14ft Clinker Plywood Runabout

Hi Everyone,
I Just bought a 1964 14ft speed boat with a 1964 40 hp Evinrude. It is varnished inside which needs redoing and the marine ply decking needs replacing as the previous owner has used the sander too much on the edges and stupid stain&varnish in one. The outside of the hull has been singularly layered in fiberglass but he has used a flexible sealant in the fillets which look crap. What do I do? I can either ignore it, strip it all back and paint or varnish it or re glass it (The copper fastenings look ok and there's no visible gap in the plank lands. I have considered a neat film or small fillet of 3M 5200 then repainting). The transom has also had some glass work done with a self draining outboard well. Any ideas?
Cheers
Matt
Perth, Western Australia

 

What brand of boat, or better yet the construction techniques are we talking about? You have a lapstrake hull and I'm assuming it's clenched on the laps at least, probably screwed to closely spaced steam bent hardwood frames, though it could be bolted. I have two 1962 Evinrude (Larks) hanging on a 20' hardtop in the yard now. Good engine, but replace the ignition with electronic triggers and find a guy who can redo the carb. Is it the electric shift?

Anyway, back to the hull. 'glassing over a lap hull never works well and it messes up the ride qualities of lap hulls, not to mention the looks. The 'glass work was likely used to stave off leaking issues and other problems (like crack planks and frames) rather then the proper repairs. If this is the case you'd be best served by dipping the whole hull in epoxy and seeing how many years you can get out of her. You will not know of the amount of damage and repair necessary without a survey. Your good buddy down the street who, kind of knows a bit about boats and stuff, isn't the fellow you need to talk to about this. Only a pro can find the hidden issues that may be lurking under all that 'glass, in the bilge, etc.

Lap hulls are difficult to repair if you don't have experience with this construction method. Cutting a scarf, in place on the hull can test the will of most folks not well schooled in the use of a chisel and/or plane in close quarters. Fitting the last plank in a repair can be an equal test of men, as you'll need two here.

Frankly the hull needs to be accessed for it's worth. Is it to be a show winning example of it's breed or a flats boat with blood stains down it's flanks? Something in between? A show winner will require a repair to it's original construction methods and techniques. This is very costly in materials, labor and skill. Returning the boat to service that can be trusted to take your wife and kids out for a Saturday afternoon is a different set of conditions and provides much latitude in the repairs.

In 1964 most lap hulls didn't have polyurethane in the seams (some did) but most did have something, usually varnish or paint. That's right, the seams were painted and usually assembled while still wet. There is good reason for this, and that is to insure the seam, be it a lap or scarf, could be disassembled when repairs or replanking was necessary. Products like 3M 5200 in the seams would prevent the pieces being separated cleanly, making for more work and higher materials costs.

On boats wanting traditional repair methods I use a secret mix (which includes varnish) in both seams and scarfs. On boats wanting a few more years of service before major replanking or tossing in the trash, I'll use polyurethane like 3M 5200. NEVER epoxy the seams on a traditionally constructed lap hull.

Looking at the heads of the clenches will provide you with little information about what's going on. Drill the head off (be careful) and using a punch, drive the remaining piece of clench to the waiting hands of someone inside the boat. Do this in several locations, below the water line, as these will be the worst of the lot. An experienced eye is needed here, a lot can be gathered from the fasteners removed from a suspect hull.

It will be very difficult to know the true condition of frames, stringers and other structural members without removing (it can be reinstalled) a plank or two from each side of the boat. If you do remove a plank, make it the turn of the bilge plank on the waterline aft, as this is where you likely find tension breaks in the frames. If you remove more then one plank, the next I'd remove would be the garboard (the fat one next to the keel) as it will be the one that gets replaced the most and may have had too many clenches driven in over the years and the cheek piece or what ever it's clenched to will have become Swiss cheese after 40 years of trying to seal it up with additional fasteners.

In most cases, lap hulls suffer from poor attempts to seal them up with a wonder goo of some sort, poured into the bilge on the rabbit or over fastenings and laps. I hung 14 planks on a Lyman hardtop (clench built) this summer, all bottom planks and they had as many as 6 holes between the frames (which were on 7" centers!) on the garboard seam. There just wasn't enough wood to go around and she leaked badly. She was splashed last week and is still undergoing fitting out and trials, but the new seams leaked not a drop. The new planks were bedded in polyurethane (at the owner's insistence) and will likely remain dry for many years. With proper seamanship (read care) she will provide another 40 some years of service. Yours can too, but you have to find out what you've got . . .