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First repair complete.

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  • First repair complete.

    Maybe this is the wrong place for me. I look through people building yachts and restoring 100+ year old gaff cutters. and I am like "I fixed a skiff that probably already worked"

    When I bought the boat the outside was covered in some unknown clear-ish substance (I am going ti guess spar varnish) that was peeling and offered no abrasion protection and the hull had some.. well abrasions. The bottom was epoxy/cloth covered.
    skiff pic.jpg

    The sail slipped onto the mast and couldn't be lowered, the rigging was a pile in a bag that with no idea where anything went. But everything was solid which seemed a good place to start.

    Over last fall I stripped exterior coating, filled the chips and cracks, epoxy coated the sides (sanding between coats because I could never time the coatings right), sanded, primed... and then waited. We had the coldest winter I can remember and it didn't get over 50 once between November and April here in the NW and the paint coating temp was 50. SO in the meantime I changed the sail to use hoops and figured out the rigging. Bought myself some nifty grommet tools from sailrite too. I couldn't do anything with the boat because I didn't want to mess up the primer. So my big question was what deck hardware would I need to handle the new rigging?

    When it finally got warm enough I dug out the paint which I store in the house because my garage is unheated and went to work. Now I was short on time because I wanted to... well actually sail the boat this year so I repainted the bottom and the sides at the same time then went back for the trim. Everything worked great except I had barely enough white and the last coat on the transom sagged a little and I don't have anymore to redo it so I guess that goes in next years list. but overall it came out pretty good.

    image_50457601.jpg

    Then I turned it over and did my first test of the new rigging and found that the boat had all the hardware for a man halyard and a place to attach the lower corner to the mast. From then on it was minor stuff like attaching a safety line to the rudder and daggerboard and repairing the chains on the trailer. Doing that I found that the chainbolts were soft and rotted/stretched out. the dry run of The new sail system seemed good though:

    image_67197953.jpg
    if someone can tell me how to rotate an image in the forum editor I would be grateful.

    image_67507713.jpg


    So now its all packed up and waiting for National Drunk Boater weekend to be over to hit the lake. Everyplace nearby is popular with wake board boats and I don't want to dodge waves while listening to "New Country" blasted from loudspeakers and cries of "Murica!!!"

  • #2
    Re: First repair complete.

    NICE! Is that an old Penguin with a rig off a Snark? That looks like it'll be a hoot out on Fern Ridge...after the weekend

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    • #3
      Re: First repair complete.

      I have no idea of the boat design. I bought it from the builders son who was in the process of passing on, so I didn’t want to bug him. The sail is most certainly a Snark though!

      I live nearer Cottage Grove and Dorena never been out on Ferm Ridge. How is it for sailing!

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      • #4
        Re: First repair complete.

        Well my first sail was… educational. I learned while I can comfortably row This boat it’s a rather tight fit when I have the sail installed. I also learned that the boo attachment to the mast breaks pretty easily which lead me to finding out that the boat has inadequate flotation to get the gunwhales above the water in a swamping.

        All in all it wasn’t a horrible day- the only thing I lost was the top part of the mast which is made of 1 1/4” round tube so it’s not that hard to replace. But I don’t know where to get a replacement mast cap with a threaded fitting which I was using to attach the halyard too.

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        • #5
          Re: First repair complete.

          Here is the place to get advice on how to make a nice new hollow wooden mast!
          And installing flotation under the side seats.

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          • #6
            Re: First repair complete.

            Originally posted by DuncanN
            I have no idea of the boat design. I bought it from the builders son who was in the process of passing on, so I didn’t want to bug him. The sail is most certainly a Snark though!

            I live nearer Cottage Grove and Dorena never been out on Ferm Ridge. How is it for sailing!
            I sailed Thistles there a lot while I was down at U of O. Winds tend to be light with the occasional frontal system that comes through blowing pretty good. Putting in near the dam you'll find a tiny bit of current occasionally when they're letting water out to the Long Tom, but mostly it's...well...a lake. The hills on the NW side can screw up summer winds, so we tended to set courses out toward the center. The fingers along the south side get pretty thin, depth wise so we tended to avoid those...but we were racing, not exploring. I think there's a public ramp at Richardson Park. We kept the boat at EYC and used their sling.

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            • #7
              Re: First repair complete.

              Fantastic job on finishing your first repair! Your hard work and attention to detail have paid off. May this repair mark the beginning of a fulfilling journey in maintaining and improving your Windmill sailboat.

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              • #8
                Re: First repair complete.

                Nice looking boat. Reminds me of a Penguin too, though I'm not sure those are V-bottomed.
                Sailboatstogo sells Snark parts, and Jim is responsive to emails. I suggest sending him pictures and descriptions of your mast and see what he has.
                Have fun, good luck.

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                • #9
                  Re: First repair complete.

                  I have to admit that the boat and the mast /sail isnt a match to the boat looks wise. But my boat money is going to some other projects. This was a test to see if I liked the process (the boat was super cheap, came with a nice trailer and needed mostly minor work. I did really enjoy it and its amazing what the paint did for the looks of the boat.

                  There is some flotation but I will be getting some float bags for the summer while I figure out the flotation situation It was just short of high enough to bail out when swamped. But I need to deal with the boom issue- I think I may have installed it wrong but the ease with which it came apart was concerning- why wouldmy you want a more secure connection then this? I think the plastic plug is on the wrong side of the pin.

                  I am headed to a metal yard today to see if I can find the boom top locally. Thanks for all your help and support!

                  Screenshot 2023-05-29 at 9.56.03 PM.jpg

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: First repair complete.

                    I can't speak for the Snark boom, but I think you'll usually see the gooseneck fitting fastened into the end of the boom with some screws or pop rivets. How long is the flange that goes inside?

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                    • #11
                      Re: First repair complete.

                      Well I have the pin out to look at it: it has some kind of spring ball keeper but it requires almost no force (like 2-3 lbs) to pop the keeper off. DB1C9E13-0DE4-469B-870F-3FA627776796.jpeg

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                      • #12
                        Re: First repair complete.

                        Ahhh...I see. I thought you were losing the (black) gooseneck out of the end of the boom. If I'm seeing the photo right, it looks like the gooseneck fork is going over something like a spinnaker pole bale? Would not a 1/4-20 bolt with a nyloc nut work? With a washer on each side.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: First repair complete.

                          I got a 1/4 x 2” pin with a spring retaining (looks like a mini version of a hitch pin really) at the Home Depot for $2. If it works it will be the best $2 i have ever spent!

                          my current issues are attaching the halyard block to the mast top and attaching the sail to the mast. The lost mast top had a plastic insert with a threaded insert so I am trying to recreate that. And the hoops I made get stuck on the mast where the top sleeves into main mast. I got some line and am considering taking the hoops off and lashing it to the mast. I am also thinking about welding the mast as one piece- that way I could bevel the weld and the hoops would slide (also I would never lose the mast top again!) but then it wound be nearly 200” long where as now it all fits neatly in the boat when stored. ) I am honestly considering just building a new mast and sail because (besides the visual discrepancy between the skiff and a snark mast/rigging) the boom is so low I have to essentially lay down in the boat every tack. ). Also the Boat really needs different seating if I use it. It’s so small and I am so large the sears are useless to me. I just sit in the bilges really. But I have plans to start a Storer Quick Canoe next week and really want to build a larger sailboat after that so most likely I will get this boat in good shape for a quick sail now and then and revisit modifications in winter. I have a bunch of ripped 2x4s (DF) that are bone dry in my barn. Some of them have clear 10’ lengths. Maybe this winter I will see if I can glue a mast together from them.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: First repair complete.

                            Hi Duncan, you might take a look at how they top the mast on Mirror Dinghy's. You won't need the whole thing as on a Mirror the shrouds and headstay slip over that top bit, but the plug with an internal block might be an idea you could make up.
                            Wooden plug with sheave and axle fitted and shoulder under narrow end to take shrouds

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: First repair complete.

                              Great job & don't belittle what you've done. As a person with a big boat, I'm jealous!

                              You could simply lash a block (aka pulley) to the top of the mast & call it good.

                              The mini hitch pin sounds better than the ball detent pin. Washers might be good on both sides.
                              "If it ain't broke, you're not trying." - Red Green

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