With our Snark hull cleaned up and inventory taken it is time to begin turning her back into a usable sailboat. Given the state of the wood shown previously, we have no choice but to make new parts. Now in most modern dinghies like Sunfish or Lasers, these are often molded fiberglass parts and quite pricey. On the Snark however, basic marine plywood is the standard material.
Over the years these boats have been around parts have worn out such as those shown here. Given the inexpensive nature of the boat, it is not a surprise there are recommendations for do-it-yourselfers who don't want to order new parts.
As it turns out, 1/2 inch plywood is the standard material throughout. While we can use marine plywood, for an inexpensive boat like a Snark and especially because she's a "free" boat, good exterior grade plywood from the local hardware superstore will do just fine. As long as it straight, lacks any serious edge voids and is properly sealed it will do fine in the water.
So for our new wood, we will follow the advice of CastleCraft and their handy Snark repair tips and obtain new materials locally and to repair our Snark.
Before we can do this, we need to strip the old wood and hardware off the hull and start repairing the dents, punctures and holes in the hull. This is also necessary in preparation to paint the hull. You didn't think we were leaving this boat in boring yellow, did you?
I removed the bow eye, used a pair of bolt cutters to cut the rusted bolts holding the transom piece on and the screws holding down the mast deck backed out with no problems. With the fasteners removed, the wood was taken off the hull and set aside to be used as patterns for new pieces. I removed the mast step and set it aside. Finally the rub rail was peeled off, cleaned after an hour and a bucket of water and soap and hung on the shed to dry. The hull was then placed upside-down on a pair of cheap plastic sawhorses to make it easier to work on.
For repairing the holes, we will do two types of repair. For the big hole from pictures in the previous installment we are going to cut a new piece of styrofoam to fill it in since the hole is so deep, fill the gaps and sand it smooth. For the smaller punctures and dents, we will use two-part epoxy putty.
For epoxy putty, a wonderful kind for this type of repair is called PC-7 or PC-11 epoxy paste. It is available at places like Ace Hardware. It comes it two tins and is mixed 1:1 in equal parts. It has the consistency of thick peanut butter when mixed. It is a great compound for general boat work and I've used it for reinforcing deck core and bedding permanent hardware on my large sailboat. For the Snark, we will use the PC-11 type of putty. The reason is it mixes to a white color making it easier to paint. PC-7 is the "hardcore" stuff and mixes to a dark grey. Great for backing plates on deck hardware, by the way.
First we will start with the large hole repair. For this, we will use styrofoam and an adhesive called Gorilla Glue (available from most hardware stores). Gorilla Glue is waterproof and has excellent gap filling properties. When you apply it, it expands into a foam-like substance making it excellent for filling large spaces. In fact, you can use it for all of your hole repairs if you wish. I didn't except for this case since I prefer epoxy and happen to have a lot of the epoxy putty I use for boat repair available. But if you're on a budget, Gorilla Glue will work fine.
Grabbing some old packing foam, I cut a small piece the same shape as the large bottom hole and worked it into place. With it in place, I squirted a small amount of Gorilla Glue around the edges and into the empty space between the ABS and foam hull to allow it to fill it. After it sets, our repair looks like this:
Once set, I trimmed the foam as close to the hull as possible and lightly sanded it to fair it in. With that done, I was now ready to do final fill of this hole and fill all of the others with epoxy putty.
So we mixed up a small batch of PC-11 and using a putty knife worked it into all of the small holes and cracks over the hull and removed the excess level with the surface of the hull to minimize the amount of sanding we need to do. When filling holes with this stuff, press it into the hole and when you smooth it off, you should see a slight bulge up from the hole. This indicates the hole is full. Leave the bulge and you can sand it off later. With the holes filled, step aside from them for 24 hours to allow the putty to cure and harden. It is good stuff and won't attack the foam beneath. Here an example with the main large hole filled along with some surrounding ones:
With the holes filled, I then broke out my orbit sander with some 150 grit sandpaper and carefully sanded the filled holes even with the surface of the hull. Here are the results after sanding and filling:
Over the years these boats have been around parts have worn out such as those shown here. Given the inexpensive nature of the boat, it is not a surprise there are recommendations for do-it-yourselfers who don't want to order new parts.
As it turns out, 1/2 inch plywood is the standard material throughout. While we can use marine plywood, for an inexpensive boat like a Snark and especially because she's a "free" boat, good exterior grade plywood from the local hardware superstore will do just fine. As long as it straight, lacks any serious edge voids and is properly sealed it will do fine in the water.
So for our new wood, we will follow the advice of CastleCraft and their handy Snark repair tips and obtain new materials locally and to repair our Snark.
Before we can do this, we need to strip the old wood and hardware off the hull and start repairing the dents, punctures and holes in the hull. This is also necessary in preparation to paint the hull. You didn't think we were leaving this boat in boring yellow, did you?
I removed the bow eye, used a pair of bolt cutters to cut the rusted bolts holding the transom piece on and the screws holding down the mast deck backed out with no problems. With the fasteners removed, the wood was taken off the hull and set aside to be used as patterns for new pieces. I removed the mast step and set it aside. Finally the rub rail was peeled off, cleaned after an hour and a bucket of water and soap and hung on the shed to dry. The hull was then placed upside-down on a pair of cheap plastic sawhorses to make it easier to work on.
For repairing the holes, we will do two types of repair. For the big hole from pictures in the previous installment we are going to cut a new piece of styrofoam to fill it in since the hole is so deep, fill the gaps and sand it smooth. For the smaller punctures and dents, we will use two-part epoxy putty.
For epoxy putty, a wonderful kind for this type of repair is called PC-7 or PC-11 epoxy paste. It is available at places like Ace Hardware. It comes it two tins and is mixed 1:1 in equal parts. It has the consistency of thick peanut butter when mixed. It is a great compound for general boat work and I've used it for reinforcing deck core and bedding permanent hardware on my large sailboat. For the Snark, we will use the PC-11 type of putty. The reason is it mixes to a white color making it easier to paint. PC-7 is the "hardcore" stuff and mixes to a dark grey. Great for backing plates on deck hardware, by the way.
First we will start with the large hole repair. For this, we will use styrofoam and an adhesive called Gorilla Glue (available from most hardware stores). Gorilla Glue is waterproof and has excellent gap filling properties. When you apply it, it expands into a foam-like substance making it excellent for filling large spaces. In fact, you can use it for all of your hole repairs if you wish. I didn't except for this case since I prefer epoxy and happen to have a lot of the epoxy putty I use for boat repair available. But if you're on a budget, Gorilla Glue will work fine.
Grabbing some old packing foam, I cut a small piece the same shape as the large bottom hole and worked it into place. With it in place, I squirted a small amount of Gorilla Glue around the edges and into the empty space between the ABS and foam hull to allow it to fill it. After it sets, our repair looks like this:
Once set, I trimmed the foam as close to the hull as possible and lightly sanded it to fair it in. With that done, I was now ready to do final fill of this hole and fill all of the others with epoxy putty.
So we mixed up a small batch of PC-11 and using a putty knife worked it into all of the small holes and cracks over the hull and removed the excess level with the surface of the hull to minimize the amount of sanding we need to do. When filling holes with this stuff, press it into the hole and when you smooth it off, you should see a slight bulge up from the hole. This indicates the hole is full. Leave the bulge and you can sand it off later. With the holes filled, step aside from them for 24 hours to allow the putty to cure and harden. It is good stuff and won't attack the foam beneath. Here an example with the main large hole filled along with some surrounding ones:
With the holes filled, I then broke out my orbit sander with some 150 grit sandpaper and carefully sanded the filled holes even with the surface of the hull. Here are the results after sanding and filling:
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The four holes on the transom in a neat square were from the original rudder gudgeon now long gone. On the bow, we used the putty to fill some long cracks in the hull from some long-past previous grounding.
With the hull dents, cracks and holes filled and sanded smooth, we can set aside the hull and turn our attention to the real nub of this restoration effort: new wooden parts.
I decided to make new parts for all of the parts present or missing save for the rudder. Since this Snark uses the old style rudder and I don't have a proper matched gudgeon/pintle to mount it, I decided it was just easier to order a new complete rudder and tiller assembly from the factory. With that decision made and the order placed, I need to make the following pieces:
- Daggerboard
- Mast deck
- Inner and outer transom pieces
The daggerboard is the most challenging since all I have is the bottom of the original. According to CastleCraft, the daggerboard is 1/2 inch plywood 8 1/2 inches wide and 30 inches long. When I applied these measurements to the daggerboard trunk I found them to be rather small. In the interim, I had posted an ad on Craigslist looking for old Snark parts including the daggerboard. To my pleasure, I received a reply offering me a set of spars along with a daggerboard if he could find it. He did so I wound up with a daggerboard to compare against.
In this I decided to play amateur marine architect. Knowing that I wanted a tight fitting daggerboard and feeling the original board looks a little short under the waterline (and the fact I am not planning to use this boat for one-design racing), I decided to deepen and widen the daggerboard. I added about 3/4 of an inch in width to allow it to snug nicely fore and aft in my daggerboard trunk. Depthwise, I increased the length of the board an extra 9 inches giving me just shy of 24 inches (two feet) of board below the hull. While this would increase the Snark's draw by almost a foot, I figured the extra depth would improve stability and make the dinghy a little stiffer under sail. And if it doesn't work, I can always make a new daggerboard to the smaller original dimensions.
So I have nothing to lose except some time and effort. With this in mind, I set aside the free daggerboard I had acquired for later restoration, measured out a rectangle of plywood 9 1/4 inches wide by 39 inches long and used the rotten bottom of the original board as a template for the rounded bottom.
A note on the plywood. For the project I went to Home Depot and bought two sheets of 2x4 hardwood exterior grade plywood. I wound up with some stuff called "Sandeply" because a) it was cheap b) it was stiff, c) it was straight and d) it had the cleanest edges with the least amount of voids as compared to the other hardwood plywoods they offered.
Research has shown that this stuff is not highly regarded by wood workers. It's a South American blend of hardwoods and quality is really hit-or-miss. I recommend sticking to the smaller sheets of any plywood you would use for something like this. Easier to transport, easier to inspect and more likely to have fewer defects over a larger sheet. Total investment was a little over $20. Straightness and lack of edge voids are your primary items.
With the daggerboard pattern traced on one side of a sheet, I laid the delaminated mast deck (actually one layer of it) on the other side, clamped it in place and traced it out. I paid careful attention to the centerhole position as this is critical in insuring the mast step will fit and be vertical. In between, I used the original transom piece and traced out two new matching pieces. Finally on the remaining unused edge, I traced out a strip 18 1/2 inches long and just over an inch wide. This strip will be cut in two and used as a top of the daggerboard that will hold it up and side-to-side when lowered into the trunk.
With the outlines done, I took the plywood outside, broke out the jigsaw and cut out the new pieces. I used a large wood drill bit to drill out the hole for the mast step. I then cut the two daggerboard supports and epoxied them 2 1/2 inches below the top of the daggerboard. I used my sander to round the edges of the daggerboard and tapered the bottom. With everything assembled, I light sanded the surfaces of all the pieces with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth them and then applied a coat of West System epoxy to the daggerboard to seal it. Here are the parts are cutting and initial preparation:
With the pieces cut and shaped, it was time to varnish them. For varnish, I bought a pint of Z-Spar golden amber varnish from West Marine. I wanted something that would dry reasonably quickly and would add a little color to the naked wood.
For the next several days, I would apply a coat of varnish, let the parts sit overnight and in the morning, flip them over and varnish the other side. Between each coat I would lightly sand the varnish smooth with 220 grit sandpaper from a quick pass with the sander, remove any globs and repeat the process. Fortunately the weather co-operated for the week I was doing this. In the end, four coats of varnish were sufficient.
Before the final coat, I drilled out holes on the top of the daggerboard to allow me to create a rope handle. Easier than hollowing out one at the top. I used the original transom as a guide, clamped the two transom pieces together and drilled their holes as a matched part. For the mast deck, I dryfitted it into place. The mast step fit perfectly and I carefully highlighted the mounting holes on the hull with black ink and pressed the deck into them. This left marks on the wood for the hole positions to drill later.
With all of that done, here is the result of a weeks worth of work:
I'm happy with how the completed parts turned out. Not perfect but this is my first time restoring a dinghy as well. With these parts completed and ready to go on the boat, we set them aside and turn our attention to the hull and rigging. Stay tuned!
In this I decided to play amateur marine architect. Knowing that I wanted a tight fitting daggerboard and feeling the original board looks a little short under the waterline (and the fact I am not planning to use this boat for one-design racing), I decided to deepen and widen the daggerboard. I added about 3/4 of an inch in width to allow it to snug nicely fore and aft in my daggerboard trunk. Depthwise, I increased the length of the board an extra 9 inches giving me just shy of 24 inches (two feet) of board below the hull. While this would increase the Snark's draw by almost a foot, I figured the extra depth would improve stability and make the dinghy a little stiffer under sail. And if it doesn't work, I can always make a new daggerboard to the smaller original dimensions.
So I have nothing to lose except some time and effort. With this in mind, I set aside the free daggerboard I had acquired for later restoration, measured out a rectangle of plywood 9 1/4 inches wide by 39 inches long and used the rotten bottom of the original board as a template for the rounded bottom.
A note on the plywood. For the project I went to Home Depot and bought two sheets of 2x4 hardwood exterior grade plywood. I wound up with some stuff called "Sandeply" because a) it was cheap b) it was stiff, c) it was straight and d) it had the cleanest edges with the least amount of voids as compared to the other hardwood plywoods they offered.
Research has shown that this stuff is not highly regarded by wood workers. It's a South American blend of hardwoods and quality is really hit-or-miss. I recommend sticking to the smaller sheets of any plywood you would use for something like this. Easier to transport, easier to inspect and more likely to have fewer defects over a larger sheet. Total investment was a little over $20. Straightness and lack of edge voids are your primary items.
With the daggerboard pattern traced on one side of a sheet, I laid the delaminated mast deck (actually one layer of it) on the other side, clamped it in place and traced it out. I paid careful attention to the centerhole position as this is critical in insuring the mast step will fit and be vertical. In between, I used the original transom piece and traced out two new matching pieces. Finally on the remaining unused edge, I traced out a strip 18 1/2 inches long and just over an inch wide. This strip will be cut in two and used as a top of the daggerboard that will hold it up and side-to-side when lowered into the trunk.
With the outlines done, I took the plywood outside, broke out the jigsaw and cut out the new pieces. I used a large wood drill bit to drill out the hole for the mast step. I then cut the two daggerboard supports and epoxied them 2 1/2 inches below the top of the daggerboard. I used my sander to round the edges of the daggerboard and tapered the bottom. With everything assembled, I light sanded the surfaces of all the pieces with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth them and then applied a coat of West System epoxy to the daggerboard to seal it. Here are the parts are cutting and initial preparation:
With the pieces cut and shaped, it was time to varnish them. For varnish, I bought a pint of Z-Spar golden amber varnish from West Marine. I wanted something that would dry reasonably quickly and would add a little color to the naked wood.
For the next several days, I would apply a coat of varnish, let the parts sit overnight and in the morning, flip them over and varnish the other side. Between each coat I would lightly sand the varnish smooth with 220 grit sandpaper from a quick pass with the sander, remove any globs and repeat the process. Fortunately the weather co-operated for the week I was doing this. In the end, four coats of varnish were sufficient.
Before the final coat, I drilled out holes on the top of the daggerboard to allow me to create a rope handle. Easier than hollowing out one at the top. I used the original transom as a guide, clamped the two transom pieces together and drilled their holes as a matched part. For the mast deck, I dryfitted it into place. The mast step fit perfectly and I carefully highlighted the mounting holes on the hull with black ink and pressed the deck into them. This left marks on the wood for the hole positions to drill later.
With all of that done, here is the result of a weeks worth of work:
I'm happy with how the completed parts turned out. Not perfect but this is my first time restoring a dinghy as well. With these parts completed and ready to go on the boat, we set them aside and turn our attention to the hull and rigging. Stay tuned!
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