. Ripped out about 2/3rds of the fibreglass and the inwales. Water has got into the end grain of the sheer strake but I think a couple of fibreglass patches will sort it out.
    20200221_162434.jpg20200229_174737.jpg

  14. #13
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Central Coast, NSW
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    Default

    I would be asking myself is it really worth persisting with this boat? It’s going to take a lot of time and money to get it functional and i doubt you have found all the problems yet. I think you will end up glassing over a lot of very soft timber.

    If you were restoring an old timer that had been beautifully made then OK.

    Would time and money be better put into making something from scratch.

    Not trying to insult, just be a circuit breaker.
    Apologies for unnoticed autocomplete errors.

  15. #14
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    In between houses
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    Default

    find some nice clear straight Oregon to build new spars, those pictures of PVC just made me squirm. the fittings are all available for timber spars, or they can be made easily. Keep going!

  16. #15
    Join Date
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    Boating is an irrational passtime let alone building or renovating boats. As long as everyone's happy and no one dies it'all good.
    I'm just a startled bunny in the headlights of life. L.J. Young.
    We live in a free country. We have freedom of choice. You can choose to agree with me, or you can choose to be wrong.
    Wait! No one told you your government was a sitcom?

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