Renovating an old wooden sports boat, am I mad?

[maser_spyder]

Some battens on this morning, surprisingly difficult and fiddly. The sides should be a lot easier though, no gussets, blocking or anything else in the way.

The battens at the bow are going to take a fair bit of fiddling round to get them right. Even more difficult to make both sides identical.

I sort of knew this bit would be difficult, so it'll slow down a bit whilst I get it right.



I started a bit of fairing too, it'll make it easier to get the battens right if it's faired a bit at the stem, much easier to see the natural lines.

[maser_spyder]

RichB said:

Maser, I know you fitted something keel logs or whatever but will it have a keel in the sense that I would know it or is that flat bottom the way it is? bear in mind I'm just an interested lay-person when it comes to boats.

Good point. It's a rather flat-bottomed boat, more like a lake boat than an ocean-going deep vee. There's a reason I chose to build something like this. I've already got a sailing yacht that's good to go round the world, so if there's a bit of chop I already have a suitable thing to go out in. This boat is purely for blatting about the Solent on nice calm days, stopping for lunch and beer stops and all that.

The 'keel' is that long thick strip of wood right down the middle, it's the middle part of the boat, the lowest part in the water.

At the stern it's completely flat all across the width, and as it goes forwards, it rises in to a shallow vee at the bow.

What you can see in the pics is the basic shape, apart from the fairing, which will just take off the odd edges to leave nice flat surfaces everywhere.

To explain some of the bits;

Chine log - The strip of wood at the side that runs from transom (back) to stem (pointy front bit) along the top (as pictured). It's the landing point for the ply on the bottom and sides, almost a 90 degree angle along the bottom edge.

Deck clamp - The strip of wood from transom to stem that runs along the side of the deck (top of the boat), which is the landing point for the sides at the deck (the bottom side strip as per my pic, since the boat is upside down).

The battens are the little strips down the bottom and sides that give landing points for the ply when it's attached. This is the bit I'm doing at the moment.

[maser_spyder]

RichB said:

Ah that's great thanks for taking the time to explain. I always thought the keel was big piece of wood that hangs down into the water rather like a fin under the boat.

'Tis! You're not wrong, just on a flat bottomed boat, it doesn't stick out at all.

Things I've learned about boat building number 467 - Chine logs and deck clamps.

[maser_spyder]

Update: I'm totally fed up with cutting notches.

The keel should only need a protective bit at the front on the stem. I won't be beaching it ever, and will get a bunk trailer (I've never been sure why roller trailers are so popular, old fashioned bunks give a lot more support to the hull).

Wait and see when the top (or bottom, depending which way you're looking at it) is on, it should give a better sense of the shape.

[maser_spyder]

Grabbed an hour or so today, enough to finish off the fiddly notches on the hull. They just need a bit of fettling to make them perfect, I'll do that before fairing.

The sides will be a lot quicker (I hope), there's no motor blocking or triple thicknesses involved which is what took the bulk of the time on the bottom ones. The transom will be a bit fiddly but I'm getting good at fitting battens so hopefully not too bad.

None of these are fixed in place, it's all just rested in there to make sure it fits. Ken recommends to screw them all in, then do the fairing, and only when you're totally confident it's flat and true (you can adjust the battens to achieve this), you can finally epoxy them in place. Sensible chap.

[maser_spyder]

Huntsman said:

For god's sake man! Sweep the floor.

Couldn't last week! I've been painting an F1 car and two-pack paint is addicted to dust, sweeping the floor is about the worst thing you can do. It's dry now so will have a clean up at the weekend.

I spent most of Monday taking down some racking to install bigger stuff and having a good sort out. The bit around the boat is the only bit I didn't touch yet! I could do with an apprentice....

[maser_spyder]

OneDs said:

Looking very good now, how long till the planking starts? Sweep! surely that's what the dust extractors for. BTW what's the RC chassis perched precariously on the table?

I'm hoping to have the battens and fairing done before the end of the month, possibly with a first layer of ply fitted. That'll give me a good idea of how many sheets I'll need to do the rest. Then I can order more ply and the mahogany in early April, disappear for the month (away for work) and by the time I get back, it'll all be ready and waiting for me.

With a bit of luck, I'll have the bottom on by June, just in time to be able to move it. That'll give me the winter to do engines, deck and fitting out, with a launch next spring or summer.

At least, that's the plan.

The little RC thing is a Losi LST, I've got two of them.

[maser_spyder]

Eleven said:

maser_spyder said:

That'll give me the winter to do engines, deck and fitting out, with a launch next spring or summer.

Would it be an idea to set a launch date for the summer? My diary is already becoming booked up.

It would also be helpful to know if there is a dress code. I am assuming there will be pre-launch drinks and I think guests will probably expect a finger buffet as a minimum, though something more formal might be fitting. Probably best to consider a marquee in case the weather doesn't play ball.

Ummm..... No pressure then.

There will indeed be a finger buffet, canapés and champagne, of course. 30s dress and we'll have some cars to match it please.

It'll be like something out of an Agatha Christie adaptation.

[maser_spyder]

You guys....

It'll be Calshot slipway with a ham sandwich in the beach cafe if we're lucky.

[maser_spyder]

Simpo Two said:

Now lookee here, if you're painting F1 cars in your dayjob you can easily sneak the boat into one of those big shiny juggernauts heading south for May 25th...

You haven't seen it yet.

I might really splash out and go for Lymington slipway. WITH ham and mustard.

[maser_spyder]

Huntsman said:

I can see the launch party becoming the main event and eclipsing the build itself.

That reminds me! If my sawdusty floor offends you so, get round here and sweep it for me!

[maser_spyder]

Bonefish Blues said:

Looking at the above and its name prompts me to ask whether we've yet started thinking about names?

Yes, but no. After the stress, hard work and money, the name is going to have to be perfect, so I'm not rushing it!

[maser_spyder]

Petrus1983 said:

Just out of interest - has the project been harder work than you first envisaged? (Looks great btw!).

Yes and no, I guess. I was expecting some bits to be quite difficult, but when I've got to them it's turned out to be more time consuming than anything else. I've spent a lot of time away from the build getting my head around how it all goes together, so the chances are I'm always two or three steps ahead in my head than I am on the actual build. I've always got a very good idea of what's coming next, which helps with planning tools, parts, etc.

There's a couple of bits I would do slightly differently, but nothing much, and nothing that actually affects anything.

I reckon of you can fit a kitchen, you could build a boat like this. It's really not been all that difficult so far.

This week has been spent tidying up and installing some new racking to give me some more space, so it's been a bit of a dead loss. Hoping to get cracking again properly next week. The side battens won't take long, deck clamps too, so I should be all done with longitudinals by the end of next week. A week to fair it, and another week to get the first layer of ply on the bottom.

It should be looking like an upside down boat in about three more weeks!

[maser_spyder]

OneDs said:

What's the approach to getting the prop through the Hull, is it one of the very last things you do given the amount of probable movement in the structure prior to the build and fit out? On any boat build TV programmes I've watched it always seems to be a very tense affair.

Bottom planking on, mahogany on, fibreglass coat on, etc. so totally finished.

Then fit a large block on the hull where the prop shaft will go that gives a near flat entry point for the drill.

Fit the prop strut and use this to get the right angle for the drill entry.

Ideally, you would fit a chuck to the end of the shaft and use the shaft itself to guide the drill bit in.

In all, a bloody fiddly old job that I'm really not looking forward to.

But you've reminded me that I need to work out some angles now that will make the drilling easier later, it's much easier to work out where the shaft should go without a bottom on the boat. As soon as the first layer of ply goes on it's much harder to see the angles and there's a lot more guess work.

The rudder shaft goes in at the same time, and you're supposed to glass the inside of the hole to give it extra strength before finally fitting the shaft itself.

Suffice to say, I'm going to need some help here, as I've got little experience with shaft and rudder arrangements. Having the parts here will help but I could do with seeing some other installations so I've got a good idea of what to copy.

This will probably be around late summer to autumn sort of time, so I've got a bit of breathing space yet.

Just off to get a bit more done this afternoon, I might even have a sweep up.

[maser_spyder]

Simpo Two said:

From my experiences of building (model) boats, there are easy parts and difficult parts, and interesting parts and boring parts.

Easy and interesting is great, easy and boring is fine, difficult and interesting is OK, difficult and boring is the worst! There are also times when you can make visible progress quickly, which is great, and other times when you can slog for two hours and it looks just the same. So you need willpower as well as skill.

I'll go along with that, having not quite finished cutting notches.

Notch number 1 - Yay! Making progress!
Notch number 21 - Hmm, I wish there was something else I could do now (there isn't).
Notch number 101 - Oh fk this right in the eye.

[maser_spyder]

Simpo Two said:

I thought it odd that people laughed at Dick Cheney's statement; it always made perfect sense to me.

My prime example of 'difficult and boring' is ratlines. My model has 2,254 of them and it took a month... www.sanjuannepomuceno.co.uk

Sorry MT, back to the plot.

You ever thought about doing a real one? Not a ship of the line I guess, but something a little smaller?

The model boat building would be a real benefit on a full sized one, the principles are almost identical.

[maser_spyder]

Simpo Two said:

maser_spyder said:

You ever thought about doing a real one? Not a ship of the line I guess, but something a little smaller? The model boat building would be a real benefit on a full sized one, the principles are almost identical.

I think so too. I love working with wood but don't have any space for a project - nor do I need a small wooden boat! The most difficult model I've built was an admiralty-style model Oneida: www.dlumberyard.com/articles-oneida.html . They made it specially in boxwood for me and being a 'skeleton' everything shows. It ended up more carving and scratch-building than making a kit. Have a look at their website - you'll see it's unlike any other kit in the known universe.

My word.

I retract that. A real one is a lot easier.

[maser_spyder]

RichB said:

Huntsman said:

..the P bracket and shaft log...

Is that more obscure nautical terminology?

P bracket - The little support bracket between the boat and the near end of the shaft, right by the prop. It stops the prop from shaking the shaft to bits.

Shaft log - The same idea, but this bit is inside the boat, just where the shaft pokes through the hull on the inside. In front of this you have the bit that's greased up to stop the water coming through.

[maser_spyder]

Huntsman said:

Prolly.

I was just thinking about it, when I did one, I made up a block of timber, then bored the hole straight through, then cut through the block at the angle I wanted. Mounted that onto the keelson, bored right through.

Billy's pics here, broadly the same as another one I've seen.

http://home.metrocast.net/~bcheckerberry/billys_be...

What I don't get about this is how he managed to drill all the way through a double laminated keel with that tiny little hole cutter.

[maser_spyder]

Fishtigua said:

My old man used to use a big, sod-off auger bit on his keels.

That's exactly what I was looking at. But how do you get the accuracy so that it lines up perfectly with the P bracket? Half a degree out and it'll shake about a high speed, right?