Farallone Clipper #15 restoration

[bdbFC]

To clean up keelson surface, it ended up being faster to chip the remaining paint off with a hammer and chisel, rather than scraping or sanding. I spent a lot of time in the bilge - so much rust, oil, concrete and whatever else to remove, and then to fair the surface. This pic was taken before the aft frames and floors had been removed. You can see how grim the frames look.

[bdbFC]

We removed the old name plate from the transom and stripped the varnish. I love the color of the mahogany where it hadn't been sun bleached. It was a bit concerning that I'd need to bleach or stain the areas to match better, but sanding down a bit evened it all out nicely. There are still some water stains that I may try to bleach out before varnishing, and a number of plugged holes and patches. It won't look fantastic up close, but it will look good enough from a distance, I think. In the future, on another budget, I may address this area again - possibly with a veneer. For this go around, it'll just be cleaned up.


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half of the varnish removed.


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After sanding

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Plugs for the screw holes. I still need to spline a few cracks near the thru-hulls and port side. I'm anxious to start varnishing.
And this brings us to Feb. I'm almost caught up!

[bdbFC]

Thank you Dan! I'm curious how you addressed the mast step issue on your boat? Did yours also have a jockstrap?

So things in Feb. began to pick up. The worm-eaten shoe under the keel was removed, the deadwood was reattached, and template made for the sternwood by the cutlass bearing. I spent most of my time between the bilge, and prepping and painting everything from the bulkhead aft under the cockpit. There are stil a few more rounds with the paintbrush under there - most of it was done leaning upside-down or at some other weird angle. But that will wait until the framing and new planks are complete.

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varnish/turpentine sealer followed by primer coats

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[shade of knucklehead]

With planking removed like that you can get some really interesting pictures you won't be able to get again. I have a picture of the Maggie Myers taken through where the stem would be with one side of the boat all old looking and the other side all new. Its a really cool picture.

What is a jockstrap? I don't get to deal with a lot of sailboats anymore at our yard.

[bdbFC]

Because of the too-small mast step above the weak joint at the keelson, the jockstrap was an attempt to reduce the downforce of the mast. A wire rope was run from the chainplate on one side, under the mast step, and then back up to the opposite chainplate. My setup had a bronze strap under the mast step that was connected to the wires - picture it almost like a swing that the mast step is sitting on. It's basically an inverted shroud on the inside of the boat. The new gripe and larger mast step will make it unnecessary now. The jockstrap didn't fix the original problem anyway, maybe just helped to slow the inevitable decline.

[shade of knucklehead]

Ahh, that makes sense.

[bdbFC]

The largest amount of work through March was for the gripe installation.



Above, you can see the rotten stem wood has been cut away, and rotten portions of the frames also removed.



The keelson was faired with epoxy to fill the checks and flatten the surface, and more rot in the stem was removed from around the bolt holes. The channel for the limber holes was also filled, as this would now be covered by the gripe.



New wood was added to fix the rabbet for the planking, and replace the rotten wood. The gripe is slightly wider than the original stem, so Alaskan Yellow Cedar strips make up the difference. The frames are also cut back to accommodate the extra width.

[Ted Hoppe]

Swung by yesterday before the master mariners board meeting - looks super!

[bdbFC]

Thanks Ted!

And now for the gripe, which has been the centerpiece of the reconstruction in the front. Marc took a huge log of purpleheart and proceeded to turn it into a piece of furniture. So impressive!



Starting with a carefully constructed template on the 600 lb. blank.



Bryce, Dan and Marc rough cutting on the bandsaw.



Slots cut for the floors and frames, and guidelines painted for the taper towards the stem.



Bandsaw again for the taper rough cuts.



Marc doing the final shaping.



The final step was to drill the bolt holes, which required quite a bit of template work as none of the bolts was square to the keelson. On the aft end is a tenon that inserts into a mortise on one of the floors. Then it was ready to be installed.

[bdbFC]

The installation required a block running through the forward hatch for lifting it up into place, and a roller attached near the cabin sole to allow fore and aft movement for the final fitting. It fit like a glove.







Trimming the frames for a snug fit.





And now home. Left to do was to seal the wood, and install the bolts after epoxying in place.



Again, it's a shame such craftsmanship will all be covered up in paint and hidden away. Very inspiring nonetheless!

[bdbFC]

With some friend's help, the lower section of the forward cabin and the bilge have a first coat of primer, and gripe sealed. The weak joint is almost three times thicker and the mast load will now be spread over about a quarter of the boat length. Floors and new mast step will be next.

[bdbFC]

Also impressive is the new wood for the horn timber, blended in nicely.

[bdbFC]

So at this point, I'm up-to-date with the photos! There are a few odds and ends that I'll share below, but the main structural elements are still ongoing. I'll continue to post as interesting things happen. Thanks all for your support and kind words. And much thanks too to the guys at Spaulding! They've been great to work with.

One thing I hadn't mentioned yet is that after pulling the old Gray Marine, I was torn about the replacement. After going back and forth internally for a few months, I decided on converting to electric over a diesel or another gas engine. I chose an Elco EP-2000 as the motor and am excited about getting it installed. It'll run on six 12-volt AGM telecom batteries.



I've also started bringing pieces home to work on, as I don't get a lot of time at the yard during the week. It's not much, but it's enjoyable and feels like I'm moving forward, even in small ways. So far, I've refinished the cockpit seats, a random block just for fun, and I'm now starting to refinish the cool, carved companionway doors. More to come in the months ahead.





The cockpit seats were originally exposed teak plywood with a mahogany lip. They were so badly checked and split that rather than replace them, I decided to fill the cracks and paint them for the time being, but varnish the lip. I think it'll make a nice contrast.



Can't wait to see these cleaned up!

[Lew Barrett]

I was wondering what you would be doing for power. Enjoyable following this, thanks.

[Aquinian]

Fascinating, and inspiring!

I'm interested to see what they propose to do with those frames that have been cut short?

[shade of knucklehead]

That's some nice work. It always give me a bit of rush when I cut some huge piece in the shop and hoist it into a boat and have it drop right in place.

Those doors are a nice touch

[bdbFC]

More prep work done, with my daughter helping today which was fun- mostly priming. Sanded and primed the gripe, engine compartment, and last coat of primer in the bilge. Also sealed the deadwood.



You can also see how much more rusty water weeped out of the iron since last November. It finally stopped oozing about two months ago. Eventually, I'll reapply more ospho before it's sealed and faired with epoxy.




I'll be happy when I'm not spending much more time in the bilge.








You can see the templates starting for the new frames.

[bdbFC]

And some cleanup on the door hardware. This is less than two minutes with some Barkeeper's Friend and a brass brush. Worked great! I've also had some luck with aluminum foil and water for scrubbing metal. But on really corroded pieces, I'd love to hear what others use for cleaning stainless and chromed parts. Pretty much everything above waterline will need to be addressed when I get up there, and some of it is really bad.

[bdbFC]

A number of miscellaneous pieces. The forward floors have started, scarfs are being cut into the bad frames, and of course - lots more sanding, sealing and priming. The old cutlass bearing was removed and the shaft log cleaned up and reinstalled in the new wood. New frames have begun to be installed there as well.



First floor near mast step area.





This will be faired before bottom paint is applied.

[bdbFC]

I'm also making headway on the companionway doors. I love the carving. I don't love stripping the carving.
Other than these and the butterfly hatches which also has some small carvings, everything else that needs to be stripped is mostly flat. Acres of flat, yes - but still flat.





Heatgun, scraper, sandpaper and dremel tool.



My high-tech varnish station

[Sky Blue]

What a worthy project. Thank you for saving her. It is undoubtedly a major commitment in every way. It is always pleasing to see that a bit of SF Bay yachting history will continue to live on.

I will second Ted's comments about Tom List.

Also, I would have expected your fasteners to be significantly more degraded than what shows in #26. She's either been refastened at some point, or the original fastenings are of extremely high quality.

Either way, I think that is a bit of good news for the boat. Perhaps the boys at Spaulding will take a sampling here and there throughout the hull to get an idea of the overall condition of the fastenings.

[bdbFC]

Thank you for the support, SkyBlue!

Most of the fasteners were in pretty good condition. I can only recall maybe a couple where the threads had started to go near the stern. But those planks have been pulled. I wouldn't be surprised if at some point in the past, the boat had been refastened - certainly it was around the middle section of frames, which are not original. I don't have any worklogs to look at though, so I'm not sure how long ago that reconstruction was done. 70's or 80's maybe.

[Ted Hoppe]

Went over to Spaulding yesterday. The work looks great - glad to see Those folks there getting it together. mark gave me a fine overview of your repairs. It will be better than when it was launched first. You are doing it right - an inspiration to the rest of the fleet.

[chuckt]

Ya'll are doing some good stuff. Very similar to my boat. The Concordias have a similar mast step problem which was addressed by a longer step and a SS rod system to the chainplates. Same idea as your jockstrap. Keep up the great work!

[Jay Greer]

A Hurculan task in all that you have done but, certainly worth the effort! Since I carve a bit I am really impressed by your efforts to restore the companionway doors! Very nice work in all! I did the same thing with Red Witch's mast step by extending straps from the chainplates connected under the step on a jockstrap attached by two turnbuckles. Adding a compression bar from the step through the deck beam forward of the mast also helped on "Red Witch".
Jay

[bdbFC]

I really appreciate the encouragement, guys! There have been many days where it feels overwhelming with how many tasks are left to finish, not to mention the number of tasks that haven't even been started yet. But I'm determined that I do a good job with it. So I try not to look at the overall picture, and just focus on each hurdle at hand. It's easier to mentally manage it with blinders on!

I had no idea the mast step issue was apparently pretty common across different designs. I wonder if it was just boats of this era, or hull shape, or just that they didn't expect these boats to last this long?

[bdbFC]

New mast step has been made. And more priming...



After chiseling and routing the bottom of the mortise. Next is to seal with epoxy and prime.





The old mast step for comparison. The new mast step will have interlocking purpleheart floors, instead of the previously side-bolted bronze floors.



Priming the deadwood.

[Jay Greer]

Bravo on the new mast step! Good to see you lengthened it over a longer distance. For the life of me I don't know why some designers don't spread the load over enough floors. I like to use at least four and possibly five if space allows. To me it has always made sense especailly if I am designing a high performance rig.
Jay

[bdbFC]

More floors going in forward, as well as some prep to the existing frames to scarf in the new pieces.

[donald branscom]

Thanks for taking the time to post all of these photos.
Not easy on this site.
A good story and a beautiful boat.

[Duncan Gibbs]

Fantastic thread! Really good work and I'm waiting for more!

[bdbFC]

Thanks all!

Made these threaded bronze rods from stock (after being shown how), which will be used to bolt the floors through the gripe and the stem. They were fun to do. Cutting the threads was really satisfying for some reason.

[sailcanoefan]

Lot of work, sure. But a dream boat for many years. Thanks for sharing, mister.

[bdbFC]

And here are the bolts going into floors, and to connect the grip to the stem and iron keel. Marc first heated some tallow with a torch until melted, and then poured it into the holes to seal them. Some cotton was tied to the end of the threads to act as a gasket. Then they are hammered into place and bolted. We used a portable band-saw to trim the tops of the threads.







You can see in the above photo that what looks like a drip on the iron, is actually tallow squeezing through a pinhole in the keel when the bolt was tightened down. So now at least that avenue for water is filled. The keel will be covered in epoxy before paint, but it's amazing where the water will try to get in.



I then filled the holes in the stem with epoxy to seal those.

[bdbFC]

On my list at a lower priority which suddenly became high priority was to shore up the rear cockpit seat. We constantly walk on it to get access to the cabin from the stairs.

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I don't know how it was originally mounted, but a previous owner had used drywall screws and 1/2" plywood to support it, but the screws were pulling out and the plywood was rotten, so the back half of the seat sagged noticeably whenever there was weight on it. It was getting worse over time, so rather than wait until it collapsed completely, I made these supports out of douglas fir and installed them by through-bolting through a floor under the seat.



rough cut after tracing the template I made. I needed to make three of these, and of course all three used different enough measurements that I couldn't make duplicates.



This is looking forward under the cockpit. I need to prime and paint soon. It's so nice to be able to stand on the seat again.