My 1968 Olsen Nimbus restoration project.

My 1968 Olsen Nimbus restoration project.

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mickrick

Original Poster:

3,700 posts

172 months

Monday 26th September 2011
quotequote all
Howdoo! Thought I'd post a few pictures of my project. smile
I've had the old girl sitting on the hard for 6 years, I found her after she's already been abandoned for 4 years before that, so I think she'll be dry!
This is how I found her before I managed to track down the owner in Denmark and do the deal.

A nasty aluminium frame had been bolted through the decks to carry the mast, as I beieve she had been brought into the Med via the European canals.
I started by stripping and re-glueing the mast, as you can see it wasn't pretty.

Old wire halyards!

12 coats of varnish.

I also wanted to be rid of the nasty wire halyards. I'm not a racer, so wanted something nicer on my cruisers hands! wink So I had larger and wider sheaves made, and had the masthead modified.

Here it is with a hoop for the spinnaker block, VHF antenna mount, and LED Lopolight tri-colour with a windex mount.

I also fitted an LED steaming light.

Next on the list was the Mahogany ply dog house, which had been sanded through the outer layers over the years, and had some de-lamination.
I took off the top layer, and epoxied on a new outer skin.

I also cut out some rot, and epoxied in some new wood, and disgarded the old corroded aluminium porthole frames for some nice new custom made stainless steel ones.


Then I bought an old property needing renovation! rolleyes
That was 5 years ago, and I'm just about finished it.
So the old girl took a back seat, and was starting to look sorry all over again.

This time, I decided not to be outdone by the eliments, and get her covered properly, with scaffold staging so I can also get the deck and topsides painted too.


I looked at all the work I'd done on the old dog house, and decided I wasn't happy with it at all.
So it all had to come off!



More to follow!
Hope you enjoy. wink

Edited by mickrick on Sunday 16th October 16:56

coanda

2,642 posts

189 months

Monday 26th September 2011
quotequote all
Good work. Thanks for posting this up. Looking forward to updates. I do love full restorations, whether boats, gliders, cars or houses.

Did you document your house resto?

Ayahuasca

27,427 posts

278 months

Monday 26th September 2011
quotequote all
Bookmarked!

Good skills showing in the mast and doghouse roof.


mickrick

Original Poster:

3,700 posts

172 months

Monday 26th September 2011
quotequote all
Thanks smile
I have a photographic record of my house project, but I'd have to post that when I have a lot of time on my hands! That was massive! But as a taster, I can tell you it was two quarters of a round house that I knocked into a half! wink

mickrick

Original Poster:

3,700 posts

172 months

Monday 26th September 2011
quotequote all
So, back to "Svip".
I didn't like the way the mahogany bleached in the sun, and how the endgrain ply didn't weather well at all.
I realised my basic carpentry skills weren't good enough for the quality of work I wanted. So I enlisted the help of my shipright friend to reconstruct a whole new dog house and cockpit coaming, winch blocks etc. in solid, and laminated teak.

Patterns where made of the curved front and roof, as the portholes are toughened glass, so had to match perfectly.

Forms where made out of chipboard and formica to vacum bag the wood laminates.

Seperate ones for the front, roof, and companionway hatch.

The front section was made with 5 x 5mm sheets, vacum formed with epoxy and glass fibre woven roving between each layer.
The roof was teak/woven roving/ply/woven roving/teak, as this would be edged with solid teak, and the end grain wouldn't be exposed.
The sides where made out of 30mm solid planks.
Here it is test slotted together.


You can see here some of the glass fibre between the wood laminate.

The cockpit coaming was also skinned inside and out with 5mm teak. It had to be steamed to get the curve.

Then the top was cut off, and capped with solid.

The corners had to be laminated.

More to come! smile

Hard-Drive

4,076 posts

228 months

Monday 26th September 2011
quotequote all
That's a work of art. Great stuff!

mickrick

Original Poster:

3,700 posts

172 months

Tuesday 27th September 2011
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Thanks. smile The Guy doing the work is indeed an artist. I'm proud to be the guardian of some of his work.
Here's a detail shot of the corner pieces. Inner and outer all one block of solid.

Once everything looked good to fit, all was taken back to the workshop for the porthole apetures to be routed out, and solid added to the roof edges, companionway hatch and frame to be made, and the front and sides to be brought back and glued up.
Before that though, I had the gelgoat repaired, and the area under the dog house painted as the edges are visible from inside the boat.

Front and sides glued up.


More to follow!

Regards,
Mick.smile

Huntsman

8,028 posts

249 months

Tuesday 27th September 2011
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Great to see another loon like me looking after an old wooden boat.

Good stuff!

mickrick

Original Poster:

3,700 posts

172 months

Tuesday 27th September 2011
quotequote all
Only the doghouse and cockpit are wood. The hull and deck are glassfibre/foam core.
I have to say I was very surprised to find a foam core boat of that age! Especially with no apparant delamination of the core/skin.
Some more pictures.

Test fit of the companionway hatch.


More to come.
Cheers,
Mick.
smile

Ayahuasca

27,427 posts

278 months

Tuesday 27th September 2011
quotequote all
How will the economics of this work out? Are restored Olsen Nimbus' worth as much as it is costing to do up?

mickrick

Original Poster:

3,700 posts

172 months

Tuesday 27th September 2011
quotequote all
laugh
Someone else also asked me "Is it worth it?" I guess that's a matter of opinion.
I've only ever seen 2 or 3 for sale up in Denmark. I had some teak grating made for the cockpit sole, companionway, and helm seat about 5 years ago, and that cost me more than those boats where selling for.
I don't like fin keeled, spade ruddered, fat, round bottom modern boats with no bilge, I'd rather spend money on recycling an old hull, and have a basicaly new boat when it's finished.
If you let your head rule your heart, you'd never buy a boat in the first place. nuts

Back of the old dog house, with de-laminated ply.

New lower, made from teak/ply laminate with solid edging.

Upper 33mm teak ply laminate with solid edging, and cut out for compass.

Joint detail.

Weather boards where made using foam sandwich with solid edging.
Sorry about the picture quality, it was poor light when I took the picture.

Companionway hatch guide mounted. I had a nice bronze bush turned up and rebated into the hatch, to slide nicely over the stainless bar.


That's all for today.
Regards,
Mick. smile

MOTORVATOR

6,993 posts

246 months

Tuesday 27th September 2011
quotequote all
Good on you Mick for taking it on. The upside being when you sit on anchorage with a G&T you can look at it all and say "I did that" which makes the drink all the more pleasurable. thumbup

hidetheelephants

23,772 posts

192 months

Wednesday 28th September 2011
quotequote all
mickrick said:
The front section was made with 5 x 5mm sheets, vacum formed with epoxy and glass fibre woven roving between each layer.
The roof was teak/woven roving/ply/woven roving/teak, as this would be edged with solid teak, and the end grain wouldn't be exposed.
The sides where made out of 30mm solid planks.
Here it is test slotted together.
Is that lot not rather heavy? I think I might be tempted to have a balsa core in the middle to reduce the weight(and cost! Teak is ruinously expensive these days). Beautiful though, and I'm sure it will be source of great pride when done. I was about to write finished, but boats are never bloody finished; there's always something left to fiddle with or not quite done right...

mickrick

Original Poster:

3,700 posts

172 months

Wednesday 28th September 2011
quotequote all
MOTORVATOR said:
Good on you Mick for taking it on. The upside being when you sit on anchorage with a G&T you can look at it all and say "I did that" which makes the drink all the more pleasurable. thumbup
Cheers! But I take no credit for the wonderful carpentry! That's all my friends work.
We did have a long discussion about how it was all going to be done though, as I didn't want to see any end grain.
However, I did say to him that I would propably be running aground a fair bit, due to staring at all thet lovely teak and not watching where I'm going!
He'll be coming back in the new year to vac bag a new engine bed in, with a bulkhead for a GKN aqua drive. I think I can just about fit one in there.
Then I can fit nice soft engine mounts. The only thing I want to hear when I turn the key for the "Iron sail" is the water splashing out of the exhaust!
I enlisted the help of some more friends to drop the new engine in the boat while the top was off.


Edited by mickrick on Sunday 16th October 17:03

mickrick

Original Poster:

3,700 posts

172 months

Wednesday 28th September 2011
quotequote all
hidetheelephants said:
mickrick said:
The front section was made with 5 x 5mm sheets, vacum formed with epoxy and glass fibre woven roving between each layer.
The roof was teak/woven roving/ply/woven roving/teak, as this would be edged with solid teak, and the end grain wouldn't be exposed.
The sides where made out of 30mm solid planks.
Here it is test slotted together.
Is that lot not rather heavy? I think I might be tempted to have a balsa core in the middle to reduce the weight(and cost! Teak is ruinously expensive these days). Beautiful though, and I'm sure it will be source of great pride when done. I was about to write finished, but boats are never bloody finished; there's always something left to fiddle with or not quite done right...
Not heavy at all. Remember the old one was ply. No core. We lifted the whole thing off on Monday, to take it back to the workshop to get it varnished. Two of is did it no problem.
Anyway, Balsa core is the devils work! If I where going to core anything (We did the weatherboards) I'd use foam.
You're definately right about it being Ruinously expensive though!
But this is my retirement plan, I hope to spend many happy hours bashing abound the Balearics, and Sadinia and Corsica.
You can't put a price on Happy. smile

mickrick

Original Poster:

3,700 posts

172 months

Wednesday 28th September 2011
quotequote all
Not much happening on the boat now for a couple of weeks, as the dog house has gone off to have 10 or 12 coats of Eppifanes PP, (Gloss outside, satin inside) so all the edges will be covered before it's fitted for good.
Got the winch blocks fitted though. smile

Cheers,
Mick. smile

Kneetrembler

2,069 posts

201 months

Wednesday 28th September 2011
quotequote all
When you are sailing I hope that you keep your stormboards in all the time, with that shallow depth between the bottom of the hatchway and the bottom of the stormboard, but I presume that you have some decent drains from the cockpit.

I had 4 in my Rival 36 and if the cockpit gets full your bum will start to twitch, it's an interesting thing to fill the cockpit up with water and time how long it takes to empty,bearing in mind that you engine forward and astern control is as a rule somewhere on one side or another, although I do realise that it is watertight.

How many berths are you going to build into her 2 ?

Looks good so far, how long to your retirement what with the Car build as well !

mickrick

Original Poster:

3,700 posts

172 months

Thursday 29th September 2011
quotequote all
Hi KT wavey Yes Mate, even when it's flat I always keep the bottom weather board in. It only comes out on the hook or in a marina. They will also have a chord attached to each one, to be cleated off.
We have also made sure the weather board joints slope down, to let water run out of the joint, and not into the boat. ;-)
I have a friend staying with us this week, whom I sailed accross the Atlantic with 3 years ago on his 10 meter boat, and I happened to mention what would happen if it took two dumpers one after the other, as although there are quite large self bailing drains, I doubt it would clear quick enough.
Although I already have a circumnavigation under my belt from over 16 years ago, and I have to say, the only time I've had water around my knees in the cockpit was when I broached a boat at night in the Pacific, as a very unexperienced helmsman! (Downwind, gooswinged out, big swell, and caught out from behind by one of those pesky Pacific line squalls!)
Yes I did clench my buttocks! laugh

ETA, two berths in the main cabin, and a V berth up forward with a head under the center of the V berth. But as is usual, the V berth will probably end up full of sails.

New foam mattreses with sunbrella covers have already been made, and are ready to go in when the time comes.
smile

Edited by mickrick on Thursday 29th September 19:35

Kneetrembler

2,069 posts

201 months

Thursday 29th September 2011
quotequote all
I must say it looks good, some expensive gear going on there, and as you know it sure runs away with the pennies,I was lucky with my winches years ago and there was someone who I met that used to sell Lumar gear, so I had some very nice I think 40c? self tailing winches at a very good price,plus the other mast winches and whatever else I needed that Lumar could supply.

These days I wouldn't know what was good gear or isn't.

I was very lucky anyway as a very good friend owned a boatyard on the South Coast that he had closed and allowed me the use of one of his sheds complete with all the wood working machinery to use for free, the only thing that I had to do was to help him sell all the chandlery goods inside, which we did, and as I was in construction he wanted his house done up, which I also did.

His father had died and left him and his brother the yard and neither of them were really into boats, I even had the use of the tractor and launch dolly for when she was launched.
A very good friend and also extremely hard to find someone in that position at that time.

mickrick

Original Poster:

3,700 posts

172 months

Saturday 15th October 2011
quotequote all
I still have the original Andersen winches, they'll be going off to the metal shop to be re-polished so they look new, and I'll obviously strip them and give them a good clean and replace the pawls and springs. cool
The mast winches also have their own handles, quite handy I thought.

The deck house has now had 14 coats of varnish on the outside, (12 Epifanies PP and two PU), and 10 (I think, need to look at the peice of paper it was all recorded down on) on the inside.
The inside has beed done with rubbed effect for the last two coats.
Just got it bedded down tonight with some Sika 298.
Here it is masked up ready to be keyed, before the sika is applied.

Nicely squidged out all around! smile


The companionway hatch is also now fitted, and the weatherboards fettled, but it was too dark to take a decent photo, so I'll post later.

Cheers,
Mick. smile

Edited by mickrick on Saturday 15th October 19:47