30 years in a barn

[nutmeg2go]

OK. So now I own the boat, a classic Herreshoff 12 1/2. She's very solid, but, after 30 years, more than a mite dry.

How do I determine whether she needs refastening or whether recaulking will suffice? What's my next step (after getting her out of the barn)?

[Paul Scheuer]

Next step - Post pics.

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

We are in the same boat so to speak only mine is an Atkin ;)

Look for threads on DOVE up here ;)

[paladin]

use a water hose....send a spray all over...wait 24 hours...check fer daylight.....repeat as needed

[seayou77]

Are the planks cupped outboard? If yes, do not go sanding the hull fair as they will resume their shape when whetted. As for the fastenings the only way to determine is to remove a few and ck. the condition. The 12 1/2 was built w/o bungs covering the fastners, the filler is akin to modern thickened epox. I'd be most concerned with the cond. of the frames. Be real careful bout Zipping new screws into these skinny frames.
To remove the filler from the screw heads use a heat gun to soften the filler. Great Boat!

[Mrleft8]

30 years in a barn!? It's a lost cause... Better let me take it off yer hands. I'll dispose of it in an enviromentally correct fashion! ;)

[Thad Van Gilder]

In my experience, what is over the screw heads is a lead compound, which is much, much easier to remove than epoxy.

-Thad

[seayou77]

As for recaulking; don't go pulling the cotton out unless you remove all of it. Adding cotton is one thing but re-caulking is another. The issue is the tension on the fastener. Also remove a few fasteners in different areas of the boat but not more than every other as keeping the plank tight to the frame matters. Good luck with your project, I have watched others restored over the years but never done one myself. David

[nutmeg2go]

Mr. Left

The generosity of your offer leaves me breathless. Unfortunately, I have other plans for this baby (although I have an old fiberglass outboard I would be happy to let you have).

Helms a-lee

[nutmeg2go]

OK. Here's a little introductory boat porn. The shot is pre-barn. I will try to get some current pics in the next week or two.

Helms a-lee

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid164/p871775f773ee0370c5d529b82402956c/f489c52f.jpg

[nutmeg2go]

I went up to finalize the purchase of the 12 1/2 today. I checked the sails (it has 2 sets). The older set, which is cotton, has the sailmaker listed as E.W. Smith in New Bedford, Massachusetts. There is an E.W. Smith who died in 1996 whose company was in Fairhaven who made sails for 50 years. Unless he has a father with the initials E.W. who had a business in New Bedford before the more recent E.W., I fear that this means that the sails were made for the boat in '56.

The good news is that Ken Hutchins, who is going to help me move her from the cradle to the trailer, agrees that she is in fine shape. He is constructing a reproduction of his grandfather's Herreshoff cutter Tally Ho in his barn. The boat is being constructed from wood that he has cut on his own land, milled himself, and bent with the assistance of an industrial steam boiler which he has adapted for a steam box. I was beyond impressed

I'm attaching a few photos of the boat which I took today.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid165/p436835d4ad4e480a91d10644974e7da2/f4726e74.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid165/p86b01bcbb00595390aa57862f7fb58b2/f4726e7e.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid165/p77d134ec75d6efc00f11b6b27d1d0559/f4726e71.jpg

[ 04-16-2005, 08:41 PM: Message edited by: nutmeg2go ]

[Domesticated_Mr. Know It All]

If you have Ken helping you,you're in good company. ;)

You keep collecting boats and you're gonna have to build a barn. :D

Thanks for the wonderful photos and best of luck to you. smile.gif

[Paul Denison]

Gorgeous, that paint job can't be 30 yoa.

[Mrleft8]

Sigh..... I still think it's beyond restoraton, or repair, and that you ought to let me put it out of it's misery humanely..... ;)

[Ken Hutchins]

That boat sure is nice. smile.gif smile.gif smile.gif smile.gif actually I think it will swell up considerably once it gets moved to Maine near the coast. Being inland and fairly high in elevation the wood is probably less than 10% moisture, when we go back to move her I will take my moisture meter and check it. I think that with a month in Maine, some new paying compound and some paint she will be ready to sail.

[nutmeg2go]

Ken let me know that Tally Ho is NOT a Herreshoff boat. Her history is posted on http://www.berrybrow.com/ Makes for interesting reading.

Mrleft, you kind offers are appreciated, but you will have to find your own classic to recycle. Start checking Ebay.

[JimD]

I wouldn't trust Mrleft8 to dispose of it properly. We have a special land fill in Turner Valley for that sort of thing. In fact, there are several boats in it already. :D You should send it to me instead.

[Mrleft8]

Originally posted by JimD:
I wouldn't trust Mrleft8 to dispose of it properly. We have a special land fill in Turner Valley for that sort of thing. In fact, there are several boats in it already. :D You should send it to me instead.I'm closer! smile.gif

[martin schulz]

...fill her with (salt)water or sink her in a harbour and bail her empty after 2-3 days, then you know if she will make it on herself, or if some re-caulking must be done (sawdust held under the hull while the water gets in the boat might also help).

[Mrleft8]

Do NOT fill her with saltwater while she's on land. If you do, she truely may become a pile of sticks. A boat's hull is built to withstand pressure from outside, not the other way around.

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Whew good catch lefty. I was just about to post something to that effect. I hear that soaked wet towels work with less stress. Thats what Im going to be doing. Im not fond of sinking a boat I always thought the idea of having a boat was to try NOT to sink her.

Oh and WOW let me add nice looking boat http://www.woodenboat-ubb.com/ubb/icons/icon14.gif
Looks to be in better shape than my 30 years in a barn boat.
Must have been a nicer barn ;)

[ 04-19-2005, 08:10 AM: Message edited by: Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson ) ]

[nutmeg2go]

My father was on the Nevada, so sinking boats is frowned upon in my family. I'll probably use some combination of wet towels, plastic tarp and humidifier, and prayer.

Looks as if the pre-previous owner stuck some goop in the seams. Hopefully it will come out pretty easily so that she can be effectively recaulked after taking up some.

Thanks for all the encouragement, though the only recycling she will experience is the 2nd trip around the island.

[nutmeg2go]

I managed to find E.W. Smith, Jr. who confirmed that the sails were made after 1956, so they provide me no information about the original identity of the boat.

So, if anybody knows about a 12 1/2 that disappeared from the west side of Buzzards Bay during one of the 1954 hurricanes (Carol or Edna), please let me know.

Thanks

[Domesticated_Mr. Know It All]

Pull the drain plug and put your garden sprinkler in there. I used a garden hose to rinse years of dust and crud out. I evicted a few spiders while I was at it too. :D I tilted the trailer so the water drained out the drain plug hole.
Usually a couple of hours will do. The humidity and sun had her swelled in no time. ;)

Don't forget to clear and replace the drain plug. :eek:

[Bayboat]

Hi, Nutmeg: Congratulations on acquiring that 12.5. I take it she did not come with a builder's plate. That makes a 12.5 difficult to identify as to date of build. The best bet is to contact Steve Nagy, a forumite, who has put together a registry of many existing or otherwise known 12.5's. From your photos she looks to be either a post-1936 Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. build, or Quincy Adams yard, or Cape Cod Shipbuilding before they switched to fiberglass. The giveaway is the mahogany trim--coamings,transom, sheerplank, etc. The sail number and insignia don't help. Some of the boats have a sail number and the letter "H." Some of these numbers are original, others have been assigned by a yacht club. The "BB" on your sail may stand for "Boys' Boat" with a club-assigned number. At any rate the number "9" doesn't indicate a very early date of build.

[nutmeg2go]

Bayboat

Thanks for the reply. There is no builder's plate. The boat was completely destroyed in a 1954 hurricane (I'm still not sure whether it was Carol or Edna). All that was left was the keel, deadwood, and part of the bow (this information from Bill Cooper, who participated in the rebuild at Quissett Harbor Boatyard). He remembered that the remains of the boat were brought over from the west side of the bay. The remaining bow hardware dates her prior to September of 1936, but Bill couldn't remember if there was any remaining trim on the bow or whether it was oak or mahogany. I talked to E.W. Smith Jr., son of the sailmaker, who confirmed that the cotton sails were made in the mid 50s, probably at the time that the boat was rebuilt. At any rate, he destroyed the company records when he sold the company. All attempts to establish the boat's identity prior to 1954 have been unsuccessful.

I have contacted all (I think) yacht clubs in the Buzzards Bay area, trying to discover if a boat went missing from their roles in 1954, but records are sketchy.

I have talked at length to Steve, who has been a great help. I have also spoken to prior owners of the boat and a number of boating people who have been eager to help, but so far no information which helps me establish her identity.

Thank you for your interest.

[sbsbw]

there was deffinetly a woodenboat article in the last year about "rewatering" a hull, as i recal they suggested a sprinkler on the inside with a tarp over the top of the hull, this is assuming that there is not much on the inside, but as lefty said DON"T FILL HER WITH WATER.

-SBSBW

[nutmeg2go]

The drain plug is missing, so I don't have to worry about that part until I launch her. The sprinkler sounds like a practical solution.

The next step is to get her out of the shed, on to the trailer and over to Maine, which should be some time in early June.

[htom]

A soaker hose could be used, too.

[Bayboat]

It sounds as if there's almost nothing left of her that's diagnostic of age and identification except some bow fittings. Since you have been in touch with Steve Nagy you probably know about the dating of the bow cleats.
The trim doesn't help; the existing mahogany was evidently installed by Quisset and there's no apparent way of knowing whether the original was mahogany or oak. Except that if the bow fittings are pre-1936, the trim was most likely oak. You've probably already figured that out. Any possibilites through tracing the name? Best of luck. Steve seems to have been stuck once or twice in tracing his 12.5, but he persevered and
won out.

[nutmeg2go]

The move is ON. Got a call from Mike at Triad Trailers. The trailer is ready and the boat comes out of the shed on Saturday. Then up to Maine for a consult with Eric Dow and then, hopefully, into Penobscot Bay.

Tally Ho, Ken

[Ken Hutchins]

That beautiful boat is out of the barn, loaded on the trailer and is on the way to Maine. smile.gif smile.gif

[Mrleft8]

Originally posted by Ken Hutchins:
That beautiful boat is out of the barn, loaded on the trailer and is on the way to Maine. smile.gif smile.gif But.... But... I live in Connecticut! Maine is the wrong way! ;)