Me and My Boat: Getting Your Wood On

New Wood Work

With Tim’s help I mounted the woodwork and main hatch back on the boat.  Wow, what a difference.  We then bought the supplies and made the bow sprit and main hatch cover.  Both of which are made of red oak, have been stained and varnished, and are awaiting their place on board.  We also mounted the pulpit back in the boat.  This was necessary in order to make the bow sprit, which had to be fitted in order to work properly.  It’s going to look sweet and will, as Tim says, allow for a “ridiculously” large Genoa to be used.  That is because the bowsprit will increase the overall length of the boat by some two and one half feet.  Thus, allowing a bigger sail to be used. 

Inevitably, I will be working on the boat again this weekend and the next and the next and so on, until there is nothing left to do except go sailing.  I hope to make more headway on the interior this weekend, possibly even painting it.  We’ll see.  I’m sure Tim will show up and we’ll drink a few beers while working on whatever.  There is still much to do, and I will chronicle those activities as soon as there is something to report. 

I have been keeping various people informed as to the progress of my endeavor and am receiving positive support from them.  I think they are all curious to see the boat and look forward to a voyage on her.  Yesterday, I told my friend John about what Tim’s son said while in the garage last weekend. 

He asked, “Where’s your other boat?”

I pointed at my canoe, hanging over his head, and said, “Its hanging right there, it’s the only other boat I own”.

He said, “No, your other boat, the Beast, the one you had last summer?”

I then pointed at the sailboat and said, “You’re looking at it”

Tim’s son’s eyes widened in a look of surprise as he made the realization that ‘The Beast’ and the boat in front of him were one and the same, yet were two completely different sailboats.  As a friend said to me at work, “Boat projects are good for the soul”.

It is obvious from all the work I’ve done on the boat that the original manufacturing process produced the two halves (upper & lower) in separate molds.  One mold was for the main hull and the other for the cockpit and deck.  Also, there were at least three other molds to produce the hatches.  The two main parts, once produced were then riveted together producing the finished product, a Clipper Marine 21 sailboat.  One of which, I am now the proud owner of.

Rivets

I only point this out because I had to replace a good many missing rivets on the boat.  This was done during the painting process and I forgot to mention it.  I noticed that there were issues with the two main sections of the boat when I was doing the interior work and I could pull rivets out with my fingers.  They almost literally fell out of their holes.  You can’t see them on the outside because they are concealed by the trim; a thin aluminum band that encircles the boat at the hull / deck connection line.  Positioned inside this aluminum band is a rubber piece that also encircles the boat and covers the rivets.  The rubber piece is white and is very difficult to remove from the aluminum, but even harder to replace.

Once I had realized that rivets would need to be replaced, I went about the task.  Using a screwdriver I wedged it in between the rubber and the aluminum and managed to pry out a small section of the rubber trim.  Repeating the process over and over, I was able to expose the rivets.  It was then a simple matter of applying rivets to the missing holes.  However, in many cases I had to drill out the old partial rivet before a new one could be added. 

I did this on both sides, port and starboard, and must have replaced or added some 40 rivets to the hull.  I then went about replacing the rubber piece.  That took considerably more effort, as the rubber did not easily go back to its original position inside the aluminum band. 

I thought I was done.  However, I was running my hand over a section of the hull on the starboard aft of the boat, when I literally was able to feel the hull push in a significant amount with out having applied much pressure.  Not good.  I had visions of being healed over and water pouring into the interior of the boat. The area of the hull was adjacent to the cockpit and from the interior would have been hard to see; probably why I had missed it.  I once again had to remove the rubber trim, replace rivets, and then put the rubber back in place. 

After that revelation, I very carefully inspected the rest of the rivet line.  I tested the entire boat, walking around and pushing on the hull with my hand to see if any section needed attention.  Fortunately, the rest of the hull was sound.  In order to make sure that the boat is as water proof as possible I will apply silicon to both the interior and exterior rivet line.  That should keep the majority of incidental small leaks from swamping the boat, as they are probably directly related to the rivet line.