Topics

A question for the boat builders/renovators.

I've just replaced the transom on Token Gesture - or most of it anyway - with 2 pieces of 5mm ply stuck together. As per the original thickness.


On the original transom there was another piece of 5mm glued in the middle of the transom, from top to bottom, where the rudder fittings were/are. I suspect the builder was hoping this would provide enough fore and aft stiffness, but clearly this wasn't the case because someone fitted a knee at a later stage.

Question - is 10 mm thick enough to fit the rudder fittings too, assuming I reinstall the knee as well. Or do I need to make it 15 mm thick?


Picture below gives a general view of the transom before I cut out the rotten part - I have already removed the knee, and most of the wood round the rudder fittings has rotted away - I made the round hole with my finger!

I'm phaffing over how best way to replace significant rot in Token Gesture's transom.

The transom appears to be made up of 3 layers of 5mm ply - 2 layers cover the whole transom, and the third layer is a strip along the top edge of the transom, about 10cms wide.

The rot has been caused by a screw fastened through the transom at the top pintle to a knee that appears to have been added at a later stage (I guess to increase the transom's strength). Unfortunately, all 3 layers have rotted at this point. 

Secondly there is rot around the 2 small drain holes, at the bottom of the transom. Which I guess is the normal place to suffer rot.

Finally, I was thinking of reshaping the transom flap holes anyway, as the lower lip is so low the boat takes on water as soon as I so much as look at the transom, let alone go aft to lower the rudder - a 3 to 4inch lip would be more practical.

If I cut out a large section of the the transom all in one go, is this likely to cause the hull sides to splay apart? Would supporting the hull using a tightened strap be enough to keep its shape while I replace the part removed?

Can anyone share any hard earned lessons on doing this sort of repair?

Thanks

Tim

I started to prepare the transom of Token Gesture for a revarnish, but have realised the wood just below the top pintle is completely rotten. So much so I dont need a chisel to remove it. I wasn't really surprised, although the degree of rot has come as a bit of a shock - no idea how the transom has stayed on this long. I should think the vanish was holding it together!


I could replace the rotten wood (no idea how far this goes yet), or I was wondering about cutting out the whole of the transom and replacing it with an aluminium cross beam to provide rigidity and to attach the top rudder pintle to.

Never having done this to a boat before, can someone recommend what size of extrusion I would need to use, and should I get a channel or angle extrusion? Bearing in mind the most weight it will probably have to carry is me trying to get back into the boat after a capsize!

Thanks in advance.

Tim

I'm sailing my Baggy on a relatively shallow lake (it wasn't quite so shallow earlier in the year!), which also has a weed problem. Apart from the obvious comment, has anyone got any advice on using shorter rudders?
Other boats (classes) are sailing with their rudders semi raised, but I have found that even an 1" of rake on my rudder creates significant forces on the helm.
Has anyone sailed in similar conditions and got any experience they can share, particularly on how short a rudder I could use, which will still give reasonable control.

Thanks
Tim

I need to state up front that I am a
completely novice boat repairer, but keen to learn. So I apologise now
if I ask very basic questions.

 

I need some
advice on a problem I have discovered on the inside of Token Gesture’s hull, a
cold moulded Baggy.

 

She has longitudinal
stringer’s that run either side of the hull interior starting at the transom,
but stopping at about where the helm sits i.e. they don't run the full length of the hull. I had already noticed that the hull skin around the forward ends of
the stringers didn’t look in particularly good condition. This weekend I started to ‘prod’
around, as the hull really needs a coat of varnish ASAP.  It seems that the ends of the
stringers are trying to detach themselves from the hull and have even started to
pull away the top laminate of the hull skin as well (there is a 6 inch tear running
diagonally from the end of the stringer towards the stern quarter â€" although it is only a very fine crack at the moment).

 

Someone, at
some point in the past, has dolloped some epoxy resin on the problem, but
clearly their preparation wasn’t very good, as the resin came away very easily,
and the wood underneath isn’t clean.  Having
removed the epoxy there is a gap of approx 2mm between the underside of the stringer
and the hull (for about ¾ inch from the end).

 

The first
question is, does anyone have any theories as to why this has happened (a fault
with the way she was originally built?).

 

And
secondly, any advice on how to go about rectifying the problem would be really
appreciated.


     * self tapper from the outside of the hull - to pull the stringer and hull together again? 

     * how much should I dig around the exposed hull skin (interior) - I'm worried if I dig away too much I'll end up going all the way through the skin? Or have I just got to be brave and hope there is still enough good wood?

     * reinforce the area with epoxy and glass tape?

Tim

I would be grateful if someone could give me some more advise on how to set up my Baggy Trousers.

I'm sure eventually through trial and error I could work it out for myself, but I'm hoping that some of you very helpful/knowlegable 12 owners can short circuit my learning curve.

Token Gesture has a downhaul from the jib tack, through a sheave in the bow to a pulley system.

When I purchased the boat the original wire downhaul had broken (because the bow sheave had seized causing wear in the wire). I have now replaced the sheave, but I am struggling to work out what length the downhaul should be, and in truth, how to use the halyard downhaul system anyway (I have only ever used boats where the jib tack is fixed to the bow and the jib halyard tension is adjusted using the halyard attached to the head, rather than the tack).

What is the purpose of the downhaul pulley system?

How/when is it used?

How do I set the rig up to go sailing?        Am I supposed to pull the jib up and attach the halyard; attached to the head of the jib; to the rack on the mast (altering it's location on the rack depending on how much rake I want to achieve), then pull the downhaul until it has pulled the tack of the jib to the bow, in what to my mind, is the correct position?

Any looser, and the foot of the jib rises a few inches off the foredeck - this doesnt 'look' right to me (I seem to remember reading something years ago about wanting the foot of the jib to touch the deck to stop the wind from escaping under it).


At this point should the shroud's be loose - with rig tension obtained by tightening the shroud muscle boxes?

To add a little bit of complication to my story, the sails I have came from a Street Legal that went to the great lake in the sky. I have a hunch that the jib luff wire is shorter than the previous set of sails and that the jib halyard rake is now in the wrong place (its position appears to have been altered in the past).

Having pulled the jib tack to the bow (it obviously wont go any further) - why do I need a pulley system - there isnt a lot of tension in the system at this point. Do I not adjust the rig tension with the shrouds?

Why would I want to loosen the jib downhaul whilst sailing, doing so wont pull the mast forward or anything like that.


Any advise would be really apprecaited.


Tim
Token Gesture

Hi,
I've just acquired this rather tied Baggy and have no idea how the lowers might have been rigged. I've just been left with 2 wire strops hanging from an eyelet on the mast. The shrouds are run through a PTFE tube in the side deck (something that I think will need changing at some point before the shrouds saw their way through the side deck - although there seems remarkably little wear for a boat that's over 20 years old). 

Do I need to run another line through the tube, and use a pulley system from there to the foot of the mast?

Can anyone shed any light - or give me some suggestions. I've never had a dinghy with lowers before, so don't really know the best way of setting them up. Although I want to keep it a simple as possible!

Thanks

Tim

Hi

I've just become the proud owner of a Baggy, my first 12.
She's in a fairly poor state and lacks a cover, which is a situation I want to rectify as quickly as possible. Unfortunately I cannot pick her up for a couple of weeks and she is based rather too far away just to pop over to see her.

Sorry for the waffle, but it explains the reason for this post.

Does anyone here have quick/easy access to a Baggy, and would be very kind and obtain the hull measurements I need to provide, as per the attached sheet?
Also, it's sometime since I've bought a cover for a dinghy - any views on over versus under boom covers on a 12?

Unfortunately, you won't see very much of us this coming season as I intend to hide myself away and learn how to sail her, without causing myself to much public embarrassment. However, next season I'm hoping to come and join the fun. 

Tim