1 was fun.....
2 was challenging .... so whats this sitting outside the shed ???





Al (the owner) and his dad have decided its time for a face lift on the old girl, part of that lift is where I come in, the decks.
So, tramp off and the general fittings are also removed in preparation for the onslaught !!!
The decks look 'ok' from a distance don't they.... you'd better strap your self in because your in for one hell of a ride this time !!!





& part of the process will include the repair of the Easter Regatta's damage .......




let the carnage begin..........




again

Hi Kingy.
Good to see another mossie getting the TLC treatment. I hope the job goes in a reasonably smooth manner for you.

I'm sure you'll keep us all informed on the progress'
Dave. 1724.

you aint seen nothing yet

Lets hope so. the more inspirational work the better.

foredecks.... main decks ... & rear decks are covered in this 'matting', what's odd is that the painted surface under it is in quite good nick so obviously at some stage the slipper deck syndrome was an issue, what's thrown me is why do ALL the deck in the stuff ???

doesn't take too long to find the potential problems



and of course the multiple shift that fitting game that leaves even more screw holes to filled with multiple products but its usually what's layin around in the bottom draw, I've encountered everything from silicone, resin, araldite, cotton buds, matches, flush-cut screws, chewing gum, candle wax, and just about everything in between

there are a few areas where the matting has long since lifted and floated away, luckily the damage seems minimal around these spots

As I usually do.... the bore-scope takes a trip up the guts and as usual there's that unseen 'how did that get broken'




true craftsman cut breather holes
& whats with the different foams ??? white ... green white green



and its nice to see some areas that look in great nick
(note the dribbles of the various fillers along the inwhale )

looking forward from around the case slot, more green white green white foams are visible in the forward area and even
more quality cut breather holes

and so it begins......


I started off by peeling back the matting stuff and then ran the angle grinder over the remaining 'paint', this was to find the nail heads so they could be pulled prior to hitting the deck with the router.... but I found something rather odd underneath it ....
The section from the front shroud mount forward has no nails

weird huh....



and what are the 2 dark lines around an inch from the edge that run back toward the front beam ???




mmmmmmmm

time for some open heart surgery






oooooooooh shiiiiiiiiiiT



this is without doubt some of the worst workmanship I've seen on a boat..... & I haven't even ripped the entire deck off yet


is it too late to back out now ????

found the missing nailheads in the front nose area, they've been cut off and painted over.... one less good router bit now

Those stringers look messy at the moment . Do you think that they are sound or will you need to do some remedial work.

How do the bridal wire plates look.

deck on the port hull removed.....

now we can see what's been going on and why we have such a mess on our hands
The foams have collapsed at some stage and rather than removing the deck properly they've opted to run a jigsaw down the inside edge of the gunwhales, resin up the broken foam, add 2 strips of ply to the gunwhales to bulk them out and then resin back in the original deck ply.

full replacement, not worth the effort of saving anything in there .... not even the foams


the plates themselves are ok, the method of attatchment however
again it been one of those now what have I got in the bottom drawer that might work tricks !!!

I was a bit taken aback to hear Phill say "are they mechano plates".... I thought he was joking....


WRONG

I like rear decks.....
small area
minimal work
easy to do

so again the flap dick uncovers the nails and then the nails get pulled before I wreck another router bit




note:
the dust generated from the high-speed 'sanding' from the flap disc is usually bad enough, but the matting stuff is chokingly bad, its incredible as to the vast volumes of dust its creating

uncovered

nice idea for an under deck support by placing the small triangle plates in there even if they are in a totally useless place....
why would you ever put them so close to a major part of the frame, would it not make more sense to locate them to support the middle area as best as possible ???

If these had of been midway between the beam support and the transom, I'd probably have been inclined to leave them there....
Oh well, next time maybe

take a deep breath.....

time to hit the starboard foredeck....

and yet again there's that oh-no feeling




[insert head bashing against the brick-wall emoticon here]

something you don't see every day....

and the mains follow suit.... (offcuts layin on the shed floor)



Rippin the main is easy work, takes me about the same time to rip the 2 main as it does to rip one foredeck, circular saw versus router and the winner is ....
pass me the saw any day

and the uglies are soon exposed.....



yep that's car bog that's been used to "fix" the foam



And lets not forget the Lake Bolac Easter Regatta damage....
from the inside with 1 foam removed for a better look

4 bits of foam from the shroud plate to the bow..... overkill

the first job is to delete them and the gallon of glue that was holding them in place, one foam will be put back in when the time comes

I spy with my little eye ........ mechano



at this stage the wheelie-bin (in shot @ the bow) is almost full of unwanted rubbish we've dug out of the hulls and includes all the remains of the fore and rear deck be it as shavings or small bits of ply. The remains of the mains are still laying on the shed floor and will take a trip to landfill~land next bin run

Stringers are out and the foams are about to follow

every now and them I get a bit bored with the repetition of some of the destruction and I tend to re-focus on a specific area until I'm happy with what I'm seeing.

One of the several areas that need extra attention has been worrying me a bit, the Bolac Hole.... so for a spell I worked on it just to satisfy my concerns.
With the damaged bits cut away it doesn't look so bad but there's another issue that's beginning to rear its ugly head and this problem is throughout the boat and undoutably will cause me grief in the not to distant future......

The hulls are damp, and there's bits I can actually squeeze and draw moisture from, drying this old girl out is going to be hard but its got to happen somehow.... resin and wet plywood don't stick together well

Great stuff Kingy!

I reckon you are going to start a revolution ... of people finding the courage to have a go at fixing up old boats.

I hope so!

front beam plates.....
a layer of ply on either side of the foam, so one layer of ply makes the bin



and then the foam is removed too.....
as is the ply hull doubler and the 16x16 meranti stiffener
slowly clearing out all the unwanted weight

Car bog is used to glue foams in some cases and make a curve so you can glass over a smooth corner as tight corners glass won't stick, and we all know that some resigns do melt the foam

if nothing else it will help people realise that it IS possible to do this stuff and that its far easier than you'd think.

The 'mantra' with Scorpian is to get the weight out, everything that's over-built is going and wont be put back in, we'll be replacing out-dated build designs with better ones and with lighter materials and yet not only maintain the strength but add it in ONLY where it's needed.

Biggest problem with car bog is it's ability to soak up and hold water - not really a great thing on the inside of a boat !!!
That moistness is often against the raw ply for long periods, remember Twice Shy's holes ? , they were from moist bog that was used to glue in the foams.
sure it an easy way of building a boat but the long term damage will cause problems eventualy


I guess it comes down to what people think the 'life expectancy' of a mozzie should be.... 10 years, 20 years, 40 years ???? and how long will the full carbon fibre boats hold up in comparision ?
I have carbon bits here that are less than 5 years old and are here for repair from sun damage, will a full carbon boat last 5 years let alone 40 years ???


With the repairs and mods I'm doing I think these old ply girls will outlive their more modern carbon copies by a long way

removal of those useless support tabs in the rear compartment

just the resin base left....



and now its clean

Great work there Kingy.
This is most definitely an inspiring forum post for others.

You probably already know this so for general knowledge epoxy resin is the best for ply boats mixed with micro balloons gives a paste stronger than bog and better bonding as well.

I used this myself and it is some pretty hard stuff if left for a week or more if you happen to want to sand it.

I just thought of something else. There are a pair of Carter hulls hanging up in my shed that will get the makeover at some point. they have the same gusset in the rear section as well.

The sail number is somewhere in the 1400s'. I'll check what the numbers is in the daylight.

The gussets are a good idea but totally in the wrong spot, had they have been fitted where they offered additional support then maybe I'd have been inclined to have left them in place, all be it with a modification to reduce the weight

A point that's ~midway between the transom and the rear beam mount would have provided excellent support for both the hull side as well as supporting the rear deck specifically around the hatch hole....

As it is I'll fit 2 stringers as I've done in the past as I know this works and has a minimal weight effect in comparision to the ply plates, the biggest advantage with the plates is the hull side support that I don't get when using stringers....



Its the weight factor that kills these old girls and not a lack of strength, if anything the older boats are way over-built in many areas..... but at the time they were considered light as that's what they knew and had to play with.

The fact remains that a mozzie hull can only be pushed through the water at a given maximum speed, you simply cant make it go any faster than the shape and drag of the water will allow it to go, even if a hull was made of concrete and the hull was placed at the same water line as a carbon hull it would be as resistant in the water as the carbon hull.....



The heavier old girls have 2 distinct disadvantages .....

1/
They sit a tad lower in the water so they have more wetted surface area and hence more drag..... more drag means slower boat

2/
they don't accelerate as fast as a light-weight boat, it takes a lot more power to accelerate a heavier object, and seeing were limited to the "power supply" by a set sail size were sort of screwed against a light boat..... every tack may cost us say a boat length due simply to the slower acceleration, do a dozen odd tacks and your suddenly a dozen odd boat lengths behind



clean out every dribble and excess bit of resin.....
trim down oversized structure components.....
remove any over repaired patches and repair with lightweight product....
remove years of paint and debris build up...
only add weight if there is NO other option..
fit light-weight decks.

Twice Shy ended up 15kilos lighter than she was when I started, & all I did was to follow those simple guidelines, .... with what I've learnt so far I could maybe get another half a KG out of her with a bit of a fight.....

My ultimate challenge would be to get an old ply hull down to minimal weight, and personally I believe I could get very very close to it, the hard part is maintaining strength..... I can get the weight down but I'd be too scared to sail it in a breeze over 10knots.....
I'm still working on this idea and one day I hope to have a crack at it...... probably the reason I have a pair of old hulls sitting here

Old repairs are slowly being removed





once the basic material I cut away I'll sand the remainder back flush for a neat clean finish..

there are a few repairs that I just cant nut out as to why ....




The debris found in the hulls was quite a large amount, years and years of junk making its way in there had to build up somewhere.
The biggest issue is the size of the draining holes in the foams and in the ply subframes, often these are small in size and lets face it they really only need to flow a few dribbles of water that 'may' get into a "perfect set of hulls", but over the years the amount of water that seeps in increases to that cup or 3 worth of water.....
Any small bits of debris are now easily washed further out of reach and out of sight and slowly over the years builds up against the foams or hooked up on glass shards left exposed from the original chine tape.

In Scorpian I've removed around a kilo of debris from each hull, mostly its sawdust and shards of busted ply from damaged areas that have been repaired, then there's the odd washer or nut that's been dropped, and the remainder is a mix of a variety of things......
In Shy I removed a birds net, and several kids toys like plastic rings..leggo..and matchbox cars
Inside Scorpian was a large amount the usual sawdust from repairs, what was probably grass clippings, 3 pencils and 2 biros, an empty chip packet, and a small plastic bottle with the remnants of perhaps milk in it....

The small drainage holes just don't cope with bigger objects that well as it is but as you can see in the pics showing all of the ply subframes, the resin and glass tape has been run past the hole to even further restrict the flow.
These will be cleaned up and a small increase is size will also help

both inwhales will be replaced....

no rocket science here as to why





they are absolutely stuffed, I counted 40 holes in the small area adjacent to the case slots alone, these were filled with the usual rubbish but never really sealed up well enough. The result being water has got in and stayed there to the point where I could squeeze the worst spots and actually get droplets of water to drip out....

Moisture in this old girl is going to be a challenge to dry out before the glassing can begin

While we can all agree the repairs on Al's boat are very dodgy and theres no doubt he will end up with a lighter boat as a result of doing it cleaner and neater.

Those 'useless tabs supports' are there for a reason and having them in more than one boat also says they serve a purpose.

Next time you sail sloop in 20 knots on a nice bearly in control reach look down as where your foot and your weight is centred. I think you'll find that spot is there and that foot is yours...

Hey Kingy,

Love the enthusiasm for Timber Boats, most of us have had at least one and loved them.

But don't put other build types down to do it , every one of 7 (I think) Faye built Carbon/Kevlar foam sandwich Mossies some of which are approaching 20 years old are still going strong, even after very major damage to some of them. And the number of over 20 year old Boyer kevlar foam sandwich boats still going I couldn't even hazard a guess at, but there are plenty and many of them still minimum weight.

Without doubt the tab supports are there for a very good reason. specifically the one you've suggested, but if that's the only use they serve its a bit of overkill in my opinion and with a small amount of movement further towards the transom they would have been a far more sensible item to leave in, this way they could have doubled as a hull stiffener aswell as a deck stiffener specifically around the hatch hole.

Shy had these aswell and they went long ago, but I didn't just leave it as a bare unsupported hull side either, I added a piece of 40gsm mat to the area just so my boof foot doesn't find its way through the hull on that screaming broard reach

Al also has a foot strap in that area so it will need to be bulked up anyway for the strap fixing aswell as the load from that misplaced hoof !
As to how that happens at this stage is up to Phill because he'll be the one re-fitting the foot strap once the decks are done.

appologies Gary,

I certainly didn't mean that carbon boats don't have a great 'life expectancy' in comparison to the timber boats, care and maintainance of either goes one hell of a long way to the life we can expect from either, we've all no-doubt seen timber mozzies in a almost non-recoverable condition due soley to being parked out in the weather for years on end..... neglected !! .... Twice Shy was certainly a borderline boat, wreck or restore was a tough decision at the time, I'm glad I made the right choice

The full carbon parts I have here are all sun damaged and much like the neglected timber mozzies, all have been "left out in the yard" with no care taken what so ever to protect them from the ravages of the weather.

I honestly have no idea as to how long a full carbon boat would stand up to being left parked out in the weather without any form of care or without being maintained in any manor.... hence my query as to will a full carbon boat last 5 years let alone 40 years, I seriously don't know.....

Carbon composites such as carbon kevlar etc as you have said are doing well at the 20yearish mark, I guess we have to wait and see how a pure carbon hull does do, hopefully they too will still be around in 40 years time too, not that it will do me any good, I'll be in my 90's

main deck area gutted.... almost





inwhales removed along with the original hull stiffeners...
New replacement inwhales just the right of the hull

really gutted now ...... or is it

The rear deck surface is under no real downward load, so I think I will side with the boatbuilder on this one.

After removing the 2 ply plates, you are going to add stringers, beef up the area where you have just removed the support and if you do as you have with your boat, going to add glass as well?

I'm not trying to be smart, but I did read overkill there somewhere..

Hi Kingy .
Your making some great progress there. It would be interesting to know the weight of just the shell, are you going to weight them and before you replace old for new will you weigh the new foam, ply and other materials.

I'm very much interested to see how close you can get to 55kgs.

See I'd argue if the rear section needs such a stiffener to prevent a foot cracking the hull then why aren't there several more of them down the main deck area as well ???
That and the fact that the plate was only a couple of inches from a major structural support tends to make me think you'd want to be fairly accurate on exactly where you put that foot on that screaming reach...
I'd also argue if, as your suggesting, "The rear deck surface is under no real downward load" then why did the original plate extend out under the deck as far as it did down the hull side ???

further more for downward load on the deck..... where do your hands go when your clearing a lump of seaweed from the rudder or trying to un-jam a stuck rudder blade, on the rear deck obviously, but only where the ply plate was which in reality is just behind the alloy beam, you couldn't place a hand any further back because it offers zero support from there back.




The 2 plates are long gone along with the crazy amount of resin they'd been glued in with, resin must have been dirt cheap back then going by the amount that's been liberally applied throughout the boat, the weight or the 2 WRC (western red cedar) 10x14 stringers, the small piece of 40gsm cloth and the 2 WRC tags I'll glue in for the foot strap screws wont weigh as much as the ply plates and chunky resin that was there..... I'll also gain deck strength for when that heavy mit is placed on it.

As I said earlier, I'd have retained the plate IF it had of been further back towards the transom, this would have increased the foot supporting area and better assisted the rear deck aswell.... hell I'd have left it there if it had of atleast made the front edge of the hatch hole but to be only a couple of inches back from the rear beam there's just no advantage for it at all.


Always good to see how others think that a particular thing should work, I'm not always right but I try and make the best of a structural **** without going overboard, I can clearly see where your thinking is and I do to an extent agree with the ply plate design, just not its original location .... had it have been 6" from the back beam it would still be there and with a 2" lightening hole through the guts !!

As for the weight we've removed....

so far one and a half wheelie bins
of that 5 vacuum cleaner bags (and counting) of cwrapy rubbish from years gone by


oh..... & that wheelie bin load doesn't include the old foams, they're still floating around in the shed ..... bonfire time ??


Our aim is to get it as close as possible to the 65kg region, and as a guideline she was way over that to start with.

I glued in the new inwahles tonight and the teardown is now 99% done, its just about assembly time for all the new stuff....
as for an exact weight, might scale it tomorrow night for ya

For the record two blokes could lift the fully rigged platform
With a bit of grunting (a lot) haha
Considering how heavy it was i still managed to
Be reasonably competitive at local level.

FYI Kingy.
Rear inspection ports on 1827 are offset (to the outer gunwale) with a single central stringer (12mm x 10mm), in the vertical orientation. I inserted 5" ports compared to 4" on 1765. I ensured there was sufficient space between the gunwale and the stringer as the latter was fitted. With the larger holes and their offset the ease of access is incredible. I have no issue with trapping on the transom, even with the inspection ports' location. Trust Photos tell the story.



The extra ply ring is planed flattish, thinned to zero in the middle, to reduce the curvature impacted on the plastic ring and improves tightening,sealing and removal.



Main beam inspection port, offset also.

its still on a very strict diet, more weight came out tonight and there's more to shed

half a wheelie bin got put out tonight & I still have the timber mains decks, the internal stiffeners, and the foams in the shed....

you do ofcourse know this means you'll need to shed as much as the boat does....

Just being fair here

Love the idea Phillip, even less weight with that design

but I'm a bit old school and being in the construction game I like things symmetrical, so I don't know if I could visually except the offset hatches.
Yeah I know ->

As I see your design the actual hatch is a structural component in itself, the side load on the hull is being pushed not only through the deck ring but through the plastic cover aswell... The plastic hatch ring and cover are far stronger then the ply that supports it so yes its structurally very strong across the actual deck line.

This is where the secret lies for lightweight structural strength, its a matter of spreading the load in the right direction, but more importantly knowing which way the load is being sent so it can be correctly dispersed

Phill (Al's dad) and I have had several long conversations on how we should tackle each situation, we're actually way ahead of ourselves at the moment but we're solving each issue fairly easily & way before we need to.
We hit a bit of a wall tonight regarding the way the stringers are to be set in with what we want to achieve (mind you the foams aren't ready to go in yet), but now I've had a coffee and the house is quiet I think I have a whole new plan, Phill's gunna be peaved



The reason I do these threads is mainly for feed back on what I'm doing or thinking but to collectively share different ideas on how to best tackle a design that's light but strong, hopefully others can use the ideas they see from not only me but form others like yourself that add vital info

cheers for that

To share more info. Two stringers in foredeck, 3 in main deck. As previous 1 in rear deck. All 12 x 10 in the vertical. Foam b/heads have a 10mm topping, glued and filleted to the gunwale, glued only onto the foam, no fillet. Ply frames have 1 'topping' glued to the side of the ply. Study photos.






I shaped the deck curve into the toppings, then ran a 10mm router bit through them to cut the housings for the stringers. Set up a 'straight edge' for this operation, finished in 20 minutes, all sections, both hulls. Stringers dropped down into their housings to the correct level, no levelling required except for minimal sanding with a torture board.




The photos show breather holes at the top of the frames, particularly for the foredecks' foams. My experience is the moisture condenses under the decks and airflow is improved if gaps for flow is up where the moisture is. Bottom moisture flows out through the limber holes and can be sponged out, the condensation remains.
Another reason for moving the holes up to the deck, I discovered the polystyrene foam lost it side strength with holes in their centre and they flexed in when compressed; and when one considers these forward foam bulkheads are there to stop the hull sides flexing and pumping. I have found the forward flat sections of the hull much stiffer on 1827 than 1765.
On foam; closed cell polystyrene foam is better then open celled rigid polyurethane. A coat of epoxy (It is compatible) will seal the styrene and with it being closed cell and sealed, will not take up moisture. Urethane will only seal with a layer of glass and the resin as with the foam sandwich hulls.
I used 'medium density' polystyrene foam, 25mm thick, light being too soft (popular with sign writers), high being too heavy.
Always willing to share my thoughts and experiences.

Many thanks for the pics, some really interesting work and thought has gone into that build and the end result looks fantastic.....

Agree fully on the condensation issue, it's certainly a major part of the deck failure as we've all witnessed with TwiceShy's decks.
Any water in the hulls turns to a vapour and condensates on the highest point.. the decks... With the older build styles, the decks weren't sealed in any manor so the moisture attacked the timber decks from the inside, this in turn softened the ply and more importantly around the glassed areas where the foam supports sit, this then allows a small amount of movement of the deck / foam joint....
Once the decks move a little bit the foam is allowed to come under more load and slowly begins to compress under a sailors weight, the decks also move downwards which pushes the hull sides apart during this time, and that then places the strain on the foam to hull side connection, that's where the foam fails and the hull sides now move in and out slightly, this in-turn lets the decks come down even further crushing the foam even more as it goes and again the foam breaks it's contact with the hull sides further down....

It eventually gets to the point where nearly the entire foam / hull connection fails and the foam becomes nothing more than a loose piece of buoyancy hanging around in the hull...
With the foams having failed, the load then goes directly into the stringers and as they are now completely unsupported they now fail rather dramatically by cracking or splintering, once the decks have reached this stage the load then falls directly on the ply and it's life expectancy is very short.... The most noticeable thing at this stage is small splits in the paint work or small bulges in the ply specifically directly under where the beams are mounted.. So if you see a boat with a bulge or cracks in the paint work in that area there's a fair chance the decks are in need of attention.

During this whole process that condensation is working away at the foams and the timber and as each small fracture is opened that moisture makes it's way in further which speeds up the process even more.

With the ply support plates I do and the ones you've put in on top of the foams, the loads are spread out more evenly through the foam so the chance of a foam failure is minimal.

I'm really pleased with the lighter decks I have now, especially the fact that I can put my entire weight into the ball of my foot, stand on the decks and they don't move at all, with the 40gsm cloth glassed in on the underside of the ply the moisture has no starting point with which to start attacking the decks either, the up-side of the classed underside is the added strength for a very minimal weight addition.....

When I lay Scorpian's decks I'll also do a sample of the glassed ply and video it being loaded up, anyone that's seen me demonstrate this has been amazed as to how much strength is achieved....


In years to come others will find even better ways to do what we're doing and with even lighter and stronger materials..... I have so many different ideas I'd love to try out to get the fat off, maybe them old hulls might one day have a thread of their own...

time for some new foams

one set cut and the 2nd set about to be

trial fitting of the new foams

at this stage they are very close to a perfect fit in the hulls, the deck line although hasn't been cut properly so they are in rough-out shape at the moment..

looking forward from the rear beam....



and

looking forward from the front beam



its really not a hard thing to do to get the holes to line up

The 2 foams between the front beam and the case slots have extra long holes cut in them, this allows very easy access to all the bits inside the hulls that may need unbolting etc

and as I said earlier, the keel line cut outs have been increased in size dramatically

ounce by ounce the fat is trimmed

those rotten inwales are long gone and its time for the new ones to be fitted, the question became ..... how ??

at first I thought I'd scarf them in but as you can see....
that wasn't going to happen


the rot had gone much further than I thought

plan B



dug out the old inwale completely from under the beam blocks right down till I had original glass work...

the new inwale gets cut to fin in the recess

and that all important test fit



Both ends of the new inwale have had the shaping treatment as has both points under the beam blocks, the plan being that I'll slip one end in and then bend the inwale enough to slip in the other end..... obviously this will happen once the resin goes in, not going to over flex the new timber with instal and removals for no real reason

the new inwales are glued in...

I slipped the foams into place and clamped it all up so the resin would harden with the new inwales set in the right curve
(this pic is mid installation )

Phill has brought me a new toy....

a pneumatic stapler .... look out world


the accuracy isn't there yet but with practise

a small smear of my sawdust/resin mix over the inwale connections fixes any cavities and adds that extra bit of strength to the joint, these will be mostly sanded back to near nothing in the end anyway but either way they needed that small amount of fill

stringers being dry fitted..... note the nice curve of the new inwale even tho its now not supported by the foams

Phill chipping away at even more daggy bits






65/718

Big weekend....

The new inwales are shaped and ready for the decks

All the stringers are now cut and the rebates are also cut in

All the foams have had the final shaping and fit well

Slots in the foams for the stringers are done

Sawdust filler has been applied to any spots that needed filling

The last of the fat has been trimmed and another 2 vacuum bags of rubbish has been sucked out

The old repairs have a bit of 40gsm cloth added and glassed in place

The "Bolac hole" has been repaired from the inside (out side yet to be done)

Special mods have also been completed......

Now we rest for a couple of days while everything sets

got a bit of time now while resin sets..... update time

this is one of the many "fat reduction" steps we took, could have gone further but we wanted to retain some strength where it was needed...

more sawdust & resin repairs...

several old ply repairs have been removed and new internal replacement resin & cloth (40gsm) has been laid over the old damage

the "Bolac hole" has been repaired from the inside using the ply patch we threw at it @ Bolac as a 'mould' as such....

the hole uncovered....



this will be sanded back later on and filled to a smoooooth finish when the hulls get the make-over

and the foams get glued in at last, the 2 foams under the main deck nearest the front beam have at this stage been left out so further work can be done without the foams being damaged and to allow an easy access to the area, hopefully they can go in shortly....

foredeck foams have all be fitted and glued in

As of last night.....
(Club's AGM was held so no works was done...)





resin is still a bit too soft to do too much tonight but there's a few things I need to get on with

Phill checking the alignment of the foams new stringer supports....
The new stringers will be fitted after the resin sets and as I've used in the past the stringers are WRC
(Western Red Cedar)

Rear deck stringers have been fitted to both hulls

The front stay mounts had seen some action over the years and the repairs were somewhat suspect, the ply patches were removed and the old repairs inspected so we could understand what had transpired to cause such repairs.

Once happy with what we'd seen we elected to glass a simple overlay to the ply and refit the hardware to the gelled resin. Once fully cured the nuts got an extra bit of tightening.


obviously the deck line & stringer slots will be cut in later

the new foam stringer supports also attach to both the gunwales.



and the chainplate also got re-worked....
The old deck was 10mm ply and we're going to 4mm ply so the plate was going to sit way above the deck, the old holes were filled with the sawdust-resin, then a small piece of 40gsm cloth was applied so it just covered the original ply doubler.

Phil made some new alloy internal plates and these were also resined into place along with the foams stringer support



The new holes for the chainplates were ~10mm lower than the old holes and as you can see the plate's shackle hole is well clear of the gunwale and should have a ~2mm clearance once the deck is fitted.
The other advantage we built in was the resined in internal plate, this will remain in place once the nuts and bolts have been removed and will make life easy to reinstall the plates after all the painting etc has been completed.

front stringers set in....

someone asked me how I get the tension on the boards that are holding the newly glued in stringers up to a tight fit....

other than pulling as hard as I can on the old hay-band.....

little offcuts of what I have laying around and handy (stringer offcuts in this case) are slipped in to add that final pinch of pressure

and to answer the other question....

mostly I get the stringer cuts in the foams fairly accurate, but I'll happily admit occasionally I over do the cut ever so slightly....
In which case I use good old cable ties to 'lift' the stringers to the desired height, the big plus here is that the resin doesn't stick to the plastic zip-tie so when its removal time the plastic comes away very easily

front hull stringers set and the holding plates removed

Mains got the glue-in treatment last night..... and I'm now out of resin




that happens when your teenage son decides to make his own fibreglass front spoiler for his car
&
what happened to .... dad, can I use some cloth and resin please

mutter mutter mutter mutter

one thing I've learnt the hard way......

this edge that looks like a serrated knife edge....

certainly cuts /scratches / pierces / rips, anything that's even remotely related to skin to absolute shreds....

Not only am I out of resin, I'm out of band-aids too
& I've lost count of the number of splinters I've dug out after each nights work.....
mental note to self -> cut the nasty edges off BEFORE doing any other work

Phill checks the strength of the new setup....

now before I get PM's saying he was standing on the foams blah blah blah, remember one important thing.... he had to get up there and that required putting on foot on the deck first and placing all his weight on that foot while the other came 'on-board'....
and this simple standing weight test is without any ply deck and its with ugly soled work boots....


note the clearance under to boots on the gunwales



results....

hell yeah its strong

the last drops of resin were mixed and I had just enough to lay the rears....



the foredecks and mains are ready for the ply, just have to wait for the resin to arrive.....

new resin has arrived and its game on...

First up:
changed the resin hardener type from super slow to slow hardener, the super slow would certainly suit mid summer temperatures but wasn't working for us in the cooler winter temps, it was just killing work times as we stood around waiting for a cure to happen.....
4~5 days before I could work on a section again is time I and Phil don't have so either the temperature had to suddenly increase to the mid to high twenties or we needed a faster hardener....... hence the change


The foredecks were laid on Thursday night and normally I wouldn't be able to 'touch' them for a couple of days but as luck has it...

We have had a "warm spell" where the skies have been clear and we've had temps nudging the 20's, so she spent Friday being sun cooked. This allowed me to rip the staples and forcing plates off of the deck far earlier....

I was that happy with the setting I decided to grab the jigsaw and rough out the deck...

and one thing led to another and before Phil arrived I had the decks fine shaping done

So.... Its earlyish on a Friday night and the foredecks and rear decks are done, Phil arrives and after an inspection of the recent works we put on our rubber gloves and the mains are fitted




poor Phil didn't expect the harder to fit mains, after all its only 4mm ply and we've just done 3mm.... how much harder can 4mm be over 3mm... well for starters is 1/4 as much thicker again, its being curved over the widest part of the hull, yeah its a major fight in comparision.
After deck number 1 was down and done we both needed a well earned break before doing the other main deck....

it was a late night for sure


nb:
the finished rear deck is just in shot, fine shaping is done and the hatch hole cut and cleaned


The sun is being lazy this morning but as soon as (or if) it shows the boat will do some basking, it wont take much as the resin has already cured well and is just the slightest bit tacky to the touch this morning....

On a happier and completely non related note, my new wetsuit arrived during the week

Saturday, nice and warm, resin cured and is ready for Sundays work....

Early sunday morning and the hold-down boards are gone, hatch hole is cut as is the centreboard slot



At this point I have an urgent job to do prior to my trip to Tassie so Scorpian is pushed out to sunbathe for ~4 more hours while I prep the statesman for its ~10,000K run....
swap out std suspension on the front and rear, change oil and filters, install bash plate, fit safety lights and hook up UHF radio etc etc ....
lunch time and we've got the boat back in the shed

first job after lunch..... rip the staples out .... one at a time

cut away the excess ply....
shape to a clean edge against the hull....
sand the edges nice and smooooooth ....
&
lightly sand the decks







looking sexy

Scorpian will have painted decks and not varnished like Twice Shy has..... so a coat of high-build primer is applied to all the decks