the deck on my Pearson Ensign

Yep, you'll need to reinforce the perpendicular laminate the chain plate attaches to, but this will just be some more laminate and possibly a small extension under it. You should be able to employ both plates off the same "ear". If I remember well enough the "ears" are wooden pieces, tabbed to the hull. It wouldn't be hard to make new ones.

Your plot of land sounds like mine. I could chain saw my other half and know one would know for weeks.

 

Well, PAR

Got the sawz-all and drill out yesterday and attacked the port cockpit seat. It was treated pine with stainless screws and together with the framing was almost solid 1-1/2" thick, nine feet long and three feet wide. (Heavy!) I'm guessing that what with the removal of the double layer deck and cabin, cockpit seats and the double 1"x6" treated pine floors, I've probably lightened the boat by well over 600 pounds. (The bottom of the trailer frame has risen over 3 inches from the ground since I parked it, and began tearing things out).

Today, my plan is to remove the remaining v-berth framing, the remains of the cabin bulkhead, and the homemade mast step. I'll leave the 2"x12" treated pine transom in place to keep the hull shape intact until I'm ready to replace it with epoxied plywood and glass. Next step - get the old clothes, the sawz-all, and the disc sander and tackle the inside of the hull, removing the old fiberglass tabbing and generally smoothing things out. I'm pretty sure the mast step supports will be rotten and need replacing, as well as any cabin sole supports. Fortunately, I was able to download the original construction drawings (which include dimensions and shapes for every wooden part of the original boat) from the Ensign Class website archives.

Good pointers on the chainplate loads. The drawings have the exact shape and dimensions of the chainplate attachment gussets. You are correct - they are wood, tabbed to the hull. I wonder if doubling the thickness would be sufficient or if they would need to be longer as well, to distribute the load over a wider area of the hull.

 

I would approach the chain plates differently then the way they did it. They used 1950's technology, we can likely do a tad better now. The first thing I'd address is the angle of the chain plate, which seems "out of column" on most. Ideally you want the chain plate to align with the shroud or stay. This way you don't place a twisting load as well as tension on the plate.

While the boat still has it's rig standing up take a tape measure or board up to the lower tang on the mast and align it with the cap shroud chain plate. Do this on both sides (they'll probably be different by a little), then record this angle, compared to the perpendicular mast. The cap shroud chain plate looks to be at the right angle (very nearly straight up). When you make a new wooden piece (20 to 30% longer), use two pieces of 1 by stock, glued together, with the forward side of this wooden piece on the centerline of the mast. Place the cap shroud chain plate on the forward side and the angled lower plate on the aft side. You'll have to use bigger shrouds then what you have, but you probably needed to replace these anyway, by the looks of them.

Place a length of 1x4 or whatever across the back of the boat, maybe a foot away from the transom and screw it to the flange with some drywall screws. This will lock the beam where it is and you can take out that nasty looking transom. Now but for am athwart brace (or two) you can remove the remaining bits in the hull.

Be careful you don't lose track of your tabbing locations, so when grinding, leave enough so you can relocate the bulkheads, etc. When I do something like this I'll spend a day getting measurements from known reference points. I'll usually drive a screw at the dead center of the bow on the flange. I'll attach a tape measure from this and swing an arc at maybe two points along the hull, say at 8' and at 16'. I'll mark these distances on the flange and these serve as reference points that are square with the bow and boat centerline. For example I may note the mast step is 93 and 3/8" from the bow screw and 57 1/2" from both 8' marks. This serves to triangulate the mast step location so you can't screw it up if it gets chewed up with a grinder. It's really easy to lose locations when the 'glass starts flying, so spend several hours marking everything you think is important. Especially rigging locations on the hull, the step, bulkheads, etc. Trust me the alternative really sucks.

If you're confidant you've cataloged all the important stuff, then you can grind the damn tabbing to hell, making the inside of the hull relatively smooth. Naturally, you don't want to grind through laminate you want to keep.

With the hull shell stripped and cleaned with the grinder, beg borrow or steal a laser level, preferably one that can cast a line, vertically and horizontally. When it's time to locate and mark the hull for new bulkheads, seat and v berth stringers, the laser is a real time saver. I use a "Sharpie" to mark the laser lines, because it doesn't come off easily.

You'll need 1/2" plywood on the transom, because of the aft stay. If you want this could easily be a wooden looking transom (varnished finish) with some fore thought and planning. If it was me, I'd glue and tab a piece of 3/8" to the transom flange, then I'd glue either a full piece of 1/8" over it, orienting the grain so it was pretty or cut the 1/8" plywood into say 4" to 6" wide "planks" and glue them on as if it was a real planked transom. It would be slightly stronger then a straight 1/2" piece and look a fair bit better too, but of course you'd have to take care of the varnish stuff.

 

Ensign Refurbish

Par knows his stuff. I used the laser to check hull shape and align holes along rails etc.

Recall. When I stepped the mast on my Ensign, we used a crane.

A friend and I tried to do it by ourselves, on the water, the first time, sans crane and nearly died. Long is heavy and unwieldy, even with lines for leverage.

Crane way smarter for us.

 

Great advice on the location triangulations. It had occurred to me, but it's nice to know that that's how an expert might do it. I use a similar approach when aligning trailer axles. I plan on taking good bearings of everything structural that comes out, even when modifications are planned.

Yesterday I placed athwart braces in several places on the hull to preserve the shape, screwing them to the hull flange, then removed the old homemade mast step and its bracing. I was about to tackle the remainder of the cabin bulkhead, (it's actually so delaminated that I could probably just pull it out) when my sawz-all decided to quit. May have break out the spare one.

Good ideas on the transom. I favor the 3/8" plywood with the 1/8" veneer, as I plan to laminate several layers of cloth and roving on the inside by way of a hull/transom joint. I discovered that the original fiberglass deck was light blue, based on a few small remainders still attached to the hull flange.

As far as the chainplate situation, sounds good. I could use the existing drawings, and lengthen them. I read an article in a recent issue of SAIL, detailing the importance of shroud angles and loads. If I change anything, I'll be sure to keep all this in mind.

That mast is HEAVY! The last time I handled it, it took three of us, and that wasn't trying to stab it through a deck or cabin top. Definitely not something to do every time you launch.

 

The extrusion used on the early Ensigns is heavy. The Dwyer replacement is lighter and just as strong. The mast can be stepped a few ways, with a gin pole or a bi-pod being the most back yard friendly types of this going. The gin pole isn't something that can be done at the launch ramp, but the bi-pod can be. For now, you just have to remove it, which is easier, but you still need to grab it fairly high up, if you expect some control.

This is when your buddy with the back hoe can come in handy. You can rent a cherry picker too, but the last one I rented cost $200 a day.

Trees can be mighty handy to de-stick a boat. I used a bridge to lower a mast into a boat once. I was rather young and spent 6 hours trying to hit the partner hole, eventually getting it done, but I'll never try that again.

Most of this stuff will be classic "problem solving" and part of the fun. Work safe and take pictures so your kids will have something to laugh about 10 years from now.

 

Sounds like you've had your share of mast-raising adventures! I've got a Hobie 16 that I've completely redone for the kids who like to go fast, and in order to raise the mast single-handed, I have to flip the boat up on one hull on the beach and stab the mast, then attach the forestay and right the boat.
(My wife used to work for the commodore at the local yacht club, and every time he knew of an abandoned Hobie 16 that was headed for the dumpster, he would let me know!) The boat has hulls from 2 different boats, a tramp frame from another, and mast, boom, sails, and rigging from another, but it sails just fine.

Got the sawz-all back in operation yesterday and removed the rotting cabin bulkhead, then took out the straight 2x12 pine transom (stainless screws, remnants of glass tabbing, and some kind of epoxy putty or body filler). The hull is now open from the stern to the front of the v-berth bulkhead. That's coming out next, along with the v-berth tabbing remainders. The boat is getting bigger inside every day, or so it seems. Next, I get to have fun with all that grinding and sanding! My plan is to lower the v-berth by approx. 4" to get more headroom in the cuddy, as the old v-berth was designed to go on top of a fixed marine head. New portable toilets are considerably more compact, require no thru-hulls, and are fine for daysailing.

A question or two here. I have some good clear spruce and white pine available for sheer stringers, cockpit carlins and laminated deck beams. Would this work? I remember someone recommending oak, but I also heard that some oak doesn't take glue well. Someone else suggested southern yellow pine, which is abundant here, but it is very heavy, splits easily, and is subject to rot. I can't locate any clear fir or mahogany locally. All wood will be sealed in epoxy, prior to finishing (either fiberglass, paint, or vanish). Thanks.

P.S. I'm taking pictures as I go along.

 

The spruce and white pine will work for lightly loaded parts, the yellow pine much preferred for the heavily loaded pieces. Oak is just fine to glue, but heavy and not necessary on most of the boat. If you do put a cabin back on, you'll want two oak beams on each side of the partners, maybe oak for the mast step too.

Lowering the V berth will dramatically reduce it's width. This is when a laser level comes in real handy.

 

Really appreciate the feedback on the framing stock. I almost forgot about the cypress that is available here. Most of the wooden shrimp trawlers here are cypress, some of them of decades old, and very solid. Of course most of these shrimpers were made from old growth "sinker" cypress that is getting hard to find.
After some thought, I've decided to leave the v-berth height where it is. I wouldn't gain much by lowering it, would lose width, and would have to start from scratch both finding the new tabbing locations and the panel sizes, whereas I have the existing tabbing as a reference and the dimensions of the original plywood panels from the archives of the ECA. Haven't been able to do much on the boat the last few days, due to other projects, but I did block the hull up on the trailer using the existing trailer uprights bunks and some shim material.

I have a couple of other questions. (Wonder of wonders!) If I did a crowned deck and open cockpit, how would the cockpit coamings tie in to the forward bulkhead? Would I just square off the forward cockpit bulkhead coaming, or is there graceful way to incorporate a curved coaming and still have opening cuddy cabin access? (Cabinet style doors or sliding hatch boards with a companionway sliding hatch). I know the sliding hatch would compicate things, and couldn't be very large, so maybe it's not worth the trouble. I'm getting down to the place where I need to have a definite plan to follow and stick with it. The grinding and sanding on the hull will take place next week , and I will soon be ready to start putting wood in instead of taking it out. Thanks for any advice and suggestions.

 

Cypress is weird stuff and you really have to know your stock to pick the good stuff. I'd avoid it you can. For the seat tops and sole boards, use 3/4" thick, 2 - 2 1/2" wide cedar boards, screwed to a frame, nailers or cleats. This can be left to age naturally (turns gray), you can oil it for a traditional finish or you can coat it with varnish or paint. It's also light weight and comes in several colors so you can be "stylish" if you want. On the bad side, cedar doesn't hold fasteners well. It does glue well, but because it's so light, fasteners can be pulled right out. Increasing fastener depth and bonding fasteners (epoxy) can improve holding power.

Most of the "pines" that you'll find will work well for nailers, cleats and framing material. It will glue well, holds fasteners well and is usually a very light color, which to me is a refreshing change to all the dark colors seen on varnished boats. In fact, you'll find two distinct types of pine available to you in the "delta" area, a very pale yellow and a medium yellow. The pale stuff is really light, much like cedar and has similar attributes, just slightly better then the cedar choices. The other will be the darker yellow and if you go to Lowe's/Depot, the dimensional framing supplies there will likely be all of this stuff. It may not have a real name. They'll call it white wood or SPF, neither of which tells you much. This stuff is heavier and tougher, hold fasteners well and glues well if you don't have pith or pitch pockets "bleeding" resin every where. Good stuff for everything, though I use it for the "underneath" stuff and attach good looking stuff over it.

The open cockpit, curved coming thingie is best solved with a carlin and a wedge shaped face. This is harder to describe then it is to see on a drawing or picture. The edge of a deck will have a "rim" piece surrounding it's open perimeter. This piece is the carlin and everything (decking, deck beams, etc.) including the coming is attached to it. Because it's usually square to the decking, it doesn't have the nice, desirable angle for the coming and you need a wedge shaped face either cut into the carlin (requires lots of fore thought and planning) or attached to it. It's a lot easier to make up the wedge piece and glue it to the face of the carlin then plan out a specific angle and bend it in place.

The access to the fore deck area can be accomplished a few ways, but I don't think a sliding hatch, like a companionway is a good or practical idea. The height of the storage area, without the cabin on it will be fairly low so access from the cockpit will be minimal if the seats tie into the bulkhead (which they should). This leaves a fore deck hatch and cabinet door type of arrangement as your choices.

The best thing you can do is find a refrigerator box and cut it into a fore deck and lay this on the boat with a slight crown, say 4", then see how much actual room you have. The V berth may be so cramped that only moles would be comfortable in there. I use these full size "mock ups" to figure out ergonomics and access issues all the time, so I usually have a supply of old refrigerator boxes laying around the shop. With as dramatic of changes you're making, you're just going to have to mock up seating, V berth and access points to suit your desires.

An easy way to do the seats and one that is much stronger and lighter then the original arrangement is to make plywood boxes down each side of the cockpit. These boxes would be tabbed to the hull shell and could have compartments for dry storage or maybe even a built in beer cooler. The box face needs only to be 1/4" plywood and tabbed (vertically) to the hull. The top can be 1/4" or 3/8" if you're of the big butted type and glued to the top of the 1/4" vertical pieces. Around the top of the 1/4" stuff glue some 1x2 nailers to offer some gluing surface. Also the corners of the boxes need to be well tabbed to the bulkheads or hull shell. The faces (verticals) can be curved or straight, depending on how adventurous you care to be. Naturally curved looks better and is naturally stronger, but straight is easier and saves on material a little to.

This is enough for now Grasshopper, enjoy your day of feasting and cussing at the TV (American tradition on this day to those non Americans).

 

I've taken some measurements, and will do the refrgerator box mock-up, but I can tell already that there is going to be very little headroom above the existing v-berth, if it is rebuilt as is. I'm considering just removing the v-berth altogether and just raising the floor several inches, which would create a simple flat area under the deck for storage, with floor hatches for the battery box, etc. My concern is: how much hull rigidity does the v-berth provide, would I lose some designed in strength by removing it, and would this leave the hull and deck to absorb the rigging loads unsupported by any structure (other than the tabbed in chainplate support) from the floor to the deck? Of course there will be mast partner beams, deck beams, sheer stringers, and full width bulkheads fore and aft of this area, so maybe this isn't really an issue. I realize that I'm exploring a lot of options, but I've sometimes found that the best solutions are the simplest and least obvious.

Oh, by the way, I did some research on flush deck cabins, in particular the J-24. It seems to me that this concept could work if modified somewhat. The J-24 has what I assume would be called a blister deck, in that it is fairly flat by way of the foredeck, then it rises to form a cabin. I was thinking that this might work, but would simplify it to a straight crowned deck, with access from the cockpit. Great idea on the cockpit seats, Thanks again for the advice and feedback.

 

I had forgotten about the Ensign/Electra connection. Thought this would help: http://www.google.com/search?client...urce=hp&q=electra sailboat&btnG=Google Search

Particularly this one: http://www.pieliminations.com/Jollytime/restore.htm

 

I'm not sure why I didn't see this post when it appeared, but don't be too worried about the V berth. The laminate on your boat is pretty thick and tough, though the berth does offer something. If you were to race her hard, you'd want it back, but if just sailing her casually, don't sweat it.

Yep, as I mentioned the under foredeck area will be tight, just dry storage really, unless you put in a cabin. Yes, the J-24 is a blister deck. I would make it a lovely compound set of curves and diagonally mold it from two layers of 1/8" plywood. This would eliminate the need for most of the deck beams. You could also use a single layer of 1/8" plywood over some foam (plywood both sides of course) and make a composite deck that also eliminates most of the deck beams. Both would be strong, light and shapely.

 

I mocked up a deck using temporary deck beams, with a 4" crown as suggested, at the existing cabin bulkhead, (roughly 11' from the bow and 3' aft of the mast location) and ran a temporary stringer from the bow to this beam. I used a 3" crown for the deck beam aft of the cockpit and tapered it to 1-3/4" crown at the transom. The cockpit side decks are 9" wide.

 

Okay, so how did it look? Sometimes it's hard to visualize these sort of things "in the rough", but if you close one eye and squint a little . . . If it was me, I wouldn't decrease the deck crown so much aft. In fact, I'd carry the same crown from stem to stern and have the "blister" stick up through it, naturally with a different crown.