Not another Enterprise renovation!

[Thames]

Yes it is

A friend of mine's family Enterprise sank on last launching and he decided to cut his losses and buy a GRP hulled Enterprise on Ebay. My 14 year old son siezed the opportunity for a free boat and a 'project'. So I have a boat to return to a usable floating condition; isn't funny how 14 year olds can find almost anything to be more interesting than sanding??

The boat is about 47 years old (10k sail no.) and has 'benefited' from numerous repairs in the past, so I am definitely not looking to 'restore' the boat in any sense. What I would like is to have a boat that my boys can sail on the river for the next 5-8 years, beyond that it has little worth. So if this is not the right forum/community, please redirect me to boat bodgers.com or somewhere more appropriate!

My thinking is to seal the gaps where the panels leak, repair the rotten bits, and then coat the hull in epoxy and fibreglass mat/tissue, fill it smooth and then paint it. I have downloaded the West Epoxy Wooden Boat Restoration and Repair guide

Pictures of what we have here: https://www.dropbox.com/l/JZqIaFmL3zOa4Y9dsWHXWn

I've had a look through Jimmy's, Gavin's and Paul's recent threads but I have no experience of boat repairs so consequently I have a huge number of questions, but I save most of them for separate topics, to save confusion (on my part).

But to kick things off I would welcome any (really!) comments on what I have and how I propose to proceed.

At the moment the hull is upside down on a couple of chassis stands (a bit like saw horses) in my front garden. I need to move it undercover soon (assuming that it is still there when I get home, given today's forecast!). Can I support the weight of the boat, upside down, on the thwarts inside the hull? Can I support it by lying the foredeck on one of the stands? At the moment I feel that the centre of gravity is too close to the forward stand.

How do I support the boat the right way up? Can I just lie it on the garage floor and walk around inside it? I am worried about damaging irrepairably whilst trying to repair it.

Hopefully I will find help and support here to get the boat afloat and sailing for a few more years.

Ian

[Rupert]

Hi Ian,

boatbodgers.com is an intregal part of the cvrda, so certainly the right place!

With suitable padding, you shouldn't have any trouble resting the boat on the foredeck, nor any thwart. Right way up, the floor, again with a soft covering (carpet, for instance) the boat will be fine. Worth putting some soft chocks unter her to keep her level and stop her rolling around.

The work. Personally, I avoid glassing anything on an old wooden boat. All you do is trap the rot and give it a wonderful place to spread. First thing to do is to allow the boat to dry out. Once she is dry, it is easier to spot what is rot and what is simply wet wood. At this point, ronseal wood hardener is your friend. It is designed to kill the rot and harden the wood. Of course, it kind of fossilizes it, but for your purposes that isn't a problem.

Whether you epoxy the boat is also a matter of opinion. Mine is no, don't, for the same reasons as above. A lot of expense for no benefit and possibly making it worse. But others may disagree and have ways of avoiding the pitfalls.

Good luck with the project. I just sanded and am now painting my son's Mirror, so I know what you mean about 14 year olds and sandpaper...

[JimC]

and then coat the hull in epoxy and fibreglass mat/tissue, fill it smooth and then paint it.

Rarely satisfactory in the medium term I fear.

Can I support the weight of the boat, upside down, on the thwarts inside the hull? Can I support it by lying the foredeck on one of the stands? At the moment I feel that the centre of gravity is too close to the forward stand.

You ought to be able to, but a key thing is padding to spread the weight.

How do I support the boat the right way up? Can I just lie it on the garage floor and walk around inside it?

The best thing is a boat cradle. Haven't got photos handy, but you can make one out of cheap timber. Basically two cradles, not unlike those for a launching trolley, about 1/3 and 3/4 down the boat. But I still would never walk inside the boat! If you can sort out arrangements to readily turn the boat (strong supports on ceiling joists you can hang rope from are good) You may find that some interior jobs are way easier if the boat is on her side.

[Thames]

Thames wrote:
and then coat the hull in epoxy and fibreglass mat/tissue, fill it smooth and then paint it.

Rarely satisfactory in the medium term I fear.

Personally, I avoid glassing anything on an old wooden boat. All you do is trap the rot and give it a wonderful place to spread

OK, so both of you think it's a bad idea. Just to clarify, my thought was to do this to the outside only.

Failing that, what suggestions are there to ensure hull watertightness going forward? Talking to my friend, the hull has at various times sprung leaks and has been fixed with screws/sealant in the past. I was hoping to avoid this regular cycle, which I guess will only become more frequent as the original glues age, by sealing the outside.

The wood is pretty dry, the boat was stored out of the water, and has been totally covered for the last few weeks; with uncoverings to work on it and let the sun play over it on nice days. The rot that is there at the stern is due to, I believe, the stern resting on an old tyre on the hard standing. Moisture has been retained at the interface and caused the last few inches of the keel band to rot and of one of the floor panels.

[JimC]

The rot that is there at the stern is due to, I believe, the stern resting on an old tyre on the hard standing.

Much more likely its due to a small puddle in the boat finding its way round the floor panels and between panel and keelband, inciting rot that way. I always advise people to leave an end of mainsheet or other rope through the bungs to wick away the last trace of puddle.

Wish I knew the perfect way to resolve your leak problems...

[STEVERESERVE]

Hi,
Whereabouts are you? Somewhere on the Thames?
Steve

[Thames]

Isis

[Jimmylovescake]

Ha ha, good luck and enjoy the journey you've started, I'm nearing the end of my restoration now, and like you I started with no knowledge what so ever, so don't be put off by that.

As far as patching bits up with cloth and resin, it would certainly be a waste of time. I laminated a single layer of woven fibreglass (s-glass) with epoxy resin, (defiantly not polyester, it goes off too quick to penetrate the wood well and subsequently doesn't seem to bond quite as well)...to give the hull a protective layer for dragging her up a nearby beach, I have no intention of racing and will be using the boat as family fun boat as such.
Epoxy can be difficult to work with, but preperation is definitely key, carefully sanding, sanding, sanding (not through the ply venues if you can help it) then degreasing before applying (I used thinners and not soapy water as recomended to me).

I used West System epoxy and spent the extra on the pumps, saves wondering if you have the ratios right and gives a perfect mix every time.

I found throughout my project the folks on here have been great help and I would encourage you to take lots of photos, not just to show progress, but to also help with explainations and remember where bits go afterwards.

Im not sure if there's a right or wrong place to start, but I stripped all the paint of the outside of the hull back to bare wood first. This was to give me an accurate picture of the scale of the rot and helped me decide if would continue with the project or cut my losses.
Good marine ply is expensive, and despite spending a long time searching for other suppliers, the advice on here was best for me, Robbins timber of Bristol, not cheap but you want your hard work to last right?

Good luck and I look forwards to following your progress.