Re-building my Ketch Tonga (1960)

[Dody]

It worked really well.

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Unfortunately I had somehow miscalculated the width I need and the length of the planks I bought. Also, I realized, that using the plumb-line wasn't a good idea as both sides on top are a bit different. Even so, I remembered that I needed to do some adjustments to the fashion-piece on the top of the port-side.

I would have been unpractical to use the offcuts, as I wouldn't reach the desired height. So I went off to the wood-merchant again to get me another plank. This time a bit wider so it can go even over the top, giving me room for adjustments as much as I like. Especially as I first have to sort out the aft-corner of the fashion-piece on the portside.

I know it's still super-slow progress, but it feels soooooo good to see something going on and looking a bit like things are coming together!

[John Meachen]

All the progress is getting the job done and having a wider board means its getting done properly.It also means that you won't see a mistake each time you look at the transom.I know too well that a small mistake draws your attention every time you look at the area,even if nobody else is aware of it.I hope your region was spared the worst of the weather that hit the Bay of Biscay in the last day or two.

[Dody]

Thank you John! And it's true, it feels sooo much better!

We were lucky so far and got spared most of the ugly weather. Even since then. There were some days with heavy winds and quite some rain, so I gave in and did some major patch-ups on the enclosure to stay nicely snug and protected. And I also figured out something to keep the strong gusts from coming in between the gap of the tent and the enclosure, also helps a lot in keeping off the rain (still dripping in but far far less than before). Just threaded some of the plastic I bought for trying out steam-bending some while ago between the lacing


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And we had some awesome waves sent down by a gale in the North-Atlantic. We usually don't have them at this time of the year and people were coming from all over the place, Brazil, United States, Canada, lots of places in Europe ... I have never seen so many people at the North-Beach and in view of the virus it was quite frightening as some simply got rid of their masks the moment the police wasn't watching, even worse when some of them started coughing and sneezing. The townhall had requested help from the fire-brigades, GNR (Guarda Nacional de Republica) and PSP (Policia Seguranca Publica) of Lisbon and Porto but by the time they arrived the situation was completely out of control and people were everywhere. To prevent a similar situation happening again, big-wave-surfing is forbidden on the North-Beach for the time being to prevent the crowds coming back together.


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My camera is not the best. But, just in case one or the other would love to see some really powerful shots, a friend of mine has started a website with the photos he keeps taking and I find them absolutely breathtaking. Here is the link: http://www.vitomarques.com/

Meanwhile on Tonga ... I struggled on whenever the weather permitted.

cont ..

[Dody]

I got all the planks cut to length (wider than needed to be cut to shape the moment they are properly installed)


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Some more sanding needed to be done on the lower part of the fashion-piece

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Painted on the meeting edges and the inside - also the white (no photo) coz it's so much easier to do it on the bench instead of crawling into corners

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Both little cats got sterilized and didn't like to wear their protective coats

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Janis moved the babies to her patron, instead of 5 there are now only 2

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[Dody]

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And when I wanted to start installing the planks, assembling the tools I need, I found out that my long 5.5 mm drillbit was missing. The one I only bought a few weeks ago and used to drill for the screws when I installed the knees on the side. Under normal circumstances I would have just dropped everything, drive to the shop in Alcobaça (17 K to the east) and buy a new one. Under normal circumstances ... But, we were in Lockdown and I wasn't allowed to leave my Conselho. Having nothing else to do I turned everything in the boat upside down, then the workshop, then the caravan. Nothing. The drillbit has disappeared in thin air ...

Finally Wednesday came and I was allowed to go to Alcobaça to get a new one. And then start with the job

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I've used my usual Sikaflex as bedding-material and installed the bottom-plank only, drilling the holes on the next ones for installation in one go. And of course I went wrong with the first hole

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There were some hardwood roundpieces in my workshop. In 14 mm, 10 mm and 6 mm. What I needed was 8 mm. I roughly carved it down with a knife and wanted to sand it round and nice with the drill, but it took ages and I wasn't too pleased although it was working. You can guess, I made another mistake with the last hole. This time I used the drill again, together with the angle-grinder and a soft wood-sanding disc. That worked and the thing was done in minutes.

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[Dody]

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Getting the angle right was by far more easy when I could have a proper view at the inside I found out. To drill plank no. 4 I clamped her in place and then took the planks below out again to have a better idea about what I'm doing.

To install the top-plank I first needed to sort out the corners on top, something the shipwright had left to be properly adjusted later. To get the angle as perfect as possible I used my japanese saw.

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There was this bolt on the starboard-side which was installed a bit too high, interfering with the rest.

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With the help of my Fein Multimaster and the blades for wood/metal I managed to get the corner okay. The head of the bolt is sticking up for maybe 1.5 mm, so I will just sand it flush.

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and that's where I left the job on Thursday. I wanted to install everything on Friday but there is a new lockdown for this and the next weekend and friends of mine, who had just come back to the boat, needed to get some big supermarket-shopping done which meant I took them up there and did my shopping as well. Saves me the trip I had planned for next week.

[Rumars]

Congratulations. This means you can now start on the rear deck and have the whole boat closed by Christmas.

[Dody]

Thanks Rumars, we'll see how it goes weather and lockdowns permitting

[cstevens]

Looks great Dody. Nice to see the progress! Stay safe and well out there. We are getting locked down again here in Seattle too. Not quite the stay-at-home order we were under last spring (although we probably should be, given where the numbers are going) but much stricter than it has been for the last few months.

[Dody]

Thank you Chris, and hope you stay safe and happy too! Actually I would like everyone here to stay safe and happy!!! I'm still very lucky right here where I am, the numbers keep low profile. But the North, the Lisboa-area and now the Algarve are badly hit and things getting out of control. The medical system here was never made to deal with something like this, non-essential surgery had to be postponed since the beginning of the pandemic and now they are out of hospital beds and intensive care units, medical staff is missing everywhere and we're getting to the point where choices have to be made. We've all got to remember that Portugal is a small country, and most people are very aware of the situation.

[Dody]

Still breaking my head how to integrate the chainplates for the backstays of the mizzen into this scenario. After sanding the planks plane to each other, there will be two plywood-sheets in 6 mm on top. I need to figure out some way where they are not visible on the outside, don't interfere with the installation of the windsteering I need to install, don't get in the way in case I can't find a different solution for the exhaust as it was ...

Before, there were 2 inox-strips hidden inside the construction, the top of which bolted into the pulpit, and the backstays were attached to the pulpit. It was certainly strong enough for Hurrciane Bill, but I would like to find a better solution. The backstays can't go directly to the stern because they would interfere with the length of the boom of the mizzen. The boom is brand-new and the sail too, so I have no intentions at all to shorten this instead. But .... there must be an elegant way and I've got to find it.

[Rumars]

You could mount them on the inside of the fashion piece, bolted to it and the transom (use spacers). Or you could use U bolts trough the transom beam with backing plates underneath. That would be the least intrusive option.

[Dody]

Thank you Rumars and Dave!

The 2 layers of cloth is what I would like to apply, and I have been thinking it over and over and will only do 2 layers of ply on the whole hull. Which means on the stern as well.

Concerning the chainplates aft I'm wondering if it would be possible to fold up bidiagonal fibreglass to some kind of thickness and glass it in between the two layers of ply instead of backing with an inox-strip from the inside? Not for the other chainplates coz I'm not sure how strong this really will be, but the backstays of the mizzen don't put tremendous forces on the hull as far as I think. The sail-area is only 13 m2 with 3 reefs and the spreaders are swept backwards (the mainmast is different!!!).

[Rumars]

Yes it's possible, they are called composite chainplates. Since you want to drill holes in the transom I would put them on the hull sides, you have enough hull under the transoms corner for it. The fiberglass either goes over the ply layers and under the fiberglass ones, or on top of the fiberglass. If you put it in between the ply layers you have a lot of problems with glueing the next layer over an unfair surface, piercing the uni fiberglass with staples, and final fairing.
Are this running backstays?

[Dody]

I'm not quite sure if I understand you correctly Rumars what exactly you mean with the hullsides and the hull "under the transom corner"? Maybe I think this through again, but right now it's not clear to me. Also, if I put them on top of the fibreglass they would stick out, wouldn't they? Or did I get this wrong?

I thought more about a different way - but maybe it's not a good idea after all: make a groove both sides at the places where I need them into the first layer of plywood going from top to bottom. Size, I don't know yet, maybe 60 or 70 mm wide and 4 mm or so deep. Fold up bidiagonal fibreglass into several layers to reach the desired thickness and glass them in with something flat and a weight on top till cured - like this I should end up with a fair and flat surface. Over this one layer of glass with epoxy to key it over the whole surface, install it and then install the second layer of ply on top of it.

It's normal backstays for the mizzen-mast, not running backstays. The mast is deck-stepped and 11 m long.

[John Meachen]

How about posting a sketch of how the backstay was integrated into the pulpit?We might be able to dream up a solution.

[Dody]

Of course!!! Thanks for reminding me John, I completely forgot about it, cool! I might even have a picture from before. And, there is something else. When brushing my teeth at the tap this morning my eyes fell on something I completely forgot that this was part of the system too. Will see what I can dig up tomorrow

[Rumars]

I mean the backstay attachment point is on the intersection of hull and transom, but the chainplate is on the hullside not the transom. When you do composite chainplates they don't look like metal ones, the strips of unidirectional glass fan out onto the hull more or less into a semicircle. Since your transom is angled forward you have enough space for this.
http://marine.marsh-design.com/conte...omposite-hulls

[Dody]

Okay, I see what you mean. And also that they are using unidirectional glass. And use the same material for attachment. Thank you Rumars!

[Dody]

I'm not really good with sketches, but I took some photos instead. It shows how it was before. That doesn't mean it's got to be again like this, but it's something to start with.

The mizzen-backstay of the starboard-side attaches here:

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The whole lot in overview:

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Connection to the stern was done with bolts here:

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and this stainless plate was attached to the stern and is where it keyed into with the bolts:

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The whole thing was covered in several layers of glass and paint on top. There was also 2 inox-strips (can't find them at the moment), which were somewhere hidden inside but, strange enough, not bolted to something.

[Rumars]

Stainless steel transom, that's a first.
The strips of uni get laminated directly onto the thull, you lay half of the lenght on in a nice fanned pattern, wet them out, put a wedge with a metal tube on, then fold the other half of the strips down over the tube and wet them with epoxy. Over the whole thing you lay a piece of biax fabric to keep everything flat to the hull.

May I ask why your transom has those "horns"? Are you planning to transform them into cleats?

[Dody]

These "horns" will form the end-part of the toerail later, however that will go ...

[John Meachen]

Since the old arrangement worked,why would you deviate too far from the concept?I don't think I have ever seen a stainless secondary transom like that before.I hope that a sturdy frame around the transom will cope with the loads coming from all directions and I suspect a number of backing plates may have to find their way in there.Do you plan to repeat the size and shape of the former toe rail?That could also help with the loads and I do wonder whether a short supplementary backstay from the former attachment point to the transom frame might be a good move as I don't see much that is preventing the top rail from being pulled forward by the backstay loads.

[Dody]

Hmmmm .... I didn't plan on re-using the stainless-plate, but somehow, now that you made me think about it .... I guess I'll have another proper look at it tomorrow. A short supplementary backstay is definitely a good idea, if with or without the stainless-plate. If I should re-use the plate, the pushpit would bolt into it. Which means it can't be pulled forward by the backstays. The only thing that needs doing is making everything watertight before I install the plate. And find a nice way how to finish it all off on the outside. And yes, I love my proper toerail, the new one will be similar if not identical to what I have/had.

[Dody]

For the first time in years I can claim my boat has a closed stern :-D!

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[epoxyboy]

For the first time in years I can claim my boat has a closed stern :-D!

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Must be a great feeling to have things going back together at last. That entire aft area has been a mission!

Pete

[Dody]

Thank you Pete!!! It has been a mission, and I'm still not through with it, but at least it's closed and it feels sooo awesome !