well, my apitong bowsprit has some rot in it

[rebel heart]

1975 Hans Christian 36'

I noticed some rot in there so I started yanking off the platform. Definitely more than surface stuff, it's getting wicked around and there are some decent cavities. I'm not a great wood worker; I get some of the general concepts and I've done them but I don't have a lot of experience. Part of my is just dumb enough to go get some apitong boards and glue them together and try to fashion a new bowsprit. Now that I type that, I think it would be crude and ugly if I even got the fit correct.

I feel a little more comfortable scarfing in some sections and I found a local supplier of apitong. Just wanted to check with you wood gurus to see if I'm on the right track.

As far as "how much rot", I'd say maybe a soda can sized cavity right near the inner stay fitting / chainplate, right where the bowsprit juts off the deck.

[David G]

You don't say how large your existing bowsprit is. Fotos would be nice. Lacking same, I'd say that it sounds like a lot of rot. Probably not a situation I'd want to go to sea with.

[rebel heart]

You don't say how large your existing bowsprit is. Fotos would be nice. Lacking same, I'd say that it sounds like a lot of rot. Probably not a situation I'd want to go to sea with.

Definitely not going to sea with it, that's why I pulled all the hardware off and have been ripping it apart. I had some rot in my spar that was fixed by scarfing some new wood in, doesn't seem crazy to me to imagine that this would be any different. I'd say it's about 8' or so. Not exactly the best shot, but that's what it looks like there (it has the high footed sail up). I'll take some of the rot but it's just what a bunch of rot in a bowsprit would look like: gross.

http://i.imgur.com/KO0f7.jpg

[rebel heart]

Just got to reading this that apitong doesn't glue to well:

http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?2707-Wood-Apitong&highlight=apitong

A (http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?2707-Wood-Apitong&highlight=apitong)nd some of the folks on the HC message boards that have done this same thing are saying no to scarfing and that it should be one continuous piece.

http://www.hanschristian.org/bb/viewtopic.php?p=23169&sid=5b806bf66843827ac1adcc1beb1cf1f3

[TerryLL]

I've seen a couple bad bowsprits in these big FG cutters. Don't think I'd be inclined to do a patch job. I'd rest easier knowing the bowsprit could take whatever stress it was put to, and that means a new bowsprit.

http://images2.bluewaterboats.org/hans-christian-38-mkii/HC38mkii-layout.gif

[David G]

I've seen new pieces scarfed into existing bowsprits successfully. I've even done a few myself. The last one can be seen here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arbordg/sets/72157624466966133/show/

Are you set up to do some moderately accurate work on a largish chunk of wood? If not, then I'd say go for a new sprit. If you are up to it, you'll save a bit of money by scarfing in a new chunk. Just make sure there's a lot of gluing area in your repair. Epoxy or resorcinol - esp. with the apitong. Other than being so heavy, apitong seems like it'd be a fine bowsprit choice. You don't say where you are. If it's available to you, douglas fir (aka Oregon Pine) has a better strength/weight ratio.

[rebel heart]

Made a video of this for a woodworker friend, I'm leaning towards having a new one made out of douglass fir. He's not a boat guy but he's a solid carpenter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOX4SeoWI-s

[wizbang 13]

Try and prevent it from happening again. A house carpenter can build a good bowsprit,but prevent capillary action of rain.
All holes for screws and bolts should be over bored, filled with epoxy and re bored , so as to protect end grain from rainwater getting in there. So, ya kinna have to put the thing together , then take it apart,do stuff, then put it all back together again.
Some possible re thinking. I would not have the anchor rollers on the bowsprit. Or "safety" planks. I would not have the bowsprit sitting on the deck,bolted through. I would not have the windlass on the bowsprit.
Westsails have this problem too, seen it numerous times. Bet there is more punky wood in those holes.

[boattruck]

RH et al, Bow sprits live a hard life and often get damaged or fall victim to rot etc, the good news is that yours is not so far gone that you would have to dream up all the necessary details, you can measure and template off of your current one. While it would be nice in an ideal world to get rid of all the fittings and accoutrement's that mount on this thing, the boat one way or another wants all of them, more or less... The other good news is that a nice fir blank will likely be more stable and somewhat less rot prone than the original Apitong, and you can see to the sealing and painting real well. Cheers, Steve

[rebel heart]

Steve,

Thanks for that, and that's sort of my line of thinking as well. The boat is from 1975 so considering it's a 36 year old piece of wood I'm okay with that lifespan for something that takes so much abuse and so much hardware attached to it.

[David G]

Try and prevent it from happening again. A house carpenter can build a good bowsprit,but prevent capillary action of rain.
All holes for screws and bolts should be over bored, filled with epoxy and re bored , so as to protect end grain from rainwater getting in there. So, ya kinna have to put the thing together , then take it apart,do stuff, then put it all back together again.
Some possible re thinking. I would not have the anchor rollers on the bowsprit. Or "safety" planks. I would not have the bowsprit sitting on the deck,bolted through. I would not have the windlass on the bowsprit.
Westsails have this problem too, seen it numerous times. Bet there is more punky wood in those holes.

What Bruce says is key. When I read your post about having a carpenter buddy build it... the red flags went up. What he says is exactly what I thought. I'm sure your friend can build the sprit itself. But... one or both of you should bone up on what it takes... all the little details... in order to give the new one a long life, with no nasty surprises at the end for you or a subsequent owner.

[rebel heart]

What Bruce says is key. When I read your post about having a carpenter buddy build it... the red flags went up. What he says is exactly what I thought. I'm sure your friend can build the sprit itself. But... one or both of you should bone up on what it takes... all the little details... in order to give the new one a long life, with no nasty surprises at the end for you or a subsequent owner.

No worries on that. My spar is spruce and I went through a lot of the hardware aspects when I put that back together after some heavy repair work on that a couple of years ago. I'm pretty sure I have the chops for bedding hardware properly and protecting wood, but not for carving / shaping. Again, the bowsprit made it 36 years and probably could go another couple (or more with an epoxy repair job).

Now I'm off to find a nice piece of douglas fir. Thanks for the help everyone!