damaged hood ends/pitch in bilge

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still working on my 1930 hillyard.the below water hood ends at the stem are very badly damaged wiyh splits and numerous fastenings.would epoxy work ok at filling the holes or should i replace the planks.i'm a bit nervous about using it as some people swear by it and others condemn it.
also i have to remove the garboards that have a pitch infill up to the top of the keel.should i replace this when finished?
thanks for any answers
 
Several thinks to think about when using epoxy to repair planking.
a) You need to be sure the timber you are going to use the epoxy on is very dry or you will have problems with the epoxy bonding.
b) If the damage is extensive and you need to epoxy a large area you will change the properties of the wood in that area. In other words the epoxy repaired section will be less flexible than the non repaired timber and so the timber cannot flex exactly as it did before so you may create stress concentrations causing new problems.
With regard to the pitch infill if it has worked well and not given problems I would leave well alone or reinstate as was when you get to that stage.
Good luck.
 
Mariposa had a number of sprung hood ends. I pulled the loose copper nails and screwed and glued the hood ends back into place with bronze screws and epoxy, taking care not to let the epoxy go beyond the rebate. Other than the hood ends she is caulked conventionally. Two years later there is no sign of movement.
FYI the hood ends were sprung because the bolts holding the stem scarfs were corroded and broken (since replaced). Mariposa must have been working like a wicker basket and that's what loosened the original hood end fastenings.
 
The most likely reason for the pitch is to help water in the bilge flow to the lowest point and the bilge pump. It will also give you an easy to clean bilge area without nooks and crannies. When you remove it you'll reveal a load of steps that water can get stuck behind, in the form of frames and floors. These may have gaps or holes cut in them to let water flow past. It's up to you really how you want to deal with this afterwards.

As for the hood ends. Difficult to say. If there are too many fastenings and weak spots, you'll end up with an awful lot of very rigid epoxy in an area subject to quite high stress. It might be better for the long term to replace the hood ends, but it's a biggish job, by the time you start offsetting the plank joins a suitable distance. Make sure you can fasten through good timber, that has no weak spots between it and the rest of the plank and you should be fine. If in doubt, get an experienced shipwright or surveyor to have a look. the often mentioned and praised John Lilley is a hillyard owner as well as being a very good surveyor. you'll find him by his website or the yahoo group.

If you are interested, as well as the yahoo group, there is a fairly busy Hillyard Owners Association. We became members when we got our 6 tonner this summer, and they've been fabulously welcoming, encouraging and helpful.
If you are interested, there is a get together at the hillards yard coming up very soon. You'd be welcome to come along and meet plenty of people, and chat to a lot of owners who are certain to have had the same problem as you've found. You can also have a good look at other hillyards of the same size to get ideas for improvements.

All the best, Jesse.
 
The visit to the Hillyard yard is this Saturday 13 October. No entry fee but we may persuade you to join the owners association! Meet at the Arun View (opposite side of the river) at 12.00.
 
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