2303 - A new beginning...

[Tim Noyce]

This weekend I collected Cherub Number 2303. It is currently named "The Other Woman" and we believe is a Forman 4c (g). It is a glass boat with a wooden daggerboard box, internal structure and gunwhale ( so should hopefully be relatively low maintenance). It has been moved straight into my Grandads garage for a week of intensive repairs and then it should be back on the water soon.

The boat came complete with a Needlespar mast, a ridiculously long spinni pole, 3 kites of various sizes, 2 daggerboards (long and short) and a suit of excellent white sails made by Holt!

I took some photos using my digital camera but don't seem to have a mini usb lead to download them (staying at my parents for the week) but have a couple taken using my phone. I will hopefully be able to put together a bit of a diary of the work we're doing this week.

[Tim Noyce]

Had a good day at it today. Have managed to remove the offending gunwhale strip and prep it ready for attaching the new piece of mahogony. Have also had a poke around and removed as much damp wood at the front of the daggerboard case as possible and painted it with wood preservative so that should extend its life a bit.

The main problem area is the floor where the side tanks meet as this joint is completely shot. This needs to be cleaned up and sanded back so that I can bond the join back together and then lay some glass over to strengthen it. Once that is made a bit more solid the new floor brace can be put in and glassed in.

Couple more photos...

[JimC]

The main problem area is the floor where the side tanks meet as this joint is completely shot.

It was probably like that from about a week after the boat was first launched. Always trouble that joint with the technology available at the time. It ought to be possible to do something superior with the facilities we have these days. Basically what happens is that as you jump around the floor the join just peels off... Ideas on a postcard... Have you vac bag kit handy? I wonder about first taping over the join in a conventional way (in itself not enough) and then bagging on a triangle of foam and bagging more glass over that to make a combined extra strong join/come super fillet and floor stringer and stabilise the whole area... What do other folk think?

[ross_burkin]

Love the self bailers!

Hmm, I think Jim's 'Super fillet' is a good idea. Cut/sand/hotwire Some light foam into a cockpit length triangle and bog into place. Then glass over the top.

[Phil Alderson]

It is good to see some more of the older boats getting back on the water.

Provided the normal failure is for the tape to peel from the inside of the joint then a foam fillet would help, however it will add a lot of extra stiffeness around the joint which will cause the floor to crack near the edge of the foam fillet.

Also if the joint does start to break up again with the foam fillet in place it is likely to trap water next to the decks.

By going to Epoxy (rather than the polyester that was probably originally used( the tape will stick better to the floor  which may be enough.

[Tim Noyce]

I think that I have a day of sanding and prepping ahead of me today before I get round to doing any laminating so I have time to ponder the situation.

My plan was to build up a nice bog fillet over the joint to make it a standard shape the whole way down (at the moment there is a flange in some places, and not in others) and then laminate over that by about 2 inches up the side tank and onto the floor. The cross beam that is going in will butt up against the side tank and so will give some rigidity at the mid point which I think will be good news, and then I could possibly build in some little ribs at the other mid points. I guess that I could also laminate over the joint from the inside of the tank as well (for what I can reach anyway, I don't fancy cutting more hatches into the boat at this stage for access).

Ross, I agree, the self bailers are bad ass. I'm yet to give them enough beans to try and open them as I fear I might just push the whole unit through the floor! Think that I'll ease them up with some penetrating oil first as they haven't been opened for a while!

[phil_kirk]

The intersection between the tank and the floor is as you suggest a good opportunity to add strength and stiffness. But i take the point that you can make the joint to stiff that the floor beside the joint will crack.  having effectively reduced the span of the floor pannel this risk of cracking may be reduced.  As an attempt to reduce the likely hood of this occuring i would suggest using two layers of thin glass over your bog fillet with the second layer being wider than the first. The stress concentration near the joint will be reduced.

Many wooden boats of various classes cope with structural discontinuities and I'm sure there are others to look out for.

[Tim Noyce]

I have spent the day with the angle grinder removing many years of paint and have finally got back to solid boat! It seems that at some point the joint has been 'repaired' but a strip of glass was simply bonded to the paint rather than it being prepped up properly so that was just ripped straight off.

I finished the day today by putting in a nice bog radius round the edges, and I bogged the wooden cross piece into the hull with a nice fillet of bog round it so that should be ready for lamination tomorrow.

The rubbing strip is cut and drilled ready to be attached to the boat also.

Fingers crossed that friday can be painting day, saturday packing away, and then back down to devon with it on Sunday!

[Tim Noyce]

Well since my last post a month has passed but I have now got the boat back to Devon. I didn't manage to get the boat back last month but it stayed another month in my Grandads garage where he kindly finished the rubbing strip and varnished it. This weekend I painted painted the floor with an agricultural paint and sand grippy mix and refitted most of the parts with a nice dose of silicone sealant. Fingers crossed it should be watertight now to some degree!

I'll have to take some more photos at the weekend. I am hoping for a dry spell so that I can get the mast up and see what is what in the rigging department. Overall though its looking great in comparison to when I picked it up, The outside of the hull needs some aesthetic touching up but that can wait for now.

[Tim Noyce]

Just popped up to the boat as the weather was fair. Managed to get the rig up, got the jib up and it looks good! I am most pleased!




bit of an improvement to a few weeks ago...


Funky levers for pulling on the rig tension, no faffing with boat breakers required! The forestay is tied at the bow, then these levers are used on each shroud to pull on the rig tension. There is also a highfield lever on the jib halyard. Pulled them all on and it looked pretty good!



Then one final one with the jib up. I tried to get the main up but the halyard popped out of the block at the mast tip so I only got it half way up... then it started raining so thought I had better get it packed up again.



Put her back to bed under her recycled cover!



Total cost of the project to date... £75. That was for the trolley from JimC! REALLY looking forward to getting it on the water and setting that beastly 9 foot pole!

[JimC]

REALLY looking forward to getting it on the water and setting that beastly 9 foot pole!

Don't worry, setting it isn't realy that big a deal. Dropping is rather more trouble - its very easy to drop the sheet over the bow. I like to keep the guy in the pole until the pole is on the boom. But gybing is where the fun is...

[Tim Noyce]

Have just got back from the boat and have spent a day tinkering. Managed to get all 3 sails up today to check them out. All in all it is working fine, need to make some minor adjustments and add a new kite halyard cleat but otherwise it is good to go for next weekend.

[Phil Alderson]

Looking good, weather looks nice too

[Tim Noyce]

The weather has been amazing today. Gutted not to be out sailing as it was blowing a leisurely 3-4! Temperature was well into double figures down in sunny devon. Roll on the summer!

[Tim Noyce]

The old girl received a good rubbing down and a lick of paint today. I will update with some pictures when I get back from my holiday in Wales next week!