Enterprise - 1935 Six Meter: April 2010

Monday, April 26, 2010

THE CLOCK IS TICKING!

Making great progress on the boat in the last couple months. I'm shooting for a late may/early June launch.

The mast was picked up by the guys at Offshore Spars today. They evaluated the mast and rigging and pointed out some areas for concern that are now being repaired / replaced. The aluminum mast that came with the boat had never actually been on the boat. Bud (previous owner) broke the wooden mast for the last time, ordered this new aluminum mast, but never got a chance to put it on the boat. Coincidentally, he actually purchased this new mast from Offshore about 20 years ago, the same guys that are doing the work on it.

Al and Karl from Doyle sails are scheduled to come out and measure me for some new sails this week.

I did run into some problems in the stem, that were the result of corrosion from a metal fastener. A portion of the stem was rotted out in about the last 3 feet of the stem where it joins the keelson. The tricky part was that only about a 3/4" wide portion of the 2" x 4" stem was bad, right in the middle. Tearing out the whole stem, or even the last 3 foot section with the problem, would have caused considerable damage to the boat, since all the planking and frames connected to the stem in that area were very sound. I decided to remove the 3/4" x 3ft section that was bad, and put a new piece of oak in that section. Then I "sistered" the almost the entire stem with a new piece of 2" x 4" x 10 ft oak. While I realize that this will add a little weight, it should be a sound repair for a couple years, until I get time to do a proper repair.

The new keelson is in place and looks great.

I've got my crew lined up for a little fiberglass party in a couple weeks.

The deck is repair is about half done.

I've got four frames repaired, with about six more to go. I repaired these frames by removing the bad section, and laminating oak strips in place, and overtop of a scarf joint on the existing good portion of the frame. It's an easy job, but I need another pair of hands to finish it up. Doing the first four repairs solo, was way more difficult than it should have been.

More Repairs

Two Halves of Keelson.
Top and bottom of each section bolted together and bonded with 3M 5200

Keelson Assembled - Top view
Notice stainless studs sticking out to accept metal supports in boat.

Half of Keelson installed. 3M 5200 to keep the water out.

New mast step supports over repaired stem

Top view
mast step supports and stem repair

She's coming back to life!

I've had many requests by interested folks to see photos of my new six-meter project, so I thought I would put them online for all to see. Thanks for checking it out!

Restoration is probably not the right word to use in describing what I am doing to the boat. While she does need a couple of major repairs, generally speaking the boat is in very good condition for a 75 year old vessel.

The good news is that as I've started digging into the repairs, I haven't found any horrible surprises - nothing that I didn't expect. I feel that I am up to the task of completing the required work and getting her in the water by the middle of May. (I can hear you laughing - knock it off)

I'm going to restore the underwater profile to the original configuration, with the rudder being attached to the aft edge of the keel, which will return her to "classic" status.

I do need to thank some people who have lent a great deal of help and support. First is my Dad, who is a top-notch assistant because he has a great deal of knowledge and skill (much more than me) in just about every area needed to complete this project.

I especially want to thank some of the guys from the Port Huron Fleet (Jim, Mark, and Phil.) They got me hooked on the six meter by taking me out for some racing on Ondine, then spent over 12 hours moving the boat from Richmond, MI to Troy, MI on a Saturday afternnoon. Their commitment to the six meter fleet is very apparent. Also, special thanks to Vinnia's previous owner Bud Kirk.

Also, Joel Kar (thanks for the traveler), Sean Murphy, and Rob Hasting. Most importantly my family, Heather and Jack, who have been very supportive and tolerant of my boat habits.

Keep checking back for updates.