alden ketch, the start of the restoration

[john macdonald]

Although I've been a "Wooden Boat" reader this is first reading of the Forum & it is great. Thanks. I have a 48' Alden Ketch. It is the "Lady Helene" pilot house design. I'm about to begin on a long list of work; including replacing the old Ford Lehman 90hp with? Plymouth Brewer Marine suggests a Yanmar 80hp I've seen 75hp. Any thoughts on the many choices? Also it seems that 20 +/- planks should be replaced. Do folks have different standards when it comes to replacing planks? Should I rely on the yard or try to find a local independent boat builder/repair person? How should I determine a fair total price for material & labor on plank replacement? For example, should I expect to pay $__ for each 10 feet of mahogany? Labor is about $55 +/- an hour. Thanks for any suggestions jsmacdonald@earthlink.net [LIST] [LIST]

[ 10-01-2003, 08:59 PM: Message edited by: john macdonald ]

[redsail]

Welcome aboard, John. Sounds like a great project but we need pictures. There are lots of folks on this great forum who crave to accompany you through your restoration.
Please post some photos of your boat. Regarding the plank replacement, find someone who has done lots of plank work on big boats. You want a first class job done by someone who likes to do it and will do it properly. Working alongside this guy will be fun and informative for you too. I was particularily amazed at the artistry of spiling for the new planks when several planks were changed out on my boat. The guy working for me had been well trained in Port Townsend and apprenticed on the building of the Pacific Grace ( a tall ship launched several years ago in Victoria ) He was part of a crew that spent months wrapping big steaming hot fir planks around the frames for this lovely vessel under the guidance of some master shipwrights.
We found that once all the prep for planking had been done( any frames repaired or replaced, lumber planed, etc. ) the new planks went on at the rate of about one a day.
Get lots of clamps. Good luck.

[ 10-02-2003, 10:58 AM: Message edited by: redsail ]

[Ed Harrow]

I've been trying to remember a conversation of several years ago. I seem to recollect a rate of ~$600 per plank.

[Mike Vogdes]

Hey John, welcome aboard and lots of luck on your big restoration project, you have certainly landed in the right place.

Have you considered a rebuild of your Lehman diesel? I owned a trawler with twin 120's and they where the best running, economical engines I could ask for. Bob Smith of American Diesel Corp, is the Lehman guru, 804-435-6420, give him a call, I'm sure he will have a few alternatives for you, they are very nice folks.

[Ian McColgin]

Some yards will not allow an indi to work, or will charge for it.

So what yard are you using? Is that in stone?

This is enough work that I'd shop a few yards after spending for a proper survey. The surveyor should not actually steer you to his or her best buddy but a good surveyor can give a price range to the work that will be a useful guide.

You may even want to yard to agree to work under the surveyor's supervision.

It may or may not be better to spread the jobs over a couple of winters.

[john macdonald]

The boat is now hauled out at the Plymouth Brewer Marine yard in Plymouth, MA. I suppose we could move her but ... I would prefer she was at a wooden boat yard. The yard just fisish building a 50+ foot plank on frame sailboat and some of the carpenters are still at the yard.

The ford diesel was pulled out by the yard and I think partly disposed of. I had the fuel pump and some other things fixed but it was pretty unreliable. 2 yards have told me to replace.

thanks for the suggestions

[AngWood]

Those Yanmars are pretty sweet engines.

[john macdonald]

I'll post photos of some tradewinds in the yard as well as some when she last sailed.

[Concordia..41]

A. Welcome aboard - misery loves company ;)

B. Ed - $600 a plank - EGADS :eek: Although not maybe too far off depending. I think Dave figured about $80 per plank in materials and if a yard's doing the work you'd have $80+ markup plus say 4-8 hours labor.

We've just had disappointing news from our shipwright. I just happened to have some of the planks out while we were rearranging the storage container. The conversation went sorta like, "You're gonna' wanna' replace that one. And that one. And that one. And you see that cracking there, well ya' don't wanna' use that one..." Ugh!

[Ed Harrow]

Hey, look, it was a couple of years ago, I've spent 18 of my years dealing with numbers like 1x10-6, 1x10-8, -12, etc, etc. Whats an order a magnitude or two? ;)

[mmd]

The yacht that Brewer Plymouth just finished was the Herreshoff "Bounty" project that I was involved in. The contract was held by Snug Harbor Boatworks of Duxbury (contact Jeff Grey 781-934-1366) and they formed an alliance with B-P to take advantage of the latter's space availability and systems expertise. Snug Harbor's guys built the boat, but undoubtedly B-P gained considerable woodworking skills along the way.

[redsail]

Ed's $600.00 per plank sounds about right. There is phone calls to find the lumber, time searching thru the stack to select the ones for your boat. Haul them to the shop, for 20 planks of any length 2 guys will be a whole afternoon at the planer.
All that prep, repair several frames at least. Someone chasing down fasteners and trying to borrow an armload of clamps from up the way. After tons of measuring, spiling, laying out, sawing, planning, fitting, planning, steaming, clamping, cursing, laughing, drilling, screwing, butt block building and bolting. Then you can do it over for the other 19. Budget in a good single malt to bless the shutter plank as well.
Then there still will be fairing, caulking, puttying, plugging, sanding, priming, painting, etc,etc, and with all that time and handling involved, $600.00 per plank sounds like a bargan.

[john macdonald]

Thanks for the Duxbury yard referral. I happened to be Brewer yesterday and saw the the new Herreshoff "Bounty" at the dock. if anyone is local to Plymouth it's worth a look.

I'll call Jeff at Snug Harbor. I believe Plymouth Brewer does allow contract work. Plymouth said they will use same carpenter but I'll clarify.

New issue. I noticed that when the new deck went on 5 years ago the Canadian yard wrapped the glass over the topside then ran a strip of wood along the full length to cover the seam. Not only does it look bad it has started to rot. Any thoughts on correcting this problem?