Saved from the bonfire...new project!

[Iain C]

Got quite a bit done today. First up, a rough sand of the inside of the back tank and a load of epoxy over it. No, I didn't get the finish perfect...this will never really be seen again so who cares?

Next it was time to fit the new rudder tube. It's about 40mm further back at the bottom, and 100mm further forward at the top...very different to the old vertical one...which seemed to be made out of Bakelite!

There was a lot to go wrong here but with strings marking the centreline, jigs comparing the two rudders and a bevel gauge to transfer the rudder shaft angle to the boat, it seems pretty much perfect. Rudder is vertically in line with the keel, the trailing edge is vertically below the transom, and the top edge of the rudder is parallel with the hull. Happy days!

Pic shows larger diameter angled rudder tube exiting behind the old one...

I also got one half of the stern redecked...the colour match isn't great but tbh theres so many different woods on the boat it's not the end of the world. The old stuff was badly damaged, badly repaired, and this is a big improvement...and now I've sanded the existing decks they've come up redder anyway.

Epoxy certainly goes off quickly in this heat!

 

[Twister_Ken]

Gripping stuff. Keep it coming.

 

[sarabande]

I wonder what Uffa would say to someone spending so much time on one restoring of his better creations ? And what he would make of a digital vernier, too ?


Inspiring stuff, this thread.

 

[Iain C]

He'd probably call me a bloody idiot...if I really wanted a Flying Fifteen I could have bought a cheap GRP one for what I've spent on materials on this project!

However I was looking at a GRP boat at the club the other day and it's just not the same...

 

[surekandoo]

This is a fascinating thread. Keep up the good work!

Did an old wooden Enterprise up years ago with a mate so I know what you're going through. Not in the same league as your project though.

 

[SAWDOC]

what a beautiful boat - well done on seeing what others could not and i wish you the very best with your project.

 

[Iain C]

Thanks for all your kind words...it does keep you going on a project like this! This is the first wooden boat project I've done, it's usually been GRP or carbon, and I have to say it's really satisfying to do compared to a "plastic" boat.

Anyway, another very productive evening and a major milestone...the rudder conversion is done! SWMBO held the new rudder in from underneath and raised it and lowered it out the tube an inch or two whilst I carefully took the rudder tube down with the belt sander to exactly the right length. I then made up a fairing piece (no idea what it's called but all the boats seem to have them) which is slightly oversize to cover the old shaft exit point and epoxied it in place. The rudder does want a bit of fairing as it has a dose of the pox, and the OCD in me wants to make the bottom of the stainless tiller hood a bit more parallel with the brass block underneath and fairing piece...shaving the tiller inside it a bit will achieve this and also get it sweeping a bit closer to the deck. It also needs the new bushes gluing into the ends of the tube properly now everything is in place.

I've also got the port quarter redecked...and planed more or less to profile ready for the gunwales to go on. She is starting to look really god now, and these jobs do make a change from the tedium of replacing broken ribs and sanding fillets smooth!

 

[Iain C]

Ok a bit more done. Truth is there's loads of fillets in the cockpit that need sanding, by hand, because you can't get any tools in between the ribs, but at the moment I'm trying to find any excuse to do anything else!

I erm'd and aahh'd about replacing the foredeck, as there is some damage here and there. However that would be a big job, and the old one does add a bit of charachter. However the front piece around the chute mouth does need replacing, as well as the slightly odd shaped nose! In fairness, my iPhone has made it look an odder shape than it is, but it's still rubbish...

Front of foredeck removed, and a bit of rot under the forestay fitting. Just the hardwood trim piece, but needs to be replaced...

New nose built up with a mix of microsphere blend and colloidal silica and new trim piece added. I'll deck the whole lot and rout the hole for the chute mouth. Trust me, the stem is more curved than it appears in this pic!

Lastly, one benefit of the hit weather and strong sun is that it's bleached back that stern deck which was far too red!

Foredeck back on soon, then I can look at fitting some gunwales...

 

[Lakesailor]

Going well. You are probably past the " wish I'd put a match to it " stage....

 

[geoffatstanpit]

I once heard what might be an urban myth, that Uffa Fox designed the >ff around his 60's Rover 3-litre. The hull went on a roof rack and the wierd keel was designed to fit in the boot. Even if not true it's worth spreading!

 

[Iain C]

Yes, I'd heard that one too...I think it's pretty much confirmed that he did transport his own boat around in that way. However how he launched it once the keel and rudder were fitted is anyone's guess...perhaps if he got it off the car with a small crane, fitted the foils and launched, then fair enough...but it seems a bit of a ball ache!

Lakey, never got to that point (yet), partly because working with wood is such a pleasure compared to GRP or carbon (never really worked on a wooden boat before) and also because almost any piece of the restoration so far has made a visual improvement to the boat, whether it was stripping and sanding, or removing rot or badly damaged decks.

 

[trapezeartist]

Iain, you make a great case for your new acquisition. But it's still a Fred. I've always thought you had a great taste in dinghies, but .......

 

[Searush]

Uffa Fox had davits on the back of his house & a boat yard, so a manual winch crane is not even unlikely.

 

[Lakesailor]

Lakey, never got to that point (yet), partly because working with wood is such a pleasure compared to GRP or carbon (never really worked on a wooden boat before) and also because almost any piece of the restoration so far has made a visual improvement to the boat, whether it was stripping and sanding, or removing rot or badly damaged decks.

When the hot air stripper has burnt your remaining fingerprints away and the curly bits of hot varnish have stopped falling down the neck of your t-shirt you sometimes think, yes that's a worthwhile job........

 

[Iain C]

Iain, you make a great case for your new acquisition. But it's still a Fred. I've always thought you had a great taste in dinghies, but .......

Ah Paul, I can sort of get away with it as it's not a dinghy. Face it, in no wind a 49er is just dull and uncomfortable, and a foiling moth not foiling is about Topper speed. Bring on the Fred, one can sail in yachting slacks, and take lots of gin and rum on board. It is technically possible to do a Wednesday night race in a 49er whilst drinking 2 cans of lager each...trust me, Tom and I have researched this thoroughly, but it's getting tricky in a F3 and spirits and mixers are definitely out...

 

[bryan willis]

++Hi, im in northern ireland 4 years ago i bought a classic 15, i thought at first it was a chippendale, but when i got the original measurement cert back from the rya i found it was a souter boat...way more interesting, as it was a souter boat that roy windebank used as the plug to develop his hull shape from,therefore its the daddy of all the modern boats sailing today... have a look at my website to see some details of the restoration... bryanwillis marine.com.

 

[Iain C]

Right then, been a white since I've updated this thread. Lakesailor previoulsly asked if I'd had the "box of matches" moment yet, and I said "oh no, never had that". Erm, wrong.

As per previous updates, I'd decided to do the aft deck in WBP ply rather than marine. WBP is "Water and Boil Proof". As the ply was epoxied underneath, and would have 7 coats of varnish on top, and be on a boat that was drysailed, it should be ok, only prolonged, unprotected immersion being a problem. And it would certainly be fine in my back garden, away from water, covered, during the hottest summer in living memory, right?

So coming back from a two week cross channel cruise and finding my new deck looking like this, didn't go down to well with me...(understatement of the **$$%¥ing bloody century!!!!)

So after a visit from a somewhat horrified timber yard boss, a new sheet of guaranteed BS1088 marine ply turned up. Best not to think about the wasted weekends, wasted epoxy, oh...and this, which was just heart (and deck) breaking...

Unfortunately, as I'd done such a damned fine job of epoxying down the new deck, there was a bit of damage to the boat getting it off again. Still, the new one is now on, and as long as you don't look too closely, it's not too bad...

You probably remember the horrible bow...

...well now it's starting to look a bit better, and I've started to test fit the gunwales...we are making progress, but sadly, so is autumn...the race is on to get a coat or two of varnish on before it turns too cold!

Hopefully get the stbd gunwale scarf joint cut tomorrow and the bow section glued on...when the day job's finished!

Onwards...

 

[Iain C]

Oh yes, one other interesting little update. Somehow via my own sailing Club's magazine (Draycote Water), and this thread, one of the previous owners got in touch. He was actually one of the founder members of Draycote back in the 1960s and owned 797 in the late 1970s/early 1980s and changed the original rounded side "tanks" to the square ones the boat has now. A fascintatng and very intersting chap, he was able to put some stories behind the damaged ribs after a heavy grounding (can't remember if he said it was Bala or Kielder), and was amazed to find out that 797 still existed and was coming back to life. He is quite elderly and now living in Scotland, however I have offered him a sail once she is back racing again...realistically next year now, 51 years after being built!

 

[Ru88ell]

Brilliant stiff Iain, and certainly, in some respects, the antidote to the equally enjoyable JFM threads.

 

[Iain C]

JFM???