Log of Deborah’s Lee

Comment

Comment by bob mitchell on October 11, 2020 at 7:53am

Sorry - one other comment.  When scarfing in plywood sometimes it is hard to scarf the 3/4 that is in place. So instead of using a 3/4 butt joint I cut the 3/4 back 3/8 deep with a router and then repair with two layers of 3/8, thus avoiding a butt joint. My favorite router for this stuff is a small one handed bosch pony router. They are cheap, but be careful not to rap you figures into the blade area. ,,,,,,,!,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,!!!!!

Comment by bob mitchell on October 11, 2020 at 7:43am

Mornin Greg - I looked at a fair amount of Newporters after I bought my total derelict, and focused on the areas of consistent vulnerability, and of course the bulwark,, with its vertical end grain three layers of 3/4 ply was one of the worst. The design itself had the really great feature of the outside plywood hull sheathing (properly called planking according to Captain Clyde) extending past the deck and becoming an integral part of the bulwark, giving great resistance to inward forces. I kept that feature.(And totally saturated the planking end grain with epoxy for days,).: The problem was that if the rail cap maintenance was lax any water into the end grain accumulated and, as you pointed out, migrated everywhere. Water would also enter the hawse holes and do the same. Basically the bulwark was just a couple of sheets of plywood, end grain up, screwed onto the planking and sitting on the deck. The good news on that is it is relatively easy to repair IF YOU CAN FIND A BORDER WHERE THE ROT STOPS. THATS ALSO APPLICABLE TO YOUR DECKS. If you find a spot the is really bad you can either 1) cut it out, and then rout back layer by layer, and then scarf back in or 2) just set your router to 3/8” and with a template rout out the first layer of 3/8 (if I remember correctly the top of the main cabin is 3 layers of 3/8 ply) plywood. The routing method (2) is probably the best start because lower layers may still be fine (unlike the vertical end grain of the bulwarks). I am no router wiz, but this method is easy, and has application all over newporters.  
         By the way, I only know of one junk rigged Newporter. - Wu Lee. Check it out under search?

Comment by Greg & Angie Wheeler on October 10, 2020 at 9:22pm

Not sure if this will come up, but here is a Newporter that sold today on ebay for $4,200 in Maryland. Here is the link
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1968-Newporter-/133535805764?nma=true&...
hopefully that will bring it up.
Check out the gunwales, they look to have been completely removed. I can see doing that if the rot was too far gone, I would miss them though. 

Comment by Greg & Angie Wheeler on October 10, 2020 at 9:11pm

Wow, I like the thick gunwales without the useless cap rails, big improvement. That is an area I'm in the process of repairing, water gets under that cap rail and rots out the rail and everything else underneath. Still after 63 years for it to be mostly sound is saying a lot to Captain Clyde and Co. and the fine work they performed.