Fiberglass dinghy restoration, some advice please.

[Rik van der Vaart]

You will be on the water in this sweet boat soon. Looking nice!

[jon m]

Nice job dude! Glad the Primekote is working well... can't wait to see the bargain Brightsides!

[callsign222]

Ok, first coat of the Brightsides is on. "Sky Blue" or something like that, $10 a quart. I will put on 2, probably 3 coats of this.





I like it! I like it! Brightsides is awesome. Roll and tip.

[sailboy3]

Snappy... looks good.

[Rik van der Vaart]

Beautiful! Looks brand new. Brightside is very nice to work with indeed. Good price for a quart! Here they go for about 40-50 bucks for a quart.

[callsign222]

Beautiful! Looks brand new. Brightside is very nice to work with indeed. Good price for a quart! Here they go for about 40-50 bucks for a quart.

36-41 around here, but this is a super-old can that looks straight out of 1986 in a discontinued color.

[Rik van der Vaart]

Retro 80's style; the best.
What color will the topside be?

[callsign222]

Retro 80's style; the best.
What color will the topside be?

Same as my Goat, Blue-Glo White. Maybe a red strip along the gunwale. The interior is open to suggestions-- it's battleship gray right now, I was thinking of a more tan/beige color and using latex porch paint or something cost effective like that. Lots of success around here w/ latex porch paint. Ideas?

[callsign222]

No pictures but a quick update-- 2 coats of Brightsides on the bottom, and the results are fantastic, I barely see the cracks anymore. First coat of Epoxy Primekote has been applied to the rest of the hull. The exterior is going to come out banging! I am very pleased with the results. The interior will be Rust-O-Leum tan, or something like that, applied directly to the grey paint already in place. Yeah! When I get the hull painted up I will post more pics. I am trying to do something on her everyday I am home.

[jon m]

Great! Glad things are progressing so well... can't wait to check it out this summer.

[Rik van der Vaart]

Pics...

[callsign222]

So back at it today....

How many coats of primer on the exterior hull above the waterline? Two or three? I have three on now-- should I go for bullet-proof coverage with 3, and maybe 2 coats of Brightsides, or stick with 2 coats of primer and either 2-3 coats of Brightsides? Ideas?

[Rik van der Vaart]

If you have 3 already, to my mind, you are done with primer. Primer is only there to prepare for adhesion of the topcoat. The topcoat should be 3 coats. The topcoat will do nothing to fill in minute creaks in surface. Primer, especially the epoxy based ones do some filling. But your surface was already well prepared. Roll and tip and show off with some pics please.

[callsign222]

Haha- I'm home only for a day, I just threw down the last coat of primer for the aforementioned crack filling. Get ready for some Brightside action here next week! It's going to look awesome.

[callsign222]

3 coat of primer on the topsides.



And it's absolutely pouring today-- so no sanding with first coat of Brightsides. Which is a shame really, since I won't be able to work on her until next week.

[Rik van der Vaart]

She already looks shiny from here! Very nice job.
What about the rigging's status? Everything else is ready for sailing?

[callsign222]

It only has a halyard and a mainsheet, so running rigging is good! The mast has been varnished and I have to re-assemble the pieces after I extricate some of the broken screws that are still in there. The sail is at the sailmaker getting copied for a new one! The rig is good. Next up, really, is interior paint, thwart replacement, and centerboard installation. Coming soon!

Edit: Oars came in today too!

[callsign222]

First coat of Blu-Glo white and Fire Red.

Centerboard in foreground with last coat of epoxy. Ready to install bronze square and then paint blue.

[Rik van der Vaart]

Ohhhh baby! That makes my heart pound! Awesome. How long for the dip 'n splash?

[callsign222]

Ohhhh baby! That makes my heart pound! Awesome. How long for the dip 'n splash?

I don't know. Depends on schedule, weather for painting, and my sail, which... reminds me I still haven't heard a peep from the sailmaker. I should call.

I just picked up some very nice Port Orford Cedar for the thwarts. It is nice and smooth and should weather very nicely.

[callsign222]

Ok, been a while since the update. I've painted the interior with Rust O Leum as an experiment to see how it goes. I've replaced the centerboard trunk and seats with Port Orford Cedar, and I have 3 topcoats on the exterior now. Yesterday I wrestled around and reinstalled the centerboard. It works.... but there's more play than I would like. Really it's part of the design, there's not much more I can do than what I have, the bronze pieces just have play in between them and with space in the trunk the board can wobble around. A thicker board would have reduced this to some degree, but the board I built is already thicker than the original by a few mm, so it is what it is. Almost almost almost there. A few cosmetic details to work out, a little bit of the rigging, and the sail should be here by next week.

Centerboard installation:



The new thwarts with centerboard installed and newly painted interior:



A full on roll-out as soon as I get the sail, finalize the rigging, and install a few more pieces of hardware. Things are looking good!!!

Edit: I just want to say that the installation of the the c/b trunk cap and the thwarts was an exercise in patience and precision. The c/b trunk has 16 pre-drilled holes that the wood cap had to line up with... every one was spot on, I was elated! The thwarts are 8" across, and the port orford cedar I got was 6", so I had to add a center plug to reach the full 8". I was able to do it with my $90 table saw and a careful hand. I brought the thwarts to the wonderful folks at Goose Bay Lumber in NH, who passed them through the planer twice to smooth them out and they came out fantastic! They also needed to line up with 6 screw holes on the seat cleats installed in the hull, and I got almost all of them to fit as well. Everything looks good, and the screws are all lined up fore/aft ship-shape and bristol fashion. Photos to come...

[switters]

excellent thread, I have just finished the epoxy on the wooden bits of my puffer and did some small gelcoat repairs last year, but have more to go and some spar varnish. The responses to the OP have been a great help to me also. my hull isn't as bad and i have just been doing spot repairs.

[Full Tilt]

Nooobody slower than a sailmaker sometimes. Or so it seems.
Boat's looking great, she really does have some nice curves.
Wouldn't worry too much about the board , as long as it stays where it's put. I installed a couple of low friction, circular furniture glides in the top of my dagger. They push outwards thanks to the spring out of an old 'Mag-Light' and are held together by an aluminum Chicago fastener( I think that's what there called, sort of like a short rifle bolt). It makes for a snug board to trunk fit.
We should be seeing you sailing soon,
Have fun,
Mike

[Crazer]

Looks absolutely fabulous, thanks for sharing with us. This thread is a fantastic resource for those of us working with small FG boats, tons of valuable information on different repairs. Can't wait to see her in the water!

[rbgarr]

Bring your boat to the John Gardner Small Craft Workshop at the WB Show! A Sidney Herreshoff design will be welcome no matter what the material... and (psst) I've wanted to get a sail in a Beverly dinghy since I was a kid

It would also spur your sailmaker to finish if he'll get the free exposure....

[callsign222]

rbgarr, no WB Show for me this year... working that weekend, but I'm honored that you thought she would be acceptable material! I'll be at the SRR with IAZP, but maybe at Clint Chase's hopefully revitalized Shop Talk this fall I could bring The Bev?

Full Tilt, do you have a picture of that? Sounds like a great idea, I wouldn't even need the springs, just the furniture sliders... it would reduce the inevitable wear and tear on the bronze pieces, I think.

[callsign222]

Well, they don't call the sea trials for nuthin'...

I got the boat into the water on the NH coast yesterday and rowed it to my in-law's place. The oars don't clear my knees so the blades don't want to clear the water (I didn't have this problem when I was 12, but I'm not 12 anymore, apparently....), the centerboard refused to come down at any cost, and the dock where I was going to keep it did not carry any sort of rubberized protection, all sharp angles and somewhat exposed to the weather. So the Bev is coming back home with me where I will tackle the centerboard issue (some sort of hydraulic suction maybe? the spacers may be a good idea... I don't have any issues when the boat is on the hard) and contemplate building some oarlock pads to elevate the sockets and hence the oarlocks. The oarlock pad solution was offered by a boatbuilder/designer of some repute. Then I'm going to add some protection to that dock.

She floats nice though. Nice lines. Looks good.

[Full Tilt]

Hi Callsign222,
let me be the first to congratulate you! Even if you have a couple of glitches, hey, that's what 'sea trials' are for.
So the board hangs up and your oars hit your knees, hmmm?
I've not used a lever system for centreboard before so I don't think I can be of much help there, but I am wondering whether the board jams if it gets pushed up past it's normal raised position, as it might if dragged on a beach, for that matter, there wasn't anything like gravel wedging it stuck was there? Perhaps the board goes past 'top dead centre' and can't be levered over the 'hump'? The surfaces inside the trunk are smooth and not likely to hook the board? The looseness in the bronze fittings might be allowing the board to slide aft allowing the tip to touch the aft end of the trunk? If it works on land with gravity's help, but not in the water with floatation working against it, perhaps a bit of lead might neutralize it's buoyancy? I remember you having used cedar, I believe, for the board, which is lighter and more buoyant than the mahoghany boards of my familiarity? Maybe a small hole in the trunk cap would allow a small pusher to be inserted to start the board down and once started the board moves easily? Then it's tendency to stay up could be used to advantage when rowing or motoring.
Small oarlock pads on the gunwhale might work and still not ruin the aesthetics, or slightly taller oarlocks maybe, or perhaps a combination of the two.
Though pricy, the oarlocks on St. Lawrence Skiffs have a small folding outrigger design that would be the best solution, maybe, because of the performance enhancement a wider geometry allows.
I'm sure you'll work both these problems out.
Has the new sail STILL not arrived?
Enjoy,
Mike

[callsign222]

WELL WELL guess what I picked up today?!



That's right, that's right. My new sail! HOLY SHAMOLEY, I might actually get to sail this dinghy around this summer!

So, as some may remember, this boat carries a half-wishbone boom that is fixed to a rotating mast. I have original rigging instructions from the 1960's that describe how to rig the boat. As you may notice from the above picture, the outhaul is somewhat creative. I'm pretty sure I have got it figured out correctly, except I'm a little confused as to what to do with the mainsheet block, so I hung it from the clew to dangle below the outhaul apparatus. There is also a mystery block that I used to think was the mainsheet block. It has a sheave on the top, so I figured it carried the outhaul to the mast, but when I set it up it made outhaul adjustment very very difficult. So I used the block portion to raise the outhaul out of the way of my wife's neck, and then dangled a new block below the whole mess going on at the clew. If anyone has any ideas, I will take them and try them out.

Pictures below, mainsheet is the thicker one.


The OUTHAUL:



AGAIN:



THE MYSTERY BLOCK:

[callsign222]

Remember, the album can be viewed here: https://picasaweb.google.com/1160201...205326/Beverly

Official re-launching to come.

[Full Tilt]

Hi Callsign,
As a Canadian, I must say I like the colours you've chosen, all you need now is a big red maple leaf amidships.
So the sail is finally here! It looks like a nice bit of stitchery, but why is it's chord so much less than the length of the boom? You had the old sail as a pattern didn't you? To tell the truth I have no experience with sprit booms. Is it attached to the mast with a snotter like the sprit in a sprit rig? I thought they extended forward of the mast, so that outhaul tension could be adjusted by tightening the snotter.
Does your 'original 1960's manual' not have a diagram? Maybe a little more research is required to make it historically correct. Perhaps a new thread is in order that might attract sailors with sprit boom boats or direct experience with this specific design.
Failing that, take a trip to your local dinghy club and see how similar boats are rigged. You couldn't go far wrong adapting the mainsheet and traveller arrangement of a Laser.
I can't see in the pic whether you have a separate traveller. A 6' x1/4 line across the stern reeved through the holes in the quarter knees and fastened with a jamcleat at one end below the gunwhale, would allow for some adjustment.
You'll need to shackle two blocks together, one to ride along the traveller and the other to form the bottom block of the mainsheet. Deadend the mainsheet to the fiddle block which should be directly shackled to the end of the boom, down through the block shackled to the traveller block and back up to the fiddle block, then forward along the boom to a point directly above the centreboard trunk where another block could be attached, then straight down to the big black ratchet block you have, attached to a padeye on top the trunk. Keep the outhaul totally independent of the mainsheet. It probably doesn't need two blocks, just deadend it at the boom end, reeve it through the clew cringle and back through a block on the boom end, then forward along the boom to a small cleat or pair of rolling hitches. That should reduce the strangulation hazard!
Then all you have to do is get out the marline and do a little whipping and you be sailin' mon!

[wizbang 13]

Def do not want that line crossing the boat diagonally.
I would think just a clip on clew to the boom end. And the sheet, to a rope transom bridle.
un clip the sail from the boom and wrap/roll it up. sheet stays attached to boom, end of boom lays in back of boat.
Try her without the boom, for giggles.

[Full Tilt]

Hi Callsign222,
Did you ever get that rigging sorted? Hope so, and also hope you've had a good season sailing.
Mike

[jon m]

Good top, Mike! I keep forgetting to ask you about the Bev, callsign...

[callsign222]

WELL I went sailing today for the first time in the Bev. I know, I know, I can't believe I only went once, and this late in the season to boot, but my GIS and I have been laying down some serious track and I never had the time to get around to it. Today, I wrestled her onto the trailer and drove to a local lake, temps were warm, wind was consistent out of the southwest.

After a few teeth grinding moments working out some rigging issues, I hopped in and dropped the centerboard down and away we went! I don't have any pictures, because it was wet and I was alone with no passenger or support boat. So you'll have to imagine. She sails along nicely, and her rounded bilge was a treat after three years of slicing and dicing and the inevitable occasional pounding along in the GIS. Additionally, she points much better than I thought, tacking through approx 100 deg or so. She clawed her way to windward, reached back and forth nicely, and sailed downwind effortless. A few splashes over the side, but other than that, a dry ride. She gybes effortlessly.

Her biggest flaw, however, is her rudder, which handles ponderously! It stalls easily, needs to be finessed, and carries momentum through a turn where it takes considerable effort to prevent oversteering through a tack (or gybe!). Wow, what a bummer. After years of sailing Lasers and the Goat (which will spin on a dime in it's own length with just a mental thought and flick of my pinky) I was shocked at the amount of effort needed to manhandle the rudder. It was as if the rudder thought it was on a 28' boat instead of a 11.5' dinghy. I am constantly surprised at my memories from childhood and present day and how they either don't match up or change through experience. When I was a kid I never thought the boat handled funny. Today gives me serious pause when I think of the some of my future boat projects I would like to partake, and how higher-performance boats have spoiled me to precise and quick handling, and how I definitely do not want to build a big beautiful boat only to find out when I splash that she handles like a state-fair blue-ribbon porkiest-porky pig.

Ugh and Guh.

Here she is earlier this summer:




Also, a neat little memento from her past that I made sure to replace.










So what do I do now with her?

[John B]

Make a cassette or drop down rudder that will interchange with the original.
Better yet, you can't sail two boats at once so borrow one from some ooo , GIS maybe.

[Rik van der Vaart]

She looks awesome, fast and nimble. What foil shape did u use for the rudder? Is it the original size and angle? She loks like she has a lot of character.

[callsign222]

I have used the original rudder, and I don't plan on changing it. It works, and it's original equipment. She def. has a lot of character. I am happy with her, but she doesn't really fit into my boat-quiver plan. I have her for sentimental reasons, not practical ones...