The Restoration of Lady Luck HMCo. 1034 S Class

[Nick]

This is getting real, fast!

I got into the port side sheer strake today and it is in worse condition than I expected. I removed the toe rail and uncovered plenty of rot. The worst of it is in the rear quarter as you can see in the following photos. I cut out the rotted end to the closest frame and exposed the internal structural components. Fortunately the clamp and frame are not rotted. You can see the remains of the iron bolt I removed sitting on the deck the large hole to the left is a good example of the result of iron sickness. 

 My idea is to sister a cleat onto the frame to serve as one of the attachment points for the replacement piece. I will then dovetail the existing end of the sheer strake and fashion a new piece to fit. 





The following pictures show the rot that was under the toe rail. My plan is to rout down about 5/8" along the entire top of the sheer strake and glue and screw in a new piece of white oak and reshape it. I expect that the starboard side will need similar treatment. 

[Nick]

Hi Dave,
Actually it does have a hollow wood mast and solid boom. It is not the original mast it has been replaced new. I do have an aluminum spin pole though. Maybe someday I will make a new pole.
Nick

[Adam]

I cannot underscore enough what Charles stated about removing the plate. This causes more confusion then you can imagine - the registry has all kinds of boats that we can never be 100% sure what their hull number is due to missing plates.

However, I can fully appreciate owners (stewards et al) being cautious with these original plates because of thefts and how valuable these plates have become. Lucky for those undertaking restorations, there are a number of suppliers that make reproductions – Bristol Bronze, and Cape Cod Shipbuilding come to mind. So if protecting the original is a concern replacing them with a reproduction is an easy and cheap.

[Nick]

Adam, that's good to know that they can be reproduced. That is what I will do.
Thanks!

[Keith422]

Hello Nick,

I did some work on Lady Luck a number of years ago when he was under the care if Concordia Boats. I am now working as a shipwright at the Herreshoff Museum, along with my full-time job as a shipwright at a Bristol-area boatshop. I'd be happy to offer any advice or answer any questions you may have regarding your restoration.

[Nick]

Hi Keith,
Thank you for your offer! What kind of work did you do on Lady Luck?
Nick

[Charles Barclay]

Aloha All,

Did not mean to imply Lady Luck had an aluminum mast, rather trying to make a point about originality and class uniformity.  Nick managed to dispell that rumour of the metal mast quite nicely.  I could've written carbon just as easily.  Carbon and metal masts take quite a penalty in the european circuit. 

Speaking of metal masts, while rereading LFH's The Complete Cruiser, I see that Weldon seems to think wood masts are not a problem in thunderstorms--wonder what the insurance claims folks have to say about that. 

Ran across an old letter from a former S-Class sailor who said that HMCo carried a number of spares and the Hawaii fleet bought a bunch of them after the '38 Hurricane.  Which led me to wonder does anyone know of a stash of masts anywhere?  Fred called me a while back letting me know that BBY had an old Pelican mast.  Which would make a nice back up. 

Nick, as for colors, I would not get too racked over the color choice, Capt Nat's Alerion was a now famous green.  I think his quote about black and white was about Cup boats.  Moreover, if you take Maynard Bray's advice you'll use a new topcoat or two every year rather than the abuse we favor our glass boats with. 

BTW, if you have not seen it, Maynard did a nice blog on a good, reasonable paint (Marshall's Cove) out of Seattle about 18 months ago over at Off-Center Harbor.com.  http://www.offcenterharbor.com/2012/05/03/new-paint-you-should-know-about/. 

Also, think your solution to have a reproduction of the plate made is a grand idea. 

Keep sending the photos and writing about your adventure, it's great to see your progress.

[Nick]

I am in the process of removing as much of the iron fasteners as possible. Today I removed the iron bolts from 4 of the floor timbers around the mast step. At some point in the past new bronze bolts were fastened through some of the floor timbers into the frames. Unfortunately, the iron bolts were not removed at that time. You can see the iron sickness that occurred. The holes are now quite a bit larger than the original holes. I am not sure what the best course of action should be here. I am thinking I need to fill the old holes with an epoxy filler like West System and drill new holes then install new fasteners? I fear that using the old holes would allow the timbers and frames to work free.







I decided to remove a plank on either side to better access the frames and timbers that I need to work on:

[Nick]

Hi Charles,
Thanks for you last post. I checked the video on the Marshall's Cove paint. Looks like a nice product. I also watched the video on Captain Nat's Alerion. What a great color green. I am not a big fan of green but that is a beautiful color.

I haven't heard of any spare masts around but maybe Adam L. know of some.

Check my last post. I am finding more substantial issues as I get further into the deconstruction of Lady Luck. I am really good at tearing things apart. We will soon see how good I am at putting it all back together. 

Nick

[Charles Barclay]

Aloha Nick,

Thanks for the post and the pictures, great stuff!

Right move to remove the planks for access.  You've touched on something that the group might have interesting comments on:  when do you replace a structural member and when do you use thickened epoxy to stabilize the area?

Artisan Boatwork's Aec Brainerd had a nice article on the use of epoxy on their new BB18's in the April Woodenboat.  Might be a nice starting point.  So too, Gougeon Brother's book on boat repair if you've got the time.

Frames,
Knees,
Timbers,
Floors,
Keels.

At what threshold do you replace each?  You could add planks as well. 

From a project standpoint, I'm curious why you stopped stripping paint to look at structural issues?

Again, glad you are doing what you are doing, she deserves the care she was unable to receive the last few years.    Understand she raced as recently as the 2012 season. 

[Nick]

With the goal in mind of getting Lady Luck in the water sometime this season, hopefully sooner than later, I will be doing a combination of repairs with wood and epoxy with micro balloons. The forward  seven frames and floor timbers are now free of iron fasteners, the rotted areas removed and ready for repair or replacement. I have acquired the white oak for replacing the floor timbers and frame sections and I am waiting for my order of silicon bronze fasteners to arrive. I should be starting the rebuilding process in the next week or so.

Charles, I stopped the stripping so I could get into the deconstruction more and see what I have ahead of me for work and materials needed. Also boredom was setting in heating and scraping. I can only take that part of the job in small doses.


You can find anything on eBay. Here are my new/old boat wright tools. Pretty sweet!

[b.beardsley]

On the subject of hull plates, I have the original from my 15, Snipe, but I have a reproduction on the boat itself. Might be worth doing. Mine is the early plate which is much easier to reproduce than yours and came from Jim Reineck. I don't know if he does the later ones.

[Adam]

No doubt Reineck's plates would be near perfect copies (his stuff is absolutely beautiful).

Bristol Bronze carries three Herreshoff plates:
Early - HMOO62 - Before 1925
Middle - HMOO60 - 1925-1932
and Late - HMOO66 - 1932 - 1939 

http://bristolbronze.com/Catalog/pg026.pdf

[DaveHub]

Hi Nick,

I was wondering how things were going with Lady Luck?  As I may have posted, she was one of the "S" boats I looked at while searching around, before I went with Misty, now my "Clara J" over at IYRS.  I have been aboard her while she was on the hard next to the museum.

Dave