Chesapeake bay work boat?????

Discussion in 'Wooden Boat Building and Restoration' started by localwaterboy, Jul 8, 2004.

  1. pungo hayden
    Joined: Dec 2005
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    Location: pungo, virginia

    pungo hayden Junior Member

    PAR
    thank you. i think you are absolutely right since they are so small. the planks are in good condition and not plywood. when i paint the inside this is going to be alright? i'm just about ready to paint.
    it will be late spring before i see thoes boys again. i want to be ready to go.
    one more question. this is the biggest problem on the boat: the deck is plywood covered with painted canvas. where the mast goes threw the deck and also where the tiller connects to the stern deck is rotten just right around the wholes. i know this is a big problem but not the worst... i'm thinking that i need to remove the deck all together. if i go to that trouble i might as well put a prettier deck on it. if i don't remove it and just reinforse it i think i'll be just putting a bandade on it. ???
    you asked for it answering my plea...haha
    all's well, having fun with it....hayden
     
  2. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    Anything for the southern belle who has two boatbuilding sons.

    At the mast and tiller holes, peal back the covering fabric and grind away the bad wood until good stuff is seen. Cover a thin piece of plywood (1/4" is fine) with the same packaging tape then temporarily screw it to the under side of the deck were the mast goes through (ditto the tiller) Make sure it a good tight fit (no gaps or it'll leak epoxy) Cut a circle to place inside the mast/tiller holes that is smaller in diameter, but making up the difference of the material you removed that was bad. Cover this circle with the tape and screw it to the temporary piece of plywood. Now you've created a mold to cast a new edge to the holes.

    Using epoxy straight from the mixing pot, wet the wood areas real good. Slather it on, you can't over do it. Mix a new batch (follow the directions on the can) but this time add flour (yes the stuff you have in the kitchen) and some wood dust from a belt or palm sander (about 50/50) until it pretty thick (this will take a good bit of flour and dust) Then scoop out the heavy cream like mixture, you just mixed up and put it in the two molds (mast/tiller holes) and spread it flush with the surrounding deck. Try to keep the epoxy off the canvas covering.

    Wait a good day or two for the goo to cure and unscrew the mold pieces from the boat. They'll act like their stuck, but an easy tap with a hammer and they'll fall right off. Sand the repair into the surrounding areas, then reapply the canvas covering, by painting the deck with an oil based paint then pushing the fabric down into the wet paint (a well placed stable or three along the edges will be of great help) Went this dries, paint the deck and you're done. Don't tell your sons about the flour part, just tell them you used a proper "thickened" epoxy mixture of your own invention.

    You could replace the deck, but it's a lot more work then fixing a few bad spots. Check all the fasteners you can get a wrench or screwdriver on, making sure they are tight. The two holes you describe are commonly found to have some abuse surrounding them. It's a normal thing and nothing to get to worried about, if the repair is made. A new deck isn't an easy job for the average person to take on. There's generally a lot more to it then it looks. If you did remove it, another plywood deck is the best route to go. It's leak free and very strong. It could be a fancy piece of varnished ply, but varnished decks aren't very practical, especially on sailboats and they require loads of care to keep looking nice.
     
  3. pungo hayden
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    pungo hayden Junior Member

    you are a saint. thank you very much. this deck problem is what i want to work on first now since it is what i think is the worst problem. i'll have to wait a little for a warmer day. i could send pictures if i knew how.
    back with you soon, thanks, hayden
     
  4. Oyster
    Joined: Feb 2006
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    Oyster Senior Member

    Pungo Hayden, you have chosen not to receive PM. But if you would change that, I will send you an address to send them to, and I will load them and post them. If you can send me a mail through my feature then do so.
     
  5. pungo hayden
    Joined: Dec 2005
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    pungo hayden Junior Member

    oyster
    not sure what you are saying.
    tell me how and i will.
    thanks, hayden
     
  6. Oyster
    Joined: Feb 2006
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    Oyster Senior Member

    I clicked on your login and it came up as "send you private message" and I tried to, but when I hit send, the forum hardware told me that you do not receive private messages here. I also found this with Porkchunker. I do not know what your profile settings are from when you logged on the site. So it may be just thats the problem and needs to be changed.

    Click on "User UP" at the top of the page and look down the side column.
     
  7. armytugboater
    Joined: Aug 2013
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    Location: Anacoco, LA

    armytugboater New Member

    Chesapeake Bay Work Boat

    There are some pretty good drawings of Chesapeake Bay Work boats, sufficient for a good hand with tools to make a boat after the pattern of the Smith Island boats in "Workboats of Smith Island" by Paula J. Johnson (May 20, 1997). The only drawback is that copies may be quite expensive, though not as expensive as plans. The general layout of the boat is relatively simple, and construction is well explained. Anyone who can build a boat from Chapelle or Gardner's "Building Classic Small Craft" (and nothing else!) should be capable of building one. The work in the forefoot is a bit complicated, and there are reasons to build a square tail rather than the rounded stern.
    It is easier to build new than to restore. Sometimes the best that can be done with an old boat is to take it apart and use the parts as patterns. As was said by someone earlier, the more you take out that is damaged/rotted/bad the more you will find.
     
  8. El_Guero

    El_Guero Previous Member

  9. pungo hayden
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    pungo hayden Junior Member

    Thank you for that info.
     
  10. pungo hayden
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    pungo hayden Junior Member

    Thank you for the replies. Mine is a new haven sharpie with a round stern almost completely restored. Thanks very much!
     
  11. pungolee
    Joined: Jun 2004
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    pungolee Senior Member

    Pungo, I want to apologize for not answering way back when, I haven't visited here in quite awhile! I am pulling a formerly restored boat out of mothballs next week and will probably need the wooden boat banter to help me through.
    To answer your question, my family is from Hyde County in the Pungo Swamp, which is now the Pungo Wildlife Refuge.
    And yes, it is much easier to build one of these rather than restore. However, a boat built of more durable woods is another story.
    I feel there are two mindsets on this subject primarily because they are really two different things. There are those who will go to great lengths to make something old new, and there are Tradesmen (and women) who see the foolishness in something that costs more in time and sometimes money than the average person could get out of it.
    A good restoration artist working with a craft of noble timbers (mahogany, spanish cedar,teak) can indeed make a restoration more affordable than a new build.
     
  12. michael pierzga
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    michael pierzga Senior Member


  13. pungo hayden
    Joined: Dec 2005
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    pungo hayden Junior Member

    Pungolee and micheal, thank you for responding. I've been working on the boat for years now. That may sound like there was a lot of work to do but not really the case here. Just slow and off more than on. I have two sons that work on boats for a living but have not much time for mine. I just got it back a couple of months ago from one sons shop. He did' t do too much to it. Now my husband has taken the project on with me and we work on it every day. It is an interesting boat. A sharpie with a round stern, which I love and sold me from the beginning as it was brought here to my house by a tenant who's intentions were to fill it with dirt and flowers. I bought it from him on the spot. Turns out I ended up knowing the previous owner and was able to find and call him. It was built as a replica of a Chappell sharpie and won 2nd place in a show ...maybe 12 years ago. I have read up everything I can find on the boat and it is sooo interesting. Chappell originally designed the boat to make it threw shallow shoals places and they were used to do everything from delivering mail to oystering. Up and down the eastern seaboard. This is the smallest version he designed. 19 ft. It is a new haven sharpie. There are other designs called other names. (can't think right now) I am old...63.... And hope like crazy it all comes to pass before I am so rickety and stiff that I can't enjoy it. It should be in the water this summer! We did a lot but the most extensive has been replacing the deck and all that goes with that. Setting the mast step (replaced) is the challenge at the moment.it had an epoxied deck covered with cloth ..that will be next.. Final glassine and painting. Trim work and I think we are there...
    I wish it was as easy as it sounds. Ha. My husband and I are both wood workers. I am a carver and he builds cottage name signs for a living. And he built our house from scratch himself...I feel good with him on the job now.
    Thank you... I have to crash now ...more later...maybe even pictures!
    Pungo hayden.
    Pungolee...where is this pungo swamp you are talking about? I am in pungo, va.
     
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