I did a whole lot of research and a whole lot more thinking before I
made the following decision.
A trip to Boston secured two 3/8" x 4' x 16' sheets of marine grade fir plywood
for the bottom and a sheet of 1" thick 4' x 8' Mahogany plywood
for the inner skin of the transom. I felt that old Mr. Rivenbark would
agree with my thinking that the end result will be a stiffer, stronger
boat. At least at the stern.
I did have to remove 1/4" from the components of the motor well, as
well as the last two ribs to accommodate the change, but she now has a
solid piece
from port to starboard instead of the pieced together vertical planking
which was held in place with water based glue and a few screws.
The new inner was carefully scribed and cut to fit the planking, and
thoroughly epoxied
into place ; 1 1/2" screws added through the planking and bottom framing
whilst the epoxy was still wet - I was sure to have enough 'glue' to allow
it to squeeze out all around.
The two Transom knees were epoxied into place, bolted through the framing
with bronze carriage bolts, and screwed through the forward frame and the
inner skin of the transom. The original layout had been to bolt them
in right through the bottom plywood. This was probably not the best solution
as the heads had compressed the plywood over time and allowed some leaking
to occur around them, contributing to the dry rot.
I opted for countersinking them into the 3 1/2" wide 42" long aft battens
which you may remember were already 1/4" thicker than original. I
also countersunk the heads into the inner skin of the transom, whereas
the original method had been to bore a deep countersink into the outer
skin and then install a plug to fill the hole flush.
My way, though patently not original, leaves less room for leaking.
Another trip to New England Hardwoods secured the outer planking for
the transom, a nice 5/4 x 12" x 12' mahogany stick. This replaced the original
outer skin of the transom right down to the widths of the original pieces.
Each piece was fitted, then removed, coated in epoxy and re-installed
with a liberal coating on the mating surfaces between the inner and outer
skins. Clamps, and more 1 1/2" screws.
Mating edges were also epoxied assuring a perfect joint which
should not separate the way the original did.
All remaining screw holes were plugged with birch dowels and white glue to assure a good grip for the new screws which undoubtably would hit at least a few of the old holes.
I thought long and hard about if I should epoxy the bottom
plywood onto the frames, but decided against it in favor of a
liberal bead of Boat-Life white along all mating surfaces.
When installed
, and screwed down (another 600 1" screws), the joint should prove to be
both secure and watertight, but allowing for removal of the sheathing if
necessary down the road.
Next, after one final trip to the Hardwood store, I cut and set aside
the keelson and chine rub rails. This was because I coated the
entire bottom with
WEST epoxy , rolled on with a 'foamie' then tipped off.
After that cured, I attacked it with my d/a sander and 120 grit. Yeah
right.
I put that sander down and picked up my 3 x 21 belt sander, and ground
away the surface until it was smooth to the touch. More vacuuming.
Then I went over it with the d/a.
Now I installed the keelson, and the chine rub rails, with epoxy behind
them. I also added something else which wasn't on the original boat.
Two short rails
, 1 1/4" x 42" long, tapered to the same contour as the keelson, set 7
1/4" off each edge of the keelson. These rails were on the
Tojan Marlin I refinished and added incredible stability to the boat at
speed. Now think about this - the 80HP motor on the Barbour always had
a tendency to try to make the stern feel like it was racing to get ahead
of the bow. Believe me, that's not a good feeling for the person at the
helm when you're out on the Hudson River! I'll let you know next
week if they work on this boat. If they don't I can remove them easily.
Finally, I sanded again, vacuumed again and applied the final coat
of epoxy. (Incidentally, I did not put in any mesh to the epoxy. I want
to seal the wood, not make a fiberglass one).
After sanding I applied the bottom
paint . I really wanted to use VC Liquid Speed, but that product is
now off the market, like so many other good products, so I applied Woolsey
604, which also contains Teflon and has the appearance of the original
Woolsey copper bottom paint. There is a black boot stripe to replicate
the original, and then white side planking which I like and was one of
the optional colors available for the Silver Clipper.
The 'Crew' helped roll
over the boat before applying the boot stripe and side paint, and then
the trailer
was slid in under the boat, which was hung from slings from the garage
rafters.
I actually didn't manage to finish putting the wiring back together (though the hardware was on) before I left for vacation on the Sacandaga Reservoir, but the Sea Trials were a total success, with not a drop of water leaking into the boat.
I replaced the motor well bottom a few weeks ago, as it was pretty tired,
and that's as far as I go for this year.
I have run on the Hudson River, and for anyone who's interested, the
extra rails I added to the bottom made a huge difference in the handling
of the boat. She will now run flat out in a tight turn without any
skipping, porpoising or other questionable handling characteristics.
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