Big wooden boat project [Splashed Sept 2017]

[Patfromny]

You need something to compress to seal pans and valve covers. You really don't need any type of rtv at all with these newer (then cork) neoprene gaskets. I use Vaseline on my carb gaskets and that is just so they will not weld themselves to the metering block or bowl as they tend to do. If using cork, I can see rtv to stop the gasket from being saturated and leaking but other than that I haven't used anything on pan gaskets or valve covers in awhile. If you compress the gasket correctly it will not leak.

 

[Ned L]

Oh yes,... no mistaking, on any 'real' work it is nothing but new gaskets, clean surfaces and no 'sealants' needed.
I do like the idea of a bit of vasolene at times to keep a gasket from sticking. Hadn't heard of that before. Thanks!

 

[mickyryan]

just never use vasoline on rubber , it breaks it down over time .

 

[Ned L]

Ahh,.. wouldn't have thought of that. Thank you, good to know.

 

[mickyryan]

I found out the hard way in the swimming pool industry we used to apply it to o rings next spring the o rings were secreting a black mess and were shot lol

 

[Pusher]

That must be what went on with my toilet last year, lol. Good info guys.

I will say, being a young buck, that we don't have the luxury of knowing what we're missing. The barrier to working on electric vehicles is too steep and expensive for us newbies.

My brother and I self-taught ourselves on push mowers. That's where most of my knowledge comes from now.... And explains my limitations.

I wish the EPA would get their priorities straight. A rebuilt car is a lot more environmentally friendly than an obselete prius leaking battery acid into the water table.

 

[shaw520]

I wish the EPA would get their priorities straight. A rebuilt car is a lot more environmentally friendly than an obselete prius leaking battery acid into the water table.

Most electric plants on the east coast are coal burning,.. so plugging in your electric car and thinking your doing something good for the environment is a farce.

 

[Pusher]

Excellent point

 

[Ned L]

I agree with that. ..... I also suspect that if you look at the total supply chain, infrastructure and processes required to build a hybrid you can probably put 50k miles on a 'traditional' car before you equal the environmental impact of a hybrid sitting on the showroom floor.

 

[proshadetree]

Most hybrid cars use nickel or lithium batteries. No acid. They use AC motors, no brushes. They are also over complicated and have little information on keeping them going. I work on forklifts as a main source of income and they are close but its a far cry from simular or simple.

 

[Ned L]

I think it was Friday that I carried that little Atomic two back up to the garage with the intent of seeing if it had any life in it yet. I left the reverse gear off (still need to wash it out well) and thought I'd try getting the engine started bobtail. I had a good spark, tried both gas and some starting ether, and got nothing.
At this point I figure the valves are simply to dirty to seal enough to give any compression at all (they are functioning). This means that the next logical step would be to pop the head off, pull the valves, probably give the seats a touch up, maybe the valves to, a little lapping and put it all back together.
I will definitely get to this and will definitely have the little engine running again, however with a bit of warmer weather this week it is time to 'shelf' this engine and get back to the boat.

 

[Ned L]

OK, .... Now back on topic a bit (though I personally don't mind the drifts now or anytime)............

Yesterday I started to look at the last real 'project' that should be addressed on the boat. The cockpit sole has apparently had issues with the caulking for more than a while now, which has allowed fresh water to get to the framing and cause some issues.
The sole is framed in (probably) spruce, with a traditionally laid teak deck, caulked with cotton and payed with Thiokol. The sole probably hasn't been re-caulked in its 60 years. Usually a teak deck is screwed down, however this one was fastened with bronze anchorfast nails (not unheard of), some of which have started to work their way up. This is what is telling me there are things going on with the framing.

As a refresher, here was the sole three years ago.

And there is a small step on to the wheelhouse area, above the engines.

Here are things today.

Everything is fine where the engines are. It is the the aft cockpit where I have decided to dis-assemble the sole, reframe, and re-lay the original teak, caulk with cotton and pay the seams with a black seam compound.
The cockpit was never sanded rigorously like the foredeck so the teak is very close to the original thickness, and looks to be in good condition, so I will retain the traditional construction (unlike the foredeck).
That step up from the cockpit area to the wheelhouse was built on top of the cockpit sole, and needs attention with its framing, so that has to be disassembled first. Hmmm, .... I also found out that the 'cap' for that step runs under the side "baseboard" planks of teak in the wheelhouse area. This means that there is a fair bit of disassembly to carefully do before I can even start taking the cockpit sole apart.

So here is that "baseboard" coming out of the wheelhouse area.

There is going to be a lot of tedious and careful taking apart of things to do in this project. I'll post as I go along.

this project will also allow me to inspect the fuel tanks, replace the bronze bolts for the struts, probably add a few sister ribs on the port side where I think there have been some cracked ribs for decades, probably rebuild the port rudder post backing block, clean things up under the cockpit and generally go over everything that can't be gotten to down there. A nice couple of months project.
I already have more than enough white oak for new framing. This will take 500 - 600 new bronze woo screws.(ouch).

Oh, ...... and believe it or not, given some time in the sun and some light brushings with salt water and a little bleach the teak sole will look a world better.

 

[Ned L]

There is a bit of a 'bitter sweet' aspect to this cockpit sole rebuild. This project could have waited a few years, everything is very sound to walk on. I could have just reset the anchorfast nails that are coming up and recaulked the deck for a good 2 - 3 years easilly, but given that work and expense it is better to take it all on at once. One concern I have had is that if I break one of the teak planks I am a bit out of luck (and with the going price of teak it could be expensive).
I knew that at the same boatyard where I got this boat there were recently a couple of other Jersey built skiffs that had come to the ends of their lives and had been broken up. Much of the teak planking from the cockpit soles had been left laying around the yard here and there. I had been planning on talking to the owner of the yard to see if I could buy some of the planks to have them on hand as 'spares'. Six weeks ago I received news that the owner of the yard had very unexpectedly passed away. (A real loss for the Jersey shore, John Olsen, son of Ole Olsen. Ole immigrated from Norway after WWII and began building boats in Keyporrt N,.J. in 1949. The yard and shop were taken over by his son John in the early 1970's. John continued building wooden boats into the early 1990's. Their boats were at first lapstrake construction, then in the 1960's Ole changed over to carvel construction, keeping the same lines. Olsen sea skiffs were highly regarded as superior sport fishing skiffs along the norther Jersey and Long Island shores. Between Ole and John, the Olsens built more than 220 boats from 16 to 42 feet. In the later years they really specialized in a 28 foot sport fisherman, a good number of which are still in service today.

About 4 weeks ago I was down at the Jersey shore and stopped by John's brother's house to convey my condolences. We ended up spending a good bit of the evening talking about his brother and his family's boat building heritage. In the end he offered be any and all the teak I could find to help with my boat. Also, very unexpectedly he asked me if I would like John's personal boat. This is a beautiful 30ft twin screw sport fisherman built right there by John. Oh if I just didn't have my current boat. What do you do when you are offered a ready to drop in the water 30ft sport fisherman with a pair of recent fresh water cooled engines???
Here she is.

She needs nothing but a fresh coat of paint.

Here are a number of other Olsen skiffs built over the years.

Margret M. is a 31 footer, built in 1981, powered by a Cat 3808, still owned by the original family, and makes regular trips to "The Canyon" from her home on Montauk L.I.

Mum Runner just moved out to southern Ca. about two months ago.

Here is a real pretty Olsen bass boat (1950's).

And a typical Jersey sea skiff trunk cabin cruiser (1950's).

 

[proshadetree]

Awesome bit of luck there and a great history lesson. Bless you for doung the teak now. I fear i would have shortcutted and resealed out of fear.

 

[shaw520]

Wow,.. beautiful find there Ned,.. Im guessing John's brother chose carefully as to who he wanted looking after John's boat,... congrats.

 

[Baylinerchuck]

I love reading the history in your posts Ned. Fantastic....

 

[Patfromny]

Well Ned, what we have here is a quandary. Shame you couldn't take the offered boat and resell. That isn't why it was offered to you though. Any more room in the yard? It stinks that you're at the point of no return on yours and then this one pops in your lap. What are you gonna do? Sounds like you past on the offer. Maybe you can search the rolodex for a suitable new owner?

 

[Ned L]

I have not completely closed the door on accepting her, and have made the offer to help find a new home for her (which has been accepted). In this situation don't think it would be frowned upon to accept her and then find a good home for her. Unfortunately with me being 200 miles away, her blocked up in a boatyard, and me living 50 miles from water she can even float in, that makes things real tough.

 

[Pusher]

That's a pretty boat and a very sweet offer. That's a tough one Ned. Good luck on the decision!

It looks like those builds have a lot of open fishing deck!

 

[Ned L]

Yep, these were all high end custom built, pretty much "hard core" fishing machines. They were built to take you out and get you back safely in all kinds of weather.

A couple of other pictures of her.