Solo dinghy refurb' update

With the centreboard seal replaced, I turned the boat over and started to remove the rubbing strakes. They were 4 strips of spruce 10mm wide and with at least 40 screws on each side, mostly hidden. I also removed the trim inside the cockpit to expose the edges of the ply decking. This too had about 35 screws on each side. I managed to prise the 4 ply pieces off without breaking them. The number of fastenings used was serious. The deck had been pinned down with 2 kinds of panel pin, bronze screws and stainless screws in an attempt to tighten everything up.  

Old failed glue joints

All the glue holding the deck on and holding the deck beams together had failed and I literally lifted them out with 2 fingers. I scraped all the joints clean, dried everything out and bonded them back in place. The old ply will be used as rough templates for the new deck.

Joints cleaned up

The mast partners are wet, rotten and will need re-making before the new ply deck goes on. 

The next step is to order the 5mm ply for the deck and some timber for the rubbing strakes and trim parts. The new rubbing strakes will be quite a lot slimmer and smarter.

One side dried, cleaned up and bonded back together.

  

Solo dinghy refurb'

The latest project in the workshop is a 1980's Solo dinghy. The local sailing club has quite a few of these boats and they race regularly. This one is in to have the ply deck and possibly rubbing strakes replaced and everything else stripped and re-varnished. The boat has seen better days and the GRP hull is faded and chalky with a nice layer of algae.

The deck is really tatty and needs re-doing

First I had to get the ancient gold pinstripes off with a heat gun. Then I washed and sanded the entire hull through the grades of abrasive discs. Next I polished it up with a lambswool mop on a polisher. I gave it a coat of wax polish to help keep future muck off.

The seal on the centreboard slot needs replacing too. When that arrives and is fitted I can flip the boat and take the deck and fittings off and see what lurks beneath!

14' Strip plank canoe update

This week I have found time to get some canoe work done. It has to go on hold for a month or so and leave the workshop temporarily to make way for another project. This meant getting the gunwales machined and scarfed together (12 separate pieces), details cut out and then bonded onto the hull. I used ash as a local chap has a woodland that he manages sustainably, and he also has all the machinery for felling, cutting and ripping it into planks. After finding timber without any worm and with as few knots as possible we ripped it into 20 mm square strips. We also took advantage of his sliding table on his table saw to cut all the scarfs saving me a lot of time.

Inwale trial fit

The scuppered inwales were made first and bonded in with about 20 clamps and thickened epoxy. Once this was cured the outwales were bent around this new rigid shape.
Next came the stress of some of the heaviest rainfall in the South West in years. This fell on already sodden fields that ran straight off into the stream at the back of the workshop. The sedate trickle turned into a 1.5m deep by 1m channel of water that was tearing by. This was too much for the gulley upstream and it overflowed coming down the road and straight into the yard. Sandbags and ply boards diverted it and disaster was averted saving the canoe from an unplanned launch. Some folks up the road had their houses flooded and were pumped out by the fire service.

Scuppered inwale details

I got back to work the next day and planed the top faces of the new timber flush and put a chamfer, then a round on the outside faces. You could do this before you fit it but it makes clamping to a curved face more awkward. Next up was the thwart to make the structure strong enough to be strapped to the car roof bars. I cut it from a piece of ash I had from a previous project. This was then routered to take the edges off and bolted to the inwales. The bolt heads were sunk into the wood and epoxied in with grain plugs to finish them off. This was then put on top of the car and put in a safe place until I get a chance to finish it. That's it on the canoe for a while as the next project,  a solo sailing dinghy, is in tomorrow. More details to follow...