Ever heard of this boat builder?

[bobert]

I went for a look at the wooden boat today and it's a little too much for me to handle, the keel looked like it was falling off.
While there I did see a 1936 William Atkins 26' sailboat. It is wooden that appears to have been covered in fiberglass.
Is this normal? Also I've done some looking for William Atkins builders but I can't find this boat style.

Pic (http://www.thelongfields.ca/wooden-boat-3.jpg)

[James McMullen]

Covering a traditionally built wooden boat in fiberglass is standard practice for completely ruining her. There is almost no better way to guarantee rotting her out and rendering future repairs impossible.

I like lots of Atkins designs, but a 1936 boat that has been fiberglassed is probably not what I would reccommend.

[dredbob]

William Atkins was a designer, not a builder. You can find out about some of his designs (and those of his son, John) here:

Atkin Boat Plans (http://www.atkinboatplans.com/)

His designs were featured in many of the early boating periodicals, most notably Motor Boating, and in many of the books of boat plans (Build 20 Boats.. etc) that were once common.

Many were build by amateurs, and many by professional yards.

Bob

[floatingkiwi]

On the same note, who has heard of a boatbuilder,( or designer), by the name ,"Schock", whose name is on a small plaque inside a vessel I believe to be a Santana 23' and is he known to be good at his job?

[CharlieCobra]

Covering a traditionally built wooden boat in fiberglass is standard practice for completely ruining her. There is almost no better way to guarantee rotting her out and rendering future repairs impossible.

I like lots of Atkins designs, but a 1936 boat that has been fiberglassed is probably not what I would reccommend.


I love it when the purists come out to bash something that if done right, works.

[pcford]

I love it when the purists come out to bash something that if done right, works.

The fact is that it is very, very, very rarely done properly.

It is possible that the boat has not been ruined (yet) by the fiberglass, but it is hard to say.

[donald branscom]

On the same note, who has heard of a boatbuilder,( or designer), by the name ,"Schock", whose name is on a small plaque inside a vessel I believe to be a Santana 23' and is he known to be good at his job?

He was a good designer but I think it was mostly racing boats.
Don't quote me. Google it or go to a good marine library.

[CharlieCobra]

The fact is that it is very, very, very rarely done properly.

It is possible that the boat has not been ruined (yet) by the fiberglass, but it is hard to say.

Unfortunately, that is a fact. Doing it right is a very time consuming and labor intensive job. When Oh Joy was done, it took 90 days just to completely drive her out. One of these days, I'm gonna have to get the pictorial record of that scanned so folks can see how it's supposed to be done.

[James McMullen]

CharlieCobra, I'm not a purist. My own personal favorite boat is a plywood/epoxy composite boat. On the other hand, in my day job I fix other people's boats for a living--including boats built in the 1930's or earlier. Your "if done right" is an extremely big "if".

Well nigh mythical, in my experience.

[StevenBauer]

Biography of Edson B. Schock and Edson I. Schock

Edson Burr Schock (1871-1950) began his yacht design career at the age of 28, when he started working as an apprentice draftsman for A. Cary Smith. In 1900, only a year later, Schock opened his own office. In the early years, he supplemented his business with jobs at the Cramp Shipyard in Philadelphia and a shipyard in Groton, CT. Between 1906 and 1910, he was the design editor for Rudder magazine, and he continued to write articles for various publications throughout his life. At the request of a client in 1910, Schock moved to Vancouver, BC, to supervise construction of a yacht, and he spent the next 40 years at several locations on the West Coast. In 1922, he set up shop in Los Angeles and capitalized on the growth of the movie industry. He spent much of World War II in Stockton, CA, where he designed minesweepers and tugs for the war effort. In 1949, he moved to Kingston, RI, to be near his son, Edson I. Schock. Edson B. Schock's design career is characterized by its diversity - he drafted racing power boats, motor yachts, racing and cruising sailboats, military and government craft, as well as a variety of commercial vessels such as freighters, tugs, and fishing boats.
Edson Irwin Schock (1897-1988) graduated from MIT's naval architecture program in 1918 and eventually became a professor in the engineering department at the University of Rhode Island. He was particularly interested in efficient construction techniques, and he produced many designs for small, easy-to-build plywood boats. In 1952, he published his book, "How to Build Small Boats." After his retirement, he joined the staff at Mystic Seaport and drew plans for many of the Museum's historic watercraft.





More here:

http://library.mysticseaport.org/manuscripts/coll/spcoll049.cfm

[pcford]

CharlieCobra, I'm not a purist. My own personal favorite boat is a plywood/epoxy composite boat. On the other hand, in my day job I fix other people's boats for a living--including boats built in the 1930's or earlier. Your "if done right" is an extremely big "if".

Well nigh mythical, in my experience.

Ya got that right. Speedboats on Lake Tahoe are often 'glassed because of the extreme range of weather.

The glass is applied with epoxy and tucked into a groove at the waterline so that it does not feather out.

Of course, the hull is totally sound before the glass is applied. Refastening is done and any repairs made. It is not a shortcut to get a couple more years out of an old rotter. That will just hasten the death of the boat.

[CharlieCobra]

That's how Oh Joy was done, at least the drying, replanking where needed and the refastening. The biggest enemy afterwards is fresh water intrusion. However, if you manage to lose parts of a rib or two to rot, the fix isn't hard. I have two half ribs that have issues aft and have carved out all of the rot. The planks are still fine so it's a matter of laminating layers of ash back in with pre-drilled holes for the fastener screws to poke through. I intend to filled the holes with epoxy later to provide teeth for the fasteners as I layup each layer. I'm also going to counterscrew the lower laminates into the planks. All of this is really overkill since she's effectively a glass hulled boat now but I'm not taking any chances with anything working loose later. All in all she's in great shape for being ignored by a couple of PO's.

[Noah]

layers of ash back in

Be careful with ash - it's generally not considered very rot resistant, and splits very easily. There are other woods I would use for rib replacement.

[CharlieCobra]

I'm open to suggestions. You folks have a helluva lot more experience in this than I do...