Bob mitchell's Blog (23)

       Cut out the first layer of 3/4" (I actually used two 3/8 pieces because I am building in place now and they are easy to bend, until the epoxy drys!). The bulwark on the transom is a little different than the rest of the boat in that the first layer extends below the deck and nestles in the transom knee notch (approximately 14" wide in center, down to 13 1/2 at outsides). Next comes the deck beam. The narrow curved piece on the transom is the old one in a position to mark for the new…

    Jack Long, professional diesel mechanic, and my good friend, came over today and we reassembled my engine.  These are notes that I will never be able to keep in my head, so I write them down. First of all let me say something about the process. I have met more fine people with this engine than any other thing in my life, except maybe the boat, of which they are included. But the idea that there is no way to force a time schedule on bonding with and repairing your engine is a valid…

        In building the transom three sheets of 3/8 marine plywood were used. Originally the outside sheet was mahogany, in case one wanted to show wood, but I did not do that. Cost of a sheet of 3/8" marine plywood in Chattanooga, a few pieces at a time, is $45.00 dollars. I have gotten a quote for $42.95 if I order 30 sheets - which I will probably do because I am planking the hull in two layers of 3/8". My reasons for doing this are that I generally work by myself, or at best with one…

        Located center of old transom by bisecting old knee paint lines. Then drew a couple of perpendiculars out to the sides to see if distance from bottom of luan (base line) was equal on both sides. . Put a couple of screws along center axis to maintan position, then walked to one side and traced, then the other.  Checked distance from traced corners to baseline - both identical. Cut out template.…

        So I am trying to create this complicated piece of framing for the transom, but the whole port side corner is rotted away. Only the side remains in place. Fortunately I saved the vertical framing off the old transom.

So with some careful measurement from the stb. side and a piece of chine I located the vertical framing's position.

The bottom piece of…

     This is a tough piece (for me anyway) that is bowed and curved, and beveled, as well as notched out. It starts at the bottom/side/transom junction (back corner), where it also recieves the chine, and butts at the other end into the apron.  It is what holds the bottom to the transom, with the bottom overlapping this piece and the transom layers. Here is a shot of the stb. old and my first attempt at the…

    After long deliberation, and essentially a stall out on the project, the decision to remove the transom before finishing the last two full frames was made because 1) there was no chine to build to and 2) the side frame members were still well connected to the inner clamp, which meant that the sides would be a stable reference for the new transom. On the other hand, to remove and rebuild the frames first would have meant sawsalling them off the inner clamps and side. Then, without the…

   This definitely a work in progress as well as a documentation of the transom area, so since there are a lot of photos, and as far as I can tell you only get 3 photos per blog, there will be TRANSOM 1, Transom 2, etc. In Transom 1 I will start out with a photo from Dennis Gaffeny's Le Batteau Sans Souci (now gone, but I have her masts and sails), showing the transom without a transom.…

         Engine block hunting turned about to be more of a challenge than expected. After the decision was made to go back to the original Ford Osco Diesel 172 (1967) instead of the Ford Osco Diesel 192 (cylinder walls were gone) that had been put in in 1977 - because the 192 was a 172 block, which in my opinion, was overbored, I started with a 172 block from Russel Tractor parts in Scottsboro, Alabama, for $500.  However, it was not tapped for an engine balancer. But my diesel guru Jerry of…

     In March Deb and I took a trip up the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake to Lewes, a very cool old town on the Delaware Bay, where we caught the ferry across the Delaware Bay to Cape May, New Jersy. At that point we weren't far from the home ground of Captain Clyde Phillips and the Dorchester Shipyard. Clyde, of course, worked at the Dorchester Shipyard building that most famous and loved (or cursed?) of all boats, the Newporter 40 (if you want more info there are articles by and about…

Clyde caught this cutlass bearing intake in one of the photos of the deadwood repair, and emailed me back.

        While rebuilding the apron and upper layers of deadwood at the aft end of the boat I had the opportunity to disassemble the propeller/shaft system. Captain Clyde answered numerous questions I had, so he deserves credit beyond just the specific quotes of his that are included. The first two photos show the shaft coupling which connects to the transmission coupling, and next the stuffing box (aka. packing gland) with the heavy, but flexible, hose making it a "flexible stuffing box" (as…

         I am getting ready to rebuild the transom area of hull # 113, so Clyde is providing much needed information on the original structure. At a later date I will post discussion and photos of the actual reconstruction, but in the mean time I want to make sure that this important information gets posted.  (all below is from Clyde Phillips)

 …

    One of the original engines that the New Jersy built Newporters (I say New Jersy because if you look at the "History" Forum on page 11 of Forums, you see that the East coast boats changed manufacturing venues a few times) came with was the 59 horsepower Ford Osco 172 cu. in. Diesel. Osco, like Lehman, would take a Ford engine and marinize it. The Ford 172 cu. in. Diesel was a ubiquitous tractor engine, so after market rebuild components are readily available at very reasonable prices.…

CONTENTS:

Frame Sawing and a LIttle History

How Cabin Was Built

FAME SAWING AND A LITTLE HISTORY

Dorchester Shipyard, which started out as four or five shipyards in the 19th century, each owned by one of a bunch of brothers who operated on the principle of sibling rivalry, finally united into Stowman Bros. Shipyard, and, during my days there, was sold outside the…

I say "final" because hull #113 is coming out on the hard, and either I will decide that she is not worth saving, or she will come out with a solid apron, and a lot of new frame and floor timber bolts - essentially anything that needs to be done to have a solid bottom, as well as a rebuild on any deck material that is not 100%. On the "cup is half full" side there is a lot of good boat left, and on the "cup is half empty" side…

But there is such a story here - at least for me, who at 60 is really struggling to find any sign that what I expected reality to be like when I finally grew up still exists. The story is not unlike the iconnozation (and deservedly so) that the magazine Wooden Boat gives the old time boat builders. However, the subject of these men in Alabama just happens to be tractors, which means…