James' boat

[paddlesteamerman1]

Oh okay.. There is a Warehouse in Ballarat, I will go and check it out..
And I dont think that the 5mm or 3mm ply would work in SJ because all of the hull is curved or not flat anywhere.. Not a flat bottomed boat, or flat sided.. nothing.. Anyway.. They shouldnt be too expensive so I will give it a go..

Cheers

[paddlesteamerman1]

A crack 1cm wide is a serious crack, and certainly not something to be treated lightly. You'll need to insert a 'graving piece', which is a piece of softwood [Murray pine would be ideal] let into the crack in place of the wood which isn't there. You'll have to straighten up the sides of the crack with a chisel or laminate trimmer. [A router would be too big to get in there]. If the crack wanders around, as they sometimes do, it may require several separate graving pieces to do the job. You'd have to glue the pieces in place with epoxy resin.

I assume that you're at Mildura or near there. I've been told that there is a very good boatbuilder (does anyone know who this is) at Echuca, although that is still a long drive on a hot day. You may be able to take the problem to him, or pick his brains.
Peter.
 
 

If a crack is 1 cm wide you surely have to wonder how it got there? Has the wood really shrunk by that extent? If so, is it ever going to swell back again? Or is there a crack because a bit of wood has splintered out? If the crack is likely to close partly on prolonged soaking, what happens if you have let in a piece of new wood to fill the entire gap? Wouldn't that be as bad as filling it with fibreglass in the first place?


Here are a few suggestions and questions from YBW about the SJ..
Would some Murray pine be okay to do this with?

[thewharfonline]

Surely Kevin is being reffered to here...he's the most notable shipwright in Echuca I'd say. Then again there are quite a few shipwrights that have come from Echuca and still reside in the area. It would be a good idea to contact some people of this occupation I believe in regards to your problems too.

[paddlesteamerman1]

I was thinking that, I will try and get on to Kevin next time I am in Echuca, hopefully not too far away!!
I think that the hull, is nearly out of my league (at least the water tight part of it is..)

[Roderick Smith]

I was at Discount Marine Supplies today (Elizabeth St, Melbourne; search via www.whitepages.com.au), buying parts for Jessie II.  Mindful of the Jewish joke (ask two Jews a question, and you will get three opinions, a joke given to me by a Jewish friend), I asked for advice re filling the gaps on SJ's hull.  The advice goes back to the first statement which James made: get it wet.  Fill it with water to engine level, and wait.  The further advice was to keep it with water inside when on the trailer between cruises.

Books on wooden-hull maintenance are not available from this outlet, but are available from Boat Books, St Kilda Rd, St Kilda (a shop which I have patronised; I bought my history of Halvorsen there).  Again, use the electronic white pages.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[paddlesteamerman1]

Thanks for asking Roderick
I will, once I have finished getting rid of the paint, water it down (the water wont stay in the boat because of one crack) and see what happens..
Thats interesting, in between cruising when it is out of the water, keep water in the hull up to engine level!!
Thanks Roderick
I am searching white pages now for the shop!!!

[steamboatmodel]

A spring ritual at cottages when I was young was to filling the boats with rocks to cause them to sink. The wood would swell up and close all the small cracks in about two days,you then refloated the boat and as long as it was kept in the water you were OK. This was normally done on Victoria Day weekend (May 24) by the older kids and teenagers, it was the "in thing" not to complain that you were getting even though you were standing knee to waist deep in very COLD water. Now days almost all the boats are fiberglass, and the few wood ones are well varnished and the owners would have a heart-attack if you suggested sinking there babys.
Regards,
Gerald

[paddlesteamerman1]

Well, I wouldnt have a heart attack if the SJ hull went down in SHALLOW water (not that there is that much deep water about either  :wink: )..
It would probably come up a better hull afterwards but would be unable to stay in the water..
Would be a good way to tell where the cracks are going to seal themselves though isn't it?!?

[michael]

Here's a photo of a 9ft clinker Adam Fitton built, it will be used as PS Billy Tea's tender boat. Its not finished yet.

[paddlesteamerman1]

That is a really nice looking boat... Those strips of wood running the breadth of the boat on the inside (ribs I call them) what are they made of??? The SJ needs some desperately and I wasn't sure on how to do them.. any tips would be great!! Or should I just take it to a boat builder and get them to put the ribs in???

[paddlesteamerman1]

We went to a Paint shop in Ballarat the other day - to buy a quicker method of removing paint.. Peel Away 9 - just a tin of ''stuff'' that you paint on your boat and stick some of the supplied paper on it and leave it for about 72hrs... Then Peel Away and all the paint should come off.. I haven't tried it yet - it has been too hot here and I have been working everyday
But hopefully it works and I have the paint of SJ quicker than expected - though I have my doubts about it too.. If this doesn't work the Paint shop guy didn't know what would  :?

[thewharfonline]

Patience and Persistence will remove the paint and it will do the best job!

Hmmmm I like the sound of that! It's taken me over a year to get Grebe fully stripped off and ready for the next elements of work. There were so many other things I've done this year that Grebe wasn't always on my mind and although I wanted the paint to just go away having a quick fix will never subsitute for a good job and making sure all of the paint is gone.

[paddlesteamerman1]

This "Peel Away 9" is meant to remove 30 layers of harsh paint if you leave it on for 72hrs before removing... We will just have to wait and see what happens.. I am going to Melbourne on Tuesday - the only day I dont work until Chrissie Eve - and I might pop into Whitworths (Elizabeth St, Melb CBD) and have a look around.. Might find some useful stuff there - I subscribed to the mag and it does look good!!
I am going to give the Peel Away a bit of a run tomorrow - and I might get away with a heat gun for a couple of days as it finally rained here  

[paddlesteamerman1]

Over the past couple of days I have slowly warn of the name of PS Sarah - Jane and think I could find another name..
I looked at books and more books.. couldnt find anything that I want..
It is funny, because I work in a supermarket and I see all these product names and say it in my head with a PS or Paddlesteamer in front of it..
Any name suggestions would be great..
Though I considered PS Ararat.. but Ararat doesnt deserve a paddle steamer of the same name..
Any suggestions would be great!!

[Roderick Smith]

I like the tradition of naming an Australian river boat after a waterway.  My suggestion of PS Kananook hit the right spot with the owners (but we do observe that progress has slowed since the arrival of a human baby).

With western Victoria in mind, MV/SL/PS:
* Hopkins: This would be a good-luck name, as you will never sink in 90% of this river.
* Mt Emu: doesn't sound like a waterway.
* Portland: not a waterway, but reflecting the boat's ancestry
* Surry: the river debouching close to Portland [after installing a canopy, you could cruise singing 'Surry with the fringe on top']
* Fitzroy: next after Surry
* Moyne: even further round, but at rallies, when people ask about the boat, you can say 'It's Moyne'.
* Wando: the least known of the Glenelg tributaries (there is a hamlet Wando bridge'.  As you cruise, you could sing 'I love to go a Wandoring...".
* Burrumbeet: your local lake, but a bit long for a small boat.
* Wendouree:  IIRC has been used before, but you are guaranteed not to sink (likewise Learmonth).
* Wannon: As you cruise, you could sing 'My Wannon only...'.
* Glenelg: reserved for a double-ended paddlesteamer.
* Grange Burn: horrible; listed just to make the others sound better.

A small bird?, to cruise alongside Grebe and Black Shag: Blue Wren? Swan?  Cormorant is too long, and it might tend to dive underwater every few minutes.

A small fish? Cod is a short name, but a large Murray fish.  At rallies, you could tell visitors that you love your Cod peace.

I small insect?  Mosquito has gone already.  Fly?  There is a Fly River in Niugini, and you could always go Fly fishing.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor (and part-time lexicologist).