Anzac Weekend

Sanded....

....and primed.

   Got a bit done this weekend, things are starting to trundle along.  Firstly, the Parsons gearbox is definitely 1:1 as I'd hoped, and looks like it will mate directly to the 100E motor.  Am waiting on an oil pump so that the engine can come off the stand then we'll see.  The input shaft is pretty flogged, I might give the whole gearbox to Moon's or somewhere, as it's obviously done many hours and will have earnt a birthday.

Split cross-floor removed



Engine beds ousted!


   Yesterday finally got a coat of primer inside the aft section planking  and the area under the foredeck.  Then spent a couple of hours notching out four more cracked ribs aft.  This morning made oak patches for five sections and those are ready to go in.  Removed the 3rd floor (from aft) as it is split quite a way across, and removed the engine beds too.  These are the wrong profile, width, are notched over floors that will be removed (non original) and are not parallel!  Have tried unbolting these before, but as there's nothing to grip under the boat the whole bolt revolves and various brainwaves had all failed to produce a result, unless the result was turning the bolt... I finally realised that as the beds were to be scrapped, why was I trying to find a tidy solution when I could just butcher them and put vice grips on the bolt - voila!

O, for a Gearbox

The search for a suitable gearbox - preferably a Parsons as per original spec - has been ongoing since the decision was made to refit a Ford sidevalve motor instead of the Kubota diesel I had purchased.  I finally found one for sale in Whangerei (Mangapai, actually) and drove up today to collect it.  Unfortunately it is bolted onto a WaterMota Sea Panther diesel (converted from a Cortina 1600, apparently), and I had to buy the whole package.  The trip went smoothly enough, thanks to the use of a truck with a tailhoist on it!  The beast is now clogging up our carport, and the motor will have to be sold pronto.  I'll remove the gearbox tomorrow and hopefully post some pics.  Hopefully it a) mates to the Ford without too much drama, b) is 1:1 ratio, haven't been able to check....

Photos from Herbert

Had a visit from Herbert on Sunday (18/4), who brought a CD of pictures he'd taken during Jado's stem and plank surgery last October.

Ribs and Floors

Jacking starboard planks into line

After the summer break work began again in mid January. In preparation for patching some damaged ribs I bought a small 230mm Ryobi bandsaw, and was devastated when it wouldn't cut the white oak I had bought for the job, at least not with any accuracy. I suspected the blade, and as fate would have it broke the factory one very early on. A saw doctor recommended a coarser, wider (8mm) blade, and it was like having a different bandsaw! I also bought a fixed disc sander and drill press to help with this phase.

Jado was now in a cradle rather than on the trailer, keeping her plumb and straight so that some reconstructive surgery could take place. We had found a series of about five ribs, near the stern on the starboard side, all cracked at the turn of the bilge. This led to the planking developing a slight chine on this side. One by one the failed sections were removed, planks jacked into line, and new oak pieces scarfed in. The aft-most floor timber was also replaced with the original type and various small repairs done before the area could be primed.

Some decisions need to be made about the aft bulkhead, as what's there now appears to be much modified. However, I have no pictures of this part of the boat before her Fishing Machine days. It looks as though there was no aft seat, only side seats with the fuel tank under the starboard one. The empty space under the aft deck was then storage space, and the bulkhead fitted with cupboard doors. What was there originally?

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back...

By this time the original master plan had been revised umpteen times, and every bit of progress had been countermanded in some way. The most frustrating issues were with the repairs made by Peter Murton, both before and after I bought Jado. I began to think of him as the Jekyll and Hyde boat builder. Here's a summary of work that he did:

- Remove, repair and replace stem. Not a job for the faint hearted, unfortunately the old stem was so past it I can't believe it was ever re-installed. This and lots of brass screws!

- Replace damaged floor timbers x 3: Peter made wonderful laminated kauri floors and fitted them. Unfortunately he used rubbishy stainless screws, and a few brass ones, to fasten them through the planking. Plus the low profile of these timbers will not support the floorboards, so they will have to come out and the correct type fabricated.

- Build and galvanise trailer. A very nice trailer it is, too, unfortunately the axle had evaded the galvanising process somehow, the trailer had to be dismantled for this.

- Install engine beds. The originals had been chopped out as can be seen in the first post, presumably to give access for some other repair. Peter's new ones were nothing like these, and will be removed and replaced.

- Replace 7 ribs. Actually I can't fault this, apart from the fact that there were many more ribs needing attention.  [As it turns out, the one-piece originals were replaced with two-piece ones, butt joined in the centre.  I have scarfed in joints over the keelson to strengthen this area, as there isn't much support from the cross floors here.]

- Seat Risers. Again the originals sucumbed to the prybar and hammer to give access for rib replacement. New ones were made, but they don't accurately follow the shape of the originals and will be replaced.

Summer Holidays

Over the Xmas and summer period work took precedence and very little progress was made. However, I was able to buy some fittings to put aside for a later date, including engine mounts.

I had been contemplating what to do about fuel tanks. The originals were twin copper ones, under the aft deck either side of the rudder post. Whether they developed problems, who knows, but possibly with the conversion to diesel in the 80's these tanks were removed and a single stainless one fitted under the starboard side seat. I was not looking forward to costing up new copper jobs, but spotted a twin pair online in November and bought them for $200.00. The size is right - Jim remembers the capacity as 12 gallons, these are about 50 litres each - and the proportions are almost perfect. I had them freighted to Auckland and took them to a metal dippers on Rosebank Rd to have them cleaned out. On completion I got the call. Good news, they didn't leak. Bad news, they are mild steel with copper plating, which is no more. Aagh! Off to an electroplaters to enquire about copper plating - maybe it would've been cheaper to make new ones after all. The guy looked at them, then pulled out a scotch pad and buffed a small patch. Underneath the grey etch finish: beautiful, shiny copper!

A New Nose

On November 6th I collected Jado, upright once more, from Herbert's shop. Essentially the first four inches of boat had been replaced - the outer stem, leading edges of all the planks, and the first few feet of both garboard planks. It made a huge difference and was definitely money well spent.

Trailer Time

With Jado squirreled away in Herbert's shop for the next few weeks I had time to do some work on the trailer. This had been built new by Peter Murton, a good trailer I thought, until I realised that the axle hadn't been galvanised. So, off with the wheels, springs, hubs, and off to the dippers it went. Next I removed the timber runners and found - oh dear - all the bolt holes had been drilled post-galv, these needed a zinc touch-up. I painted the timber a pale grey, and figured the 200 x 50 walkway needed some anti skid coating. Off with the kids to Browns Bay to sieve some sand into a bucket, then home to sprinkle it over a wet coat of paint. Next day, brush it off and coat once more - done! The side bunks will have to be modified to support Jado's hull, but can't do that until she's back on the trailer, and that could be a while...

Some Professional Help

By far the most doubtful area of Jado's hull was the stem. When she had been wrecked some ten years ago the stem had been split and some lower planking badly damaged. Peter Murton had removed the stem, repaired it and re-installed it. Fair enough, but what is absurd is that the whole forefoot was in such poor condition that it should have been replaced. Too bad, Peter had welded it in place with two generous beads of epoxy down each side, and countless brass screws, also epoxied in for a good measure. Herbert at Classic Boats NZ had some ideas on how to correct this eyesore, so I made my booking and delivered her to his workshop in rural Kumeu on October 8th. These photos, taken a couple of days later, show the cracked and worm-eaten pohutakawa gripe, and lower planks bogged up with sawdust and epoxy. More brass screws are evident in the last photo, securing one of Peter's laminated floors.

Engine Decisions

Before Jado had even arrived in Auckland I had already bought an engine and gearbox, for want of anything else to do whilst I waited for Peter to complete his work in Nelson. This was a Kubota D750 diesel, 3cyl 18hp, very common and well regarded. However, as the project veered from casual refurbishment to earnest restoration I decided that the original powerplant was what I needed. This had been a Ford Ten sidevalve with a Parsons forward/reverse gearbox. After doing some homework on these engines I opted for the 100E motor, identical in almost every way, but with a few significant upgrades over the older motors (a water pump, for one!). I bought one of these in early October, and am still on the lookout for a Parsons marine box. A 1:1 Paragon was purchased in February 2010, but mating this to the Ford would be a lot of work, so still keeping my eyes peeled.

Kubota D750 diesel with Droffin 2:1 gearbox

Paragon gearbox, ex Holden six.

Ford 100E sidevalve petrol motor.

A visit from Jim and Gina

When Jado arrived in June she came with an envelope of black and white photos stashed under her floorboards. They had been sent to Peter Murton by Jim Donald, son of original owner A B Donald. Attempts to contact Jim had stalled - his email, physical address and phone number had all changed since he had been in touch with Peter. Finally after some detective work I managed to track down a current mobile number through a boatbuilder in Keri Keri who had done work for Jim. In fact Jim was by now living on his own yacht Tiare Taporo III in Whangerei with his partner Gina, and planning a circumnavigation!

To my intense relief he seemed very happy to hear that Jado was back in Auckland and the apple of someone's eye once again. On August 23rd he an Gina drove down early in the day for a visit and brought with them Jado's original tiller, and what a piece of work it is!

Foredeck

August 2009. With the entire teak decks now removed and bundled away for use as patterns later, my next plan was to focus on the for'ard deck beams and the area of hull under the deck. Although Jado is amazingly rot-free considering her age, and the fact that she was moored for many years in freshwater on Lake Tarawera, whilst sanding back the deck beams I found a few small soft spots, plus one that was split. The central plank was also damaged as a bollard had been ripped out during a storm. I decided to replace the whole set. I started wondering if I'd bitten off more than I could chew when I removed the old ones and saw the joints I would have to reproduce! As there was no way to trial fit the unfinished beams I nailed together an oversize "t" from scrap timber, laid it on it's side across the boat from sheer to sheer, then used dividers to transfer all the 3 dimensional vital statistics of the joint to the new piece. The first one had to be made twice, but once I had got used to this method the rest went well, although very slowly.....

Work Begins

July 2009. Armed with fresh advice and inspiration from Herbert, the first order of the day was to refasten the nail-sick planks around the transom. As the plank ends were already full of nails Herbert suggested fitting a frame inside the transom so that the planks could be screwed a couple of inches further forward of the fragile edges. This involved first removing an ugly plywood panel epoxied inside the transom, which in turn involved removing the aft decking, which in turn involved replacing two deck frames which had split. Welcome to boat restoration! Still, finally by mid-August after many evenings huddled in the stern sanding and painting the whole area under the aft deck was done, and the planking nice and secure once again. The deck carlins also marked my introduction to boatbuilding joinery, luckily they were quite straightforward.

Arrival

She arrived on June 6, 2009. To my novice eye she looked every bit as good in the flesh as in photos, which was a pleasant surprise. The trailer wasn't legal as had been agreed, and there was the matter of the transom refastening to sort out before a final payment could be made to Peter Murton. I obtained two quotes for this, one of which was from Herbert Krumm-Gartner of Classic Boats NZ, conveniently located 10 minutes from my home in West Harbour. He was very impressed with Jado's form and build quality, and more than happy to offer advice and suggestions for all manner of things. Without his input the project could easily have become overwhelming... Together we made a basic plan of attack, and it also became apparent that some work done by Murton's Timbercraft would have to be corrected. The decision was also made to replace the teak deck, the original one, though complete, was riddled with extra holes, splits, cracks, and repairs.

The Wait

The essence of the work Peter was to do was replace a number of ribs, refasten planking around transom, fit remaining cross floors (these had already been made), fit engine beds, and "sundry repairs". Photo updates would be sent as work progressed and payments would be made accordingly. He had a new trailer that just needed galvanising, he could supply this with WOF/reg and ship the boat across the Cook Strait so that I could collect it in Wellington. Projected time frame was six weeks.

The six weeks passed and no photos or invoices came. Emails were unanswered. Finally word came back....work was just about to start! Ah well, such is life and boatbuilding...

Finally in early June she was deemed ready for transport. A bonus - the un-galvanised trailer had been galvanised, and Peter had a friend who could tow her up to Auckland for me. A last minute check raised issues - the transom hadn't been done, and the foredeck king plank hadn't been repaired. This last item was done at the 11th hour, the transom was not. These photos were taken in Nelson as she was leaving Peter's workshop.

Fishing Machine

I first saw Jado advertised on TradeMe in early 2008, a gutted, derelict 18-footer identified as a "workboat", with the artless name "Fishing Machine" stencilled across the transom. Apparently she had been sunk and damaged several years earlier, and the current owner had completed some repairs and was now looking for a buyer. I thought the boat was attractive and definitely the type of thing I fancied owning, but I had no experience with wooden boats, or even much carpentry, and she was in Wellington. End of story.

But a year later there she was, still unsold, with the price nearly halved (although now in Nelson!), and some history - built by P. Vos, originally named Jado.

Contact with the owner, Peter Murton, led to a deal being struck whereby I would pay for the boat and then contract him to carry out further work, as I had no illusions of being able to do much myself. I had a friend who had re-caulked his boat, so figured I could save a fair amount of money doing that, paint, engine install and seating myself. Peter had a number of restored and scratch built wooden boats to his name and I felt she was in the hands of an expert. I probably would have asked him to complete the whole project if money had been no object. This was mid-February '09.