Project 40+ tonnes of Boatshite - engineshite update 9/5/20

[coalnotdole]

 

 

In other news - truly awesome thread. What happened with the coke and the stove though?

 

I'd actually really like a look round the preston bus shelter at some point. The coke was bought from a farm down the road from monckton cokeworks where we had been doing a seires of photos that morning:

 

 

The farm sold sacks of smokeless fuel in domestic and foundry grades. The foundry coke was bought instead of normal smokeless fuel and it turns out that if you run a domestic stove on even a small quantity of foundry coke it melts the firebox...!

[coalnotdole]

Loving the esse too. Have I missed were you told us what it was built for originally?

 

Edit 'cause I took ages to post and you had added more info.

The Harbour Launch Diesel (HLD) Class of boats was build for the admiralty for use by the Royal Navy. They were used in ports around the world as general purpose runnabouts, transporting men and equiptment around the harbour, moving stuff on the decks as well as towing barges.

 

They were used in pretty much every harbour where the royal navy had a base of operations. Typically the forecabin was intended for use by the launches four man crew, the aft cabin was for use of officers and other ranks would typically travel on deck on the wooden seating on the coach roof. They are hugely over engineered for the task were sometimes used as improvised tugs towing things far beyond their own size. I've seen a magazine article that mentions one being used to assist a frigate which was about to go aground!

 

I'm sure Dave will stick up a more detailed history of the class at some point.

 

Joe

[rml2345]

Thanks for posting up some history on this, it's made for absolutely fascinating reading! 
Foden two strokes are the absolute tits.

 

[nigel bickle]

So - let me get this right..

 

You bought & then motored a totally unknown 2 stroke, unused for 8 years, straight out into clear, deep, open water, through some of the busiest shipping lanes in Europe and round the south of the island up  into Newport, unassisted ?

 

I thought I had done some borderline stuff in the  past -but I always had a mast & sail -if the worst happened. I cant even see flares and a dingy on that.

 

You Sir, are my kind of hero.  Just bonkers. Congratulations

[RoadworkUK]

I know this thread is a little light on Rover 800 content, but I have to say it's probably among the top 5% in the history of Autoshite in terms of awesomeness. If there was a Hydroshite website I'd be on it every day, fapping over badly "converted" Watsons and houseboat pinnaces.

 

Very, very nice work.

[coalnotdole]

So - let me get this right..

 

You bought & then motored a totally unknown 2 stroke, unused for 8 years, straight out into clear, deep, open water, through some of the busiest shipping lanes in Europe and round the south of the island up  into Newport, unassisted ?

 

I thought I had done some borderline stuff in the  past -but I always had a mast & sail -if the worst happened. I cant even see flares and a dingy on that.

 

You Sir, are my kind of hero.  Just bonkers. Congratulations

 

Pretty much!.

I had the previous owner on board for the trip although he had fairly advanced Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. Also had a Handheld VHF and GPS and a small selection of tools.

 

The propeller had been scraped clean of most of the barnacles and oysters which had made it there home.

Main engine was running off a tiny motorcycle battery paired with a large truck battery to make the 24volt needed to run the starter.

 

The best bit was when half way round the owner started describing the "strange battens of wood clad in copper sheet nailed to the garboard seam" (which sounded very like a bodge employed when the hull planking is becoming detetched from the keel!) and how apparently the watercooled exhaust tended to back up with water eventually stalling the engine from back pressure, apparently a case of draining the silencer and waiting 40 minutes for the engine to cool down :-/

 

I've done far stupider things!.

 

Dave

[nigel bickle]

I got stuck mid  Solent (a long time ago) with a totally blocked fuel system, (I do mean TOTALLY)  trying to get a 36' from Cowes to Birdham on a totally still day. That was 'interesting' -so your heart must have been in your mouth throughout.

 

Hats off.

 

Has it left that berth since- even to turn around?   I ****ing love that, I reckon its going to look peachy completed, ooh,  around 2025.

[coalnotdole]

I'm at a different mooring now - Just came off the slipway on tuesday and ran down the river for a jolly. Its probably clocked up an extra 15 or 20 hours running since i bought it. Mainly moving between berths, going to the fuel barge in cowes or coming out on the slipway.

 

Dave

[nigel bickle]

Love to see it.  I'll pm you next time I'm on the island.( If its inconvenient -just say so)

[oman5]

I'd actually really like a look round the preston bus shelter at some point. The coke was bought from a farm down the road from monckton cokeworks where we had been doing a seires of photos that morning:

 

 

The farm sold sacks of smokeless fuel in domestic and foundry grades. The foundry coke was bought instead of normal smokeless fuel and it turns out that if you run a domestic stove on even a small quantity of foundry coke it melts the firebox...!

LOL!! yeah Welsh steam coal did pretty much the same thing to Iron stoves

[castros_bro]

This should probably be one for the "stupid question" thread, but when in the engine's cycle do the exhaust valves open on a two-stroke?

 

http://www.marinediesels.info/index.html

[Junkman]

This should probably be one for the "stupid question" thread, but when in the engine's cycle do the exhaust valves open on a two-stroke?

 

Immediately after the power stroke, when the piston is still down.

The blower then pumps fresh air into the cylinder, which 'blows' the exhaust gases out and at the same time fills the cylinder with fresh air, to be compressed by the piston going up next.

That is why all 2-stroke Diesels have blowers. They aren't there to increase power, but to purge the exhaust gases and thus are a vital component for the system to work at all.

[Geep]

Awesome thread.

 

Love a bit of boat shite and hat's off to you not only knowing about such things at a young age but being prepared to take them on.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

This is quite extraordinary, I've never seen owt like it. Utterly brilliant!!!!!! It has made me feel much better about the world in general. Keep up the great work!

[coalnotdole]

Up to this point most of the work I had done had been to try and make the exterior appear as it should have been originally. 

In the back of my mind I was pretty worried what the hull itself might be like underneath the waterline. I'd bought the boat afloat without a survey or even having seen the underside.

 

With this in mind and with the new funnel, wheelhouse and exhaust system meaning the boat was once again moveable it was arranged to pull her out of the water on the slipway at work.

 

The plan was to burn off the old paint below the waterline and re-paint and hopefully to replace the stem which had turned out to be badly rotten as well as having large sections missing which had been hidden by wooden cheek pieces bodged on by the navy. 

 

I'd already removed the deck and rotten beamshelf from the bow area to gain acess to the back of the stem (called the apron) which had also turned out to be rotten to just above the waterline. I'd replaced this whilst afloat but the stem on the outside needed replacing down below the water and the presence of a rusting iron shoe which covered the forefoot meant I wasn't sure how far down the damage went.

 

These photos show the work that happened whilst on the slipway -

 

Looking forward a couple of days after the boat came out, I'd removed a badly damaged wooden and copper shoe from the keel by this point and had just started burning off 40 years of toxic antifoul:

 

 

Looking aft:

 

 

Up on deck this was the current state of the bow - The apron has been replaced as well as several frames and a couple of stringers to try and stiffen things up a bit:

 

 

Crap photo but the red thing sat on the cabintop by the bow is the new stem knee ready for fitting:

 

 

New stem knee fitted in place. you can see just how rotten most of the original timbers were on the right of the photo:

 

 

The damaged and rotten parts of the stem were cut back so an idea of the timber required could be made. What you can see in the top half of the photo is the new apron which the hull planking is fastened to. The lower half is the remains of the stem which is bolted to the outside of the apron:

 

 

Lower part of the stem with the rotten wood removed (this was eventually trimmed right back to the keel scarf on the far right of the photo)

 

 

Joe came down to give me a hand burning off around the waterline, whilst I continued burning the antifoul from below the waterline. A tedious job but a very good way to familiarise yourself with the condition of the hull!:

 

 

Luckily the teak hull planking was in exceptional condition:

 

 

A few damaged areas of the sacrificial hull covering above the waterline were removed ready for replacement:

 

 

 

 

Eventually the bottom was all burnt off, sacrificial planking was replaced and the hole from the watercooled exhaust was replanked. The timber for the new stem was overdue by about 3 weeks by this point which meant I was stuck on the slipway for another set of tides:

 

 

With the bottom painted in special grey underwater primer:

 

 

There aren't any photos showing the stem being laminated as the timber had only turned up the day before Joe went back to the mainland so I ended up fitting it on my own.

Basically its laminated out of half inch thick planks 12ft long by about 5 inches wide which were steamed/boiled in a 6" pipe which I'd welded an end cap and some legs to so that it sat at 45 degrees over a large gas burner.

After half an hour the planks were taken out of the steamer and screwed into position with bronze screws. After being left for a couple of days to take the shape and for the moisture content to reduce again they were removed, belt sanded, pasted up with epoxy resin and refitted.

Once the resin had set the stem was drilled and bolted to the apron with M20 stainless studding above the waterline and bronze below the waterline.

 

These photos are all taken whilst I was planing the finished stem to the correct shape:

 

 

 

 

This is where the stem is scarfed onto the oak keel, a fairly flawless transition:

 

 

The hull was antifouled:

 

 

The Propeller was dressed to a good finish with a grinder and new zinc anodes were fitted to the steel rudder:

 

 

She was then re-launched and as there was rumblings about the EU forcing red diesel taxation on uk boat owners  I took her down to the fuel barge to top up the diesel tanks with 145 gallons of finest cherry (thanks to a Payday Loan from the Bank of Joe!). This photo actually shows her coming out the water again the same day due to a leaking water intake valve for the engine:

 

The large bronze valve (a bastard design known as an Orseal Valve) which relies on a series of "O"Ring seals which are supposed to be forced to seal by high pressure steam obviously didn't like being used for seawater rather than steam!

it had probably been leaking unnoticed since the day the boat was built.

With some *quality shims cut from 80grit sandpaper the valve was reassembled and the boat re-launched for the second time:

 

I've since sourced* a replacement valve but have not fitted it as the sandpaper seems to still be doing its job!

 

_{*its previous owner probably isn't missing it}

 

 

Dave

[coalnotdole]

Love to see it.  I'll pm you next time I'm on the island.( If its inconvenient -just say so)

Not a problem mr bickle, get in touch next time your over. I'm usually about unless i'm in sussex playing with cars.

 

He said "foden two stroke"!!!! please do a vid

Sorry i haven't got a video camera here! (and the bluetooth on my phones screwed and nokia don't support mac's with there pc software so I cant copy anything off)

 

I remember seeing it languishing in Bembridge back in the day. Absolutely awesome work saving it!!

 

Can't you reduce the amount of duty due on your fuel by claiming a percentage of it is used for heating rather than propulsion? - I only pay duty on 60% of my boats fuel as the rest is used for heating (and is drawn from the same fuel tank).

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Yeah 60/40 is the standard declaration if you go to buy diesel from a fuel barge. I don't actually have any other diesel appliances apart from the main engine though. When I'm next due a fill up I'll just claim I'm commercial which is at least half true.

 

 

Dave

[wuvvum]

One of the best threads on Autoshite, and not a car in sight.  Brilliant.

[saucedoctor]

Gob.Smacked. Hats off to you sir, That's brave indeed.

Foundry coke was delivered by mistake to Kilroot A a few years ago, and some of it was pilfered. Now I know what will have happened if the tea-leaves had lobbed it in the fireplace!

[cobblers]

This is cracking stuff! Most people would flipping bust their gut about getting a 40 tonne boat out of water and setting fire to all the paint off the bottom of it. I've been putting off changing an exhaust clamp on my golf for about 4 months cos it's always cold and/or raining, you proper put me to shame.

[wackywacerwill]

Cracking stuff this aquashite thread, I am in awe.

[hauserplenty]

Dude...

Methinks you just won Autoshite. Err, Aquashite that is.

I would have left that boat right where it was, and you're...cruising it?

Well, shiver me timbers.

Top bombing, wack.

Fair winds and following seas, me heartie!

Paul E. Wogg

[vulgalour]

I know next to nothing about boats and watercraft, but I do know this is an excellent floaty thing and your extraordinary efforts really do show.  It's astonishing how much you've replaced, I imagine none of it was quite so easy as the photographs and catch-up update make out.  It already looks superb, so when you've finished working your magic it'll be a source of much deserved pride.

[oman5]

That engine sounds fantastic. a cracking looking boat to be sure, and I am truly impressed with your ability to fix it. great thread!

[Sudsprint]

Heroic.

[forddeliveryboy]

Lovely boat, lovely lines. I admire the youthful lack of concern which was required for her first trip. I look back and shiver at one or two experiences when in my twenties. But how else do you learn proper judgement? #

 

She's not really built for speed - More for pulling stuff along!  Her top speeds around 10knots (approx 11mph)

 

Have you looked into 'gearing-up' the prop for jaunts across the channel, just so you use less fuel at the same speed? Chances are, being a naval vessel, all they wanted it to have was the greatest stump-pulling ability and to hang with running costs.

 

(I'd def run her on waste veg, but the pump/governor would need a little adjustment. Far cleaner than running on dino and perfectly suited to low revving and lugging.)

[Tre3]

This is great. Sorry if I missed this but you're moored on IOW are you? Great thread.

[coalnotdole]

Having replaced the stem and satisfied myself that the underwater section of the hull was in good shape thhought turned towards getting the large hole where the foredeck was supposed to be sorted.

 

Another chunk of rainforest was ordered, several cubic feet of which can be seen in planking form sat on the floor of the forecabin:

 

 

A section of the teak planking on the port bow had been replaced in the past with Iroko as part of what appears to be a very large accident repair.

The badly replaced deck fitted in the 90's had allowed freshwater to run into the end grain of this planking and caused a fair amount of rot.

The hull itself is "double diagonal" construction with two layers of 15mm thick planking run at 90degrees to one another with calico inbetween, then fastened with thousands of copper rivets. 

 

Luckily the areas I needed to replace were mostly short lengths and there were existing joins hidden behind the rubbing strake, Here you can see some new timber as well as a section where i've stripped the rotten planking off:

 

 

This is where modern glues and adhesives really simplify the job - these short lengths are bedded onto polyurethane rather than calico, the scarfs are epoxyed and eventually get sandwiched between the rubbing strake on the outside and the stringer on the inside:

 

 

At this stage I had to remove the handrail stanchions and bollards from the deck and strip off the remains of the rubbing strakes so I could replace the stringer inside:

 

 

With new stringers fitted the lower rubbing strake was replaced - this is through bolted to the stringer with m12 stainless bolts at 11" centres:

 

 

The beamshelf which attaches the deck and hull together turned out to be badly rotted so I cut back the deck to gain access for replacement:

 

 

Showing the first 6"x1" laminate being dry fitted - note the new stringer and rubbing strake bolts just below it:

 

 

16ft lengths of planking were used:

 

 

 

These photos show the process on the starboard side - 

First the rubbing stake was replaced and through bolted in order to keep the shape of the hull when the deck and beamshelf are cut out.

The hull planking is fairly flexible and its the frames, stringers etc that help it hold its shape.

 

Once the old beamshalf is removed new packing blocks are fitted between the frames, these are 2x6" iroko and bedded on polyurethane adhesive/sealant:

 

 

 

 

Then two laminates of inch planking are glued in and the whole lot is planed of to match the angle of the deck:

 

 

The original steel knees/breasthooks were cleaned up and refitted with m20 bolts:

 

 

New deck beams were cut out of 3.5" Iroko:

 

 

The deck was trimmed back slightly more in order to replace a short length of the carlin which joins the deck and the cabintop together:

 

 

I'd got a very good deal on enough 2" marine ply to replace pretty much all of the sidedecks at £50+vat a sheet as opposed to its list price of over £340 it was too good to miss!.

The foredeck and the very forward section of the sidedecks has quite a bit of camber (curve) as the 2" ply is incredibly stiff (32 laminates of gaboon with less than 0.01% voids) I decided to laminate the foredeck out of two layers of inch ply.

This is budget "far eastern" marine ply at £96+vat a sheet and I wish I could have afforded something nicer - although its epoxy sheathed so it dosn't matter really

 

First bits of ply dry fitted:

 

 

 

And with the second layer epoxied down and a layer of epoxy and fibreglass cloth on top:

 

 

 

Better end this post here as its incredibly long!

Thanks for Reading,

 

Dave

 

[Mr Livered]

Wow - fantastic.

 

This is a car forum, but I have a feeling that I could look on a specialised boat forum and still not see such an amazing thread as this.

 

Keep it up!

[nigel bickle]

Sits on the bottom nicely, doesn't it! 

 

Are you doing this alone? I know how difficult it can be working on water, and this looks anything but straightforward.....

 

No work yet ''below the water line''. is she Ok down below -or will you need to lift her out later?

[worldofceri]

I think you've missed a post or three.  She's definitely been out of the water.