Minuet Restoration Project

[Locutus]

Hello everyone. It's been a while since I've had a project to share. Yesterday I bought an old Glen-L Minuet, with trailer, off of an Offer-Up ad in my area. Should be an interesting restoration project, if it's not already past saving. There's rainwater in the bilge and there may be some rot to repair. Also needs new fiberglass skin at some of the joints, new exterior brightwork, new paint, maybe new mast. Probably needs new sails too. Trailer needs new tongue jack, paint touch-up after repairing some rust spots, and replacement of steps. Tires are probably older than I'd want to keep. That's just what is obvious. No telling what I'll find once I get into it.

If any of you know who the original builder is, I'd like to get in touch. It would be helpful to know something about the materials used, and whether it was skinned in epoxy or polyester resin. That could affect how I do my restoration.

[Locutus]

Today I was finally able to get the boat over to the side yard after the snow melted. The trailer is several inches too wide at the wheels to fit into the garage, unfortunately. I was hoping to let it get nice and dry for a few months in there. So it's tarp shelter for now. I got all the stuff out of the cabin. You can see the loot in the first photo below. The sails are in decent shape, although a bit dirty and stretched. No longer crisp but no holes, rips, repairs, or stitching coming undone. They're the Glen-L sail kit made by Lee Sails. The companionway drop boards are completely delaminated and need to be replaced. The rudder might need replacing too, there is a crack in the veneer layer starting to peel up. I might attempt a repair but I think I'd rather build a kick-up rudder anyway, like I built for my Skipjack.

The bad news is that the bottom of the hull plywood is soft from the inside, from all that rainwater sitting there. I can push a dent in it with my finger. I probably could poke all the way through if I pushed hard enough. It looks like exterior grade plywood too, not marine grade. But I think that's all the plywood I'll need to replace. So this spring I'll turn the boat upside down, remove all the rot, replace it with epoxy-encapsulated marine plywood, skin the entire hull with fiberglass cloth, and then it should be seaworthy again. That's the plan anyway.

The builder didn't put any watertight flotation compartments into the build, or any flotation foam. So that's also on the agenda since I'll have to remove a large section of hull plywood. But with about 400 pounds of wood and only about 100 pounds of steel ballast, It probably won't need much flotation, although I might put some ballast in the bilge if I find heeling to be too tender under sail for my liking.

I think that since I'm starting with a complete boat only needing repairs, I should be able to launch late spring or early summer of this year.

[Locutus]

Okay, here's a question for those of you more experienced in restoration:

I was thinking it might be easier to dry out the hull, and after the flip just sand down to the bare wood (or fiberglass skin) on the outside and glue & screw new plywood directly to the old rotten (but dry) plywood. Then glass the seams and overlay the whole hull with fiberglass cloth. That would save time but make the boat heavier.

Or is there any reason why that would be a bad idea and i should strip the rotten plywood and start fresh? Keep in mind I do not have the Minuet plans, just this old boat.

One reason I can see myself for doing the latter is that if I strip the old plywood I can get a really good look at the framing, clean it up really well, replace any unforeseen rotten bits, seal it all in epoxy, and add flotation. That's a lot of work though, and my goal is to get this boat safely sailing, quickly and economically.

[hoodman]

Is your plan to sheathe the whole hull in another layer of plywood? Not really sure if I follow. Sounds like you have a decently solid boat with a little bit of cleanup.

[Locutus]

Hoodman,
Just the bottom plywood up to the chines. This is where the rainwater was sitting, rotting the plywood.

[hoodman]

I see. That's not the worst idea. It kinda just depends on how much is really rotten. It could be a smaller area than you think. Or more....

[TomB]

I would probe around with a screw driver. If you can push a screw driver into the plywood or the frame, it's gotta go. Tom

[Roberta]

I wouldn't plank over rotten wood. Get rid of any and all signs of rot. Why go through a lot of work only to have rot rear it's ugly head at a later date. Remove all the planking that has signs of rot and properly examine frames and longitudinal members for signs of degradation and repair that before replankiing. If you plan on a lasting repair, then that is the way to go. Otherwise, temporarily repair it for a throw away boat.

Roberta

[Locutus]

Thanks for your advice everyone. I think Roberta is probably right, I was just looking for an easier way. If I can scarf in just enough to replace the rotten sections, perhaps I can preserve the painted waterline, at least for reference for the new paint.

Roberta, what do you think of scarfing in just enough new plywood to replace the rot, rather than replacing the entire bottom all the way to the chine, if there's enough non-rotted plywood to do it this way?

[Roberta]

Trying to make a good scarf joint on plywood mounted on the hull will be tricky. If the remaining plywood is not rotten and delaminating, a butt joint might be better with doublers fastened inside.

Roberta

[Locutus]

SITE PREPARATION

Before I can start working on the Minuet, I need to prepare a shed for it. Right now it's under a tarp to keep the rain off. The Costco canopy has another project under it, and the area in front of it is about 4 FT too short to set up another Costco canopy. In order to move the existing shed back a ways, I'll need to install a retaining wall behind, which will add about 8 more feet of level space. I'll then be able to have a shed protecting both projects. I've been wanting to do this for a long time, the Minuet was the excuse to get me motivated to do it.

[hoodman]

Yes, the everlasting quest for more space to build more boats. I sympathize!

[Locutus]

SITE PREP PROGRESS


It has been a couple of weeks since my last post and I see that there have been a lot of views here durning that time, so I thought I'd post a couple of photos of my site preparation activity. It's not quite done, I still have to back fill and move the shed back. I'll be able to move it at least six feet, which will provide enough room to put up a second shed with a couple of feet to spare. But I looked on the Costco website today only to discover that they're out of stock of this shed. Hopefully they'll have more soon. Otherwise I'll have to get the El-Cheapo shed from Harbor Freight, which has no side curtains and is a different color. I laid pavers next to the retaining wall because that area is so shaded that nothing grows there. I set the wall three feet back from the fence so that the emergency egress gate can be fully opened.
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No work on the boat yet. The first job when I get to that will be to flip it upside down.
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[Locutus]

Almost done with the site preparation. All the fill, gravel and topsoil is in. I had to put a temporary chicken wire fence around it though because our dog eats the topsoil. Still need to spread grass seed, but we're in for the Winter's final sub-freezing cold snap, so I'll probably wait to do that for a couple more weeks. I can now move the old shed back six feet, which will give me room for a second shed in front of it. I learned the hard way not to overload a trailer. My little utility trailer exploded a tire when I had too much gravel in it.

[Locutus]

I've moved the current shed into its new position. But before I can put the new shed up over the boat I need to flip it over to get it ready for removing the old rotten plywood bottom and replacing it with new plywood and fiberglass skin. I suppose I'll have to build some kind of timber framework to lift it and roll it over in the air. Do any of you have suggestions on how to do this, and economically, given today's expensive lumber prices?