Bradwell 18

[stoney1234]

Hi, we're new to the forum.

We recently got a Bradwell 18 with sail number 11.

It needs a bit of work to tidy it up and get it ready for next year. We are hoping to make this into a build log type thread to document the process.

So far, we have identified a list of things that need to be done so hopefully over winter we can start to tick off some of these things.

Does anyone know how we can get access to the forum pages on the bradwell 18 website?

Thanks for looking.

 

[LittleSister]

I can't answer your query, but a friend learnt to sail in a Bradwell 18, and still speaks very fondly of them decades, and many other boats and voyages, later. You could have a lot of fun in her after your refit.

 

[Black Sheep]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new boat!

I echo LittleSister's comments on what a fun boat it is.

I'm wondering about your sail number. 11 is a very early number, but your boat looks like a Mark 2 (one large window each side). I didn't think they restarted the numbers with the mark 2 so it's possible the sails came from a different boat? Unfortunately there's nothing on the hull to tell you. For info, mine is the boat on the owners site home page - River Rat, a Mark 1 with sail number 28.

I'm pretty sure the forums on the owners site are no longer there. Never a huge amount of traffic, and latterly getting swamped with spam.

Do keep us posted with your renovations!

 

[Quandary]

There are illustrated tales of Steve Yates adventures when, as a relative novice, he set off cruising from N.W. England to the very north of Scotland and back via the Isle of Man and N.I. taking superb photos along the way. However Steve might be admired more for his fortitude and seamanship than his dedication to boat maintenance. His boat was called Bethran and most of the best stuff was published on here back around 2016, it will impress you with what the boat is capable of. I think the accounts were on Scuttlebut? and can also be found in Webby's Blue Moment forum.
I am sure Steve would respond to a PM if he does not see this thread.

 

[Black Sheep]

... and thank you for your post, because it's prompted me to see if there's a Facebook group. And there is! It's adminned by the same guy that ran the Bradwell 18 forums. It's a very small group, but surely worth joining if you do Facebook. Just search for Bradwell 18.

 

[steve yates]

Just seen this, how is the doing up coming along?

Quandry, that made me laugh1 Very true, but this year I will need to knuckle down and do quite a bit on both of them, since I wont have much time for long trips for a year or two.

 

[stoney1234]

We finally managed to get some time to work on the boat after a very busy summer.

So far, everything has been stripped out of the inside and most of the removable parts on the outside have been removed.

We've started to strip the paint off the hull. The dark blue paint came off fairly easily with the power washer. We then mixed up a caustic soda / wall paper paste paint stripper and tried it on a few areas. Results so far seem good. The hull has stripped back to gelcoat in a single application. The cabin needed a second coat.

We used a mix of 15% caustic soda or water by weight, and used wall paper paste to thicken until it could be painted on and not run off. Once it was put on, we covered with cling film and left for 24 hours. The remaining stripper was washed off with a hose, before power washing to remove the left over paint. The DIY paint stripper seems to be very effective.

The remainder of the hull should be stripped over the weekend hopefully.

 

[johnmcc]

You might like the "Sailing on a Shoestring" Facebook group - mutual support for impoverished sailors, many of whom are doing up old (and cheap) boats.

 

[tigr]

Hi
I also have a Bradwell 18. It is the same as yours - a Mark 1. When I got the boat I was obviously very keen and tried to find out as much as possible. The website was very handy but it started getting overrun with spam. Eventually he relaunched the site but did not make it active, I did offer to take it on but did not get a reply. We hit a few hassles in life so my boat has not seen much of the water, which is a shame as I spent a lot on it, new sails (from Crusader who I would recommend) outboard etc. I have no idea what sail number mine was but it is called Katie Pea.

 

[LittleSister]

I'm very impressed by the results of your DIY paint stripper.

Do keep us posted about how the remainder of the project goes.

 

[tigr]

Bit of inspiration for you!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lVkaWjpS6I

 

[tigr]

Hi
I also have a Bradwell 18. It is the same as yours - a Mark 1. When I got the boat I was obviously very keen and tried to find out as much as possible. The website was very handy but it started getting overrun with spam. Eventually he relaunched the site but did not make it active, I did offer to take it on but did not get a reply. We hit a few hassles in life so my boat has not seen much of the water, which is a shame as I spent a lot on it, new sails (from Crusader who I would recommend) outboard etc. I have no idea what sail number mine was but it is called Katie Pea.

Just noticed it is a Mk2!

 

[tigr]

Can't seem to edit the posts so I'll say that it is a Mk1 with long windows. Sorry to cause confusion.

 

[stoney1234]

Small update. Still working on removing the multiple layers of paint. One side of the hull is down to gelcoat. Still working on the other side.

So far, I've uncovered a number of star cracks in the gelcoat and there has been some damage to the side deck under one of the stanchions. It looks to have been fixed previously with P40 for cars. The repair was easily removed with the pressure washer. I'm hoping to get all these bits repaired properly before painting.

 

[tigr]

Big star crack may need reinforcing behind!

 

[stoney1234]

Does anyone know how to access the keel bolt?

The swing keel was inside the boat when I got it and is only a few millimeters thick now. I think the keel bolt will likely be in a similar condition.

 

[tigr]

The pivot is glassed in, it would be a job to get out. The keel is taken off by being lowered and unhooked, so either the boat has to be on its side or the boat lifted high up on supports. I lifted mine up and then dug a hole in the driveway...