65 Owens, 26' Cabincruser

[EuroTx]

Hi, I'm Eric, from Germany & living now TX.
I'm a "Newbie Boats owner"
I have the boat now 3 years. I took it out the water last week.
To give it a new paint job and do some work insite. & and to save some "slipfee." The the boat never leak befor.
I got the boat out with a wrong Trailer. I dont own a trailer. Anyway, now I have a Hole in the bottem. :( I'm also found some "weakspots".
HELP. How can I Fix it, right?. :confused:
I know I can burnet, but I like the ship, and want it back in the water sometimes.
I have some photos in my Yahoo Album:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/txvideographer/album?.dir=7e11&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/ph// my_photos
Thanks & "Happy Holidays"

[Stiletto]

Welcome to the forum.
From your pictures it looks like plywood,possibly more than one layer.

As a friend of mine said to me when I was getting ready to repair my boat 'The worst part is thinking about it.'

From the photos it looks like a reasonably flat area so the following may work.

Firstly, establish whether any frames need to be repaired. Is there a frame between those two holes?
Find out what thickness of ply will be needed.
With large holes in plywood where I wasnt replacing the whole panel I determined the extent of the damage and drew a line around the perimeter on sound wood. I then removed all paint etc in that area.

I then got a piece of thin scrap ply cut and shaped slightly larger than the hole and used it to mark where I was to neatly cut away. I kept these pieces of scrap.

You now have to decide whether you want to have a piece of ply inside as a backing board, or not.
If so, you cut a replacement piece of ply to your scrap template dimensions and fit into the hole after having made an inside piece that covers the whole gap plus a good overlap, that it can be screwed to. I saturated everything with epoxy paying particular attention to the edge grains of the ply. The screws can be removed later or left if bronze.

The variation on this I have used where I didnt want a backing board, was to use the template to mark the inner face of a piece of ply , leaving about 5 times the thickness of the ply around the line (For half inch ply say 2.5" all the way around the outside of the line.)
I then routed away half the thickness of the ply so the pice would then fit into the hole I had cut in the hull. I carefully drew a line around the outside of the patch and then routed half the ply thickness from the hole to my new line on the outside of the hull. I found this easier to do than trying to create a mating bevel on both pieces.
The patch was like a top hat in profile .
I screwed through the flange to hold it in place while the glue was setting.

The whole thing was saturated with epoxy and glued up, and then smoothed and faired before glassing and painting.

[ 01-02-2006, 07:22 PM: Message edited by: Stiletto ]

[Victor]

Like the boat, certainly worth the effort. Did that trailer make the holes?

[ 01-02-2006, 07:37 PM: Message edited by: Victor ]

[Katherine]

It's about time, another Owens owner. :D Welcome to the forum and the instructions above are a good place to start repairing you boat.

[EuroTx]

Thanks All, for the Advice. Yes, the trailer made the holes. Trailer hat rubber rolls, "dont use it for a wooden boat". :rolleyes: Yes there is a framme between the holes. First thing is, get the boat stable and save to work on. Thanks for the nice welcome. Eric

[Victor]

LIke your cap too! Look at it this way - that POS trailer showed you where your weak spots were, and since they're on the flat they shouldn't be too hard to patch! The wrong trailer will punch holes in brand-new FG hulls too. The wood is pretty thick - is it soft there?

[ 01-03-2006, 09:19 AM: Message edited by: Victor ]

[Katherine]

Tsk Tsk Tsk, a wooden boat on a trailer with rollers, don't you know anything? :D Don't feel bad, when I bought my Owens I didn't know the difference either, fortunately the boat hauler did. tongue.gif

[EuroTx]

Thanks All, ;)
I download some more pic from the Inside of the boat...
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/txvideographer/album?.dir=7e11&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/ph// my_photos

[JohnPlatou]

Looks repairable. Well worth repairing. Good luck.

[Buddy Sharpton]

Get yourself to the boat store and buy the $3 WEST Gougeon book on wooden boat repairs to get a great overview and instructions on how easy, although time consuming, this kind of spot puncture plywood panel repair can be done by a amatuer, especially below the waterline.

You've learned the hard way how "bunk" rollers, as opposed to keel rollers can be brutal on boats , even brand new fiberglass boats, that have not been designed to mate with them. The bunk rollers aren't easy on any boat, just make launch and retrival easier on power boarts that live on their trailers, not in the water. The unsinkable, damn near indestructable Boston Whaler people don't want them near their faom filled hulls because they will make permanent "dents".

It depends on how long and rough a road it was trailed over too, but I myself would wonder if you haven't been alerted to a general deterioration of that 45 year old plywood's internal glue bonds ( five or seven plies unglued are not near as stiff as bonded ones). It could be rotten ( punky)also.
Sounding out, tapping with a small hammer, overthe whole panel, indeed the whole bottom wouldn't be a waste of time. Any dull thud spots would be probed with a sharp awl

[brad9798]

and it's ply not plank ...

just like my parents 1959 Flagship.

Not super sturdy but great inland boats nonetheless!!!!

[Katherine]

Originally posted by brad9798:
and it's ply not plank ...

just like my parents 1959 Flagship.

Not super sturdy but great inland boats nonetheless!!!!Strange, My 61 Flagship is plank.

[brad9798]

Some were ... some were not, Katherine ...
HIS is NOT plank ...

The larger Owens were plank ... double layer/diagaonal at that ... which made/makes them difficult to repair in comparison with ply models ...

I was THIS CLOSE to buying a 1967 37 -foot Grenada a few years back ... but the seller REFUSED to negotiate off of his 19.900 asking price.

Don't get me wrong ... I LOVE OWENS.

[brad9798]

Some were ... some were not, Katherine ...
HIS is NOT plank ...

The larger Owens were plank ... double layer/diagaonal at that ... which made/makes them difficult to repair in comparison with ply models ...

I was THIS CLOSE to buying a 1967 37 -foot Grenada a few years back ... but the seller REFUSED to negotiate off of his 19.900 asking price.

Don't get me wrong ... I LOVE OWENS.

[Katherine]

You're right Brad his looks like plywood. Miss Bee is most definetely plank. Wonder what he's got for engines. I love my Owens, but man is she a big project.

[EuroTx]

Hi Yall.
Yes my (boat)bottom is plywood. :D
Somebody told me my Motor is a: "327 chevy camaro"
engine. ? Photo--->>> http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/txvideographer/detail?.dir=7e11&.dnm=9fedre2.jpg&.src=ph
She running good & smut.
Thanks Eric

[Katherine]

If memory serves, the Flagship engines (that's what Owens called theirs) were based off a Corvette block. At least yours run. I've got two that haven't been started in 16 years. tongue.gif

[WoodenBNut]

Hum? Yes, that could be a GM 327 block that you have there. Looks like maybe it is a "flywheel" forward model because the distributor is forward and looks like the oil file/breather is towards the rear of the engine/boat. I have a Chris Craft 327 F, but it is a flywheel rear/aft arrangement. 327s were good engines. The 327 cu. in. blocks were used in a lot of auto & boat applications. The corvette 327 applications were usually fuel injected(not always) and had "fuelie"/"double hump" heads. The carberated 327's usually were rated at 210hp. ** looks like maybe you have a new carb. or it was rebuilt.

[brad9798]

Definitely 210 hp from factory ... from OWENS.

GREAT ENGINE.

IDENTICAL to 283 but different heads ... solid ... parts readily available ... etc.

[Katherine]

Fortunately, relatively simple to work on as well.

[brad9798]

AGREED, Kat!!!

[EuroTx]

smile.gif HURRA !!!
I finally got my Boat "stable & safe" :D
No crane, no lift. Only 2 men & 2 car jacks.
But I think we made it.
The main weight is on the styrofoam blocks,
I try to get the weight even on all 4 corners.
The rest is for the stability.
The Boat is not moving a bit anymore. smile.gif
It has a new Captain & is also inspected.
See some of the now Photos:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/txvideographer/album?.dir=d448&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/p h/txvideographer/my_photos%3furlhint=actn,del%253as,1%253af,0
Thanks all, Eric

[EuroTx]

Hi, one (3) more question: :D
Is CPES™ "Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer"
the best or the most expensive Sealer.?
Are there alternative ways you can treat bad wood using cheaper epoxy resins?
What can I use for the final coating for the bottom.? ( Rhino ) :confused:
Thanks Eric

[Alan D. Hyde]

http://us.f2.yahoofs.com/users/3f259a58_b491/d448/__sr_/411dre2.jpg?phARBzDBf.zkrSbb

http://us.f2.yahoofs.com/users/3f259a58_b491/d448/__sr_/ae3dre2.jpg?phARBzDB5z9ogyMp

http://us.f2.yahoofs.com/users/3f259a58_b491/d448/__sr_/fd48re2.jpg?phARBzDBic7UB1ex

You've got some work ahead of you.

But, if you take your time and do things right, you'll have a good vessel when you're done.

Congratulations, and, good luck!

Alan

[ 01-16-2006, 04:20 PM: Message edited by: Alan D. Hyde ]