Very stupid questions time!! NEWBEE ALERT!!

[Guest]

I've just acquired a small boat (about 10ft by 4ft) from a relative who was going to chop it up for fir wood!!! My knowledge of all things boat like is VERY limited, so I'm going to be hitting the forum with what will probebly be very stupid questions.............. you have been warned.

I've begun to strip it down, and have started to try and remove the varnish(character building isn't it). It seems to be mostly made of ply and has a look very similar to the air boats used on the Everglades (sp?). It had a small registration card attached on the inside from 1969 for use on the Thames, although I'm not convinced how genuine it is.

Is there any way to try and find out what I've got here and where I should be heading? The sections that I have stripped back have some dark marks on them which I presume are water stains, and these are going nowhere. Therefore I need to know what type of paints to use when the stripping is complete and any advice regarding applying it.

Hope someone can help, thank in advance.

Karl

 

[hlb]

Welcome to the funny farm. Dont know if I'm allowed to say that cos just passing through, Normaly resident of the motor boaty lot.

What you describe. Sounds like a Punt/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif Maybe I'm wrong. Byron is the resident expert on all things old and Thames'ishYou with find him at the motorboaty house.

<font color=red>The X Invisible White Man/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif<font color=blue>Haydn

 

[jimi]

Welcome Karl, I bought a wooden boat once and regretted it ever since .. particularly when my foot went through a dark patch in it. Personally I'd paint it with petrol and set light to it!

 

[Strathglass]

Karlos
Why not take a photo of it and post it in the boatone site so that we can all see it. Then make more educated guesses as to what it is and offer more constructive ( or destructive ) suggestions as to what you should do with it.
Iain

 

[byron]

Karlos there's no such thing as a Stupid Question although they are sometimes the easiest to answer.
Can you put a photo of your acquisition up somewhere and I will attempt to identify it. The 1969 plate will be genuine so keep it.

<font color=red> ô¿ô</font color=red>
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.freeware.mcmail.com/435.htm>http://www.freeware.mcmail.com/435.htm</A>[/b]

 

[BarryH]

Oh yes there is, Did the Conservancy have registration plates in 1969. I Know a few punts!!/forums/images/icons/wink.gif

OK, to hell with it. Unbolt it and we'll use it as an anchor!

 

[Rowana]

Boatone site ???

What's the URL please

Jim

 

[Strathglass]

http://www.boatsontheweb.com/galleryframes.html
Then click on the picture with the blue flag. The instructions are all included on the site.
Iain

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by iainsimpson on 18/10/2002 08:33 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[Forbsie]

Hi Karlos,

If it is a punt and you need duckboards, seats, etc then PM me as my boathouse has loads of them.

Likewise if you need advice on punts, Mark Edwards at Richmond Bridge Boathouse is a fund of information.

If you don't have a digital camera and are around the Thames area, pm me and we'll get a photo on the web.

Welcome to the forum, by the way. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.arweb.co.uk/argallery/forbsie>My Project Pics</A>

 

[tynesman]

I have spent many hours restoring wood,you do not say what the wood is like in the dark patch areas,if crumbly it's rotten,and you will have to replace it,if its sound wood the black marks are more likely to be from "burn marks" caused by the last owner using a hot air heat gun during paint/varnish stripping.
Getting the varnish off is best with a heat gun and scrapper but don't burn the wood.
Happy painting

Tynesman

 

[Guest]

There should be two pictures below, one of the whole thing and a close up of the launch license next to a section of the marked wood. Thanks for all your help and advice so far, nice to have a friendly welcome.

You can probably see better pictures (I hope) at the web site mentioned above for picture hosting.

 

[hlb]

Well IMHO Though the picture is small and hard to be cirtain.

It's definately not a P35

<font color=red>The X Invisible White Man/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif<font color=blue>Haydn

 

[byron]

What you have there is a Pram Dinghy, no particular make.
The licence plate is original and well worth keeping for its novelty value. The dinghy is worth restoring and if you wanted to you would probably be able to sell it at a profit through Phillips Auctions at Henley in July 2003.

<font color=red> ô¿ô</font color=red>
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.freeware.mcmail.com/435.htm>http://www.freeware.mcmail.com/435.htm</A>[/b]

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the detective work, its nice to know whats taking up one end of the garage. If the plate on it is genuine then what could be the approximate age??

Will the addition of an outboard, when all of the refurbishment is complete, be suitable for this type of boat?? And you guessed whats coming next.... any recommendations of outboard?!?! I plan to use it on occasion on the Norfolk Broads so is there anything else that may be worht considering or looking into while I'm at this early stage?

Thanks again for all of your help its very much appreciated, even the petrol suggestion made me laugh!!

Karl

 

[byron]

All you can say about the licence plate is that the boat must have been built pre-1969. She is more than likely from the mid 1950s but that is only guesswork on my part.
The dinghy is not built to take a motor but you'd probably get away with using an electric outboard.
She really is only suitable for restoration and selling on to someone with a classic boat who wants a period dinghy. The craft will be fairly unstable and should be used be caution.


<font color=red> ô¿ô</font color=red>
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.freeware.mcmail.com/435.htm>http://www.freeware.mcmail.com/435.htm</A>[/b]

 

[Guest]

I've had a look on the Net at Pram Dinghys but the one I have has a different bottom to those I've seen. If you look from the front it has a sort of W shaped cross section. Would this help with the stability? If not why is this design unstable?
Edited to add picture.

Karl

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Karlos_Fandango on 19/10/2002 16:05 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[byron]

Yes! It will help with stability by causing a suction effect if one moved to one side but it still is a Pram Dinghy and by its very size is unstable with anything but the lightest weight.
The title 'Pram' refers to the overall style just as one would call something a Dory, RIB etc.


<font color=red> ô¿ô</font color=red>
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.freeware.mcmail.com/435.htm>http://www.freeware.mcmail.com/435.htm</A>[/b]