boat beached and broken

[lorri]

Hi I posted on here a while back,we just bought a van der stadt splinter,and it had broken its mooring rope and beached,was in there for a few days till we got her out, now in back garden trying to dry out and see what needs fixing.
The main thing I can see is the crack where the keel joins the hull and the keel where the wood joins on to metal,that what it looks like.The stringers have come of the hull inside when I looked,need info on the best way to put her back together. Along with needing some fiberglass replaced I don't think its too bad,will try and attach a couple of photo's to show damage,not got any of the inside but will take some later.
cheers Lorri

[thudpucker]

I took on a project like that once.
The boat evidently came down hard on a large rock.
The keel had broken. The Keel was broken away from the planking.
Some of the Ribs had broken and others had pulled away from the keel.
The Rudder was shoved up into the quadrant and that had broken the transome.
This was a double planked boat. In between the planks was a layer of Canvass soaked in pine Tar.

I didn't look, or think about the work involved. The boat came to me cheap and I was gonna make it work by hook or by crook.

But I have to tell you that when I got the engine out.
The shaft was bent and the prop was suspect.
I had the shaft straightend. The prop refurbished.
I found a new engine to replace the Salt water drowned engine.
I rebuilt the reversing gear. It dont matter who made that reversing gear you can find bearings for it from any of the Bearing sales folks.

But when it came to that wood work, I got terribly depressed.
Somehow it just got worster and worster!
Every piece I took off exposed another piece that needed to be fixed or replaced.

I had to build a set of frames to hold the ship's shape for me while I made all the pieces.
I had a bevy of tools. One of the handiest tools you can have when you are rebuilding stringers and ribs is an electric plane. (with extra blades)

I made the Keel out of Cedar 2X4's laminated with bronze lag bolts.
There was not a bit of glue in that boat. All the boards were fitted tightly so when they swelled up with water they did not leak.

I drilled a shaft hole (you have to make a jig for this) in each of the Cedar Keel planks as I put it up in place.
Otherwize, you are gonna have a helluva time drilling a shaft hole at the right angle with some kind of Drill motor that can handle a shaft 4 to 6 feet long with a 2" wood cutting bit on the end of the shaft.

I found a 1" shaft electric drill motor to clean out my hack-job holes. I built a ramp on each side of the drill and set the handles of the drill on that ramp.
That way the drill slid up n' down at the correct angle and you didn't have to hold onto those handles as the drill was working.

I found White Oak for ribs.
I used Cedar for everything else.

I was months working on that project.
It was so depressing I frequently brought my Chainsaw out to the boat with me. I was constantly arguing with myself over fixing or destroying that old thing.

I think I had it for three years or so before it was eclipsed by a Fiberglass model of spiffier lines and performance.

Please come back with the photos.