Out of the closet

[FParth]

Let me introduce myself. My name is Frank Parth, I live in southern California, and last year I “inherited” an H28. I joined the forum a few months ago and have been digging through every archive that might be useful and saving the information.

I say “inherited” because the previous owner was willing to give it to me on the promise that I would restore it. She’d been sitting abandoned in a storage yard for several years because he ran into some medical and financial problems. Before I accepted her I went through her with a surveyor to see if she was worth the effort or was too far gone. The deck (a fiberglass/plywood combo that rotted through) needs to be torn up and replaced and the deckhouse needs to be replaced as do three ribs and one flooring timber. But the rest of the ribs, the spars, and all of the planking and flooring timbers are solid. The bolts into the ballast keel were checked carefully and are in good shape. The keelbolts in the bow are almost all completely rotted through.

The boat was hull #8 out of the Yosuka Boat Yards in Japan, built in 1961. She was built as a ketch and double-planked in mahogany with white oak frames and spruce spars. The design they followed was not pure Herreschoff - she has a raised deckhouse, a bowsprit, and an iron keel. Pix are on my web site here: http://www.fparth.com/H28/H28home.html

You can see from the pix that she wasn’t at all attractive, I guess no lady is after being ignored for so long. I think you have to be a special kind of crazy to see what she could look like instead of how she looks now.

After working on her at the boatyard for a few months I had her hauled to my house in January. She’s sitting next to my garage – a far more convenient place to work from. She’s also been a wonderful excuse to buy new tools (as if I needed another excuse). I’ve spent a couple of months rebuilding my garage cabinets just to practice my woodworking skills.

I’ve run into what seems to be the normal set of problems for something like this. The planks were attached with bronze screws below the waterline and rivets above. In checking the solidity of the screws at the bow about half are coming out and the rest are either turning freely in their holes or the heads are coming apart on me. In trying to drill out the broken-off heads I’ve managed to instead drill new holes through the planks next to the screws instead of drilling straight down the screws. I’m going to try using “UnscrewUms” next unless someone can suggest a better method and then plug the holes and redrill.

The engine is a Universal Atomic 4 that I removed and am having rebuilt (or used for parts, the jury’s still out on that one).

I’ve rebuilt the rotted flooring timber out of white oak and I’m just beginning to try and remove one of the rotted frames so it can be replaced. I’d like to remove it in one piece so I can use it as a pattern when I steam and bend its replacement but I’m wondering the best way to do this. Just cut or grind the rivets off and lift it out? Cut it out in pieces and glue it back together?

Thoughts and opinions are highly welcome. If you tell me I’m crazy it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve heard it.

[ 05-22-2002, 12:19 PM: Message edited by: FParth ]

[NormMessinger]

ewe! Nice. I can't offer any help but you'll sure have a beauty when you get her restored.

Best wishes.

--Norm

[nedL]

Wonderful project. Are you sure your looking for comments & not compliments? ;) The only thing I can add is that if the deck is 'coming off' it should be pretty easy to steam new frames in place. I like yor idea of staying with the Atomic four, they built thousands of them & parts are still out there-nice little engine. Keep us posted.

[Alan D. Hyde]

A good design. She'll be a beauty.

So what happened with the axle?

Glad to see you've got your wife happily involved. That'll make everything about the project work better.

Welcome. And congratulations!

Alan

[FParth]

Thanks. She ain't a beauty yet, but she'll get there. Unlike me she'll look better as she gets older.

Having my better half involved saves me a lot of time having to come up with excuses for being out there. ("Honey, I'm going to work on the boat. I'll just be a few minutes. Really.") She's become quite good at stripping varnish.

The axle broke as we were pulling her out of her slot. We used a fork lift truck and the turning radius was so tight the axle couldn't take it. The boat mover just wired the broken axle up and we drove 15 miles down the freeway and up the hills to my house with it that way.

My first estimate of doing a rebuild within two years was wildly optimistic. I'm probably looking at 3-4 years of evening and weekend work. But I've found it's incredibly relaxing to work on something where I can see actual progress being made, right there in front of me.

I'll keep posting pix as progress continues.

:rolleyes:

[ 05-22-2002, 01:02 PM: Message edited by: FParth ]

[John of Phoenix]

Yikes! :eek: I'm amazed the KEEL made the trip. You've got your work cut out for you, but with a good varnish stripper at your side, you're half way there. Good luck.

[Art Read]

Wow! Great to see another nice boat getting a second chance. This may seem like a silly idea, "priority wise", but if she were mine, after looking at those pictures, I'd be tempted to refinish that beautiful cockpit early on, just to have a "pleasant" spot to retreat to at the end of the day and "fanasize" without having to look at all the work left to do...

[Scott Rosen]

Nice project.

Removing broken fastenings is a royal pain. Unscrewums work most of the time, but not all. I would look into refastening with trunnels. That way you could simply drill out the existing screw hole to size for the trunnel, and the bit would remove any of the broken screws in the process. I think a properly sized and installed trunnel is as strong as a bronze screw.

I would also talk to an experienced boatbuilder before making a decision like that.

[RGM]

Interesting project you've got there Frank. She's got lots of potential. Have you acquired the usual assortment of wood boat construction/repair books? Sounds like you've got a very willing partner and a green light as far as tool acquisition goes. Lucky guy. I've got a couple questions/concerns, whose idea was it to apply a zinc primer to "underwater" metal? that is a no-no. Above the waterline is OK, below the waterline and you are asking for electrolysis problems. After you launch your boat you'll want to monitor the condition of your keel and it's coatings over time. Do you know if the keel bolts in way of the ballast keel, horn timber, etc were previously replaced? If the forward ones were shot and left in place (they're easy to replace) I would suspect that the other more difficult keel bolts are equally bad. During the survey were any of the keel bolts extracted and visually inspected? Doesn't sound like it. X-raying them in place works well too. That way you don't necessarily have to extract them unless necessary. You might want to consider doing that. It also appears that the wood which was/is in contact with the deteriorated iron bolts needs attention (nail sickness). You may find that you become very adept at graving pieces, doweling and re-drilling and perhaps some large scale structural replacements. I'm sure that you've taken notice of the efforts made by other forumites that are in the same boat as you. I don't want to sound as though I'm trying to rain on your parade. It's just that I've seen this countless times and I think that it's important to know what you are dealing with right out of the starting gate. Your task is larger and more demanding than what it appears to be. Your comment that describes how you feel after you see some of your meaningful visual progress is great. However, save some of those tasks to "sprinkle in" amongst those tough ones which will leave you feeling like you're getting no where fast or at times working backward. It will help you maintain the necessary momentum and positive outlook that your task requires. Good luck.

[FParth]

RGM,
Yup, I picked up a pretty fair assortment of books before I started work (as a technology project manager for the last 20+ years I do as much pre-planning as I can).

The zinc paint is Mil-Spec Devcon Z. It's been coated with several coats of epoxy so any electolysis should be very slow acting. I think the zinc fittings near the prop should go much faster and will make a good gauge.

Since the keel bolts we saw during the survey were bad I'm going to replace all of them. No sense taking chances. The bolts into the ballast keel were sound. It doesn't look like any of the keel bolts were ever replaced.

Yup, there was some wood sickness on two floors. I'm just completing the replacement of one and will do the other one as I work my way back to the stern.

To Art Read - fully agree that getting something completed and looking nice is emotionally important. Keeps the motivation going. I'm going to pick a small piece of this and complete it just so that I can look at it. Committment and attitude seem to be critical factors (just like being married). A good scotch helps, too.

Thanks for the comments, everybody.

tongue.gif

[Ian McColgin]

The screws were likely loose to the extreme drying and trennels may well work. Double planked? Is the inner layer diagonal or fore and aft? Anything between the layers? I assume tight seamed but maybe caulked? The real art here will be to get her to gently take up without busting anything.

I don't like gas engins and have the impression that Atomic lovers are so infatuated with an archaic bit of metal that they really . . . Well, I've been known to toss my heart around irrationally so who am I to say . . . but unless you really love the fool thing and like monkey wrench sailing, get a perkins or sabb or anything normal.

G'luck.

[Cedarhill Boatworks]

Sounds like a great project. Seems most everybody agrees on fasteners and keeping up the momentum of the project is the key, my two year rebuild is going into its fourth year....
All that being said, if you are going to pull out the engine, pull it out and get rid of it. Gas engines are a bad idea. I'm not knocking atomics, I had one for years. They are dependable and hard working like the old Willys jeep engines. But gasoline is scary stuff. Get a nice deisel and sleep soundly at night.

[ken mcclure]

What is that I see in the background? Is that blue sky? We don't do blue sky here. :D

What a beauty! If you don't have it yet, pick up a copy of LFH's "Sensible Cruising Designs." It has most of the basic poop you need to see how an H-28 goes together.

Luck!

[Roger James]

Frank,

I don't know what an unscrewum is, but maybe I have one and don't know it. I have about 2 quarts of screws I removed from my boat. I used several methods. I didn't even bother trying to back them out with a screw driver, it was easier to drill a hole down the center and shove an easy-out into the hole. I chuck the Easyout in a brace so I can put pressure on it to get it started and once the Easyout has a grip on the screw you can pull lightly to coax it out. If the Easyout lost its grip, next came a screw extractor from Sears that is sort of like a large drill bit in reverse. The idea is the cutter either cuts down into the head or grabs it and backs it out. If that chews the whole head off, I switch to those screw extractors made from roll-pins. They always work, but the head has to be gone first. In a few cases, i fed a hacksaw blade between the frame and the plank and sawed the screw off and used the screw extractor after the plank was removed.

[Nicholas Carey]

Originally posted by Roger James:
I don't know what an unscrewum is, but maybe I have one and don't know it.http://www.tltools.com/tlt/images/fig4.jpg
T & L Tools' Unscrew-Um (tm)

http://www.tltools.com/tlt/default.asp?mscssid=G88XFAV3SJKX8MB21VWRN3H05KQ113 PB

A fine idea. At its heart, it's a modified roll pin. But a fine idea novertheless.

[FParth]

Ken,
A copy of "Sensible Cruising Designs" came with the boat. Interesting book. You get a great deal of insight into Herreshoff's personality when you read statements like the following (from the H-28 chapter):

"I fear most of the owners of H-28's will have to report to the office without fail on a Monday morning and even telephone Mother or Aunt Susie on Saturday night, and so had best have a motor. Now, motors, like women, are not all bad, but it must be admitted there is a great difference among them. I prefer the simple, clean, reliable ones, and admire the economical ones, and almost love the quiet ones that are small and don't smell, but here again we must make a compromise, as all through a yacht's design, for whereas the small ones are economical, they are apt to be hot and smelly, while the big ones keep quiet and cool."

Gotta love it. smile.gif

[Don Olney]

Hi Frank, I have a friend who has an H-28. He refers to it as a "modified H-28". It was built in Florida in mid-1950's. It also has a raised deck house. In fact, its raised a lot higher than yours. When steering, sometimes you have to stand to see over it, but there sure is a lot of headroom down below.

It also has the original Atomic 4. Somewhere around I have pictures that I will scan and send to you if I can find them. My friend has owned the boat for 10 or 12 years and has done substantial repairs.

His boat also came with a copy of "Sensible Cruising Designs" and the curmudgeonly passage that you selected was underlined in pencil.
-Don

[Jack Baker]

Frank, I can relate... I am also in the middle of an H-28 restoration. A brief synopsis: The boat was built by my grandfather circa 1959-60. She is strip planked cedar over oak frames. We located the boat in CT a few years ago and had her shipped to MI where I live. I had some work done prior to shipping her to MI including replacing the keel bolts. The concern was about the bronze keel bolts having deterioriated although once they were removed it was not as much of a concern as originally thought. I hired out the work to a shipwright in Noank before the boat was moved.

Once in MI our first job was to strip the hull. We used heat guns and then sanded with a rotary sander. Used Interlux Brightside Poly and were delighted with the result.

The original graymarine engine was replaced with a Vetus diesel in the 1980's. Started right up other than an issue with clogged filters from a few years of no use accumulating in the tank,

This year I am on a sabbatical so I have tackled the interior. Spent the last two weeks stripping all of the finishes and I just started the fun part. I also stripped the spars and am getting ready to varnish them.

Well, I gotta run but I can share your vision which can be at times overwhelming. We had her sailing a few times last summer... Keeps the motivation going.
Good Luck!

[FParth]

Don and Jack,
It's nice to know that it can be done. I keep this vision in my head about what it will look like once it's completed and all bright and shiny again.

I'm jealous about the sabbatical. I almost wish I could get out of the contract I have so I could spend full time working on the boat. I've been getting to work by 7 am and leaving about 3:30 just to give myself as many hours in the evening as possible.

I may, just may, take enough time this weekend to see the Star Wars movie, but otherwise the weekend will be spent replacing planking screws and some more keelbolts.

tongue.gif

[Jack Baker]

Frank,

There is something to be said for having free time. I sold my business early this year with a plan to take 6-12 months off (sabbatical). My wife quickly lobbied for the walkout basement project so I spent March 15 - May 1 getting the basement framed and the rough electrical done. (I am contracting to have the drywall hung and finished this summer so I can work on / enjoy the H-28). Despite the later start than I originally planned I have been able to spend "intermittent full time" working on the boat. The H-28 is @ 3 hours away so I head up for 3-5 days at a time. I can get in 10 hours or so at a time until my body starts complaining.

My general plan for this spring was the interior, but I added the spars to the list as the varnish was badly cracked and pitted. Much of the time was spent removing the hardware on the main and mizzen masts. I used the heat guns/scraper then sanded with up to a 220 grit and I am ready to begin varnishing next trip.

The interior prep was much more work and very time consuming. The cabin ceiling, deck beams and bulkheads will be painted white, with varnished mahogony making up the balance. Removing the accumlated finish from overhead was a chore. I have 7 or 8 days into this project. The bulkheads were covered in faux wood formica (I guess it was popular at the time). I sanded them with 100 grit and will paint them white as suggested in an old practical sailor edition. I am applying a mahogany stain (reddish tint) prior to varnishing the mahogany to cover some past sins. I also like the look of mahogany with a red tint.

We had new cushions made this winter (blue with a modest white pattern) so I am excited about the finished result. I also have added to the list a thorough review of all wiring, with some replacement expected.

I am jealous of your ability to have the boat at home. I am looking into having a custom trailer built so I can bring it home (Also an excuse to build a boat barn...).

Your comments on using the boat as an excuse for tools hit home. I spoil myself with quality tools, justified by the labor "savings". What a difference 8 hours married to a Porter Cable RO sander vs. a less expensive alternative. You get what you pay for.
Well good luck with your project. You don't often see a prettier hull than on an H-28.
Jack

ps. a good friend made a great suggestion in breaking the endless "needs" down into manageable projects with the goal of getting her sailing again asap. It was a big boost last summer to get her in the water, and out for a sail even though I had to look beyond many deferred maintenance items screaming for attention. You gotta keep the spirit up as well.