Surf Boat Restoration

Week 8-9

2012-02-21T11:44:00.002-05:00

This week, Eric decided that he wanted to make a closer inspection of the CB box in hopes to have the boat sailing this summer. Upon closer inspection, it was found that the vertical pieces that make up the box were rotten and the box would need to be removed, taken apart, and salvaged where able.

To remove the box, Barrett Snow hopped in with his skill saw and cut through the drift pins and everything, removing each lateral section at a time. Then, the rest was chiseled out around the old keel bolts. Having the old keelson out was a blessing in disguise, because it enabled me to better access the broken keel bolts all along the keel and pound them out. If we hadn't removed the keel, those would have stayed in the boat rotting away.

Also having the keelson out, I was able to make patterns of seven floor timbers that needed to be replaced. Five new ones were cut out and fit up FWD and two are in the process of being fit AFT. Once these were fitted, I removed all the new oak going back in the boat and sealed them in epoxy. Then, they were screwed back into placed with bedding compound.

As a side project, I began working on building up the shaft of an oar lock where it had previously worn away from use so that we can have new bronze ones cast. This process was a little tricky but I ended up making a mold using a block of hard wood and drilling out the appropriate sized hole. A product called Marine Tex was used to build it up.

Week 8-9 Pictures

2012-02-17T16:10:00.009-05:00

Some pictures of Surf Boats in action at Camp Viking circa 1960s

The top of the centerboard box is removed to better assess the condition of the centerboard box

The vertical pieces of the box were thoroughly rotten

A couple keel bolts are pounded out.

Lots of corrosion! 90% of them were broken in half.

The centerboard box is removed.

Barrett Snow jumps in to do the dirty work.

Within minutes, it is out of the boat.

Here are some old floors that were removed

The old floors are used as patterns on new oak.

And glued up overnight.

Here are five new floors cut and fit to shape

And brought back to the shop to get sealed in epoxy

I made a special jig to increase the oar lock shaft back to its original diameter so we can have more cast.

week 6-7

2012-02-01T11:30:00.003-05:00

A lot happened these two weeks. In preparation for a new piece of Mahogany keel, I had to chop out the old floor timber aft under the deck. The nut came right off the keel bolt and I was able to tap it through the keel without many problems. The floor came out easily after that. I was able to use the old pieces to trace a pattern and cut out a shiny new timber. Once this was removed I was able punch out the two keel bolts that were still attached in the keel that also went through the stem. Once these were out, there was nothing holding the keel in place since all the other bolts have rusted apart between the keelson and keel.

Using my trust Japanese saw, I cut off a five foot section of split keelson and prepped the remaining surface with my block plane and a sander. The old piece will be helpful to use as a patter for the new one to be put in later. With this piece out, I was better able to assess the broken keel bolt situation, which doesn't seem too drastic. I should be able to punch the remainders of the bolts out from the top while providing support from the bottom.

A couple days this week, Pascal came by and began reefing out the seams under the water line. By the end of the week, we had all the seams cleaned out and most of the 5200 put over then scraped off. You will notice in the photos that some of the seams in between the planks are fairly wide. We're hoping that these will swell up when she's put in the water. We have been thinking about putting her in early to get her to swell up before we put new cotton back in.

There was some small repairs down to the aft hood ends on the STBD side using epoxy and another 100 bronze #12 screws were put in throughout the Port side where the previous fasteners had failed.

I was able to remove and re-make three backing blocks out of new white oak and get them installed as well as begin the repairs to two sections of broken cap rail at the oar lock brackets. One of these repairs was made with epoxy and clamps, whereas the other has been cut out and a new piece will be fit in place.

Eric was busy visiting Beetle, Inc on the mainland and came back with two beautiful Sitka Spruce spars. The mast will fit perfectly in the surf boat step and needs only slight modifications.

Looking ahead, I plan to finish the keelson repairs, scarph in some new floors FWD where they have cracked at the keel, begin sanding the bottom, and ordering lumber for new sole beams.

week 6-7 pictures

2012-01-27T15:02:00.008-05:00

New Spar and Sail plans

Removing part of the old floor member to access the rusty keel bolt.

The old floor is gone with the remaining keel bolts in place.

The old, very rust worn, keel bolt.

Marking the keelson.

Using a Japanese saw, the aft 3.5' of the keelson is cut out, with it come 4 keel bolts all broken.

The Mahogany keelson.

The space where the keelson attaches to the horn timber all cleaned out and the old keel bolts removed.

A new floor is made and cut to fit.

Some epoxy repair on the STBD side hood ends.

Some areas noted here where there was fastener failure. Another 100 new Bronze #12's were put in the boat over the last two weeks!

Pasquel stops by to help reef out the old cotton and caulking (in most cases 5200!) under the water line. Some of the exposed seams are very wide.

The new Sitka Spruce mast and gaff boom that Eric found at Beetle, Inc. on the cape.

Three new backing blocks are made and installed. The final frame station is finished in the background.

Some epoxy cap rail repairs.

And some wooden cap rail repairs.

Week 5

2012-01-15T15:52:00.002-05:00

This week was spent focusing on the broken frame repairs and cleaning up the floorboards. We've decided to sister the frames that are most seriously needed repair and choosing to neglect those that dont pose an immediate threat. There are 12 frames out of the 16 I had originally said need to be repaired that I will focus on this and next week.

A pattern is made out of 1/4 plywood to the shape of the hull next to the frame in question. This pattern is transferred to a beautiful piece of white oak and cut out on the jig saw. After a few fits here and a few cuts there, the new sister begins to take shape. Some of the more baldly broken frames will require two sisters. You can see a couple of these in the photos.

While waiting for some oak to arrive from Boston, I got busy cleaning up the old floorboards that Eric Holch had removed prior to my arrival on this project. Most of them are pretty badly weathered, but once scraped and sanded down, they dont look too bad. There are a lot of parts and pieces that go with them, and some of these smaller pieces, such as the adjustable foot rest brackets (we're not sure these are original) will need to be replaced.

As a small side project, I began inspecting and cleaning up the seams around the hood ends that are popping out as well as the broken plank section on the STBD side. There is one hood end AFT on the STBD side that is going to require quite a bit of pressure to get back in place, and I think a wedge will need to be driven in to hold it in place while new screws set in epoxy. As for the broken plank, I should begin work on cutting out the broken piece either next week or the week after. Stay tuned.

Week 5 pictures

2012-01-15T15:37:00.009-05:00

Beginning to strip and sand the floorboards

All of the sole beams are removed

And labeled

A shipment of White Oak arrives from Boulter Plywood

Frames are cut out from patterns made earlier

The sisters are cut and fit to shape.

This frame was broken outward and holding the planks out. It was removed so the planks will suck back in.

This one got out of order and is the frame in question in the above photograph.

P4 gets new #12s!

Weeks 2-4

2012-01-09T16:23:00.003-05:00

A lot of time was spent finishing up the scraping and sanding of the old paint on the interior. This time I was sure to remove all the floor board so I could get into the space in the bilge. I was then able to step back and get a clearer idea of where we stand with the boat. In the photographs, I added pictures of the areas of concern, namely the hood ends, the broken plank. We will get into the frame repair on the next post.

As we turned into 2012, we were lucky enough to secure a bay in Rick Kotolac's shop on Bartlett Farm Road. We moved the boat there with the help of Eric Holch and Alfie Sanford on the 4th of January. The next day, I had the trailer out from under her and used jack stands and keel blocks to stabilize her. Its wonderful having her inside a heated shop! Regardless of temperatures outside still reaching 55 degrees.

Not pictured is the work started on frame repair. A list was made of each frame that needs attention and exactly how its going to be repaired. The frames with minor breaks and cracks are going to receive a sawn sister spanning the length of the next plank up and down plus 3/4". The frame (which I believe there are 4) that are badly damaged will receive multiple sawn sisters alternating FWD and AFT of the original frame. In some cases, the old frame will be removed and a new one will be scarphed or butt joined in its place.

As a side project, I began sanding the old floorboards and getting them cleaned up and ready for painting.

The project is really moving along and I expect to have all the frames dealt with by the end of next week.

Week 2-4 Pictures

2012-01-07T18:23:00.004-05:00

Eric Holch found the rudder and brought it by. It fits nicely.

A section of the port side was replaced some time ago. It is clearly seen here.

Hood ends at the stern popping out.

...and at the bow as well.

Here is an indication of an underwater impact that has cracked a plank in half.

The surfboat moves to an indoor shop for the winter!

Here she is properly set up on jack stands and keel blocks.

Week 1-2

2011-12-18T18:51:00.004-05:00

Hello and welcome to the blog chronicling the restoration of the Egan Institue and Nantucket Shipwreck and Lifesaving Museum's 26' Monomoy Surf Boat. This boat spent most of its life off the shore of Kings Point, New York, for which it is named, serving as a training vessel for Merchant Marine cadets. The Egan Institute purchased her off eBay, fitted a trailer to her, and brought her to Nantucket. Now she sits in Eric Holch's mother's yard on Cliff Road, awaiting a proper shop space, where I have conducted a thorough survey and begun the process of scraping and sanding all the old paint off.

Alfie Sanford (designer of the Magic Class 30) is in charge of the overall project and working under him, I, Connor Wallace (one of the builders of the Magic Class, an restorer of the 1916 Herreshoff Fish, Pompano) will be the muscle behind the work. There has been a lot of interest in part time volunteer efforts, which locals Duncan Fog and George Young have spearheaded by helping out with the project.

The first week of the project was spent conducting a thorough conditions survey of the vessel which outlined the work ahead of us. What I found were 16 broken frames due mostly to fastener failures but also an impact under the water on the port side midships, a large portion of the keelson that was badly split due to the expansion of rusty iron keel bolts, 3 hood ends that have splayed out, a missing centerboard, and some iffy thwarts. Other then these serious issues, the paint needs to be completely scraped and sanded, and the caulking in between planks needs to be re-issued.

The initial sanding and scraping has begun and after a solid weeks worth of work it looking much better. We begun by scraping off the old paint and coming in behind that with sanding machines.

Week 1-2

2011-12-18T18:36:00.005-05:00

Before any work was done, the boat was inspected and photographed. Here is the bow.

Looking FWD.

Rotten keel bolts and remnants of the roof which collapsed into the boat.

After an initial scraping and sanding.

Beginning to scrape and sand the interior.

Port side, untouched.

Looking FWD.

George Young is busy sanding away.

Old Photographs and Design Drawings

2011-12-18T18:34:00.004-05:00

Here are some old photographs of the Monomoy Surf Boat

A little bit of Surf Boat history...

2011-12-12T22:45:00.003-05:00

This article is taken directly from the United States Coast Guard's website, found here.

The exact early history of the use of lifeboats on Cape Cod is very unclear. Luckily there are many interested people who are documenting the lifeboat history. The following information has been generously shared by these historians

When the Humane Society was founded in 1785 they erected Houses of Refuge along the Massachusetts coastline to provide shelter for shipwrecked victims. Cohasset, Massachusetts saw the first "lifeboat station" built in 1791 and manned with a 30' Nantucket whaleboat built by Mr. William Raymond. Similar to the existing whaleboats of the era, the Raymond lifeboat was lined with cork to provide extra flotation. Manned with 12 men, the Raymond lifeboat could handle twenty men and performed well in rough seas.

It appears that the Humane societies also employed the Francis lifeboats, but it is unclear if any were used on Cape Cod.
Some of the early surf boats were believed to be the Higgins and Gifford boats built in Gloucester, Mass. The USLSS General Superintendent Sumner I. Kimball read the following from the "Organization and methods of the United States Life Saving Service" on November 22, 1889:

"The type of boat in most general use in our service, although properly entitled to be called a life-boat, is distinctively known as the surf-boat, and this term will be applied to it in the remarks which follow. . . . Three varieties, respectively designated the Beebe, the Higgins & Gifford, and the Beebe-McLellan surf-boat, from the names of the persons who devised the modifications which characterize them, are the only ones furnished to the stations in recent years. They are all constructed of white cedar, with white-oak frames, and their dimensions are from 25 to 27 feet in length, 6 to 7 feet beam, 2 feet 3 inches to 2 feet 6 inches depth amidships, and 1 foot 7 inches to 2 feet 1 inch sheer of gunwale. Their bottoms are flat, with little or no keel, and have a camber of an inch and a half or two inches in 8 feet each side of the midship section. They draw 6 or 7 inches of water, light, and weigh from 700 to 1000 pounds. They are propelled with 6 oars without sails, and are expected to carry, besides their crews, from 10 to 12 persons, although as many as 15 have been landed at a time in a bad sea. Their cost ranges from $210 to $275. There is no great difference between the Beebe and the Higgins & Gifford boat, except that the former has more sheer and is clinker-built, while the latter is of carvel construction. The Beebe-McLellan boat is the Beebe boat with the self-bailing quality incorporated. This feature has been added within the past two years, and but few of them have yet been put in service. . . . Even at those stations where the most approved self-righting and self-bailing boats are furnished, the surf-boats are generally preferred by the life-saving crews for short distances and when the number of imperilled people is not large. ... As respects safety they will compare favorably with any other boats. In 18 years they have been launched 6730 times on actual service, and landed 6735 people from wrecked vessels. They have been capsized but 14 times. Six of these instances were attended with loss of life, of whom 27 belonged to the service and 14 were shipwrecked people. ..." excerpt from Proceedings of the US Naval Institute