The more I see the more I find.
Now that I have had more time to go over the boat, I noticed, when compared to pictures of an original wooden Wayfarer, that there were some anomalies present,
1. The aft storage and buoyancy compartment was absent, although, it gave a larger area inside the hull and would be great for sleeping in.
2. The floor was installed with wood strips 20mm x 40mm and spaced 10mm apart. Possibly a good idea as it will allow air movement throughout the bilge area and won`t trap water in this vulnerable area, prone to damp and rot.
3. The fore deck washboard was absent.
4 Due to the lack of the aft bulkhead, the side benches could not be fitted, of which there were only one complete seat, this I could use as a template to make the starboard seat.
5. The forward bulkhead hatch was absent, this is required to seal the forward buoyancy compartment in the event of capsize and flooding.
6. Centre board was not movable, I needed to inspect this and the centreboard case.
7. Mast is a original Proctor spar complete with all fittings, however the stainless rigging were fayed and needed replacement.
8. Mainsail is 50 years old, did not look too bad considering, but baggy and out of shape.
9. The boom was of wood and could have been original boom ? unfortunately it was split at the goose neck and very bowed, needed replacing.
10. Jib/Genoa was absent, needed new one made.
11. The hull was sound, however there were some repairs made and glassed over ?
12. The deck was new but 4mm ply was used, and was a little thin especially the fore deck area.
The decision had to be made, either to renovate or rebuild and I needed advice !.
First I ordered the new edition of "The Wayfarer Book", from the UK Wayfarer Association - The book contains very good advice on setting up the boat and how to sail it, included is the history of the Wayfarer, describing all the variations over the years.
After more research, I found `The Wayfarer restoration manual` published on the web by Mike Smith, It is absolutely invaluable as he describes re-building a Wayfarer from the hull planking up. Thank you Mike !
I decided to renovate and restore the boat as close as possible to the original " woodie" Wayfarer, All the timber and plywood in the hull was sound and there were no evidence of rot, it therefore did not require a complete re-build.
After explaining all this to a friend of mine, Peter asked me " and how long is all this going to take you". "Well ooh.. um, probably 200 hours" I replied. Until that point, I never really gave it much thought. Although it was a perfect logical question, the time involved is never seriously considered by amateur boat builders as time is not necessarily money !
Now here is the rub, I started seriously pulling up planks, prodding into corners and revealing the dark corners, so guess what ? more work !
A new arrival in any family is most times accompanied by a mixture of excitement and anxiety, and the arrival of the wayfarer was no exception.
Getting the boat and trailer from Gordon's bay some 40 Km from our home is a story for the best part left untold. My anxiety level was maxed out by the thoughts of dodgy wheel bearings and the anticipation of tyres blowing out, on a road beset with kamikaze drivers.
However I arrived home safe and without incident, to a waiting Fiona with a big smile on her face. After parking the the boat in a suitable shady spot in the garden, it was time to give it a thorough inspection, which I could not really do at the dim and dark factory warehouse where the boat was kept in Gordon`s bay.
During my search for more information regarding the Wayfarer dinghy, I found that there are very active Associations for the class and that the UK Wayfarer Association was formed in 1958. There are also Associations in the US and Canada, the advice and support given to boat owners are astounding.
I decided to join the UK Wayfarer Association, to become member, even though being in South Africa, it will not be possible to participate in all the sailing and educational activities going on with the UK. Wayfarers.
The welcome I received from Sarah, the UK Association Secretary was so warm and welcoming, I immediately felt that I have become part of a world wide circle of friends.
History.
The Wayfarer dinghy was designed in 1957 by Ian Procter, as a all purpose dingy for family day sailing, and teaching people to sail. The boat is very forgiving but is fast enough to provide excitement and competitive racing.
Length 4.82m (15' 10")
Beam 1.86m (6' 1" )
Min Hull weight 168.7kg (372 lbs)
Draft Max 1.17m (3'10" )
Draft min 0.23m ( 8" )
Over the years the Wayfarer dinghy has proved it self as a very capable sail boat, it is being used in many sailing schools for training and has also being used for some extensive voyaging. It is comfortable and stable and a tent is rigged over it for camping and sleeping in, which is what I am planning to do.
The original wayfarer Mark 1 was available for wood construction either by licenced builders or wooden kit for self-build by amateurs, however this method was later phased out. From the Mark 2 till the latest Mk 4, it has and are still being built in Glass fibre, taking advantage of production methods for better economy and less maintenance.
Very accurate records were kept of all the sail numbers issued and the wayfarer that is now in my garden, Sail number 579, was issued in 1962. ! That makes this "wooden" boat 50 years old. !
As far as I am aware there are not many Wayfarer dinghy`s in the country. I am now searching for the history of this boat, how it got to South Africa, who owned it and what adventures the boat and owner(s) had ?
Wayfarer 579
What I learnt so far, is that the boat was given to a young man in Gordon`s bay. The boat was is in need of repair and he did a great job restoring it to sailing form. New deck and floor was put on and some hull damage repaired, new rudder pintles replaced and boat varnished, all in all the boat can be sailed straight away.
I would be interested in any other information about the history of this boat. ?
It all started years ago with my obsession to build a sail boat, not any boat though, a wooden boat!. Time passed and boat plans turned to dust, due to family commitments, the dream never became a reality.
Recently the yearning resurfaced and I gave serious thought to building the wooden dreamboat and considered some designs by Lyle Hess and Paul Gartside. The time commitment and the price of good boat building timber made the project unfeasible.
All these years my wife Fiona kept saying, " build a small open day sailer big enough to take some friends and my picnic basket out sailing for the day." Advice I regretfully ignored, until now.!
After scanning the web over some time and reading the books of Frank & Margaret Dye - "Ocean crossing Wayfarer" and "Dingy Cruising" - I learnt about an incredible capable sail boat called Wayfarer.
The search for building plans ensued but I discovered that there were none as the boat is only manufactured under licence. So this meant that I'd have to buy one! On further investigation it appeared that there weren't any available in South Africa so I considered importing a Wayfarer from the UK.
After some months I came across an advert for a Wayfarer for sale here in Cape Town !? I could not believe it! A phone call, had a look and some negotiating and Wayfarer 579 was mine. !
