Wooden fender trim for GH

[grjack]

Hi,

Not sure if I am naming this properly, but I need some trim replaced, and I don't know where to start looking to source it. The wooden beading that is below the gunwale on the GH. I would think that molded plastic would do the job and perhaps not be so expensive ? The wood trim would require hand fashioning and steam bending , I think ?

regards
Gary

[Eventide Owners Group]

Hello Gary,

The gunwhale was either Teak or maybe Afromosia and would look best in that timber, plastic fendering just looks tacky on proper boats!

If you have a problem bending it into place get hold of half thickness timber and put 2 layers on, glueing together with epoxy, much stronger and easier to bend!

I take it the timber has been damaged, as even if unpainter Teak will not rot!

Hope you find a suppluy of the proper timber, be a shame to spoil the finish.....

Good luck with the restoration,

John

[grjack]

Hi John,

Just saw the reply. Thanks.

Part of the starboard fender has rotted through, so I cut the rotted section out and removed it. It was unusable. I painted the plywood hull underneath with antifreeze(ethylene glycol) , which is like chemotherapy for rot, and now want to put another fender in place.

I will try your suggestion for layering on the wood.

Gary

[chris s]

"I painted the plywood hull underneath with antifreeze(ethylene glycol) , which is like chemotherapy for rot"

That sounds interesting if really true, do you have any further info on this method of treating rot please?

[GHM]

Hi Gary,

I built 7 31's in all after Terry Erskine. The rubbing strake was always in teak to my knowledge and if available, with just a single scarph (i.e in about 16 ft lengths which is almost unobtainable now and fearfully expensive). The reason was that the section was so solid (3" X 2" approx) that it was almost impossible to bend round otherwise (never steamed) . TE used to cut out a big V on the back side to ease it but there was a problem because the V was constant and the hull knuckle changes, so most of the time you had a big space behind which could fill up with water that couldn't escape. Not good with screws through it especially into the ply hulls! I changed it but I won't go into that because it's not relevant.

Bending it, fixing it and getting sealant behind at the same time was a nightmare and I know of at least 2 which went "bang" weeks afterwards. Iroko will make a very good match and much cheaper. Plastic in the middle won't be the same section and won't blend and will look terrible.

I did a couple of repairs to damaged bits, roughly as follows. Cut the damaged section out square, well into good timber. In a way, the longer the better because even a half thickness section wont be easy to bend over a short length. If you think a half thickness will bend sufficiently go for that, otherwise 3. Shape the first piece (against the hull), to fit the knuckle shape of the hull and fit it in snug on a butt joint (square ends). Mark the thickness on the old rubbing strake and then cut that out at least an inch or two longer, to form a step so that the second section overlaps the first and is screwed down into both the first laminate and the old rubrail. If you feel really ambitious you can scarph the ends as well, but it's a bit OTT.
Screw down the first with epoxy on the ends and sikaflex behind. Then screw and glue the second in place. It's easier to leave the second a whisker too thick and with square corners, then when it's gone off, it can be skim planed and radiussed afterwards to blend in properly. Trying to get the thickness and radius right before fitting risks having a thinner section which stands out like a dogs hind leg, as they say. To finish as per the builder, you would finish off with teak dowels to the outer screws.

Don't know if that makes sense. I hope so. Good luck anyway.
Mark

[grjack]

Hi mark,

I thought this thread had died, apologies for not acknowledging your reply sooner. Yes, it seems that this is not just a straight forward fix. It also seems that my rubbing strake could not have been of teak , because it rotted almost to a husk. The idea of layering it on is clear, getting the bevel shape on it will be a bit more tricky for an amateur like me. many thanks.

Chris,

Check out ethylene glycol(eg. motor car antifreeze) as chemotherapy for wood rot :

http://www.angelfire.com/nc3/davecarnell/rot.html

[Wooden Boat Fittings]

"I painted the plywood hull underneath with antifreeze(ethylene glycol) , which is like chemotherapy for rot"

That sounds interesting if really true, do you have any further info on this method of treating rot please?

There's plenty of information on treating wood with glycol and/or CPES as a preventative for rot on the WoodenBoat Forum. Use Google Advanced with either of the underlined terms, and search within the site 'forum/woodenboat.com'. Note though that neither of these treatments will cure rotted wood -- that has to be cut away -- but if used to treat sound wood they can help prevent rot occurring.

Mike