Hi,

I am in the process of redecking my boat and I would like some advice please.

The boat is a phantom kipper and came with a needlespar mast. The mast diameter and the deck slot width are about the same ( 54mm or 2 1/8 inches). If I had to replace the mast for any reason, will all the standard masts fit in the slot or do I need to expand the slot a little. Also, the boat did not have a metal gate but rather a short lenght of rope. Is this correct or should I have a metal gate?

Last question. I was also thinking of installing an inspection hatch in the forward tank. Can anybody tell me if this is a bad idea?

Many thanks for any help

Steve

i've never understood why merlin foretanks dont have hatches, but assuming your bunghole lets all the water out (and water rarely gets in) i suppose you dont need one. that way no-one can put maggots in your tankfor a laugh either...

i do get a bit paranoid about damp though!

There's a good article in Dinghy sailing about some optimistic chap rebuilding Krakatoa Alan warrens Expectant circa 1967, as time passes we se how cobbled together those pretty M/R's in wood were. His decks just fell off!
Re the mast allow for at least a 2.5" mast if replaced.
All hatches leak so whu do it?

Haven't seen the article but I gather from Hywel that all the work is done.  I sailed Krakatoa last year before the refit.  Only a couple of fittings fell off and the leaks were not too bad.  Still went pretty well and you have to sail a boat of that vintage to realise what a pig to tack a wide Merlin is!

Hywel, you had better look after that boat with slightly more than the usual B-P maintenance programme!  Who's sailing her for the Nationals & is Al Warren going to have a go?

You probably want to allow a min of 65mm for the mast gate although most alli sections are in the mid 50's (mm) in cross section you should fit the appropriate rienforcment plates to the mast in that area to prevent accidental damage (spar builder supplied) check out various spar builder supplier webb sites.
If you have a strut fitted the mast can't fall down therefore you dont need a string/metal gate plate.
Modern hatches properly fitted are fine, as Mags states the peace of mind is well worth it alone. Use a hatch with a sealing 'rubber' O ring built in & try & avoid screws they always tend to catch your spray top and worst still they hurt!

RWO or Seasure hatches are best. More expensive but well worth it. R4050 or 18-72 I think.

I always use the RWO hatches and they never leak. We had them in the floor of our double-bottomed GP14. They spent an entire Force 6 24hour race virtually underwater, and afterwards there wasn't a single drop of water in the under-floor buoyancy tanks. So they don't leak.

Thanks for all the help.

I'd rather get it right before I put a new deck on and like Mags, I was worried about seeing any damp.

Steve

Hi steve, I'm also about to embark on restoring my Phantom kipper. I'm not sure if I'll be redecking her as yet but I do need to replace the gunwhales with new...are you doing this job? If so I'd be interested to know how you're thinking of going about it. Someone said its possible to simply screw on a new piece of mahogany down each side and use a router to achieve the profile? surely it cant be that easy?

It is.

nothing is ever that easy - straight forward maybe.

dave, if you are unfamiliar with routing then please seek advice- you'll need all your fingers for sailing!

Yep, I think I will have to replace some of the rubbing strip and gunwhales. It should be straightforward as I can now see where the majority of the screws are now the deck is off, but if the deck and inner deck supports are anything to go by, I will have to remove about a pound of epoxy as well.

I also think it will be easier to fit the new deck before I replace the support edging and gunwhale as I can clamp the deck in place and shape it rather than keep offering it up a gap and I can also make the gunwhale and supports oversize and sand it back to deck level without damaging the veneer.

Bob Hoare used never to clamp but used house bricks or logs anything heavy strategically placed to hold the ply down whilst the glue set. His boats have stuck together better over the years than the pretty Exe type boats. We're begining to see how roughly they were asembled a bit like a Ferrari all mouth and trousers not prpoerly put together ,lika Bentley.

clamps can squeeze the stuff out before it has time to soak into the ply. once the glue soaks in and starts to grab, the glue itself can draw the ply together - try strapping together with tape across the joint that way you get even pressure (if you use enough tape) that's not too firm - just as long as it's held close together with no gaps, then the glue can do it's stuff! duct tape can be good - stretch before you cross the joint to add a little bit of spring pressure.

recently been trying polyurethane adhesive which expands into any gaps (balcotan or similar) anyone else use this for boat work?

I would also be interested to hear about balcotan. I was reading about it in the Robbins info. It looks easier to use as it is pre-mixed

I know this is probably unorthodox, I used staples from an industrial staple gun to hold down the deck, stapling it over stiff packing tape(the ½” wide stuff) using West with micro fibres to give a bit more body to the glue this worked well but left a series of small double holes around the deck with the odd indentation which varnished out some of the holes though remained visible.

Put the support edging on before you fit the deck. Fit the deck then plane the deck and the edging to the same angle as you want the gunwhale fixed. 

Fix the gunwhale in three peices using 6-7" planks(you might get away with less width on the planks) fore, midships and aft with triangular chocks under the edging, and G-Clamps. After you fit the first piece, plane out the step so that the next piece interfaces smoothly with the edging and the first piece of gunwhale. Repeat for last piece and then plane and shape the gunwhale. 

When all the angles go together the deck is held down by the gunwhale as well as the glue.

PS the gunwhale should be no bigger than 50mm x 75mm  I think - rules?

Definitely redeck before re-fitting gunwhales.  I didn't simply because I didn't have to replace the gunwhales but that would have been much easier.  I used the bricks/clamps/heavyweights trick.  I am not sure whether the use of duct tape would have worked - it was amazing the tension a slight deck curvature imparts.  Also there is the danger of the grain peeling off on the tape when you removed it. I used west System with microballoons for all the adhesive work.  It fills well and sands too.

I have used Balcaton succesfully on both boats I have built (unfortunately neither was a Merlin) No problems so far, easy to clean off and seems to 'stick' well. The down side, is that you end up with black fingers, unless you wear gloves.

My first boat has been in use for the last two years, and seems to be holding up well