H28 "Larrikin" rebuild

[Larks]

I've had a few other threads on this H28, but now that I can say I've started on some regular restoration activity on "Larrikin", I thought I might indulge in consolidating a few photos into one thread and use it to try and maintain a bit of a progress activity report.

So, back to the beginnings and a bit of info' on her:

Built in Tasmania in about 1964, strip planked in huon pine, resorcinol glued, 'not sure of the deadwood but a lot of the framing also seems to be huon pine.

When I got her she had a rather unfortunate looking raised cabin top for her 6'something previous owners grandfather, so the plan was to get her home into my shed and strip the cabin off and start rebuilding to the original H28 design with the lower level cabin top.

[Larks]

With work taking me back up to Darwin for almost 2 years I am only now really getting into the restoration, although I was able to spend a few "therapeutic" weekends ripping off the old cabin top and gutting her:





Although these quarter knees will be out of site when the deck goes on and, as advised by another forum member, possibly not necessary on a strip planked hull, I'd like to replace them with some tidier and more suitably fitting knees:









This dodgy mast step has been removed to be replaced with a very heavy and solid piece of Queensland blue gum:




Meanwhile, while sitting up in Darwin itching to start on the rebuild, I carved myself a new name plaque for her:

[Larks]

I need to open up access to the sea cocks under the engine, most likely by replacing this heavy timber engine stand with a stainless one similar to the original design. (I'd also like to replace the Volvo Penta with a new Yanmar but will see how the budget is going when the time comes) ignore the arrows in the pic, they are from something else:





The deadwood and a couple of strip plank glue lines have opened up after sitting in the shed and drying out for a couple of years, as discussed on another thread:



Copper keel bolts where there is just dead wood and (I assume)monel where they go into the external lead ballast as well:





But I will leave this alone for now and start work on the interior:

• Strip, sand and repaint the interior hull and frames;
• Refair all of the deck beams to remove old glue and ply (fortunately on one minor repair required to one cracked one)
• close off a whole heap of thru hull fittings (there are nine from memory!!!);
• build all of the internal cabinetry;
• fit electrics, plumbing, tanks, engine, exhaust etc;
• build new cockpit, decks and cabin top;
• Etc, etc, etc

So, current job is stripping paint - to my mind the worst job of the entire rebuild, especially contorting myself to start up in the difficult to access bow area:







So that's where I'm at now, the least inspiring part of the rebuild, but where I'm about to spend the afternoon again today and probably the next few weekends of afternoons, stripping paint.

[stevedwyer]

It's great to see your photos, hopefully the first of many for your thread!

Quite an ambitious amount of work you've got ahead. I am glad you tore off the cabin. I'll be looking forward to what you come up with.

Was the strip planked hull glassed or is that only paint I see?

[wintermutt]

Looks like a fine little project you've got going there Larks.

May I ask a question? What is the structure of your frames? They appear to be strip laminated and bolted or riveted from the inside of the hull.

Thanks, Brent

[WX]

Hey Greg good to see progress and with this continuing wet weather what better job than paint stripping?
It is my least favourite job.
BTW As discussed in your PM, I am very interested.

[RFNK]

Looks great Greg! Love that plaque! A nice H28 (glass though, I think) sailed into Port Stephens yesterday. It has a Cairns address on the transom, self-steering weather vane etc. and really looked the part coming in. Quite a trip from Cairns! Hope we see Larrikin down here one day! Rick

[rufustr]

Thanks for starting this thread Greg.

I look forward to lots of updates over time.

I still havn't got down to view, but perhaps we could organize an EBS so all us semi locals can come and look.

Sorry I havn't replied to your message, found it this morning.

Sounds exciting.

Congratulations.

[PeterSibley]

A great thread Larks ..... this is the part of your setup that really impressed me , nice and simple and a great way of simply moving the boat around !

[Paul Fitzgerald]

Someone has to ask.....

How did you fit it into the shed, when the back of the house is so close?

[rufustr]

Dare I say............chainsaw?

[peter radclyffe]

With work taking me back up to Darwin for almost 2 years I am only now really getting into the restoration, although I was able to spend a few "therapeutic" weekends ripping off the old cabin top and gutting her:





Although these quarter knees will be out of site when the deck goes on and, as advised by another forum member, possibly not necessary on a strip planked hull, I'd like to replace them with some tidier and more suitably fitting knees:









This dodgy mast step has been removed to be replaced with a very heavy and solid piece of Queensland blue gum:




Meanwhile, while sitting up in Darwin itching to start on the rebuild, I carved myself a new name plaque for her:

nice work

[Larks]

Thanks for the comments guys,

Was the strip planked hull glassed or is that only paint I see?

She isn't glassed Steve, though strangely there are patches of glass here and there from old repairs. The deadwood, for example, has (had) a strip of glass from about 100mm down the deadwood and about 200mm up the planking down around the stern area on the starboard side.

May I ask a question? What is the structure of your frames? They appear to be strip laminated and bolted or riveted from the inside of the hull.

Brent, I'm not sure whether the ribs are huon pine or cellery top pine but they are two strips that appear to be laminated and copper riveted to the hull every second strip.

How did you fit it into the shed, when the back of the house is so close?

I bought her only after I confirmed that I could fit her into the shed and get her in. I had to extend the shed by about a metre in the middle bay and did a scale drawing up and cut out of the hull to check that I could swing her into the shed. I used a "franner" - mobile crane - and was able to swing the bow into the shed, push the trolley out under her and then drag her back in using a "turfer" tied to a tree behind the shed. Not sure of another name for a turfer but it's a sort of high capability lever operated winch that pulls a cable through a set of jaws.



A bit of an unfortunate and painful setback today when I was climbing in to start paint stripping, but I'll do a seperate thread on that rather than polute this one with my physical woes.

[mizzenman]

The deadwood and a couple of strip plank glue lines have opened up after sitting in the shed and drying out for a couple of years, as discussed on another thread:

What are you planing to do with the strip plank glue lines?

Im asking because I have a yacht here which is strip planked with Aerolite glue (urea-formaldehyde). And that is not rated as fully water tight, so im expecting here to open up more with time. Althought she has done 30 years fine so far

[Duncan Gibbs]

Hey Greg! Great to see your Official thread kick off. What with the new job just down the road;Sorry I haven't replied to your PM!...

Anyhoo, this is going to be good!

[Larks]

What are you planing to do with the strip plank glue lines?

Im asking because I have a yacht here which is strip planked with Aerolite glue (urea-formaldehyde). And that is not rated as fully water tight, so im expecting here to open up more with time. Althought she has done 30 years fine so far

I'm still a little undecided on what to do with the strip plank openings but have a few options to consider.

There was a bit of a discussion about it on another thread with some good advice from a few guys: http://www.woodenboat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=109980


I'm loath to sheath the hull and my instinct suggests splining the gaps with a thin strip of huon pine, the same as the hull. It is a reasonably soft timber so doing that would still allow some expansion and contraction and I suspect the gaps, which are below the water line, have opened because the fibres have compressed and not decompressed when dried out. If I do go down that path I will need to route a shallow v shaped groove along the seam, being careful to avoid the nails that run down through the strip planks.

But then again I may initially just fill the openings with Slickseam to see how well they take up.

Either way, it is something that I have a bit of time to consider.

[RFNK]

Greg
If your planking and frames look good once you strip the paint back, why don't you just seal up those seams with the Slickseam and leave it for a year or so? If this doesn't prove successful then it's not too big a job to cut grooves for splines later on and you'll be able to tell where you really need it. The boat will have to be repainted after a while once she's back in the water anyway (unless you go the sheathing route, of course) so there's no real loss except that, of course, it'll be a bit more of a hassle cutting the splining grooves at the boatyard rather than in your shed.

On the other hand, if the planking and frames are looking pretty tired then it might be best to do the whole thing at once so that your alignment of fastenings is right. Rick

[Larks]

Greg
If your planking and frames look good once you strip the paint back, why don't you just seal up those seams with the Slickseam and leave it for a year or so? If this doesn't prove successful then it's not too big a job to cut grooves for splines later on and you'll be able to tell where you really need it. The boat will have to be repainted after a while once she's back in the water anyway (unless you go the sheathing route, of course) so there's no real loss except that, of course, it'll be a bit more of a hassle cutting the splining grooves at the boatyard rather than in your shed.

On the other hand, if the planking and frames are looking pretty tired then it might be best to do the whole thing at once so that your alignment of fastenings is right. Rick

I reckon you are right Rick, try the slickseam or beeswax to keep make her watertight before getting too excited about it. The frames are all good and from what I've seen so far the planking is as good as new, which was why I bought her really for the hull. Other than where she's had a ding or two somewhere and they've done a bit of a bodgy repair and also where the trip up to my place gouged a hole, my only concern is the openings in the deadwood and these srip plank gaps, plus closing up most of the through hull fittings.

BTW, I still haven't done anything about ordering in som slickseam from the States yet, after asking around to see who else might be interested in some a while back. But I reckon I will get some in and will do another PM before hand to see who's interested over here. It sounds like there is no problem with shelf life so if anyone in Oz wants some sooner rather than later let me know and I'll order it sooner.

[Candyfloss]

I'll be watching with interest to see the new cabintop on this boat Greg. I think the H28 has a lovely sheer line, one of it's few redeeming features, but I've never seen a cabintop to complement it yet, and certainly not the NZ Compass Yachts production. But then I'm just bloody fussy & narrowminded.

[Larks]

This is pretty much what I'm aiming at, (minus the mizzen of course). Jay Greer's "Bright Star" is the bench mark:

[Duncan Gibbs]

Why not the original ketch rig Greg? Surely the performance would be better under a ketch rig? Or is it a sails, spares and rigging question... You've got 'em all as a sloop and don't want to get new stuff to make the ketch?

[Candyfloss]

Your pic is very small Greg. This is not "Bright Star", life is too short to search for a pic of that, but I think this is very similar?



If you change from ketch to sloop, a move I applaud, you will need to move the mast aft, putting it thru the cabintop, a move I also applaud. This will also give you ability to move the cabin forecoaming further forward? Oh, and please put some camber on the cabin sides. I hate them vertical.

[Larks]

You've pretty well nailed it Graeme. The sloop rig that she came with is quite new and one of the persuasions for buying her, other than boxing in the aluminium compression post below I won't change anything there. Also, if you have a look at the very top photo showing her as I bought her, although I've ripped her apart I won't be altering the deck framing so I'm fortunate that I already have the mast through the cabin top.

I know this still isn't the original LFH design but it will better represent that shape that he had designed and which I prefer, despite the loss of headroom. I'd also like to plant a butterfly hatch aft of the mast, again a departure from the design, but she will still be closer than she was.

This is "Lark" (great name!!!!!), the original inspiration to consider the lower cabin top :



and Jay's "Bright Star", the confirmation of that inspiration and the bench mark:

[Candyfloss]

There are more important things than headroom Greg. 'Specially when, like me, you are only 5ft10.

[Jay Greer]

I find no discomfort when below on "Bright Star". I grew up with boats under thirty feet in length and less than full standing head room. I am perfectly happy either standing in the main hatch companion way in the galley area, and sitting or laying down on one of the setees. I am 5'11" and never feel cramped. The generous deck and cockpit space of the original design are what really makes "Bright Star" a comfortable little ship.
Jay

[John B]

Similar headroom issues with Waione. I chopped the doghouse, made an extra large hatch to stand in while cooking and lifted the butterfly skylight about an inch to give some standing room getting changed etc. Then I added a spray dodger which I went to a great deal of trouble to make fold very flat. That gave us a phenomenal advantage doing that.... We could have it up in the rain anchored or at night ,and down sailing downwind or pleasant weather to windward. The big trick with those is to make them so you can sit under them outside.. so many people just make em as sort of screen with no or very little cockpit overhang.

[seo]

Nice looking boat. I used to have an H-28, and think they're wonderful boats. A few comments:
1) My boat had the original configuration of no bridge deck, opening doors, engine under a flush hatch in the cockpit floor. I replaced it with a self-bailing cockpit and bridge deck. a) In years of sailing in open ocean and late-season, the only time I swamped the cockpit was when she pulled her quarter-wave in over the stern. b) The cockpit as designed is much more comfortable.
2) My boat had the designed offset shaft. I've also sailed centerline prop boats. The offset prop sails and powers better, and if you're reasonably good at it, maneuvers as well.
3) You might be interested to look at the construction drawings in "Sensible Cruising Designs," particularly at how LFH handled the cabin trunk/deck connection. As designed, there's no cabin trunk carlins. Instead, there's a through-bolt through every half-beam end, running up through the cabin trunk. The trunk sides give plenty of longitudinal stiffness, and this construction is the logical advance when cargo hatch coamings became cabin trunks. Derektor also used this system on the "Gulfstream 30," and it worked fine there too.
As long as you're using plywood for the deck sheathing, you don't need a carlin to land your tie-bolts in, because you only need the tie-bolts to resist the spreading force of hammering caulk into a laid deck...

[AlanL]

Sigh, such a pretty hull. My neighbour was the proud owner of a lovely little H28 that dragged its mooring a few years back, got stuck up against a ferro monstrosity and went down, then while down got trampled by the same beast. It didn't recover and became firewood

It is one of my favourite profiles and I delight in their rocker (if that's what it's called).

I bought her only after I confirmed that I could fit her into the shed and get her in. I had to extend the shed by about a metre in the middle bay and did a scale drawing up and cut out of the hull to check that I could swing her into the shed. I used a "franner" - mobile crane - and was able to swing the bow into the shed, push the trolley out under her and then drag her back in using a "turfer" tied to a tree behind the shed. Not sure of another name for a turfer but it's a sort of high capability lever operated winch that pulls a cable through a set of jaws.

The Tirfor winch is one of the marvels of French invention, along with the Citroen CV6. I have one with me whenever I go into the bush in the Land Rover (the winch that is, not the Citroen). There are many knockoffs from China now, but here is a page that should give the uninitiated something to mull over.

http://www.tractel.com/en/presentati...p?id_master=38

And the obligatory utoob.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UzX3F4Oygw

Alan

[Jay Greer]

Larks, it is refreshing to see you taking the time and consideration to do a well planned and well exicuted job on "Larkin". I am convinced that here in California where local winds are relitivly light that the boat will preform better with the sloop mast which is some four feet taller than the ketch main is. However, I also belive that the boat will sail better with the mizzen still in the boat. The taller main gives a better up wind ability while a great amount of area can be set off the wind by retaining the mizzen. It also allows for better ballance when the boat is reefed down..
Jay

[Candyfloss]

The taller main gives a better up wind ability while a great amount of area can be set off the wind by retaining the mizzen.

Go on. Live dangerously. Set a kite.

[Larks]

Unfortunately I don't have the mizzen but I do have a kite and a gennaker for her.

[Candyfloss]

My kind of sailing.

[John B]

You can do both y' know, have a ketch and set a kite ( or two).

[Larks]

How do you make stripping paint seem an enjoyable experience?......

Spend a few days stripping off fibreglass!!

While I've been "convalescing" I have been dissuaded from stripping paint inside the hull so have had a go at getting rid of the narrow strip of fibreglass along the keel above the lead and stern deadwood area on the outside so that I Can see what I might have to deal with underneath it.

Here's where I got to inside before tearing a couple of groin muscles/tendons (climbing into the boat) to put myself out of commission for a couple of weeks:



This was during todays efforts at stripping of the fibreglass strip:



And the deadwood with the most of the paint and fibreglass stripped off, the glass still runs up the hull about 8-12 inches but will get to that later:







I've got a little bit of glass left up forward to strip off, which has been quite heavily layed on at the forefoot, and about 3 feet on the port side to go, but the good news is that (so far) I haven't found any rot hiding under the glass. Though I'm a little worried as to why it might be so heavily layed up at the turn of the bow/keel area where I haven't stripped it off completely.

It's also been a bit of a challenge to keep the boat from wanting to burn, the glass is layed over oakum calking between the deadwood and the hull timbers so heating the glass to drag it out has been a bit touch and go as to just how much heat to apply. 'Need enough to soften the glass but where it is quite thick getting it warm enough sets the oakum smouldering.

[RFNK]

Stripping glass off the deck of the Folkboat, I used a heatgun and a sharp, thin bladed paintscraper. The scraper is thin and flexible and once you get going the blade gets really hot and slides easily under the glass. The blade is also sharp enough so that when you've slid it under the glass you can then pull it out and push it through the glass so that it cuts it and you can peel the glass away in strips about 8cm wide. I also worried about burning the plywood under the glass but keeping the blade hot meant I didn't have to heat up the glass so much. I actually found it a lot easier to remove glass than it is to remove some paints. Rick