Im starting to restore a Weekender 1 design :)

[Joe(Cold Spring onHudson)]

While cleaning out the barn, for an upcoming barn sale were having I found some useful stuff.

4 Gallons of MAS epoxy and hardener a

A large roll of biaxal fiberglass cloth

Hmmmm so my mind is wondering about what good use to put to this new found cash of supplies. Funny how I forgot I had bought the stuff last year :confused:

So I'm thinking of finally getting to work on the Ebay Weekender 1 design I picked up last year. She is stressed plywood 20ft gaff rig schooner, With a jackknife iron keel. Sails are darcron and in fair shape except some rust stains a main and two jibs (anyone got a cure for rust on dacron ?? I tried Oxy Clean - didn't work )

So here is the plan the boat is covered in styrene & fiberglass over the plywood (old School style) Parts are blistered and delamed so bad I can just pull them off other arias are not coming off. There are spots of rotten ply around the coaming and the mast box is going to have to be rebuilt possibly and the fore deck. Other than that she is pretty sound and I bet she would float and sail as is if I could get the rigging fixed up. My goal is a patch paint and get in the water and go sailing on a bigger boat ASAP.

So My questions are:

Is it OK to pull off as much polyester/glass as I can then angle grind the hull then add a new layer of glass & epoxy. I question the integrity of epoxy bonding to ground styrene?

The arias of rotten ply around the coaming I wanna fill the cavity with packing popcorn for added floatation then just bondo the small aria and glass over - bad idea?

The foredeck Just grind and reglass or cut out and replace with fresh ply ( I have 1 sheet of good marine ply left ) Remember the goal is to get in the water not make a show piece, its a ply box flat bottom boat that has got to be 20 years old already.

Lastly I want to convert the mast to a tabernacle to ease the stepping which I cant do single handed. Is this a good idea I was thinking of just cutting the mast above the cabin roof height and attaching a barn door hinge and pin, what do you guys think?

Photos

One epoxy question. Can I use the West system pumps for the MAS epoxy ??

Here is some shots of the coaming rot - what do ya think BONDO

More rot

Bow delam

Mast & fordeck

Long View

Hey, ya ever start picking at something and cant stop? I started to remove some of the polyester/glass covering. I think Ill take as much off as I can grind the rest, sand & bondo the rotten wood then epoxy and glass and paint.

[Barry Pyeatt]

Hello Joe,

It has been sitting all winter and it's getting to you finally.

You know Joe; I've had this Weekender on my mind since I first saw it listed on e-Bay. When you picked it up and I later saw what you had accomplished with your little Dyer Dow, I figured you would really get into this. If it isn't too far-gone I think it will be an exciting restoration.

Photos are telling part of the story, but you are obviously a lot closer to it and can make a complete assessment of the extent of the damage. Getting the finish off of it all will likely expose some more.

So...if quick and dirty is what you are most interested in doing now. And if you were not likely to change your mind and want to rework a lot of what you do now, then here is the approach I would take:

1) Proceed just as you are already; strip off the glass that comes off easily. Then feather the edges of the rest down to the bare wood giving you a reasonable transition. Strip off as much of the paint/glass around the rotten areas out a few inches beyond what is obviously bad area. Feather the edges of the remaining glass down to the bare wood as well.

2) Remove, either by cutting, drilling out or grinding out, all of the damaged plywood. If you have to cut down into a stringer because it is rotten, then do so as well. If possible in the larger areas, check the inside of the ply as well and take an awl and probe into the corners and seams of the remaining plywood structure. If it is sound, great, if not then try to explore the area and see how extensive the damage really is. Then remove the damaged wood.

3) Since the boat was built with polyester resins for the glass, then the best match for the repair is probably the Bondo Marine. It is poly based and it has glass fibers in it for reinforcing.

I can't tell you anything about the MAS Epoxy since I've never had any experience with it and neither have any of the people that worked with me. But a quick phone call to them will tell you about compatibility or problems to watch out for.

4) I would piece in plywood patches to the larger holes and back them up with strips of ply and glass over the backside of the patch. . Screw the ply patch to the underlying support, whether ply or solid wood, and epoxy the patch in place. This will give you an ugly, but strong patch. Saturating edges of the ply with the epoxy resin or with poly resin if that is your choice. I would fill any of the little cracks and saturate the area where exposed with resin as well. You can fill the area with Bondo to fair it in with the surrounding area.

5) Once all the damaged ply areas are repaired this way, I would then lay a new layer of glass with either polyester resin since that is what was used originally, or if the epoxy is compatible then with epoxy resin. Fair that into the existing glass with epoxy.

I would then do a quick and dirty Bondo layer to even it all out rather than epoxy resin and fillers. Then paint it again with a good latex porch and deck enamel.

6) On the Keel: I would try to replace any damaged wood with new solid wood rather than trying to just fill in all in with filled epoxy unless the damaged areas are small. In that case I would saturate the area with thinned resin and let it set and then use the filled epoxy over it. (You might have to rig up some form of a dam to form the patch and hold the resin in.) I would eliminate the centerboard and fill in the box. I don't think I would glass the keel. I would just give it a good coat of resin and then Bondo and paint. Maybe set a sacrificial Oak or Ash strip on the bottom to protect it.

I would put new rub rails on it to give it a nice line and probably use one of the prepared Non-skid paints that are available at Lowes or HD. If the steering system is OK then I wouldn't change anything. It might need a new rudder box though and if that is the case then you might want to change it over to a tiller instead of a wheel.

If the spars are OK and just need repainting, then just strip and repaint them. Otherwise replace them rather than repairing them. It isn't a biggie to convert to a tabernacle.

If the Oxy Clean didn't work on the Dacron, you can try CLR as the next most aggressive product to try to take the stains out. I have had pretty good success in cleaning up rust stains in some old sails with it. I would avoid taking concentrated bleach to it though. It could weaken it dramatically in that area. Another product that I came upon by a total accident is Amway Concrete Cleaner. Darn if it didn't work on a sail with paint stains on it. Then I heard that they had washed an antique wedding gown that had yellowed really badly when nothing else was working. No damage to the wedding gown. So call your local Amway dealer and ask them if they want a challenge.

If I can help, I would love to participate. Can't be there in person, but there is a lot of experience with some of the other builders. Collectively there should be some good advice.

[Simon]

Sigh .... wish I had a barn ... :roll: [/i]

[Barry Pyeatt]

Me too! :wink:

Especially one like Joe has. I could live very comfortably in the apartment he finished off there too. 8)

But I would prefer to have it here in the Seattle area. If I had my druthers.

[Joe(Cold Spring onHudson)]

Well it is getting very depressing. Lots of bad ply at the seems and the boat look less & less liek a boat with all her skin off. She is looking more and more like smores :?

[Stuart Benbow]

Joe,

If it makes you feel any better, mine isn't finished and it doesn't look like much with all the rough edges and seams showing. After you replace or repair what's gone bad and slap on some new fiberglass and a new coat of paint, she'll look like a brand new boat.

Granted, its not sounding like a wave of the wand and instantly ready to sail kinda deal, but look at the adventure you're about to have. You will have an intimate knowledge of where the trouble spots are likely to appera down the road, and will be able to keep an eye out for them so the big repair job is never needed again.

Either way, sounds like there's a lot of people chearing for you, and I can't wait to see how it turns out.