Craftsmanship Hull and deck
YARD NEWS . BOATBUILDER’S NOTES . TOOLS RESTORING PATNA PART TWO
Greg Powlesland and team get stuck into fi xing the fundamentals on his 55ft 1920 Nicholson yawl
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t is late October 2006 with Patna safely under cover in a workshed at Gweek Quay boatyard. Now her elegant underwater lines can be seen, explaining the almost fervent enthusiasm previous owners have expressed about her seakindly performance. However, this perfect hull form is but a bundle of hundreds of pieces of wood, clenched and screwed together by thousands of fastenings. In old age these deteriorate, allowing fractional movement with the tell-tale signs of planks lying slightly out of line. The only cure is refastening, a monumental task, with three out of four breaking off at the head when we attempt to renew them. This exemplifi es restoration work: overcoming what appears to be impossible and fastidiously attending to every detail, so that original material may be retained, while fi nishing up with a completely sound hull. With broken fastenings, for example, each one must be drilled out using a special tubular toothed device that cuts around the embedded shank until it comes away. The hole must then be plugged before a new screw or dump is driven home. For through fastenings, punching out is an option. If the wood is too riddled with holes or rot, it may require replacement. Patna needed extensive refastening,
Below: Patna on last month’s cover
Classic Boat
www.classicboat.co.uk T H E W O R L D’ S M O S T B E A U T I F U L B O A T S
Falling in love again
Couple restore second Nicholson
FAIRLIE 55 Stunning bold modern classsic
MOTOR BOATING WITH Rachmaninov
CB 285 Cover
A8.indd 1
BY DRASCOMBE TO BODIAM Up river from Rye
The Falmouth 18-footers RESCUING THE IRON LADY
UNRESTRICTED FUN!
WOODSTAIN OR VARNISH? Readers’ verdict
30/01/2012 14:33 MARCH 2012 £4.50
particularly her plank ends and her 38 galvanised fl oors, straps and knees. She also required 24 new oak lower futtock frames, a renewed sternpost, a couple of short sections of deck beam and a single 4ft (1.2m) length of hull plank. All of the keel, deadwood and stem structure was found to be sound, as were the beam shelves – the bilge stringers too, though these had to be sprung and refastened to facilitate the framing work. David Walkey, under surveyor David Cox, was responsible for the technical aspects of the hull restoration, while we would look after the design and aesthetics, the interior work, new deckhouse and rig. The huge 1950s deckhouse was removed by Richard Barnet, an old friend who took over my post in running the boatbuilding school at the maritime museum in Falmouth. He recommended fi rst-class students Paul Merrington and James Batten, whom we employed on the project along with Andrew Massey, shipwright. The team also included Chris Jones and shipwright Mark
76 CLASSIC BOAT APRIL 2012
Stainer during the replacement of frames and fl oors. One of the prime causes of failure in the framing of these early yachts is due to the practice of pairs of frames being joined together by steel bolts while the planking is copper fastened, the ensuing electrolysis causing deterioration of the frame around the steel. Tollesbury shipwright ‘Mouse’ and Fred Lockwood, the previous owner, had devised various ways of counteracting this problem, insulating fastenings with Tufnol washers and constructing a sort of ring frame in steel girders around the mast step and up to the shroud plates. This we removed and Paul had the unenviable task of taking out the old Perkins engine and cleaning up the oily bilge area.
“Overcoming what appears to be impossible”
NINE TONS OF LEAD Mr Walkey advised refastening the fl oors with longer bronze bolts because the previous ones were so deeply bedded in the planking that the structural integrity of the garboard area was endangered. With over 9 tons of lead bolted underneath these fl oors, the bolts pulling through the planking would be disastrous, and, at the very least, any movement would cause leakage in a seaway. Thus the existing holes were plugged and the longer bolts shallow-bedded instead. Some of the fl oors were
rusted, requiring welding, sand blasting, re-galvanising and priming, before being re-bedded into the hull and fastened securely to the new copper riveted frames. A new Beta 5-cylinder 62hp diesel engine was installed aft, powering twin hydraulic folding props and an anchor winch.
Then, after repairs to the deck beams and lodging knees, every surface of the interior was scraped, sanded, primed and undercoated by Ken Hays. Finally, the bilge area was painted with Danboline and the tanks reinstalled, the cabin sole bearers now comprising 50 per cent renewed timber.
Most of the hull planking required splining. By gluing the pitch-pine splines to only one edge of each plank, a narrow caulking seam could be retained while allowing a tight fi t on the inside of the hull. When caulked up and payed, this gave the hull a ring instead of a dull thud when tapped with a mallet.
CLASSIC BOAT
MARCH 2012 . ISSUE No 285
PATNA . FAIRLIE 55 . 18-FOOTERS . WOODSTAIN
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