Varnishing Wild Goose has started. Two coats done so far and I'm on to my second tin (International Gold Spar).Each coat took about two hours and involved varnishing all internal surface and the decks. Fortunatley I was able to do this in the open air and thus avoid the worst of the fumes as the sun was shining and the sky a loverly blue.
I shall give the decks another coat or two later but next task is to turn her over and start work on the hull next Friday.
8 comments:
Hi Tim,
Really enjoy your site, and seeing the progress on your boats, as I have an Ent and am often doing similar things. Do you know of a discussion forum for Ent owners to discuss repairs, racing, etc.? I have had a look but don't seem to be able to find one. Cheers, Craig
Hi Graig,
I am pleased you enjoy my blog, sorry I don't update as often as others buy hey life gets busy!
In answer to your question; yes there is a forum specifically for Ents, check out http://www.enterprisenw.co.uk/forum.php
You can get some sound advice here.
Where do you sail?
Tim
Hi Tim,
I currently sail at St. Mary's loch in Scotland (great place to sail!), but will be moving back to France (and taking my Ent with me) later this year. I know the forum you mean but since switching over to the new forum there has been minimal activity there. Doesn't seem normal considering the number of people that sail Ents!
Hi again Tim,
A question for you - on your boat, what are the L-shaped supports which extend from the centreboard case to the seat support made from? Mine are made from marine ply, and one has considerable rot, and will therefore need replacing.
Cheers,
Craig
Hi Craig,
The supports you speak of are made from marine ply, probably about 6mm but they also have a wider piece or hardwood that abutts it where it crosses the floor. I'm not sure if all boats have this.
It might be worth checking the other one to see if there is any rot in that too.
The problem you will face is getting a suitable piece of marine ply. You only need a relatively small piece but it normally comes in 8'x4' sheets! Ask about at your home club somebody might have an off cut. Sometime a local boat builder or carpenter may have some.
You could probably get away with ordinary plywood if you well and truly sheeve it in epoxy resin (West if you have any) because you need to stop ANY and ALL ingress of water into the grain or it will delaminate and just fall apart.
Hi Tim,
Robbins.co.uk will sell 1/4 sheets, which sound quite reasonable. Thanks for your tip about the epoxy. Yes, mine have the hardwood strip next to the frame like yours. To fill in slight rot in the floor, I was thinking of using epoxy resin + a sandable filler. Does that sound the way to go? Cheers, Craig
Hi Craig,
Yes I think you are on the right track. The rot in the floor sounds a bit worrying! I think you need to be careful about using the epoxy on the floor, it depends where it is because the resin will be rigid but in some places the floor does flex a bit and you could end up with it cracking and the resin falling out. It might just depend on the size of the area and the depth of filler.
If it is near to a main frame such as the hog or the transom then you should be fine.
Quite often it goes rotten near the transom, it just depends where the water collects.
You might want to check that the floor stiffeners are sound too as water can get under them and start to rot away in secret.
I have just removed the brace and the flat brace next to it, and the damage to the floor below doesn't seem too bad (to my unexpert eye). I have managed to scrape away rotten wood to get to a hard laminate underneath. I am hoping that being directly under the braces it should not flex too much.
I also have some slight rot damage to the top of the stiffener (about top 1/3), but I will try to reinforce this with fibreglass mat rather than ripping out the whole strip.
It is funny it has gone rotten there, because the rest of the boat (especially the transom) is fine. I will have to start my own repair blog!
Cheers,
Craig
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