N2306 Sticky Fingers

[National 12 Webmaster]

The life of N2306 Sticky Fingers.  Design: Starfish, designed by: Mike Nokes in 1961
Previous boat names: Grey Streak, T Ketchup, Snafu.

[OMSC]

On ebay 18/08/09
 
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/National-12-sailing-Dinghy_W0QQitemZ120458739334QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Sporting_Goods_Sailing_Boats_ET?hash=item1c0be67e86&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

[JonathanReubin]

I see the vendor is chucking a free meal.  I wonder if he has posted the menu yet?

[martin 1262]

I became the new owner of this old boat in August 2009, and decided that I would restore and race her in the vintage fleet. It was in quite a sorry state, and despite the owner saying she was fine I prepared myself for some serious work.
The cockpit was painted white/cream, and much of the paint on the bottom 4 planks was flaking and coming off. The Centreboard case was very black, and the hog soft to the point of rotten. Some of the planking was starting to come away from the transom.Oh well another "ebay" bargain!
I started off my sanding down the fore and side decks, but they were not very pretty to look at, and once done decided they would need to be replaced. The boat has a retro fit back tank, but this was rotten in places, and decided that it had to go!
I then started to strip off the paint in the cockpit. What a job that was! Hour after hour I sanded stripped and burnt off the paint, and by Christmas, most had been removed. However it left white paint residue in the grain, which looked horrid. So more sanding!
New Year came and i decided that the boat will have some surgery, in the form of new foredecks and side decks, and the hog and keel needed some attention. I enlisted the help of Sam Mason, ex commodore at the club, which was entrusted to "do what he can". In the end he managed to replace all the rotten hog, and it cam back in Mid February with new Decks, parts of hog replaced ,and new thwart, and keel removed and reshaped. All in all a great job done.
Since then I have been prepping the boat up for the hull to be painted, and the Hull now has a new shiny retro finish, and I am in the latter stages of varnishing the cockpit and decks. All being well it should be ready to be fitted out in early May.
I have added some photos below for the record, both before and after!!
Moral of the story- cheap boats on ebay never end up being cheap, but the time spent on it has been worth it!

Area around the Hog! August 2009

Decks sanded off  Sept 2009

Inside Cockpit 2 weeks in!  Sept 2009

cockpit sanded down, rot around the hog between centreboard and transom removed- Jan 2010

New Decks!! Feb 2010

Hull Painted- April 2010
 

[martin 1262]

And Oh, the name had to go...I know I know never change a boats name, but Snafu???
Given then time spent with epoxy glue and paint, it had to be Sticky Fingers.....

[Tim Gatti]

Hi Martin - I think you and Sam Mason have done a great job in breathing new life into an old Starfish.  Can't wait to see her afloat and sailing - what plans have you got for her re-launch? Tim

[Martin 1262 (Guest)]

Tim, Thanks,
There is still some way to go, but I am hoping to get the cockpit epoxied and first coat varnish this weekend. Then I will apply the remaining coats to the cockpit and decks in the evenings next week.
With 2 weeks to fit out, I hope to be at Ripon in May for the vintage meeting, and Burton week May/June.
That assumes everything fits back together ok!!
Martin
 

[martin 1262]

Some addtional Photos fdrom the archive. Now sadly for sale

[martin 1262]

Hykeham 2010

[Crusader 3244]

A job well done, Martin. Did you place her for sale after all that effort?
Snafu, btw, being an abbreviation for 'Situation Normal All Messed Up', did you know? Snafu and Sticky Fingers have been adopted as names for pop/rock bands.

[Martin 1262 (Guest)]

Chris
Thanks for the kind comments! Yes sold about 3 weeks ago to a lovely couple from Derbyshire, who I think will look after her.
I went through the possible names of the boat, felt SNAFU was not appropriate, so arrived at Sticky fingers on a number of fronts....the state of my hands after all the gluing epoxying sanding and painting...the fact that its a Starfish design, and I am led to believe that Starfish have somewhat sticky arms, and of course it the title of a Rolling Stones Album!!!
As Bill Wyman has a restaurant in London I thought he might approve as well!!
Martin
 
 

[gbr1918]

Well, Sticky Fingers has spent a bit too long full of rain water, and now it's got a soggy bottom.  Looks like the hog and keel are pretty much goners aft of the cb bolt, there's some rot in the bottom of the centerboard case and the transom is history.
Should keep me out of trouble for a bit!
Bit of a shame after all Martin and Sam's hard work.  On the plus side, the planking seems pretty good (although I'm braced for possible shocks), the decks, thwart, gunwhales are ok with a bit of cosmetic attention and Martin's paint job is practically pristine!
For sure I'll be posting on here before long asking for help and advice  - for now I'm hacking out rotten wood to discover whether I'll be grafting in 2/3rds of a hog or just going the whole hog with it  .

Dave Cooper

[martin 1262]

Dave. Really pleased she has gone to an enthusiast ...   I would love to see her a afloat racing again. Plenty of help here also try cvrda site. Sam is a frequent contributor.  Cheers at least you have not risked much £££ hacking out costs nothing !!!!

[gbr1918]

I would love to see her a afloat racing again

Yup, it'll be a chance for you to admire the new transom.

Dave

[grazz]

Photo courtesy Mark Bradbury who uses to sail her between 1971 and 1973