Sailing Vessel Eleanor Tarr

With the scrap steel and concrete ballast removed at a weight of 250-300lbs per cubic foot, the time came to purchase the new lead ballast at a weight of 708 lbs per cubic foot.

My original intention was to obtain scrap lead, weld my own brick molds, and then melt and mold my own lead bricks (with proper PPE).  But i’m ready now, and haven’t time to spend on such a process(work, family, boat). A local amateur boatbuilder steered me towards Mars Metals in Burlington Ontario where I ordered 100 of their 2x4x6 bricks of lead (2000lbs), and 380 lbs of lead shot. These will be secured in a West System slurry, the shot filling all voids between bricks and keel plating, no lead will touch steel. I have some scavenged lead of my own in odd sized bricks.

I rented a van with a 3600 lb capacity and drove the 2 1/2 hours to Burlington, through Toronto down the busiest highway in the country, 10 minute turn around at the other end, and then back to unload my loot into the cargo trike 400 lbs at a time.. down the lane and into a stack where our small crane will swing it aboard as needed. A couple months wages in a couple square feet of metal… thrilling.. really, not sarcastically.

With much of the below-waterline welding complete, my attention has turned to the deck and bulwark  work in the first week of holidays.

Stainless steel stanchion bases i constructed in the shop were welded to the deck and bulwark cap using 1/8″ 309l rod. Half way in between each stanchion base i welded an upright stainless bracket to attach the timber toerail/bulwark, th top of each bracket is strong point attachment for blocks, running gear, fenders or whatever else.

In the cockpit numerous deck fills were above what is to be the quarter berth, patches were cut and the holes were filled. I removed the ill placed deck fills with a 5 second blast from a propane torch, this heated the steel and the 5200 let go. On the on the aft of the deck numerous holes had been cut for various wire-way arrangements, all failures, these too had to be patched.

The top of the bulwarks (3-5″) are met with a boundary bar, a piece of 3/8 by 1 flat bar tacked every 6″ or so the length of the boat. Water had of course penetrated between tacks and caused rusting and rust streaking. I chipped out the two 36 ft crevices and proceeded to weld solid ( 1/8″ 6011). I burned up a whole box by the time this job was done.. hot. smoky. It was then to ground down, and flap wheeled, painted with a cheap primer (to be blasted and epoxy coated.)

Two new chainplates were  constructed including two compound bends or 5/16 x 1 1/2 steel, then welded 1/2″ aft of existing main chainplates. We may/probably will end up with a double spreader rig, now was the time to add them if ever. I used a 3×8 from my brother and law to correct on slight overbend (see pictures)

Some scheduled time off work arrived, my family departed on a get away and i jumped into our fine vessel for some below waterline welding and cutting. The weeks jobs included removal of every through hull (welded pipe to hull) and replacement and/or relocation of that through hull as well as the subsequent patching of the hull. The 1 1/4 cockpit drains were replaced with thick walled 2″ pipe
I chose to use sch 80 pipe nipples (thick wall) with 1/8″ doubler “donut” plate on the outside.

A doubler plate (a second layer of steel which is generally asking for trouble) is a controversial thing and an external one even more so. After much research and review I found that workboats, tugs etc often had this arrangement, when well sealed would provide the through hull with incredible support with any weld pulling outwards.. so this is what i did.

I patched the hull in the same manor since the largest of the patches was 7″ round, i overlayed the patch by 1/8″ (hull plate thickness) a little clunky looking but as strong as a dumptruck.

The following pictures show some of the work, though i took very few nearing the completion of these projects as my family’s return was imminent, and my body was growing weary.

In a normal great lakes sailing season this would be the time in which to commission and launch a sailing craft, here in Eleanor’s backyard boatyard it’s the time of year where winter doors are removed from the shop, the 220v power is re connected, the welder carts wheels are inflated and hull work begins.

This May saw the final remnants of tar removed with close to 100 hrs total, the final two thirds of which was done with a small pick and propane torch. The tar is gone 99.5% of it anyhow.

Later in May i plasma cut 4″ holes in the hull plating for the speedlog, and depth sounder. In  these holes Dikin-Shinas designed damage limitation pots which provide physical insurance against through-hull failure. A little vauge yes, sorry it’s and idea from Jill Dikin Shinas’ lastest book how not to build a boat, a marvelous book in which i don’t wish to give away the plot.

It’s now the middle of June, this month i removed the mahogany cockpit comings. The coamings were fixed to the cabin sides, re-enforced by the winch stands and the fixed the the aft coaming which is of steel. The coaming was then screwed through the deck from beneath into the end grain. The wood had rotted around the screws and of course rust followed the screws into the deck. The plan is to remove rust, weld holes over, weld stainless flat bar along the length of the cockpit with bolt holes for a new mahogany coaming.

A cold winter kept me out of the vessel, and in the warm shop.