Restoring a 30 foot Knarr

[wachacha]

Hey All-
I just found this forum today; I can see I'm going to be spending more time here! What a resource!
Okay, here's my question. I bought my 30 foot Knarr in June, and have sailed her twice. I saw daylight through a seperation between two of the slats in the aft section of my boat, above the waterline near the transom. It's a triangular shaped section of wood, and the leak is caused by a crack in the seal between the slats. So how do I fix this? Perhaps I should mention I've only had minimal hull repair experience and that was in fiberglass...
The crack is micro small, like a milimeter and only pulls in water on a port tack. I've bought some cotton batten and the wee tool to cram it in there, and cecaflex (sp?), but I wanted to see if you guys had any suggestions before I went ahead and did this. Thanks in advance!
p.s.
I'm doing this repair tomorrow, as I have a sailing date on Wednesday...thanks again!


[This message has been edited by wachacha (edited 09-29-2001).]

[Dale Harvey]

Trying to put cotten into the crack you describe will likely do damage. Traditional seam compound is what you should be useing. Study this seemingly minor problem VERY thoughly before proceeding. There may be a hidden reason for the seam opening in an otherwise tight vessel. Make certain that any repair you effect will not trap freshwater and start rot. If in the slightest doubt, seek and pay for the very best level of professional advice. It will be a cheap investment!

[wachacha]

Thanks Dale! I decided against repairing the problem the other day until I had some more opinions in. My first course of action has been to keep a (salt water) wet towel on the area, to try to give the seam a chance to swell by itself. Sadly I'm terribly poor, too poor to have a professional check it out but if I can I will have someone come and look at it.
Thanks again, all input is welcome!

[Ed Harrow]

Love your occupation, LOL.

There's more than a few hangers-on here that call SanFran home, maybe we can shame one of them into giving you some advice. If worse comes to worse we can start naming names...

[Bob Cleek]

Sounds like from the above that you are on SF Bay. Out of San Rafael, here... Here's the deal on Knarrs... As you may know, there is a very active Knarr class association on the Bay. Get in touch with them if you haven't already. The Knarrs are all identical and of an age that has most of them going through repair and restoration at present. They have the Knarr World Championships here on a rotating basis every three years or so... only place outside of Scandahoovia, I believe. I am sure other Knarr owners will be able to help you.

There is a boatbuilder named Al Blair who works mobile out of San Rafael. Al specializes in restoring Knarrs and probably knows as much about fixing them as anybody around. I hear he is very reasonable. I don't have a number for him directly, but you can call Matt Butler at San Rafael Yacht Harbor at 415-456-1600 and I am sure Matt will give you Al's number. If Al is too pricey, there is also a fellow named Bruce Bradfute, who, although he is now a CPA, used to be a very good boatbuilder who also specialized in Knarrs. He owned one and raced it very successfully a few years back. Bruce is super good people. I don't know his number, but Matt Butler could probably put you in touch with him as well. I'm just about certain Bruce isn't doing boat work for money anymore, but I expect he'd be happy to talk Knarrs with you and give you some advice. Bruce's boat was called "Alice" and could even be the one you have now. (Powder blue topsides...)

BTW... It just occurred to me I'm pretty certain I have a nearly brand new set of Knarr sails in storage. One of the Knarr owners apparently used them briefly and then thought another set would make his boat go faster (This is a disease with racers who have too much money! LOL) so he tossed the nearly new sails and I grabbed them. I'd played with the idea of recutting the main for my boat, but that's down on my list of project priorities. I might be tempted to part with them.... e-mail me if you are interested.

[This message has been edited by Bob Cleek (edited 10-05-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Bob Cleek (edited 10-05-2001).]

[wachacha]

Ed, start shaming, I'm poor and need the advice... http://media5.hypernet.com/~dick/ubb/smile.gif
Bob, wow, you're a font of info! I've heard of Al; the gentleman who sold me the boat mentioned him, but once again, as a poor dockworker I can only afford what I can do myself. I called him once but he never called me back, and honestly I didn't want to bug him. Perhaps the fact that it was just before the Knarr invitationals had something to do with it. I will investigate a bit more with the info you've provided. Happily I do have a full compliment of sails, but I'll keep it as an option if you don't mind, until you cut them down.
Again thanks all for the responses! Wow!

[Ed Harrow]

Bob's really the fish for whom I was trolling - not certain who else is in the San Fran area. Gary Bergman, perhaps, but he's off line at the moment, don't know when he'll surface.

[Bob Cleek]

Blair had a yard in San Rafael, but lost his lease and had to decomission the operation and move to a smaller shop. He has been busy doing that for a while and you may have caught him at a bad time. I'd try him again if you can.

Hey, don't feel bad about not being able to afford it! I hate to admit what has had to be deferred on my boats over the years for the same reason. If you don't work on your own boat, I don't see how anybody can really afford to own a wooden boat unless they are made of money and happy to flush it down the toilet! LOL If the boat is over in Marin, e-mail me and maybe I can find time to take a look at it for you. I can't guarantee I'll be able to diagnose the problem, but you neva kno....

[mark]

I've got a Knarr 30 too. It's a 1958 build in Denmark. Any ideas where and when your boat was built? Can you post some pix? Don't do anything major (or expensive) until you've had a chance to go over every inch of the boat YOURSELF. Particularly check the transom, even if you have to use a mirror and a flashlight through the aft air intake. Transoms are the first place rot starts. There's a million other things to tell you but this is a start. Grab those sails off Bob if you can. I'll buy them if you don't.

I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

mark t.