Transom fitted

I went down to the boat yesterday and cut the upper half of the apron on the big bandsaw, then I sanded
down the epoxy on the aft starboard plank ends, then with a grinder and flap sanding disc I sanded down all
the inner faces of the plank ends fore and aft and gave them a coat of primer in preparation for today.
I test fitted the transom and then mixed up some putty for bedding it to the sternpost. Once fitted I fitted the transom frames, also bedded in putty and attached to the transom with stainless screws (these will not be wet, all the outside fastenings will be silicon bronze)
I then fastened all the aft plank ends to the transom frames and right down the stern post, trimmed off any
overhanging planks, sanded it all down and gave it a coat of primer and called it a day.
Quite a bit of work but thankfully made quicker by the loan of a flat screwdriver tip for my cordless drill.
I also have all the stem, apron, bow knee and mast step mocked up in the shed waiting for final shaping
and to measure for the bolts needed to hold it all together.
Sorry for the lack of photos, need to charge the camera and catch up.

Dam !

Dropped and broke my flat spoke shave while working on the transom frames today.
Very annoyed with my self because its just one of those tools I really liked.
Need to pick up another one now asap.
I had more or less finished the transom frame anyway so got it all primed and
ready to go.
Going to start beveling the apron tomorrow because I'm hoping to fit the lower
half of it later in the week.

Epoxy and transom frame

It seems every time I drive my old land rover I end up with carpal tunnel
syndrome so I haven't been able to do anything too heavy for the past day
or two.
I went down to the yard Tuesday and Wednesday evenings and started the
epoxy plank end repairs which are working out very nicely. One side aft is
finished and the hood ends just need sanding and priming. The aft side
starboard still needs the fastenings removing and epoxying.
I removed the front fastenings with a special tool I through together to avoid
trying to hammer them out and stressing the fastenings further back. Worked
pretty well so I will put up a picture of it later.
Yesterday I went and got another lump of Oak to make the top half of the
apron but haven't done anymore with that yet.
Today I cut out the transom frames and too more lower futtocks. I didn't
finish any of the edges as I can't use a spoke shave for a few days.
I'm hoping to finish with the plank ends tomorrow.

Heres the plan !

It seems we are at a point now were we finally know what needs to be repaired
and what can be left alone and basically we are keeping anything that is still up
to its job.
The interior was a random mix of recent additions, a far cry from her original
teak, pitch pine and kuari pine interior which has long since disappeared.
We plan to use the original layout but probably in Iroko and red deal, oil lamps
and a parafin stove rather than modern equivalents and a pale rather than a sea
toilet.
The cockpit I believe would have been a standing cockpit with fold up seats as
in Piskie and this is what we would like to have in her as long as the engine
position allows.
Teal was built with an engine, a 7hp petrol/parafin kelvin with the shaft run
through the stern post.
We plan to refit an engine, perferably a very compact diesel such
as a Petter mini 6 or similar but with a folding prop to one side of the stern post.
We plan to do this as Teals stern knee and post where never really heavy
enough to take the sterntube which essentially cut the knee in half.
Teal was all but dead when we bought her and would without doubt have met
a sad end in the near future. All her bronze nails are spent, they are brittle and
loose in her frames. I believe her copper fastenings have held her together.
All her lower futtocks were either brittle or rotten. Her steamed timbers aft are
doubled and even tripled and will soon be removed.
The keel was badly split under the bowknee and the aft two feet were rotten and
broken. The lower half of the sternpost was all but gone as were the deadwood
bolts.
The false keel was held on by two plates bolted on either side. I'm not sure what
happened to the original stem as the laminated one had been done when we
bought her.
The deck will be replaced with a new pine one covered in canvas which is
what she had originally. The coachroof will be kept but will be fitted with a
skylight which she also had originally, which will also give me head room,
Ken will have head room inside as we are going to lower the cabin floors slightly.
The rectangle deadlights will be changed to a round ones and the front hatch
will be changed to an Iroko one with a deck light.
The mainmast has rot beneath the hounds and will most lightly be replaced as it will
also be keel stepped and is about five feet short. The rest of the spars look ok. The
standing rigging will be renewed, the running rigging might be ok but we want to
change all the pulleys to blocks. The sails have enough life left in them but some
day I would love to get her a new suite of tan sails but thats far from a priority.
The planking looks pretty good but there will be a number of planks changed. How
many is yet to be discovered but the short larch planks that were put in in the 50's
on her starboard quarter need changing and extending forward and some other
planks that have to much damage will have to go.
The rudder was being held together with two pieces of plywood but has now
cracked in half so will be replaced with an Iroko one without the cut away for
the propeller.
The floor bolts through the keel were completely rotten and 5 of the floors had
thinned and weakened, these have all been replaced.
Its sounds like shes all but gone, but what must be done must be done and we are
replicating her bit for bit, she will look more original when we're finished than
she has for a very long time and probably still have 50 percent of her original
timber. Not bad for a boat her age.
I'm sure she was the pride and joy of many of her owners but also neglected by
many others, Its also very impressive that she succeeded in her Baltic voyage
and really made a name for herself and although we were unsure of what needed
doing at the start I'm glad we get to give her a new lease of life. Perhaps a few
more voyages worth writing about.

Working on the stem and apron

We headed to the boat yard yesterday with our new lumps of oak and a sheet
off hardboard and set about making a template of the stem, with a bit of advice
from Liam on where best to place scarf joints and how to improve on the
original design we ended up with a good template and set about cutting the oak.
This meant several trips with the wheel barrow to the saw at the other end of the
yard in the pissing rain but we got them cut none the less.
I went back down today and started cleaning up the cuts and cutting the scarf
joints and other necessary cuts.
I still haven't cut the upper half of the apron but I need to go through the off
cuts from the other pieces to see if theres something to suit.
Its a shame I don't have more pics of the process of marking and cutting it out
but we were very busy and the weather was pretty crap so it wasn't a priority.
There's still a load to do to get the meeting surfaces really good and all the
bevels need to be cut but I'm taking a break for the weekend now.

Complete stem and lower half of apron. Each piece is about 4 to 5 ft long and 5x6 inch section so they are incredibly heavy

Scarf joint in the stem

Working on the stem of a Falmouth quay punt beneath the stem of a Falmouth quay punt, This is Liam's boat "Piskie" a 22ft quay punt one year older than Teal, built by R S Burt in 1912 and originally named "Venture" Soon to be getting similar treatment.

Apron out

Cut out the rest of the stem and apron today and cleared the stopping and epoxy
off the plank ends, Just need to remove the remainder of the bronze nails and
repair the plank ends before starting on the stem and apron.

I was a bit worried having it look this unsupported but from what I can make out its got no where to go. I did put in a few small braces inside and one support from the keel to the deck

Stem and transom

Plenty to write about these days, We went to the sawmill and picked out an oak
log we had spotted a few months ago which is the perfect curve for the stem and
apron, so we had it cut into 6inch thick planks. The stem will be finished at
4 and a half inches wide but the apron will be kept as wide as possible so we
will just have to pick and choose from the planks we have. We also got enough
extra oak to finish out the framing.
The transom has been put together and is ready for the edge bevels and transom
frames. I have made it with galvanised dumbs and caulking bevels as Liam
suggested but also ran a bead of stickaflex along the inner side of the joint to give
it an extra flexable seal. If I hadn't bought stickaflex for sealing the floor and
deadwood bolts I would have just used the bedding putty on the transom.
Next thing to do will be to cut out the rest of the stem and apron and start the
plank end repairs fore and aft in preperation for fitting the transom and new
apron. Also once the apron is out I need to take an accurate template of the
curve of the stem. I will have to work on the stem at the boatyard as theres
nothing to copy it from and 6inch thick oak will require their big bandsaws
to cut.
Its one of the jobs I'm really looking forward to doing, I always liked the tricky
time consuming jobs even when working as a joiner. Its alot more interesting
making a winding staircase or a arched window than a load of doors and
frames.

Drilling the holes for the dumbs perfectly square and in exactly the right place so they line up takes a bit of care. The wet marks are wood preservative squeezing out of the dumb holes, the book I have says to make sure there soaked with it.

The inside face of it still has the counter top varnish on it, will be striped and painted shortly.

Outside face with caulking bevels. Ready for edge bevels

Loads to do

Got another pair of frames fitted, bolted the floor to them, bolted two of the
floors through the keel, I reamed out the remaining deadwood bolt holes as
the bolts we fitted the last day were pretty tight and fitted the last three long bolts.
Planning on getting the Oak for the stem tomorrow if I can and also got started
on the transom.

This is a reference for any future drilling in the transom, Galvanised dumbs 6 inches long will keep it together

Just the end of the frame I put in today

All new and bolted up

Stern knee with all deadwood bolts in, Although we will probably run the drive shaft through the side of the hull to keep the strength of the sternknee and post, I have left room for it to be bored for a sterntube if needs be.

Long reamer made from 12mm steel bar with the end flatted like a wing bit. Did the trick

Sternpost all bolted up

Bolting it all together

Ken and myself went down last Tuesday and took out the sternpost and
deadwood for the final time, we drilled all the holes for the deadwood bolts
and cut the stern post to take the transom, we then bedded it all in a mix
of linseed putty and aluminium primer, apparently a great substitute for
red lead. We drove in the first two deadwood bolts but because I had repainted
the deadwood, knee and keel my marks had been covered up so we didn't know
exactly where to drill which meant the lengths were slightly off.
No big deal, it just meant the plug holes in the base of the false keel were slightly
shallow and then we were rained out so had to leave it.
I went back down today and after an hour or two with my head under the keel
I managed to chisel them out and get the nuts and washers on and tighten it
all up, then I gave it all another lick of primer,
so finally she's getting much stronger.

Old

New. It will need a final fairing off when shes nearly ready but for now it can shrink away.

A reminder of just how big a draft she has

Cut out the laminated stem last week, A nice traditional grown oak one will be put in its place.

The apron will also be coming out shortly and this array of fastenings have got to go.