A Wee one to start again.

[W+T]

Been thinking on the new floor, in the pic below, there was supports form port to starboard that were glassed in, but as now rotten away, i am going to replace the keel, which is a bit rotten aswell, The idea for the floor, is to not have all the cross supports and resin in place a sheet on 18mm ply by bedding it inbetween the chines that can be seen in the pic, and on a bed of CSM sausage type thing then laminate the edges as usual for the floor.

 

your thoughts.

 

oh and i just bought a set of all windows for it, a cut and shut and they will fit, just got a 450 mile round trip to collect them one weekend lol.

 

Edited June 5, 2015 by W+T

[W+T]

In the last few days i have pinched an hour or two to get some done, today i near got all finished in the ripping out stage as i ma on earlies at work but i didnt manage to do it, tired and hungry. its sooo good having the boat at home )

 

Keal is out as is the bearers but for a few at the back which are, or were under the engine bay, you know i dont even know the name of that part of a boat...anyone ? the section i have hanging down off the transom. in the last pic.

 

Beena an itcy and messy job cutting and ripping it all out but its near ready for all to be replaced, going to collect the fibreglass this weekend, going to replace all the bearers and not just replace with a one section solid floor. I dont think i have said but i have a set of ally windows to collect as soon as i can get down to near Newmarket, after i priced up new rubber seals and the perspex i need it came to near £300, yes the going rate but as i have fond a set for £80 that open it will be alot better, they will need a fettle to fit but thats easy enough.

 

So pics so far, nothing much to look at but looks cleaner i think with the strakes removed and all the rubbish, well nearly all. Mite get more done tomorrow.

 

 

 

Just noticed it dont look any better in the pics as the bearers etc are still strewn about

 

 

 

It took some doing get the old keal out even though it was fairly rotten, it had some strange i think old expanding foam under it and between the timber, it had two lengths of 3 x 2.5 timber for the keal on top of each other, i ma sure it has been fettled in the past as the GRP come off easy...`ish, although a crowbar and lump hammer helps.

 

 

 

Now this is the part i will be also replacing now, if i am going to do it i mite aswell do the full job, and glad i did as the beam behind from the last refurb somebody has dome is all wet and a little rotten. This will be disposed off and a complete new one made, i though of patching it up but nah.

 

 

 

I have rethank...rethinked.....about the helm wheel, its not in great shape but i want to save it if i can, it will test my joinery skills though. So before pictures and later we will see, well later in the year. It will be a nice dark winters project i guess.

 

[RLWP]

Projects always look terrible at this stage, my guess is it's going to look a bit worse yet as you finally finish your excavations

 

Then it starts to get better

 

Richard

[Naughty Cal]

I dare say most people would have had it scrapped by now. Well done for deciding to stick with it.

 

I assume you will be putting the windows in before starting the structural work to get it water tight again?

[W+T]

Projects always look terrible at this stage, my guess is it's going to look a bit worse yet as you finally finish your excavations

 

Then it starts to get better

 

Richard

 

They sure do, i jsut keep thinkg a bottle of wine and fishing rod in hand bobbing about )

 

 

I dare say most people would have had it scrapped by now. Well done for deciding to stick with it.

 

I assume you will be putting the windows in before starting the structural work to get it water tight again?

 

Hey i dont give up to easy me, bit of a looney some say

.

Now thats one thing i am not sure of yet, i have squared the shell up as good as i can, the plan was to fit the new floor bearers first to keep it square then fit the windows. as fitting the windows first may put them out of shape, as in the sliding part for them opening. You think i should do the paint and windows first, it was my first choice but since i have removed all bearers its very shall we say floppy, reason for the extra supports..

[Naughty Cal]

Perhaps best to get some bearers back in first then!

[W+T]

I have a week of mid August so if funds alway i will get a load done, unless i am lucky and get a few weekends in before. Can always get a big tarp to cover if need be.

[John V]

yeah get it square and solid first !!! Glad to see you are getting properly stuck in early. I don't know about you but I need to get some early work done that shows, then I can look at it and it gives me enthusiasm to continue !!!. power to your elbow mate, She's a big project

[Mendip-Locks]

Good on you Wayne, love a good project to follow me!

Enjoyed your narrowboat till you had to sell her, good luck with this un.

 

Ade

[RLWP]

Is it worth putting in some temporary battens between the gunwales to hold the hull in shape while you work on it? One or two across, and a diagonal or two would keep the old girl ship boat shaped

 

Richard

[W+T]

yeah get it square and solid first !!! Glad to see you are getting properly stuck in early. I don't know about you but I need to get some early work done that shows, then I can look at it and it gives me enthusiasm to continue !!!. power to your elbow mate, She's a big project

 

First bit i really enjoy after all this messing about is getting the first coat of paint on, until then it all seems like nothing much has happend, its great how a coat of paint, even primer, makes it look a whole new boat. She isnt ll that big, only a 20 footer We know how big these projects can be dont we, i just hope to get her water worthy for spring next year, finger crossed The good weather helps me, if its not so good its annoying that you cant do anything.

 

Get some done while its nice mate

 

 

Good on you Wayne, love a good project to follow me!

Enjoyed your narrowboat till you had to sell her, good luck with this un.

 

Ade

 

Dont remind me, i am still a bit gutted about the NB. but things happen for a reason, fate maybe, it could of been worse the NB, dont know how though lol. new base plate and sides needed was enuogh.

 

 

Is it worth putting in some temporary battens between the gunwales to hold the hull in shape while you work on it? One or two across, and a diagonal or two would keep the old girl ship boat shaped

 

Richard

 

 

Good idea Richard, i will measure up the beam and check if its `blobbed` at all, if so i could ratchet it backet the beam and brace it up, come to think of that though, as not going out just yet, i am kean but its a bit early now, but if the boat is supported at two or three points down each main/outer chine then its should be ok....you think? Its solid above the water like just the floor area, Its has a built in main bulkhead to help it keep square which is good, i remember my Creighton,26 i removed

the bulkheads and it wobbled like a jelly even if you leaned on it lol. that needed plenty of bracing until new bulkheads were fitted.

 

Oh and a bit of advice for those that dont learn ...bit like me, wear long sleeves when ripping out fibreglass, its itchy stuff

[RLWP]

Measure it up in a few places to get an idea of what shape she is. It would be bloody annoying to glass in a new keel only to find she's gone fat at the gunwales

 

Richard

[W+T]

Had a quick measure up Richard and all is, well seems square, could be better but the supports need a more adjustment but not to be seen as out. Before i add new bearers and feel i will double check all squareness.

 

So tonight i got some more ripped out, the transom beam was softer than i would of liked so its come out. and along with the the remains of the last work that was dome some years ago by god knows who since the early 70s. I am sure there cant be much else to remove......should i of said that !!!

 

[W+T]

So its been a few days and bits done here and there, mainly still ripping out, just a few inner strake beams to do. I got collected the CSM and resin etc last weekend and primer was delivered.

 

Last night i got giddy and had a look at the main damage on the bow, i cut back to get to good GRP, tapered the edges a good 25mm back on the inner edge to lay up against. Then i looked at the lower hole where the bow eye went, it was also bad so i cut that bakc but left the middle area as is, this was good and solid so i will fit the new bow eye through there to the inner batten.

 

 

Ended up a fair old hole hey.

 

 

And hole number 2

 

 

 

I made a template for the CSM to get the correct shape, which didnt go to well in the end, i will explain later

 

 

Hole 2 cut out and then i cut the CSM to fit. with the use of the template

 

 

 

I used a cereal packet to get the shape i need of th bow, it all i had, id did the job but at the corners of the hole the card would not sit tight against the hull so i came up with this idea to use spray can caps and a couple of battery terminal caps to hold them back with the help of some insulation tape i had, yes not very organised was i. it workd but a bit to much as one corner was pushed in a little to much so will need filling out a little, the top left of the repair.

 

 

On the inside

 

 

Now what i did forget was the gel coat, no big deal really but i had so i wanted to use it. In the end i used 4 laminations of 450grm CSM then 4 of 300grm woven bandage then again 2 of the 450grm CSM, from the inside you can see its still a little thinner on the top left corner, think i will add a little more to make sure but there will be a large batten going in the bow and laminated in.

 

After it dried as of tonight

 

I did forget to say i added a little PVA blue to the inner card face to help release it before i laid up. This is how it loks after we soaked the card and peeled the card off, great stuff PVA.

 

 

Dont look to bad and it near all followed the contour of the bow but for the corner as said is a little indented. easy fill out though.

 

 

 

 

As it was my irst time with this type of repair i am happy with it, it should be strong enough aswell...i hope.

 

We have started to sand it down bit by bit, hate this job as much as ripping out, but it has to be done, T has a week off soon so she will get a bit done i hope. i will do the underside below first chine, i really need to invest in some good masks for us, ones i have are rubbish, and when you where glasses they steam up when you breath so then you cant see lol.

 

Next thing is the get some timber for the keel and bearers, think i will go with just Pine. I was thinking cement for the keel, thought it was a good idea as it will be a little ballast aswell and non rot.

 

so there we have it, bit more done.

[RLWP]

Greggs - a quality repair then!

 

Isn't it amazing how cutting a huge hole can make a project look so much better, even though there is less of it.

 

Good work

 

Richard

[W+T]

Thanks Richard, the thing is looks ok but will it be strong enough, maybe but depends how hard it hit the bank with it lol. i can dd a few more laminations later arond the edge.

 

I forgot to say the mess up when doing the repair was that i dropped the CSM that i cut to shape for the top hole in water so i had to trim it quick as i had strated to laminate, wasnt impressed but i had to go on or waste 1kg of resin, i to tight a git to do that.

[the barnacle]

i am impressed, i had wondered how you would repair the hole, you done a good job.

[RLWP]

I have done similar stuff on car bodies. Somehow an enormous hole with straight edges always looks better than a small rusty hole with irregular edges

 

Judging by that work, your keel is going to be a beauty

 

Richard

[Naughty Cal]

Looking good.

[W+T]

i am impressed, i had wondered how you would repair the hole, you done a good job.

we will see when i hit the first bank side lol.

 

 

I have done similar stuff on car bodies. Somehow an enormous hole with straight edges always looks better than a small rusty hole with irregular edges

 

Judging by that work, your keel is going to be a beauty

 

Richard

 

 

That is so true Richard, strange as it is aswell but it does. Keel next aswell

 

Looking good.

 

 

Thanks Cal

[W+T]

As i am soooo chuffed with the widows i thought i would show them before even finished. It was well worth the 415 mile round trip to collect them the weekend gone, I didnt want rubber sealed windows .and to make a set from wood would be to long a job and costly, done that before and they looked good but not cheap, dont forget this is a budget build,

I found these by chance on ebay and i was faffing to measure up if they would fit as there was on 10 mins left in the auction with no bids. Well the auction ended with no bids and i found they could fit, so i called the chap and said i would have them.

 

As you can see they are completely different fro the others that would of been fitted but aluminium frame and most glassed in glass and one in perspex which will be replaced.

 

four side windows

 

 

 

 

And we have windows, opening ally ones aswell ))

 

The original openings were not very straight and some bigger than than needed and some smaller so a fettle was needed, also shape different etc etc, i got them to fit by just filling in the gaps as i did for the bow repair. When i cut out the up rights the cabin top dropped a little so i just used my claps to support whilst the new area were added.

 

 

 

Now a bit i was worried about, the cabin has a curve to it as you can see here, and the windows dont,

 

 

Now i could of fitted them flat but then the gunwales would of been a few inch narrower and not good with loosing walk area on there so i though i would risk it and see if i could bend the frames WITH glass in place.

 

Roughly in place and ready ti fill the gaps.

 

 

Here you can see how the frames followed the curve of the cabin.

 

 

Still the front had to be filled and then the frame could be screwed back further.

 

 

 

 

 

And filled in with windows in.

 

 

 

All screwed back, temp as they will be fitted soon with silicone and grease one side so i can remove them once the new floor bearers are fitted along with the floor.

 

 

 

So i am halfway through the other side, i wasnt going to use the rear window but move the port hole for the head/loo, now it will be the same as this side but the head window will be further back by 6 inch or so. still the same really, but frozed over to keep eyes out .

 

hope you like, i am chuffed, may yet shatter the glass if the shell flexs on lifting, i dont know,

[Guest User]

It's wonderful to see the progress you're making

 

LCx

[Naughty Cal]

She's looking better every time you post some pictures.

 

Looks like the sanding down is progressing well as well.

[John V]

W+T I am seriously and genuinely impressed by both your courage and your skill ....I think it's looking brilliant and I can't wait to see the final result John

[gazza]

dont fit em with silicone!!

 

Use a neoprene tape and a VERY thin bad of marine silicone.

 

See here http://www.sealsdirect.co.uk/bbCMSrenderPage.asp?intPageId=9#section4