chance of a lifetime "King's Ametyst"

copper12 · 13-10-2013 6:36am #1

Hi lad’s ladies
I hope some of you can advise me on the restoration of a 1966 carvel planked boat
She has been out of the water for over six years
I am at the moment stripping her down to bear wood
There a quite a lot of things too be done
I am hoping that when I come across problems you can offer some advise
the first time a stood on this boat I had already bought it
There was just something about it;
I had full intensions to strip it down and rebuild it if necessary
How ever she seems in incredibly good condition some miner repairs but nothing that I cant handle
I do have to build a forty foot mast as well

fergal.b · 13-10-2013 10:29am

Hi copper 12 and welcome, she is a fine boat alright best of look with her. The blog Kfod posted yesterday might be of interest to you http://falmouthquaypunt.blogspot.ie/
I'm not sure how much you know about boats but for something like this I think it might be worth getting an engineers report done on her before you spend too much money and just to know what your getting into as the engineer should be able to spot any hidden problems.
Love the polished brass prop it really sets her off

I did the same with mine before I even built the boat.

.

oceanman · 13-10-2013 10:48am

nice looking boat, best of luck with her.

copper12 · 15-10-2013 1:26am

Fergal B found that blog a couple of weeks ago great reading and some achievement on his part
To late now for an engineers report
It would not tell me anymore than I already know a lot of work ahead
It will take as long as it takes to get her back in the water I have no time schedule
When she’s ready I well-known her inside and out that’s is what I am aiming for
A few more pictures

davlacey · 15-10-2013 11:20am

best of luck with her. bit of info here on how to tackle things yourself
http://www.boat-building.org/learn-skills/index.php/en/wood/riveting-frames-ribs-small-boats/

breghall · 15-10-2013 1:54pm

that'll be nice winter project Copper12 , keep us updated. Best of luck with it.

pedroeibar1 · 15-10-2013 3:46pm

Looking at the photos I'm not sure that the boat has dry rot - the white strands are more typical of wet rot but it's hard to tell from the images, (an old house I restored had both!) Dry rot's usual symptoms are concave surfaces and brittle squares/cubes of wood because the fungus attacks the structure of the wood from within rather than from the outside. That causes the wood to shrink and disintegrate. Nor do I see the tell-tale 'globs' of the fruit of the dry rot fungus, from which the spores disperse. It would be worth getting a damp expert to look at it before you make a definite diagnosis. (The guys over on the Construction board would know more.)
If you live in an old house DO NOT bring any of the stuff from the boat into the house for storage or you risk a bill that would make your boat project look cheap!
Do keep us informed as to progress, looks like a great project.

fergal.b · 15-10-2013 6:16pm

Your main timbers and planks look good, looks like it was just the plywood that got wet and delaminated.

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copper12 · 15-10-2013 7:27pm

thanks for the reply
I will try and get better pictures
pedroeibar1 you are probable right time will tell I am still striping 14 layers of paint and two layers of fairing off the hull

davlacey · 15-10-2013 10:53pm

you might be better getting it blasted im not sure whats best for wooden boats soda or hydro or sand. i had a good 5 mill thick of paint to sand back to bare fiberglass it took about two months and alot of money on sandpaper looking back i should of just got it blasted all done in one day.

copper12 · 08-11-2013 6:15am

Finely after a month of scraping I am getting somewhere

Here or a few pictures of my efforts; any comments welcome

Any repair advice most welcome

While I am pleased with the overall condition of the hull; there are some areas of concern’ namely the bolt holes where they have rusted and blown the plugs

The planks with the paint still on; I will have to replace them they are softwood’ I will use mahogany at least that’s the plan

She most likely either went on the rocks or something about thirty years ago jugging by the amount of paint after the repairs

copper12 · 08-11-2013 6:23am

a few more

pedroeibar1 · 08-11-2013 12:10pm

I've seen work like Photo2 and Photo 3 above in art galleries with a huge price tag on them! Nice to see the progress, well done so far.
P.

Pigeon Reaper · 08-11-2013 1:43pm

I'm not sure if you mean softwood as in the wood type or softwood as in rotten. Most planking would be a softwood with the frame made of hardwoods. If you need to replace planks try to stay with the same type of wood as the rest of the boat. Not doing so may cause problems as they won't flex together and may swell at different rates. Mahogany will also be difficult to steam into shape.

kfod · 08-11-2013 2:11pm

Hi Copper12, just noticed this thread now! She is a fine looking boat

It's hard to know when looking at pictures what needs to be repaired or replaced. When we bought our falmouth quay punt, "Teal" it looked like a few ribs and a bit of planking needed to be done. You can see on the blog what we ended up doing was basically a 3/4 rebuild with all the hard stuff included!
Saying that yours looks to be in better shape and shelooks to be steamed frames and copper fastenings which makes removing fastners a lot easier if you have much replanking to do.

The work on our boat has taken a lot longer than we had planned for, we missed last season sailing because of it, but it is a great feeling to see an old boat being given new life and you have something to be proud of at the end. I basically have done loads of scraping and sanding and chopping out bad bits. The lad who is the other half owner is doing the tricky work, he is a complete boat nut and a carpenter so he loves the boat building and though he was handy at boatwork before we started ours he is damn good now! If you are nearby I am sure he wouldn't mind taking a look at your boat to give you some advice.

kfod · 08-11-2013 2:20pm

We used Iroko to replace some old larch planking. It was expensive and hard to steam and bend but it got there in the end. If you have a lot of planking to do and she is originally larch it would be easier to use and cheaper to replace with the same if you can source it handily.

The original planking on Teal was pitch pine and a lot of that remains good, the larch planking was put on in the 50's to repair some fire damage. It was softening / thinning and hence needed replacing. We wanted to replace with pitch pine but that is Really expensive and like hen's teeth to source. If your boat is pitch pine I don't know what would be best to replace it with, in the end it's all a compromise between cost and availability.

fergal.b · 08-11-2013 2:29pm

Jump on Kfod offer to have his mate to come and have a look

as a carpenter he should be able to tell you what type of timber it is and what needs to be replaced, could save you a few quid. The bolt holes can be drilled out and filled with epoxy then redrilled or you could cut out some dowels from waste timber and plug them in with epoxy.
Are you planning on fiberglassing the hull to seal it or are you going to try and keep it original.

.

copper12 · 09-11-2013 1:35am

Hi lads thanks for all the replies

I have Teals life blog; added to my favourites’ and have looked true every page’ some excellent work done there

My boat is a King Ametyst 33 build in Poland in 1966 hull No 80

She is carvel planked mahogany with laminated oak ribs

The softwood I am referring to; looks like pine to be honest; from the inside looks like floorboards modified to fit most likely done thirty years ago jugging by the layers of paint

I will replace these boards’ with mahogany’ I am still sanding her down at the moment; and learning as I go along; looking at the way she was built’ I will most likely use scarf joints’ to refit the boards that need to be replaced. Butt joints; done in the past have allowed rot to set in around the joints;

I am not going to go mad; and replace a whole lengths of board when a couple of feet will do

As you can see from some of the photos; there was some damage done; when she went aground; some cracks are within a couple of inches of scarf joints; credit to the men’ who built her; the joints held

I am hoping to use Casamite for the joints

Resorcinol. I would prefer to use’ as this was most likely the glue; used during construction’ and the joints have held; almost fifty years’ as good as the day they were made

　
again thanks for the replies
kfod if your frind is about in the city I can meet him although I would prefer to call down and see teal

kfod · 09-11-2013 3:24am

Your welcome to call down and have a look at Teal. Hegarty's yard is well worth a visit, there is any amount of old and historic stuff there, especially over the winter

Give a shout a few days before hand and chances are one of us will be able to meet you there.

We used resorcinol on some of the joints in Teal (a couple of planks were scarfed but mainly they were butted) but I think it was mainly used on plugs to fill where we removed fastenings. We got it here:

http://www.c-guard.co.uk/searchresults.asp

With Mahogany you need to be aware that there are different timbers sold as "Mahogany" but they do not all have the same characteristics. A google search will probably turn up more specific info.
When you are replacing the planks if there is a section of damage covering a few planks its best to step the joints so that you don't have multiple scarf joints / butt joints one above the other. You will end up using more timber this way but it is sounder.

copper12 · 20-11-2013 11:55pm

bow1.jpg

bow2.jpg

sanded1.JPG

sanded2.JPG

dd.JPGKfod I received some riconsoil’ from the link you provided; thanks for the tip

I finely finished removing the paint from the hull; I know have a clearer picture’ of what I need to do on the outside

The most difficult thing to do. will be the replacement of the rusted bolts; the heads have rusted’ and popped some of the plugs

I also started on the inside. removing the timber that has some rot; there quite a lot.

Around the engine bay’ all the board’s and timber; surrounding the engine’ are socked in oil’

Attached are some pictures’ as they say a picture tells a thousand words
bow1.jpg

bow2.jpg

copper12 · 20-11-2013 11:59pm

a few more
maststep.JPG

oakrot.jpg

engine.JPG

roof.JPG

themplates1.JPG

fergal.b · 21-11-2013 12:20am

Great work so far, it might be no harm to replace the motor stringers anyway they have probably worked the life out of themselves

Douglas fir works well for absorbing the vibrations and you can also laminate it in some plywood to prevent any cracking.

.

copper12 · 04-12-2013 12:34am

Evening everyone

I have been fairly busy lately’ have got a lot done; and have a lot more to do

I have managed to remove some bolts from the keel; I thought it would be a lot harder’ but they seem to come out easily enough’ I remove the wooden plug’ tap a screw driver around the edge of the head’ of the bolt and give it a good slap; from the inside seems to be going well so far

I removed the coach roof; and the forward hatch; I thought I would get away with leaving the decking’ and just sanding it’ but no such luck’ I will have to remove it. hopefully I can use it again; time will tell I did price some of the artificial stuff; but it seems dearer than teak itself

After Christmas; I will have to build a mast 39ft’ I have the original boom; can anyone give me a description of the hardware; I will need to use’ with a mast’ masthead; tangs; winches; and stuff anything at all might help

toshiba2010 · 04-12-2013 4:46am

WOW :eek: that looks like a rather mammoth task you have set yourself but i have to give it too you so far you are doing very well . this boat must mean a hell of a lot too you to have set yourself such a task . was it in the family for year,s and left to you ! or did you just want a project . i,m just curious because i would never set myself such a task . any way i would,nt have the skill,s or patience to take it on . i can,t wait to see her when she,s finished . i admire you and people like you that can take on such a task . keep it up

toshiba2010 · 04-12-2013 4:50am

i will be keeping a close eye on this to see how she turn,s out . very interesting i must say . good luck and all the best with her .

fergal.b · 04-12-2013 8:48am

I would hate to see your Santa list

Great work so far you will soon be at the stage where you add things to her instead of taking away.
I saw this on Adverts, not sure if it will be any good to you but might be worth a look. http://www.adverts.ie/boats-accessories/ships-deck-planks-new-1-72-sq-meters/3532752

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copper12 · 12-12-2013 8:53pm

Evening all

Weather has not been very good lately so in between the showers; I have been doing some work on the engine .

As far as I am aware it had not been used 1n six or seven years .

My initial thought was that it was seized; and would need replacing’ so I removed the injectors; and the rocker cover; everything was covered in rust .

Over a couple of days’ I sprayed WD40 down the injector holes’ and over the cams

I then got the biggest stencil; I had and started to move the fly wheel back and forth’ each time spraying some oil into the injectors’ and gently tapping the cam shafts’ eventually I got movement’t and now have the engine turning over’ with the starting handle freely

So I then striped the injectors’ fuel filters’ water pump’ and the oil pump’ they have now been cleaned and seem to be ok; the exhaust manifold’ when I removed it’ had been almost completely blocked; so were all the drain cock’ around the engine’ they are all free and cleared; when I put it all together I will use some fern ox or something similar to clean the waterways’ that I cannot gain assess to’ unless I strip the engine

There seems to be good compression in one cylinder’ and none in the other’ however after some fiddling I may have improved it some’ three of the push rods had been bent; so with a little heat’ and some gently hammering’ I have straitened them enough to try and start her shortly’ I had to raise the engine two feet; just to change the oil almost ruined the oil plug’ trying to remove’ it eventually I won; the first litre that came out of the engine’ was water; the oil was almost yellowy grey’ in colour I put a heat lamp’ under it for a couple of days, to help it drain,

I have also removed some ribs’ almost every second rib has a crack; in some, more than one

While I will not remove all of them; the ones with multiple cracks; will have to be replaced’ some are only damaged where they meet the keel; where over a number of years there must have been diesel leak.

the ends are damaged I will try and scarf a joint there

　

copper12 · 12-12-2013 8:57pm

a few more

copper12 · 12-12-2013 9:02pm

fergal that link I got them last week thanks for the tip

copper12 · 12-12-2013 9:10pm

this might help someone wiring diagram for a dynostarter Volvo MD2

fergal.b · 12-12-2013 9:12pm

Nice little engine she will look great cleaned up I love a bit of shinny brass and copper

Is that a dynamo in the last photo? if so it might be worth your while swapping it for an alternator to handle todays electronics.

Keep up the good work you won't regret it when you head off into the sunset.

.

chance of a lifetime "King's Ametyst"

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