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Bowsprit repair/replace

  • July 14, 2012 7:26 AM
    Quote
    Reply # 1009268 on 1005810
    Anonymous

    Jim and Mike, I agree with having enough ground tackle.  I think my main anchor will be a 60 lb CQR.

    Yesterday after work I went to the boat to get started removing what I could to prepare for removing the bowsprit today. I was starting to remove the navigation lights and started thinking about how old the wiring was ….almost 40 yrs old! So I just cut it instead. I will rewire it. Surprisingly all the bolts and turn buckles were easy to remove. I was able to remove the staysail boom, both forward stays, bobstay and loosened the nuts on the aft bolt that goes through the Samson posts and bowsprit.

    Today I will remove the pulpit and whisker stays then the three bolts through the deck. So far so good! I will remove and inspect the whisker stay chain plates and bolts just to be safe.

    Time to head to the boat. I'll post some pictures tonight of the bowsprit removed.

    https://picasaweb.google.com/101114939314171211092/BowspritReplacement#5765026195806235986

    https://picasaweb.google.com/101114939314171211092/BowspritReplacement#5765026114801885090

    https://picasaweb.google.com/101114939314171211092/BowspritReplacement#5765026421942837506

     
  • July 15, 2012 10:20 PM
    Quote
    Reply # 1010599 on 1005810
    Anonymous

    Yesterday I showed up at the marina to remove the bow sprit. I had gone on Friday and removed the stays. All in all the removal went quite well. I was a bit surprised at the amount of rot that I found. The center bronze bolt thru the deck was a bit harder to get out but when I did get it out it was wet! The stainless steel bolt that goes through the Samson post was about half way rotted through. There was water that had leaked down the port Samson post and into the chain locker bulkhead. The port side post had so rot and the bulkhead was really rotten. I pulled both the Samson post and will make new ones.

    Today Sunday I started taking the bowsprit apart at home in the garage.  For the most part it came apart easily. Once I took the platform off and the anchor roller the three pieces of mahogany almost completely came apart at the glue joints. I could also see in the aft end of the sprit there was a lot of rot. When I started trying to get the stainless steel nose piece (Dang, the name if it escapes me right now!) off by hitting it with a rubber mallet the center aft board fell out from the center bronze bolt location all the way to the aft end. This board was really wet and musty smelling.  At this point all I have left to do is remove the nose piece. It seems to be really stuck on. Any ideas?

       A few of my marina mates showed up to help in the removal and then helped me load it into my truck. So many thanks to Marty, John and Wes for the help.

    How do I post a picture and not just the link?

    https://picasaweb.google.com/101114939314171211092/July152012#5765619758486152770

    https://picasaweb.google.com/101114939314171211092/July152012#5765620064295730466

    https://picasaweb.google.com/101114939314171211092/July152012#5765620491580394450

    https://picasaweb.google.com/101114939314171211092/July152012#5765620739568336962

    https://picasaweb.google.com/101114939314171211092/July152012#5765620965416035202

    https://picasaweb.google.com/101114939314171211092/July152012#5765621674650758562

    https://picasaweb.google.com/101114939314171211092/July152012#5765621724074769378

    https://picasaweb.google.com/101114939314171211092/July152012#5765622371598843634

     
  • July 16, 2012 4:06 PM
    Quote
    Reply # 1011414 on 1005810
    Deleted user

    James,

    Check your privacy settings on your Picasa albums. That may be the problem. I couldn't your posted links to work.

    Werner
  • July 16, 2012 4:37 PM
    Quote
    Reply # 1011432 on 1005810
    Anonymous member
    Stainless wood does not rot.
  • July 17, 2012 6:31 AM
    Quote
    Reply # 1011985 on 1005810
    Anonymous member
    Yikes! I thought mine was bad... that sounds like a major case of rot. 

    If you stick with wood you might consider doing what I've done.  Once my new bowsprit was shaped and drilled I gave it a couple coats of thinned West Systems Epoxy to 'impregnate' the wood (including the holes).  Then a couple coats of two part Urethane paint (for U/V protection).  Thus 'waterproofed' it should last longer than me this time around :)

    I think the cause of so many replacements is because the threaded rod(s) fit so close it is virtually impossible to keep the numerous holes caulked properly with 'regular' marine sealant. Water wicks/seeps inside around the threaded rod & bolts and then it is just a matter of time. 

    I 'countersunk' all the holes after drilling and when I re-assemble it I will be using butyl rubber tape this time around.  See here for info:

    http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/rebedding_hardware

    It's using deck hardware as an example but you get the picture.

    As far as getting the end cap off I simply sawed the cap off (cutting off the end of the bowsprit right behind the cap) and chipped the wood out with a chisel.

    One final thing. Not sure if mine is/was different but I also 're-engineered' the spacer/wedge underneath the bowsprit.  My wedge was 3" wide sitting under a 4" wide bowsprit.  This made it difficult to keep caulked not to mention leaving gaps here & there (inboard the windless supports, etc.) to catch dirt and/or grow crap.  It was also too short creating a small 'pocket' underneath the bowsprit & between the sampson posts.  So I made a new spacer/wedge 4" wide and long enough to support the bowsprit all the way aft to the end of the bowsprit.
  • July 17, 2012 11:05 AM
    Quote
    Reply # 1012215 on 1005810
    Anonymous

    I've posted these photos before.  In case you didn't see them, this is our solution
    to using wood. We changed over to Bud's SS bow sprite about ten years ago
    and it is on our list of best things we've done.  No more varnishing or worrying
    about rot. It also made mounting the Lofrans electric windless easier 
    This year we removed it to have the u-bolt added for jacklines, etc. That led
    to having it polished, which led to the SS knights heads.  Things tend to 
    snowball on us. Our wooden Knights heads were well worn from from many 
    years of anchoring. At the time of changing over our wooden bow sprite was
    near perfect and we gave it to another Westsailor.  But we believe it was 
    worth the expense and would recommend stainless, especially for a cruising
    boat.  The idea of the U-bolt was Dave Brown's (WS 32 Mandalla) who
    also fabricated the Knights heads, which turned out to be a work of art..

    Jim



     



     

     
    Last modified: July 17, 2012 11:18 AM | Anonymous
  • July 17, 2012 4:24 PM
    Quote
    Reply # 1012430 on 1005810
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

     Long links are an issue as well as the Picasa permissions -I think this is his public picasa site. 

    When you what to post a link there is a Link button on the upper bar - you hightlight something in your test and pick the Link > Insert Link - then paste the url into the upper box.  Save and you get a link like the above.

    Jay
  • July 20, 2012 7:41 AM
    Quote
    Reply # 1015541 on 1005810
    Anonymous

    Jay,

    Lets see if I can get this right! Here is a picture of my bowsprit. FYI, I am out of town for the week in MO. My daughter is graduating from Army basic training! I'll be back on the bowsprit project next week.
  • July 21, 2012 9:01 AM
    Quote
    Reply # 1016210 on 1005810
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    James: the link is good but I think you need to make the page visible to the Public -- and I think the url will change.  Try using the url's found after you view the album and on the right. Use the Paste link in email or IM url --

    Congrats on your daughter basic training graduation -- been there with my son in 2005 and later he spend 15 months in AF as a Combat Engineer with the 4th of the 82nd!

    Jay

    Last modified: July 21, 2012 9:04 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)
  • August 03, 2012 7:02 AM
    Quote
    Reply # 1037811 on 1005810
    Anonymous

    Jay,

    Sorry for the slow response. Thanks for the congratulations on my daughter finishing boot camp. She is now in AIT at Fort Leonard Wood, then back to college at WSU.

    Here are a couple of update pictures of the progress on the bowsprit replacement. Skip (Westsail Hull #143 Delta Belle) came over to help last Sunday. He finished digging out the rotten plywood between and near the Samson posts. He is a great help and a really nice fellow!

    My bowsprit and Samson posts are being made by H&L Marine nearby. I expect to have them back by the last week of August if not sooner.

    https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/IyN5qi2-TdF6ILOgyqWlPtMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

    https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/t3AoBGdXMPTbo4oQESBe5dMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

    Dang it I still can't get the picture to show! Am I lame or what!

    Last modified: August 03, 2012 7:06 AM | Anonymous
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