About to start on Enterprise restoration

[pburrows]

Hi all. This is my first post here. I received today a lovely composite enterprise that needs some serious TLC in order to bring it up to the standard I would like. I have posted a couple of pictures on my blog that show the condition, and I would like to ask your advice on what I should do, and what to focus on in order to get then boat into the best condition possible. I am not in a massive rush to get the boat afloat so am happy to take my time to do things properly.

I've seen some amazing results on this site and would like to do the same. All advice much appreciated. Some images here but I have more if needed, thanks...

http://s1280.photobucket.com/user/pburr ... t=3&page=1

[paulmidd]

Hi pburrows,
I'm doing much the same thing on an all wood Ent. It's now, after ~18 months, getting varnished and put back together and I've asked a few questions from this site which has been very useful - do a search on my user name, if you haven't seen them already. They have a link to my photobucket account as well.

I can't give much advice regarding GRP, apart from do some research on GRP cleaners. Yacht forums might be quite good for this.

With my boat I took loads of photos, stripped everything off and spent months removing muck and varnish. You might be a bit quicker with a composite boat. The decks on mine had started to delaminate and stain so I am replacing those, plus the wooden kingpost and keel socket for the kingpost as both these were slightly soft - Robbins of Bristol for wood. I assume your centreboard case is GRP and integral to the hull, if so give that a carefull inspection for hairline cracks (or worse) that could lead to water ingress either into the boat or into the GRP.

What I do have is a word document that I've compiled, that includes any usefull looking Ent information, photos, comments, etc. off the web. You are welcome to a copy if I can get it to you, it's about 20,000KB. There's also some other useful articles that might be of use.

Let me know.
Cheers
Paul

[pburrows]

Hi Paul thanks for the reply, I'll have a look at your posts when I'm back at work tomorrow. I've sent a PM with my email address and would be keen to see your word document. Cheers

Phill

[kfz]

Good luck Pburrows.

Plenty of pics please...

Kev

[paulmidd]

Phill,
No problem - but no sign of a pm yet. Registration issue?
Cheers
Paul

[pburrows]

I've set up a photobucket page with all of my current pictures here:

http://s1280.photobucket.com/user/pburr ... ry/?page=1

My main concern at the moment is what to do with the gap between the rub rail and the deck ply. There is a gap all the way around of a few millimeters which will let water in. Current thinking is to simply fill with epoxy. Any better ideas?

Will try the PM again...

Phill

[Ed]

Presuming it is quite sturdy and not dropping off anyway....

Proper fix = remove rubbing strip, plane the gunwhale and replace strip.

Pragmatic fix = clean it out as best you can and fill with epoxy guk of best colour match possible.


Me.....I would do the pragmatic fix with this boat.....the rubbing strip will, more than likely, break if you try to remove it, so the cost would go up dramatically.....unless it is falling off anyway.

cheers

eib

[pburrows]

Thanks Ed, yes, tend to agree. It certainly isn't falling off, not that I have found yet anyway. If it were a wooden hull boat that would justify extra time and expense I'd try and get it off, but probably not worth is in this case.

[pburrows]

Guys, been working on the boat today and feel I am starting to make some progress. One thing I've noticed is that anywhere wood meets grp the glass and resin is caked over all of the wood. This can't just be careless work, so do you all think it is for waterproofing the joint?

Has anyone seen this before? If you have any ideas on how I can neaten this up I'd love to hear them. Few pics here which I hope show what a mess it is. Obviously when I repaint inside I want it to look as tidy as possible

[pburrows]

Anyone got any thoughts on how to sort out this mess ^^^^^

Phill

[kfz]

If its sounds id be very tempted to leave it to be honest.

If its well adhered to the wood then its a nightmare. If you try and remove it will take the wood with it. The only success ive had with this sorta thing is to use them in repciprocating multi tool and cut it as close to the wood as you dare. Messy, dust and prone to damage.

Why do people do this, i looks awful and is a real moisture trap and rots the wood.

Kev

[pburrows]

Agreed, it looks terrible. I can't work out if its original or added later, but due to the fact it's everywhere that grp meets wood I think it's original. Some of it has lifted from the wood, some hasn't. I might have a bit of a go at it with my dremel

[Rupert]

Agree that if it is coming off, it will be a water trap. If power tools won't do the job, a very sharp chesil used as a scraper can remove surprising amounts of shavings of resin pretty fast.

It looks like the bottom of the king post was wrapped in glass? If water is behind, it may need replacing. Also, it may be worth putting epoxy fillets in the joints of the knees.

[pburrows]

Thanks Rupert. Yes the glass round the king post is loose so I think I'll start cutting it out this evening.

Doe's anyone have any good ideas on how to paint over the inner side of the hull and achieve a smooth effect rather than seeing the glass fibre?

[Ed]

It is obviously just loose rovings glass, in polyester resin.

This would of been pretty ineffective and I suspect will be much easier to remove than you might imagine...

Thing is.....it was put there for a reason and you might want to put something back to replace it.

How?

Well, as rupe suggests, I would put in an epoxy fillet and if necessary a band of glass tape over top. That shouldn't look too ugly and will provide much more effective support for the joins.

cheers

eib