Soaking the Keel

This step that I plan is also somewhat out of line with the conventioanl wisdom, but but I got the idea from reading a book by a professional sailboat builder. He says that in initial construction he always soaks his keel really well with linseed oil and kerosene to get it to expand to its full size to be built around. the kerosene is really just a thinner to get better oil penetration, and should evaporate pretty quickly. My fungus research led me to the information that black copper oxide powder (unlike the red used for anti-fouling) is deadly to most fungi. I bought some to experiment with for a couple bucks, and I think I'm going to add that to my thinned linseed oil. I'm having a surprising amount of trouble finding kerosene, the filling stations that have pumps for it around here are telling me they are out. Probably not high profit enough for todays price gouging gas stations to carry. I might just thin with paint thinner which I already have on hand. If this concoction does not react and bubble up or explode when I mix it I am going to paint it onto the keel. The copper should keep this important member that is almost always wet from rotting for a long long time, and the linseed oil will hopefully expand the wood meaning less time in the cradle and less sweating over whether or not she will float when that critical day comes. I plan to do this while I am busy painting above the waterline to give it a couple days to soak in and dry before moving on to painting the bottom. After which time I can continue applying it periodically from the inside until she goes into the water. Once I get her in the water I am going to just throw the rest of the black copper oxide into the bilge to float around and hopefully kill any organism that has plans of causing rot in my boat. Some people pour bleach in the bilge which does kill fungi, but is also reactive with the copper wood treatment already on most of my wood, not to mention caustic if it is undiluted or somehow concentrated, so the bleach I've already used in the deconstruction is as much as I want to use.

Contemplating the Bottom

I have sanded the bottom of my Owens, and done a little patching, screwing down the corner of an old pacth that was loose, and screwing silicone and plywood inside to cover a small crack made by the bunk trailer she came down here on. I'm going to get some more epoxy and make sure that patch is watertight from the outside. I've wire brushed and picked old caulk from the 4 joints that run the length of the boat, and somewhat hapazardly smeared caulk over the joints in the plywood running across the beam. I didn't pick them because they seem to be relatively good, and I'd have to wreck too much of the old paint surface including a few patches that appear to be epoxy or something almost as hard. I've sanded the entire bottom surface in an effort to assure adhesion of the new paint.

My original thought was to go with what they call the west system, and epoxy her inside and out to be watertight, but after a little research and evaluation of the funds on hand I have just about decided that replacing the paint similar to the way I found it will be the best bet. Some experts say the epoxy although it will make her tougher and tighter for the short term may eventually trap water inside the wood leading to irreversible decay. This school of thought says a boat should breathe and be able to release any trapped moisture. Seeing as both points of view make sense, and the later one fits my budget a little better I'm probably just going to paint her bottom.

The next question is what paint to use. I have some wood sealer with a wood preservative ingredient that was actually made for exterior decks that I scrounged in the bent can and color mistake section of Wal-mart for a really good price. I haven't decided yet if that is a good compromise basecoat a little less intense than the epoxy but hopefully providing a decent seal and some additional rot protection. I have some good oil base paint which is what I'm definitely going with above the waterline, and probably as the second coat on the bottom and maybe even the first. A cool guy from Romania at the marina named Mike gave me some genuine antifouling bottom paint which will be the final outter coat. Judging from the labels on the cans, and how rusty they are this paint has been around since like 1980 or so, but it is the real thing, and still liquid when you take the lid off. At the moment, although still undecided I think these three paints, with maybe two good coats of the oil will be my bottom finish. I may skip the wood preservative step, I feel a little funny about it, but I can't find any good information one way or the other as to what to really expect to happen if I use it.

Plywood On

Work continues on my 1963 Owens Baroness Flagship. This was a really nice single inboard motor yacht cabin cruiser when it was new. Mine has seen a little neglect, but retains a lot of original features, and will be restored as far as my motivation and pocketbook will allow.

I spent $60 on one sheet of plywood, and I didn't even get the mahogany like was originally on her. The closest I could come at a local lumber yard was okume for $90, and not getting what I wanted, I opted a little cheaper for douglas fir marine plywood. The hull is 3/8 inch plywood, and getting the patches cut and installed took a couple of days. Bending the big patch to starboard changed its shape and required several trims and even a little cussing to get it to fit, but even then I'd probably still be fighting it without the help of the guys working on the next boat over to push and prod it into place.

I epoxied the edges before installing, and where it wasn't trimmed it was already edge sealed before installation. I then epoxied inside and out with two coats of real marine grade two part epoxy at the low price of $58 per 1/2 gallon off of e-bay. So basically for about $120 and a lot of hard work I now have a sound hull. If I had gotten the mahogany and treated it with a copper wood preservative like the original manufaturer used I might could have dispensed with the epoxy, but with the fir's well known tendency to check when damp, especially when bent I felt like the epoxy was the right way to go.

Once the new plywood was bent and sealed I built up the few places where I decided patching with epoxy would be smarter than cutting out anymore plywood. Naturally, my half gallon of epoxy wasn't up to the task, and I ran out with some cavities below a smooth surface. A little hemming and hawing convinced me it was sealed and structurally strong enough that two little $2 tubs of latex wood filler from K'Mart would finish the repair. I slappedthat on and smoothed it roughly flat with my putty knife assuming it would be relatively easy to sand. Epoxy and microfibre is really hard to sand, and I figured this route would give me a better finish. It wasn't as hard as the epoxy, but I gave up before obtaining a perfect surface. I think the paint will cover what I left, and I sanded as much as I could stand that particular morning.

Anyway, above are pictures with the plywood in, and then with the patching done.

Overview at the end of June

I should probably take a minute to make the plan for this boat project clear. I am rebuilding her in three stages. Step one is to rework the hull and make sure she is sound. Step two will be to get the engine running. Step three will be to cosmetically rework the topside exterior. And, step four will be to work on the interior of the cabin to make her livable. The timeframe plan at the moment is to have a sound hull and a running motor by the end of July, and to then move in an live aboard spending spare time finishing the job topside. So far things are going well. I actually have the plywood installed for the hull patches, and am ready to start sealing with epoxy, sanding, and repainting. But, I was so tired when I finished bending the plywood into shape and screwing it in that I forgot to take the pictures. I hope I remember to do that first thing tomorrow before I get too far to capture images of this step. Above is the picture I promised you of the starboard side with everything removed and ready for repairs.

Removing the Bad Plywood to Port

The plywood on the port side aft was actually in a little better shape. I got most of what was bad out with no tools at all, and only had to unscrew about 5 screws in the rub rail which remained in place. The lower part was able to be saved, so it looked at first like a small patch job about halfway down the side and about 3 feet from the stern. I got out the circular saw and squared everything up to take a patch. Of course, it turned out to be more complicated than that since the stretcher the plywood screws to turned out to be rotten about 6 feet forward of the stern. With a lot of careful work, chiseling dowel pins out of the top gunwhale it was possible to remove it and replace it with about $20 worth of solid mahogany. This is what she looked like at the end of this work on the port side.

Removing the Starboard Aft Plywood

It took a couple of days fighting stripped screws and old caulk, but the soft plywood section on the starboard aft is now removed. There are a few small areas where the plywood of the next sheet were a little soft, but for the most part I have a good straight line to butt the new sheet onto. The remainder has been treated with bleach and water to stop rot, and I should be able to rebuild it with epoxy and sawdust or maybe mircofibre which a friend at the marina has offered to provide for free. I may go with a little more antifungal before I go to build her in. I have some black copper oxide powder which is supposed to be absolute death to any fungus, but I haven't figured out yet how to apply it where it will stay put, but not be encased and nullified by the epoxy without being in contact with the wood. Maybe if it does its job just before the epoxy goes on maybe it won't have to stay put, and the epoxy will go over wood that is clean of rot dangers.

The disassembly went like this.

1. Grab obviously bad plywood with hand and pull, probably 50% of what needed to come off was this easy.

2. Look for screws holding what was left, remove screws and pull off.

3. Remove molding (solid mahogahny still good at bottom but needing replacement at top) This was the longest step because you have to dig a lot of caulk to get to the screw heads, and then about half of them were already in bad shape from a previous repair. It took about a half of day but I got everything apart without destroying anything that could have been saved, and have the parts ready to go back together.

Here is a picture of her at this stage. I apologize for the soda bottle in the middle, but hey, this is thirsty work, and I had to work the next morning. This picture is actually just before removing the bottom "molding" and you can still see a little of the olf plywood in place at the bottom right. I'll try to remember to take my camera and replace this shot with one after it was finished. The center of this butt joint is actually an added piece of plywood from a previous repair, but it is servicable and I will rebuild on it.

Finally Arrived

Well after some begging and some money spent I found a hauling company that would bring my old Owens to her new home. What I didn't know when I was arranging the hauling was that marinas were going to be about as hard to convince to store a wooden boat as the trucking companies were to tow her. I had to call dozens of marinas and eventually offer to pay 6 months storage, lift fees, and a disposal deposit all up front. That all came to about two thousand, and so with a lighter pocket book, but fewer month by month worries I have her blocked in a good yard and ready to start work on.

Even after going through all this the marina owner, who is a really nice guy, had serious reservations. He offered to give me a much newer fiberglass boat, and dispose of this one. It was a very good offer, but what can I say, I am in love with this old girl, and me and her are going to see this project through to the end. Here is a photo of her in her new home.

Shipping all set

Well, I finally got the shipping all set. It's going to cost about $700, and she'll be here next Wednesday. I have two part epoxy, sanders, rollers, linseed oil, paint, and a bunch of other stuff ready here and waiting. I'm kind of disappointed to not have gotten this done quicker, but I did save $250. I also have a lot of research and a full plan of action for getting it done.