Saturday 30 March 2013

Sanding

Another hard day of sanding today but we are getting there.
We also fitted the few butt blocks that were required and filled any small splits, knots
or damage with a bit of epoxy, Another half  a day of sanding and we should be ready
to oil it. I'm going to concentrate on Teal this week so that she is at least protected from
shrinking further so I can try and finish the other boat the following week.
I am hoping to fit the stop waters, fasten the steamed ribs to the keel and finally fit the
garboards and if Ken is free for a day, get the rest of the steamed ribs fitted.
We also brought home the rest of the mast timber so when we get the chance I will start
preparing it.


Bit distorted but it shows how nice the pitch pine planking is considering its a hundred years old 

Wednesday 27 March 2013

Parafin & boiled oil

I set the rest of the steamed ribs aside until the next day Ken is free to fit them with me
and went about getting the hull ready for oil.
Teal has been drying out a lot over the last couple of weeks which is going to become a
problem very shortly when it comes to caulking, so we have been advised to soak her as
often as possible with a mix of parafin and boiled linseed oil.
The problem with this is it will prevent any gluing or sanding that needs to be done so the
that must be done first.
I put in all the fastenings I needed to eliminate the stepping in the hull which had been caused
by failed fastenings ( something to look for when buying an old carvel boat ) Then I fared and
sanded one complete side of the hull. Next I need to sand the other side, fit a few butt blocks
and I'll be ready to start oiling.
The mast timber also arrived at the yard so I brought home some of it including one 20ft lenght,
I'll get the rest on Saturday.

I recently invested in a charter angling boat to replace my previous boat Providence
which I sold late last year. One boat at least needs to make some money. Unfortunately she
also required a pretty major refit so that has taken a lot of my time over the last two months.
Thankfully it is starting to come together and I'm hoping to get her closer to home in the next
couple of weeks and be free to step up the pace of work on Teal and have her ready for
Glandore regatta.

Glad I didn't get stopped.

Old growth Douglas fir from Brooks Bro Ltd in the UK

My Charter boat the 'Boy Scott'

Wednesday 20 March 2013

Ribs & riveting

We had a go at steaming in the ribs today and our first go a riveting. We steamed the
first 4 ribs for an hour, three worked fine but one cracked, the next four we tried two
cracked so we were advised to steam them for two hours instead of one, this definitely
worked better although we had one more break. We will probably use the steam pipe
the yard uses for the rest. They actually boil the ribs in water which gets them much
hotter. We put in nine in total and have seven to go
We had a go at a few random rivets and then decided to completely fasten one rib
which went well but we need to get a proper dolly.
The last few dry days have dried Teal out quite a bit just as we're nearly ready for caulking
so we've been advised to start soaking her regularly with parafin and linseed oil mix to
try and get her to take up, only problem with this is we need to sand her first and for that
we need to get a lot more fastenings in so we will probably start by soaking the inside first.



Saturday 16 March 2013

Last plank !

I removed the last plank today and made its replacement, I didn't fit it as I didn't have time
and I may leave it out until the steamed ribs are fitted as it would be very handy for clamping
them in place.
Conveniently John has started building a clinker punt now so I got a bit of practice steaming in
ribs with him today and no doubt I'll be summoned to give a hand with some rivets very shortly.

Backing out templates



Wednesday 13 March 2013

Final planking

I finished off the planking on the starboard side today and cut out the piece of sheer strake
that needs to be replaced. There is only one other plank on the port side I am going to
change.
The ribs and copper fastenings arrived from BTSwales on Monday so as soon as I have
Ken to give me a hand with riveting we can start steaming those in.
Next I need to send Ken the quantities of silicone bronze screws we need for the
rest of the refastening and shorter ones for fitting butt blocks so they can be ordered.
Once the steamed frames are in we can fit the stop waters and final fit the garboards
and we will finally be ready for caulking.




Saturday 9 March 2013

Stem and beam shelf pics

Sanded down the beam shelf repair today, bolted in the deck beams and started on the
last starboard plank. The steamed ribs and rivets should arrive in the next week or so.








Wednesday 6 March 2013

Beam shelf & deck beams

I waited until today to write a post when I had some photos but even after I had new batteries
for my camera delivered to the boat yard I still forgot to take any.
We did a few days work since the last post, Ken has plugged all the excess rivet holes which
where left by all the doublers.
I finished fairing off the stem and then removed two of the forward deck beams and a section
of beam shelf about 4ft long which had two bursts on the inside, I replaced the section with
a piece of Iroko planed to shape from a heavier piece and then steamed and clamped it in the
rest of the way. We also removed the two rotten lodging knees and the backing blocks to the
chainplates which will all be renewed for peace of mind.
Today I glued and bolted up the scarfs in the beam shelf  and gave the deck beams a rub of the
plane and a good sanding to strip them of paint as we hope to varnish them, I then re dovetailed
them into the new beam shelf section and left them in place to be bolted the next day.
I also mortised the samson post into the new apron and bedded it in putty and picked up three
more lengths of Iroko to finish the planking once and for all.