Going further back to go forward.

In my experience, building a wooden boat from scratch is easier than to restore a old repaired wooden boat.

I have built three wooden boats, one 17ft Sea kayak, a 7ft Lapstrake pram dinghy and  a 16ft Lapstake rowing boat of Iain Outhtred design, these were all built from drawings up. The thing is, that you are constantly working forward, starting at the keel and making the next piece until the boat is completed.

Renovating a wooden boat is very much starting with a completed hull, working back deconstructing and then building it again. The question is, where does one stop going back? and as I have mentioned, the more you uncover the more you see to replace or repair. This will also depend on what you want to achieve, a repaired wooden boat or a fully restored to the original classic boat.

Under the covers

In order to fit the fashion pieces and before the re-building of the transom can be completed, the side decking needed to be removed. I decided to continue to take up the foredeck as well while I was at it. The whole job took me the best part of a day to complete, using a wide chisel and a hot air gun to soften the glue. There where also many panel pin nails to pull out. Once all the decking was removed, there was access inside, all round the hull.

Carlin and Gunwhale

When I purchased the boat, I was informed about a hole in the topside that was repaired, with the side deck removed the damage on the port side is more visible.

After some sanding on the outside.

This must have been impact damage as the port side Carlin and Blocking was fractured. The Gunwhale was also broken and repaired by bonding  in a wood piece.

Compared to the Starboard side

Port side Carlin and Blocking

There is no doubt that I will have to replace the port side Carlin and Blocking and possibly the Gunwhale as well.

 The question is, do I leave the Fibreglass repair as is, or do I replace the entire topside plank?

  

How to eat an Elephant

The Foils - yes, that is what the rudder and centreboard is called

I slowly worked my way through the boat, starting at the obvious items, like the rudder that needed serious muscle to move up and down. Then there was the immovable centreboard, so I removed the Cb. pivot bolt, and manhandled the board out. After inspecting the centreboard and rudder, I found the wood in excellent condition and started sanding them down, only to discover that the best treatment for these foils would be to fibreglass and epoxy sheath the wood to give it better tensile strength. While I was busy doing this, the job came to a halt, as I needed advice on what materials to use.

The Floor - above the bilges.

During my rummaging around in the boat my screwdriver and various tools disappeared into the bilge areas, which I was unable to retrieve due to the wooden strips being screwed to the floor frames and which could not be lifted up. So I pulled up all the flooring and discovered that the transom looked different to the standard wooden Wayfarer. The transom floor frame that should be fastened along the bottom of the transom was fixed about 40 mm forward and not to the transom itself. After consulting The Wayfarer Restoration Manual, it was clear that there needed to be all manner of wood pieces attached to the inside of the transom. Also there should be a cutout at the top of the transom which was absent on my Wayfarer transom.

When I removed the Rudder, I noticed, that not only were the rudder pintles off-centre, but also that they were attached to high on the transom. This must have been done to clear the tiller above the transom.

The Wayfarer was designed with a cutout in the transom for the tiller clearance to allow for the rudder to be set lower down to ensure that the rudder is at the correct depth.

Looking aft along the side decks, I noticed that the port side deck was sloping more than the Starboard side deck. Closer examination revealed that there were uprights attached to the inside of the transom. The Carlins and side decks were resting on the uprights and were of unequal heights.Although it is quite a workable solution, however, if the transom was made correctly these uprights would not be there.

After trying unsuccessfully to remove the transom floor frame, I realised that it was fixed by screws from underneath through the hull planking. The transom was attached to the hull all round by a 300mm wide, heavy glassfibre cloth. This also covered the screws underneath the hull holding the errant transom floor frame. !?
Very workable and strong solution and more work, Ooh Boy !

"Don`t fix what ain`t broken"

. In my case that saying is more like " fix what ain`t there".

I took a deep breath and tried to figure out the shapes of the Transom frame and turned again to WRManual for advice, sure enough the transom was not  as it was shown in the manual. It is suggested that one should use the old parts as template in making a new one. The only thing is, there is only one old piece  for the frame in the boat.!

I turned to the UK Wayfarer association for help, the instant response and advice I received was incredible.!    I received a link to the Class measurements for the Mk1 Wooden wayfarer, which is a great help but did not give the radius height to the top of the Transom.  The Wayfarer International MIT Web site was also very helpful and I found the original Kit Assembly Manual for the original Wayfarer wooden version. However no measurements are shown, but at least I could see the sequence of how the boat was put together and the shape of the components.

Fashion pieces

The Transom frame is actually called the Fashion pieces, these are connected to the aft part of the hull planking and to the inner keel, the transom is then fastened to the frame. At least now I know what this frame should look like and by extrapolation, I may be able to work it out.

Like all fashion designs, I can only show you once I have made the piece!

Decking

In order to re-build the transom, I will have to remove the sidedeck on either side to get full access and as the sidedecks will have to come off, I might as well replace the foredeck as it is undulating with the very thin plywood that was used.

The other bug bear was the gunwales and rubbing strips, this was not to the Wayfarer specification. The sidedecks overlapped the hull planking and a triangular wood strip was placed underneath. Aesthetically it looked fine, however, it was vulnerable to damage. The gunwale will have be replaced according to spec.

The Wall

No, it is not a boating term! It is made of bricks and concrete, and at this stage of the project, I ran straight into one!

"The project is too large!?, all these things to fix and with every piece of wood uncovered I find more to do!"

Fiona reminds me often of a old African saying: " How do you eat an Elephant - One small bite at a time!"

Credit

It may be perceived that I am too critical of the previous rebuild, however I would like to express my gratitude to the previous owner for resurrecting the boat from sure demise.

He is a young man that had limited experience with the Wayfarer and did a great job getting the boat on the water and sailing again 

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 !

New arrival

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. ? 

The begining

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. !