ORGANIZED AND CONDENSED MOONFLEET (HULL #124) BOW, SIDE, AND STERN REPAIRS

[bob mitchell]

Hi Folks,

Repairs underway on Ms Moonfleet. The bow was pretty bad and Mr Patterson just had some kind of foam in the chainlocker to hold it together. they are going to cut the whole bow from waterline to the bottom about 6 feet back and replace that whole section. We have some rot around the hull where the rudder shaft goes in. I'll get those photos to you as I get them.

Blessings
Justine

Also from Justine:

Ok here is what was done on the repairs.

First the keelson or main fore aft beam was made of sheets of ply, so we cut back to clean wood. The put the first sheet back, sanded the edges so it was amlost rounded but with a flat top about 5 in wide, then added a second sheet of plywood, and sanded again. At the transom, we also feathered the edge so it fitted neatly under the tansom itself.

One frame on the port side was gone, so we added two 2x2 beams and screwed them into the keelson and to the old frame and bolted them altogether.

Then we cut pieces of ply to fit between each frame and screwed them to the inside of the good hull marine ply, but with a nice overlap, then we fitted the new hull marine ply into place, screwed it to the frames and to the ply backingplates. Everything is sealed and then epoxied into place. The stern now weighs about 50 lbs more than it did before and I thing you could run a train into it.

The hole on the side was done much the same way

TED DANIELS DISCUSSION OF REPAIRS

We had three areas of "soft" hull identified by tapping every square inch below water line.

1. Rudder area, both behind and in front of where rudder stock located. The seal had gone and water just got in the 3 layers of 1/4 ply and stayed there - nice and black and smelly. Also the port davit mount was leaking and the port frame under it was rotted.

2. Starboard side about level with aft corner of doghouse. Water had gotten in from leaks around the coaming and doghouse. Rotted the frame and hull.

3. Bow area. Water had gotten in thru rotted deck around bowsprit mount and had rotted everything. We cut all the bow out from water line back to about the 4th frame. Somone had previoulsy pumped foam in there so had to dig all that out. Cut the ply back to good wood about 2ft above keel and 2 ft in from stem. Hacked out all the 3/4 ply vertical bits that were inside (don't know what you call that)

Whole thing took 4 days and cost $2000 which was a bargain as 3 guys worked on it full time. The bow area 3/4 ply was the hardest to get in as it was bent in 2 different directions.

We got a nice solid piece of Cypress off the bowsprit of another boat and shaped it to run from the keel to the stem, through bolted everthing through the good wood above it.

I have lots of photos and plan to put them up on my own web site during the next week or so. That will make it easier for you to look at them.

It seemed to me that the whole thing went pretty easily - the bow was the hard part, but right now I think it as good or better than the original.


I have sent her a bunch more pictures showing completion of repairs to all three rotted area. She is doing a great job of keeping the postings going, so I'll let her do it. In due course I'll add a PDF file with a complete blow by blow description with pictures.

I was in two minds whether or not to scarf all joints in the hull planking, but for now decided on expediency, so put 3/4 ply blocks behind each hull plank joint and screwed both sides to it. Scarfing would have taken 2-3 times as long and cost more. My objective right now was quick repairs to get her back in the water as there are a lot of topside repairs to do to stop rainwater coming in. However I will salt the areas beneath the deck leaks to minimize fresh water rot effects.

Also have not had the time to figure out your web site and how to add pics etc - Justine to the rescue.!

The general consensus of opinion was that for 35 years old she has remarkably little rot.

May 26 - FROM TED TO BOB ABOUT REPAIR PROCESS

Bob:

I should add a couple of points. We have not painted the repairs above the waterline (as you can see in this shot of the bow) as have a lot of other minor fixes to do where fiber has cracked around fastening heads. She will be hauled out again in 2-3 months when I have finished the decks and cabins to do the whole hull above the waterline.

One other more general point is we had to undergo an inspection by the boatyard before they agreed to hoist Moonfleet out of the water. They and many others have bad experiences of wood hulled boats just collapsing when hoisted. Many marinas will not accept them at all.

So not only did we get the haul out and all below waterline repairs, scrubbing and painting done for $5000, including 11 days onland, but I now have real nice moorings at $175/month, including electric, water, showers and toilets and permission to live aboard while I finish off the top sides.

I won't want to take her sailing until all the gunwales are repaired - some time after second haulout, as the main backstay mounts are loose and the deck around the bowsprit is soft. So will have to postpone the final enjoyment until late summer or the fall. I reckoned about 6 months of repairs before sailing. By that time I'm sure Justine will be on my case to finish up making her look pretty all over. My real interest lies in functionality and safety but I know I'll get beat to death unless I really finish her off well.

Ted Daniels

[Justine]

[Ted Daniels]

Justine:

Thanks for posting all this. Couldn't have done it without you.

Now it's on to the deck around the bowsprit and anchor windlass, the port davit mount and the cockpit coaming/doghouse leaks. Got to get her watertight all around.

BTW, just had the bill in for everything on the hull - repairs, pressure wash, painting, fiberglass and epoxy, woodwork and haul out and 11 days yard fees - $5100 total. I didn't repaint the blue yet as have to go around and dig out , anti-rust and epoxy seal all the frame to hull screw and bolt heads. You can see some indication of just about every one. So that'll be another haul-out in a couple of months time -it's difficult to do in the moorings because of the really tight environmental controls on grinding epoxy - we can't let any dust or paint spray get into the water. I am probably going to get beat over the head as I cut out wood from the deck with the circular saw, even with a big old vacuum handy, however am prepared to chance that and plead ignorance "Good morning officer, and what seems to be the problem today?" in my best British accent.

[Dennis Gaffney]

Wow. I am amazed that you did all of that work in that short time and for that amount of money. I have the same type of damage on my boat, and had pretty much given up work on her. But after seeing this I may have changed my mind. Nice work!

Ted Daniels said:

Justine:

Thanks for posting all this. Couldn't have done it without you.

Now it's on to the deck around the bowsprit and anchor windlass, the port davit mount and the cockpit coaming/doghouse leaks. Got to get her watertight all around.

BTW, just had the bill in for everything on the hull - repairs, pressure wash, painting, fiberglass and epoxy, woodwork and haul out and 11 days yard fees - $5100 total. I didn't repaint the blue yet as have to go around and dig out , anti-rust and epoxy seal all the frame to hull screw and bolt heads. You can see some indication of just about every one. So that'll be another haul-out in a couple of months time -it's difficult to do in the moorings because of the really tight environmental controls on grinding epoxy - we can't let any dust or paint spray get into the water. I am probably going to get beat over the head as I cut out wood from the deck with the circular saw, even with a big old vacuum handy, however am prepared to chance that and plead ignorance "Good morning officer, and what seems to be the problem today?" in my best British accent.