Cover-Up Job

[Kristal]

Having brought all Crystal's spars home to London for stripping, sanding and varnishing, I've found something rather irksome.

There has been some kind of reinforcement at the aft end of her bumkin to allow the fitting which connects it to its stay, and the mizzensheet to the bumkin - is this still called a cranse iron? - to be replaced with one of a larger diameter. This appears to have been done with some kind of glassfibre, a material about which I know very little. In places, the glassfibre has been allowed to spill over a little onto bits of the spar which are not covered by the fitting when in place, as can be seen in this illustration (Fig.2):

Ignore the blackness, that's just where the varnish has failed (presumably from reflected sunlight, as this is the underside when the spar is in situ) - much of the wood was this colour when the varnish was removed, teaching me a lesson about varnishing and giving me a sore arm! The spillover is the light-coloured bit, where it has been caught by the sun when I took the photo.

IMO, it looks pretty rough, although admittedly I never really noticed it when the bumkin was in place.

The photo shows the worst example, but it has happened all around the diameter of the spar. While I'm doing the job, I wondered if there was any way to disguise this. I am considering painting a black band around the end of the bumkin, and painting the fibreglass (if that's what it is) and the very end of the spar black too, and varnishing over everything not covered by the fitting. I thought it might be a nice contrast with the wood.

As always, I'd like some opinions on this, or any other bright ideas. It does seem a little pernickety, but seeing as I have committed Crystal to a whole year of maintenance, I figure now is the time to deal with little imperfections like this.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

/<

 

[michael_w]

Isn't it usual to paint the ends of spars white? Memories of lots of cutting-in round galavanized fittings come to mind.

 

[Peterduck]

Yes, it look dreadfully rough from where I'm looking, and you're not being pernickety at all. Anywhere that fibreglass has been laid over timber, I worry about water getting under the fibreglass and not being able to get out. I think that this could be the source of your black stains. I wonder which resin was used with the glass? It looks a bit of a bodge job, so it may well be polyester, which is porous. I would take all the glass off, and cut out all the blackened wood. Replace with graving pieces of matching timber [it looks like Oregon Pine from here] and sand back to a consistent shape. I would agree with painting the tip white, but be sure to match it with the tip of the bowsprit. I think that you'll be so pleased with the appearance of them that you'll want to do the tops of the masts and the ends of the gaffs and booms. A nice bit of 'tiddly' is to paint a fine band of bright colour around the spar at the junction of the white paint and varnish. Say scarlet or Royal blue. A cranse iron is a cranse iron, whether it is on the bowsprit or the bumkin.
Peter.

 

[Lakesailor]

Assuming your table is not enormous, wouldn't it be easier and better to start from scratch?
I've found that restoring is time-consuming and irksome. Whereas creating from scratch incorporates no-one else's mistakes.

 

[Kristal]

Thanks, Peter, I think you're right. Looking at the picture again in this light, I can see black staining beneath the material as well as on the bare wood, which suggests to me it is more serious than I imagined. Considering the condition of the rest of the spar - numerous aesthetic imperfections and a couple of problems waiting to happen - it might be viable to replace it, if I could afford it. But first, I want a cover like Mirelle's. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

/<

 

[oldharry]

<< Ignore the black staining >>
In my experience, dont unless it is purely on the surface and can be sanded out. If its in the grain then the timber is suspect. And as others have pointed out, if glass fibre resins have been used to repair or pad out, then this is even worse news, specially if the timber has gone black under it, as it indicates moisture has been trapped there long term so rot is very likely to be starting.

 

[Kristal]

Yes, it was a foolish thing to say. Still, this is the first problem of this kind I've come across, and I'm glad it's only the bumkin and not something integral to the boat.

I have definitely failed to spot the difference between the greying where the varnish has failed and the blackening where, it grows increasingly likely, there is a developing problem, and I have a couple of options open for replacement, which I favour, as the integral cleat bar is really a bit too small and the spar is generally a bit battered.

 

[Mirelle]

I'd get that cranse iron fitting off, if humanly possible, and see if you can sort it with one or two graving pieces, as Peter suggests. (Look carefully at Mirelle's tiller, where it meets the rudder head, next time you are on board - did that 21 years ago, and you have to look closely to see it - one of my better efforts!)

See PM, btw.

 

[mclark]

I found rot in my main gaff a few weeks ago - there was a scarfe in it, the glue line had given up in one place and over the winter water had got in and started the rot off. As usual I thought of all kinds of ways to get round the problem - scarfe a new bit in etc. In the end I bit the bullet - no spruce etc here so went to local timber merchant and found a bit of joinery red 20 foot long by 4 by 4 inches, straight and mostly clear. I should point out that I had always had intended this spar to be a fairly temporary item.

It took me a morning to fashion from this an octagonal spar tapered by an inch over the 5 feet at each end. another half day to oil it and get the fittings on it and I had what I thought was a very handsome spar. I decided I liked it still in the octagon so left it like that and saved myself the work of the final rounding off.

The moral of this story was... it turned out to be a lot more straightforward than I had expected and if I were in your shoes I wouldnt hesitate to make a fresh one - my piece of 4 by 4 cost me £30 btw - you bumpkin may well be under a tenner.

Good luck

Mike C
PS if I can help in any way mail me direct on mclark@manx.net

 

[Kristal]

Thanks very much, I may well get in touch if I decide to replace it. To be honest, it's a challenge I know a friend of mine would relish (he took and loved a wooden boat building course in Lowestoft) and I'd quite enjoy it too. On the other hand, we did put in some meticulous preparation on the existing one before the forum brought my attention to the problem, but that was good sanding practice. I have yet to make up my mind, but forum readers will be the first to know.

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