Fixing up my old boat and trailer :)

[GrahamWebb]

Hi I recently bought an old Orkney Skua 13 foot fibreglass clinker style dinghy which can be sailed or used with an outboard and posted about it on here and was able to collect it after a delay in getting my towbar fitted. Since getting the boat back home I realised I was short on space so have spent the last 6 weeks or so putting up a big shed so have only just started paying attention to the boat.

The last couple of weeks I have started thinking about what bits of tidying up need to be done on the boat and trailer a and have been taking a look at the rigging. Firstly I have fitted some new side bunks to the trailer as the old home built ones were rotton and needed replacing. I actually lost part of my side bunk getting the boat home and we had to rig up a bit of wood to replace it! I have also fitted a new winch as the old one was all rusty.

Since the new winch was fitted I was able to lower the boat off the trailer and onto the grass in my back garden.





I am thinking about what I should do while the boat is off the trailer and have been thinking of painting the trailer with some silver hammerite and maybe adding another keel roller in the middle of the back section of the draw bar where there is a gap as the keel was rubbing on the draw bar at that point.

Also the wood work needs a bit of attention I am thinking of sanding back the plywood and applying some sort of marine varnish, or perhaps removing the plywood and replacing it with slatted seating as when I look at pictures of other orkney skuas they seem to have that style of seating and alot less woodwork filling up the hull.





Something like this?


I am just really open to suggestions and advice as am trying to get the boat in order, working out the rigging for what sails and masts I have will be another story

[GrahamWebb]

These were the side bunks I replaced btw!

[Ianfs]

Goodness those old chine supports/mini bunks look as if they were put together when the owner was drunk.

I completely agree that the slatted approach will transform the boat as well as allow more room for you to move around.

I wouldn't paint the trailer with Hammerite though, it is no longer what it used to be. Instead I would choose something like this....

http://www.rust.co.uk/epoxy-mastic-rust-proofing-paint/c28117/

It's not cheap but it will last forever if you prep well first. The centre bar looks fine and there are only a few area's which need a little tlc on the cross bar though.

[GrahamWebb]

Hi thanks for the advice, thing is I already have a tin of the hammerite and also want to get the trailer tidied up quickly so I can concentrate on the boat. I am thinking I might get the trailer a bit better for now with the hammerite and then later down the line go to town on it. I dont really want the boat off the trailer for too long as my garden is looking like a boat yard.

Yep I reckon the slats look much better and hopefully not too hard to do as well, there are a couple of bits where I also need to repair the gelcoat as while trailering home the rubber bit came off one of those bunks. The boat listed on its starboard side and lent on a bolt on the trailers mud guard which has rubbed a dent in the gelcoat. Also I there are a couple of little cracks where the gelcoat has been bumped. I found a supplier online that does coloured gelcoat repair kits so will have a go with that.

[ColinR]

Plastic padding do a good gel coat repair product. You can get the colour powders from various online sources which you just mix in to match.

http://www.mbfg.co.uk/search/for/coloured+gelcoat/?gclid=CjwKEAjwudW9BRDcrd30kovf8GkSJAB3hTxFgujo4tBKDhi7QYTAgvNUVCEMywlBANuQXpV17i7qCxoC04vw_wcB

[argonaut]

Hammerite is not suitable for marine trailers .... I know from experience .. paint it, and after only 1 dip .. you will start getting corrosion .... the paint is very thin between the solids (what gives it the hammered look) and it rusts very, very easily.
You will be repainting it on permanent basis.

I have used Smoothrite .... which is much better.

There are 3 good options for a mariner trailer:

#1 strip it and get it shot blast and galvanized .... usually galvanizers turn it round in same week, some places can be expensive - but not all, I had all 4 wheels done for my trailer - cheaper than buying the paint.

#2 shot blast, treat with salt remover, paint with 2-part epoxy ( or spend a lot of time prep if you don't shot blast)

#3 prep, acid-etch prime - paint with your choice of paint .



I did all my brakes with 2-part epoxy (one of guys here put me onto a good make) ... now a much easier job to clean each year and ZERO corrosion on any of the painted parts. http://www.rust.co.uk/epoxy-mastic-rust-proofing-paint/c28117/

[GrahamWebb]

Hi I already painted the trailer with Hammerite before I saw some of the posts as to how bad it is but put on two good thick coats so hopefully it will be ok for a while.

In the end I replaced the rollers as well as they were available on ebay 35 quid for a set of 4 so it seemed a no brainer. To date I have replaced, the side bunks, winch, rollers and now the trailer hitch. My next job is going to be replacing the bearings maybe the whole hub assembly as those are cheap enough.





Now I need to turn my attention to repairing the gelcoat so will order the plastic padding repair stuff and some red powder to mix in before taking a look at the wood work and then working out the sails am looking forward to getting it out on the water now

[BruceK]

That's come on really nicely. Well done.