Refastening the Bottom - Part II

At the boat conference in Virginia last May I met a couple from Iowa named Paul and Marge Morris, who run the Cedar Tree Boat Shop in Des Moines. I asked them about their approach to refasten the bottoms of wooden boats. They encouraged my to pull the entire bottom off and inspect every inch of every frame, stringers, plank and plywood. They warned me that I be somewhat disheartened by what I saw, but the devil you know can be fixed.

My approach to this entire project has been to undo the damage and neglect this once-beautiful boat has endured - the paint over mahogany, the water damage, the wholesale destruction of some key features - and return it to as close to its orginal state as possible. One area that doesn't apply to, however, is the bottom. Because of technological advances in adhesives, fasteners and epoxies, I have the potential to restore this boat once and for all (at least my lifetime). I'm in no hurry to get it in the water. But I want to do it right.

So, I'm pulling the whole bottom off. Also, I've decided to replace the plywood and reattach the planks with a layer of 3M 5200 in addition to CPES and silicon bronze fasteners.



And it's a good thing I did, as this photo shows. I found a fairly significant area of rot. I replaced the rotted section with solid Philipine mahogany coated in CPES. I attached it with countersunk screws and 5200.



Another great plus of pulling off the bottom and the side is the fact that I can retighten the chine batten. It had pulled away from the frames by about a quarter of an inch. I reattached it using 5200 and clamps.



The chine batten was in good enough shape to reuse, but the bolts had pulled into the wood at several points. After cut them out with a reciprocating saw before the tighted up the frame. After the 5200 dried, I pulled off the clamps and repaired the damaged wood with CPES, and after it cured, Smith's Fill It wood filler.



I then set in new bolts and waited for the filler to dry before tightening them down.

I couldn't find silicon bronze bolts, but I realized it would be cheaper and easier to order threaded rod and cut it to whatever length I need anywhere on the boat. So I went to the McMaster-Carr website and found 1/4 inch threaded rod with matching washers and nuts. I oversized the washers a bit to prevent them from pulling through the chine again. The original bolt and screws fastening was clearly underengineered. Bonus: McMaster ships from inside Canada to Canadians, so no custom duties. Other plus: the package was at my door in less than 24 hours. This may be my new favourite company.



The original bolt is below the replacement threaded rod.



The plywood and two planks reattached. I used brad nails to hold the plywood in place until the 5200 set up. This is as far as we're going to get this year on the hull. Now it's time to move into the shop and start some interior wood restoration for installation next year.



The last day of outdoor work for the season.