Graduate 2024 Innuendo Restoration - Part 2: The rebuild starts
by Andrew Wilford 17 Jun 2012 07:30 BST
Restoration
After the removal of all her fittings “Innuendo” was painstakingly stripped right back to the bare wood using a combination of Nitromors, Burning and sanding. The most delicate and tricky job was removing the “West Resin” which had been smeared around the boat in an attempt to seal leaks. Having removed all the years of paint and varnish I wrapped and sealed the boat in a plastic bag (actually 2 King Size Mattress bags) having placed a dehumidifier inside first. The amount of water which came out was truly stunning and it took a full week before no more could be withdrawn. Having done this the true extent of the damage became self evident. Years of water ingress had simply washed away the original glues with joints which had simply sprung open. All the joints were subsequently inspected and re-fixed where necessary. Worst of all was an area so rotten near the transom it simply fell apart in my hands!
I was anxious to retain as much of the original “Innuendo” as I could in the reconstruction but try as I may the rear bulkhead and its supporting structure was beyond it and badly perished.
As far as possible I did not want to mask problems with paint and so I attempted to restore the interior ply colour and remove the staining. This I did with a fantastic “timber bleach” called Net-Trol. The evidence of this can be seen.
Having basically stripped the boat back to the bare bones and beyond I was surprised to find how many of the screws used in her construction were made from simple steel or galvananised steel. The resultant corrosion made them extremely difficult to remove. Also surprising was what I felt the unnecessary use of heavy timber sections (eg. Around the transom area) and totally the reverse under the mast step. This latter area was beefed up considerably as illustrated to take account of the increased stresses and loading from a new metal mast.
Earlier attempts at re-decking “Innuendo” had resulted in the smooth curve of the foredeck being compromised somewhat. To restore the original shape I glued thin strips of mahogany to the cross beams and carefully shaped this back to the original contour.
I decided to incorporate within the re-build a more modern and up to date decking arrangement with angled side decks and built in buoyancy. By doing this I was also able to remedy the unsightly “butchering” of the transom and dispense with the transom horse arrangement.
Prior to fixing the new deck panels the whole boat was cleaned inside and treated with Epiglass. The original joint between the hull and the front bulkhead had already been found to be suspect as had the scarf joint beneath it.
Liberal coating of Epiglass inside the tanks sealed this completely. This was tested by filling the front tank with water and leaving it for two days. Nothing dripped out from underneath and nothing seeped into the cockpit. The inside of all the tanks was then coated with International Danbolin bilge paint. All the joints between the cockpit floor and the tank sides treated with an epoxy fillet for added strength.
Judging by the amount of epoxy daubed around the plate case I felt it was fair to assume that the boat had leaked around the joint. Upon turning the boat over and removing the keel (it virtually fell off due to the original adhesive having “washed out” I was amazed to find that the plate case was fixed with plain steel screws. These had corroded so badly removal was impossible. After discussion with a local boat builder who looked at the problem it was felt that the joint between the hull and the plate case was, in the main, good. Rather than remove the case the area inside the case was cleaned, sanded, and a groove chiselled out to be filled with resin. Twelve large stainless
steel screws were then screwed (6 either side) through the keel and into the case having moments earlier trowelled lashings of resin into the joint. At this point I had to take care to remove surplus resin otherwise the centreboard would have fouled.
On the inside, in the cockpit, I similarly cut out a small groove around the joint prior to treating the whole area with a thin coat of Epiglass. Having earlier purchased two lengths of mahogany quadrant moulding I planed off the back to leave a flat and then carefully cut this to size. Since I knew this would have to be pinned in place I drilled pilot holes at 3” intervals to take brass panel pins. Having mixed up a really thick resin and glue mix this was applied liberally in the joint between the plate case and the hull. I then immediately offered up the quadrant moulding, pushed it firmly against the front bulkhead and quickly knocked the pins in place. The resin mix oozed out but I feel confident enough remains behind and within the joint to provide total integrity. The surplus resin was then quickly wiped off with solvent.
Part 3: Re-decking can be found here