1930s Lapstrake Dinghy Restoration

[atmartin]

So I'm maybe in a little over my head, but this seems like a fun challenge.

I wanted a traditional carvel/lapstrake dinghy for reasons unknown, but also wanted the experience of building one. Given that my experience is limited to a pdracer, this wasn't very realistic. Somehow I managed to come across this little boat on craigslist and picked it up for $300.

The last owner had bought it, wanting to restore it, but didn't get around to it and it sat on the deck of his boat for about a year. Prior to that it was supposedly stored semi-indoors. The previous owner didn't have too much information on it except that it was mahagony on oak and 1930s era. The mast is separates into two pieces and is actually in pretty good shape. The sail is also OK, so I would guess it has at least been sailed in the last 5-10 years. The rig is a single marconi sail.

On to the bad news. . .

The boat is very very dry

Varnish is peeling off everywhere

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/4913/image1nl4.jpg (http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/4913/image1nl4.jpg)

The stem, most of the damage is fore of the swinging centerboard case

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/3790/image2zj7.jpg

Garboards separated from keel, one cracked

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/3922/image3oh7.jpg

Rear and transom more structurally sound

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/7671/image4oh7.jpg

Fore damage on the inside, several stems cracked
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/8377/image5mb0.jpg

Any hope for this?

Any books anyone would recommend on the subject of repairing/restoring lapstrake boats?

Paint or varnish? Assuming its salvageable.

Identification of the boat make?

All I've done so far is hose it down and build a little greenhouse around it with garbage bags. I have a bucket of water inside to maybe help raise the humidity; this is probably futile, but it's all I can think of at the moment and at least keeps it out of the sun.

I'm quite a beginner to this and would like to do the job right, so I welcome any and all advice. Thank you.

[Duncan Gibbs]

A great looking little boat and a great project to learn a whole lot about building and repair. I paid $200AUD for my little Mirror and have learnt heaps about ply restoration techniques. I reckon any wooden boat is worth a shot. People poopood me for taking on the Mirror, but you look at some of the restorations of these larger vessels and it's like there's nothing of the original boat left. So jump in with both feet is what I say!! :)

[Duncan Gibbs]

And fix up some proper shelter to work under or park your car outside for a while.... For ever!!! :D

[jerry bark]

lots of hope for that boat, and i agree with duncan that its a good looking little boat too.

give up the garage and get to it!

looks like you will be learning how to get out a plank, install said plank, rivet said plank and bend in new frame to said plank.

so all that will be left when you want to build one from scratch is making the stem/keel/transom and some fitting out.

good luck, do it
jerry

[ishmael]

It's a nice shape. Good materials, too. That clear cedar is marvelous.

Restoring a boat like this will teach you a great deal. Have a look see at places you think freshwater may have accumulated, and at the stem head, which I suppose because it accumulates dew and rain often goes bad.

Looks to me like the garboards are going to need replacing. That's a good exercise in rolling bevels, and maybe a bit of steaming. Tricky and frustrating trying to get that new plank in. On the other hand, throw it in the water and see how much those splits come back. They do appear to be a structural problem that needs addressing.

It's a piece of work to replace a keel on a boat like this. Doable, but more work than sistering a few frames, so have a good poke at it with a long pointy knife or ice pick.

All in all it looks like a fun project and a nice little boat. Do you imagine bringing it back to its original luster or fixing it and using it? How you go about it does depend on your answer. For example, those frames can be sistered if the ends are still sound, but that wouldn't satisfy a need for "pristine." I can see the boat, painted white with a Kirby's buff interior, one of the deep red bottom paints if it will sit on a mooring much of the time.

Good luck.

[atmartin]

Thanks all for the advice and encouragement.

The boat will be moved to the garage within a week. My truck is sitting there at the moment, torn apart and waiting for its new headgasket to come in the mail. I was thinking of keep the wood moist and maybe getting the rest of the varnish off with a heat gun in the meantime.

All in all it looks like a fun project and a nice little boat. Do you imagine bringing it back to its original luster or fixing it and using it? How you go about it does depend on your answer. For example, those frames can be sistered if the ends are still sound, but that wouldn't satisfy a need for "pristine." I can see the boat, painted white with a Kirby's buff interior, one of the deep red bottom paints if it will sit on a mooring much of the time.

At the moment, given that I'm still more of a sailor than a builder (hopefully this will change in the next few years), I was thinking more of fixing and using rather than restoring it to showroom condition. It's already far more beautiful than any dinghy I've ever sailed (all fiberglass until the acx plywood pdracer), so looks aren't really my top concern. What is very important to me is the boat's strength. I don't intend to beat the crud out of it, but I am heavy (230lbs) and wouldn't mind at least being able to accommodate another passenger, albeit a small person.

The cracked stems are sound at the ends and sides, all the damage is where they pass over the keel.

The keel seems ok, although I will have to look further into that. Assuming I keep the keel, what to do with the screw holes that the garboard screws have pulled out of?

I'm a little concerned about replacing the garboards as I've read here and elsewhere they are the hardest to replace and I'm having a harder time finding information on repairing lapstrake boats rather than building them.

I will probably trailer this and keep it in my garage unless I can find a nice mooring for it eventually.

[ishmael]

Hi,

What's your level of experience with tools and wood? Replacing those garboards is going to be a bear. I won't lie to you, it's going to take patience. How patient are you?

Not to sceer you off, because it is doable, and it is a rather nice little skif, but it will take some patience.

How much are they asking for the boat? Is the rig in decent shape?

[Jay Greer]

Go slow. Carefully remove all fastenings, then the garboards. You may be able to steam and flatten the old planks enough to use them as a rough patterns. Port and stbd. may or may not match. Fair on the new stock with a batten to bridge the missing wood. Bad sections of keel will tell you what they want for repair. We are all here to cheer you on! Niiize boat!
Jay

[Clencher]

Lovely boat – I’m jealous.

Can’t see anything there that can’t be put right. Looks to me like she might have been dropped at some time and the keel/hog has punched up vertically, splitting the garboards and cracking the timbers (ribs). The stem looks laminated in the photo. I would doubt that was original 1930s, may well have been replaced at sometime.

Lots of good advice on this forum – I know, I’ve used it and am currently in the throes of replacing garboards, having done the lower stem, foreknee, hog and sternpost.

Lots of good info in Frame, Stem and Keel Repair published by our hosts.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Hmm looks like either a Dyer, or a Peterborough Pal dinghy... both had similiar shapes, although the Peterborough was a sprit right usually... Are you sure it's mahogany as opposed to cedar?

Both of the aforementioned dinks are well worth restoring, since they have vintage value... (I have a Pal sitting out behind my shop, needing a helluva lot more than that boat. ) Take your time, and you have a drop dead gorgeous dinghy, that sails, rows, and will take a small outboard.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

http://www.yachtshare.com/images/boats/5265_1http://www.yachtshare.com/images/boats/5265_1

[atmartin]

I'm not too handy with wood or wood tools. My hobby experience is more in automotive to be honest, but I'm in no hurry to finish and intend to take my time reading up (and consulting this fine group of folks) before I break anything too badly. The most complicated thing I've built in wood was a 12' diameter yurt, which demands much less fit and finish than any boat, much less a lapstrake.

The rig is in fine shape, as is the rudder, ready to go with only a little finishing. I offered $300 and the seller accepted.

I went ahead and ordered "Frame, Stem and Keel Repair" as well as "Planking and Fastening".

It wouldn't surprise me if the planking were cedar. The previous owner thought it was mahogany, but had lost the documentation and couldn't be sure. The dimensions and look are very much like the Dyer Dink, I think that might be the one.

Thanks again for all the input and advice, I will keep a log of the progress and work done over the coming months.

[ishmael]

$ 300 bucks sounds like a decent deal. Like with anything else it's worth what someone is willing to pay for it. If you went to have it built new, and here I'm guessing(No one I know of is "manufacturing" such a boat these days), it could easily be twenty times that.

Is Dyer still in business? You might be able to find additional info. if you wrote a nice letter addressed to their archives. Assuming it is a Dyer. No builder's plate so it could be a one off by a small builder or just by a fellow who made a boat.

I assumed the planking was cedar. Having a second look at the photos I don't know. It's rather light colored to be a mahogany, yet it is remarkably clear for most cedars. Nice stock, and it seems to have weathered the ravages of time well. Aside from those splits in the garboards.

It reminds me of a Whitecap. A similar boat, a bit longer. It made its big splash, so to speak, when an eccentric newspaper guy from Cleveland, Robert Manry, fitted one with a cabin and crossed the Atlantic in it. I believe that was a Dyer. His book, "Tinkerbelle," is a fun read that goes right through it from buying the boat to hatching the dream, to actually being mid-Atlantic in a cockleshell. Not to suggest something similar in your plans.

Good luck.

[bloggs68]

Try this one on repairs - should give you all you need to know.

http://www.duck-trap.com/repairs.html

regards,

AD

[dobrosailor]

Its a labor of love, It will cost a surprising amount of money, I just did a $400 1941 16 footer for about ($1k plus sails), more of a small daysailor. Best advice is to find the nearest wooden boat repair/builder and find out what kind of beer he/she likes. There is nothing like 15 minutes with someone knowledgable. I am like you, more of a sailor and you MUST fight the urg to "git 'er done" and take it one thing at a time. You can do almost anything with a sharp plane, sawzall (cordless is best, real woodies use a band saw but I'm too cheap so cut then plane/sand to the final dimension) a great sander and west system epoxy. Wood is great, if you can enjoy the journey...

Cheers,

M

[Thorne]

Best of luck with your project.

As dobro says above, the hardest thing will be not to rush through the restoration - I found that to be true for my restoration of a Chamberlain Dory skiff -

http://www.luckhardt.com/dory1.html

[rbgarr]

Check the dimensions here for the Dyer 10 to see if they are similar to your boat: http://www.dyerboats.com/dyer_dink.html

[atmartin]

The dimensions don't quite match up.

Length is 119 3/4" for the Dink and ~114" for mine.

Beam is 54 1/2" for the Dink and ~54" for mine. (close enough I guess)