A botched job

[Graham W]

I've been thinking about writing about this for a while but have waited until I had calmed down a bit.  Below three photos of Turaco's hull in various states:
1.  With a few scratches on the bow, caused by sharp bits on the trailer when recovering from the water. I have since modified the trailer to stop it from inflicting such damage.
2.  The appalling state of the bows after I had given it to a recommended local boatbuilder, charged with erasing the scratches and buffing it up a bit.  I think the problems started when an apprentice got hold of a random orbital sander and didn't realise how much damage he was doing to the gelcoat until it was much too late.  And then they didn't have the skills to put it right and in fact made things very much worse.
3.  Turaco during a couple of months with West Country Boat Repairs in the Forest of Dean, where she was sanded down and sprayed with five layers of pigmented polyester resin.  This erased the previous astonishing mess and restored her hull to looking almost like new.  I should have taken her there in the first place but the local boatbuilder did come recommended from someone that I trusted.  More fool me!

Anyway, after all this love and attention (including man-days of work by me on her woodwork), I now have a BR20 in nearly new looking condition.  On top of this, she has the classic (and to my mind much preferable) gunter rig, sporting a brand new set of sails to complete the picture.  A nearly new-looking 15-year old boat at a significant cost but still much less than buying a new one.  It should now outlast me.

[Graham W]

By the way, a large oval hole was cut in the starboard bow by WCBR to check on my unfounded worry that the towing eye was coming loose.  It's almost impossible to reach through the bulkhead inspection hatch under the foredeck to check the various fastenings on the stem, especially if they are covered in swirls of resin, as mine were.  So what felt like major surgery to the side allowed a much closer inspection.  Closing up afterwards involved making up a large GRP patch, inserting it through the oval hole and then sticking it to the inside of the hull with resin.  The resulting scar was then filled in with resin and gelcoat repairs to the whole hull could begin.  The location of the hole is completely undetectable from the outside.

[garethrow]

I recall you being worried about your towing eye Graham - did you find the cause of the apparent movement in it?

Regards

Gareth Rowlands
GRP BR20 Halen Y Mor

[Graham W]

The stem band above the towing eye was slightly loose and the sealant behind it had degraded a bit but the eye itself was rock solid. 

[The Lazy Sheet]

Graham
Always good to see what you get up to and good to know understand the pitfalls - I will probably avoid anything beyond emergency repairs. However, do you know the RAL number of Turaco III's green gelcoat, as I am sure it's the same colour as my BRe 001 Susannah (formerly the Rushton's Grace)?
FYI, my spring jobs:
1. Fitting the Baycruiser 21-type Tiller Tamer, which looked great at Southampton BS. Harder than it sounds as removing the rudder to drill holes in the tiller has slightly damaged the gel coat. I also suspect I'll be tapping-up a local farmer to drill accurately into what looks like very solid stainless steel.
2. Maybe hardwiring the ballast pump. I figure that it spends so little time underwater that it should be fine in the ballast tank all the time and if water leaks into the locker then it will marginally top-up the 10 litres already in there. My 'big' mistake two years ago was allowing the male cigar lighter end to get a little sea water on it rendering it rustier than a two year-old 1985 Alfa Romeo - you don't see many of those on the roads these days, do you?
3. I will also add a fuse to the electrics, which should fit neatly into the waterproof battery box and provide some protection for the battery. Note - unlike others (you, Sea Simon etc) who appear to have PhDs in most things marine electrical or electronic, I rely on very rusty A-Level Physics for a few simple electrical formulae.
Can't wait to get on the water.
Willie

[Graham W]

do you know the RAL number of Turaco III's green gelcoat, as I am sure it's the same colour as my BRe 001 Susannah (formerly the Rushton's Grace)?

My boat's colour is called bottle green, RAL 6007.  The cockpit is a pale cream, RAL 9001.

Fitting the Baycruiser 21-type Tiller Tamer, which looked great at Southampton BS. Harder than it sounds as removing the rudder to drill holes in the tiller has slightly damaged the gel coat. I also suspect I'll be tapping-up a local farmer to drill accurately into what looks like very solid stainless steel.

It's possible to install a tiller tamer without major surgery.  For example on my BR20 a taut line is strung between the aft mooring cleats and the string-based tamer grips onto that.  There's an article in the library on tiller tamers https://www.swallowyachtsassociation.org/?page_id=577.  Unfortunately the link to Peter Small's survey at the bottom of the article appears to be permanently broken.