13' Owens runabout
Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2017 9:42 pm
Having posted a couple of disparate questions I thought I would start a thread regrading my 13' Owens.
Based on dimensions found in the Fiberglassics library I believe it to be a Brisbane.
I bought it in June of last year after being contacted by the seller on a totally different subject, it was only during the course of the conversation that I found out about the boat.
I had been thinking of buying a classic boat for some time as we live in Dorset and so are quite near the coast and I fancied a classic boat to compliment my 1966 MK3 Ford Zodiac.
The fact that it was being advertised as a 1965 boat and had engine and trailer were the big selling points for me. Not having owned a boat before I had to do some rapid research before committing myself. After satisfying myself that it was worth having I agreed to buy the package and the seller took it off Ebay. Indeed some of you may have seen it on there as I understand it had been advertised for some time.
So I sent off from Dorset to just south off Scunthorpe to a small village on the river Trent. The boat was as advertised and the seller had warned me that the trailer wouldn't make it to Dorset so I had to take a trailer to pick it up.
Arriving Back in Dorset, The Nordic Folk Boat belongs to a friend
Once I got it into the shed over the coming weeks I began to asses its condition and start to take off the fittings with the aim of cleaning it up.
The seller had told me it belonged to his father but had not been used in at least ten years. Apart from the seats the boat was complete and in generally good condition with most of its fittings. The only major thing missing was the markers plate which was a disappointment. This had been removed when the transom was reinforced.
The first thing was to take anything useful off the trailer as it was completely rotted out. Following that I started to clean out the boat as it had been stored outside and collected a lot of leaves and foliage, more of that later. The interior of the hull had been repainted blue over the original white I started by scrapping this off, the best method proved to be elbow grease and a heat gun. The first thing I noticed was that the boat had taken on a lot of water, rain water, no doubt from being stored outside. Also it became apparent that this water had got under the floor through the eight 1/2" holes left were the seats were taken out. Consequently all the timber under the floor was wet. How wet I don't know but it's still dry out now. Despite advise to the contrary I have refrained from removing the floor/sole, the timber is too good and the construction so solid I think it would ruin the boat. Without the hull being fully supported I don't think I would be able to restore its shape whilst renewing the floor/sole. OK so there are a few pockets of de-lamination of the fibreglass covering the floor/sole, but these don't warrant ripping it all up. They can be rectified I think by injecting some resin into the effected areas. Removing the paint from inside the hull was relatively easy until it come to under the deck and around the transom.
It was at this point I discovered, as you won't be surprised to read, that the transom was rotten. My first thought after discovering how far the transom extended and how it was put in was.. How the ... am I going to replace that! After posting a couple of questions I took the advise and 'Popped the top'
To my surprise the deck and hull were not bonded together but were stapled together when the fibre glass was still 'green'
Having removed the rubbing strip and the aluminium rails I used a bolster chisel to cut the staples and hoisted the deck into the roof of the shed. This made leaning up the hull, removing paint and setting about the transom a lot, lot easier. Currently I have removed the old transom and have been preparing to do some fibre glassing once the temperature gets above 15 degrees.
In the mean time I have dismantled and freed off the ride guide steering that was seized and bought a replacement Merc control unit and am in the process of oiling the cables with a hydraulic oiler design for motorbikes. Also I've started to build a replacement trailer using some of the old parts (to get around IVA) with the aim of building someone of a period feel having studied the numerous adverts for period trailers, and their ingenious features, that appear on Ebay. Plus the prices being asked on Ebay and Gumtree seem really excessive for what they are. Mind you, it didn't take long for someone to point out to me what B.O.A.T stands for! However in my case it's more like a hundred. My advise to anyone would be "Don't buy anything that displaces more water than your wallet"
I have also made use of the poor weather by taking the RYA online Essential Navigation and Seamanship course in preparation for taking the level 2 power boat course.
I've also started work on the outboard which turns out to be something of a rarity in being a 1963 Mercury 'Cloud White' 50hp 500. I've started a thread regarding this over on Fiberglassics.com
http://www.fiberglassics.com/glassic-fo ... wn-problem
I'll post more once I've photographed the boat in its current state.
Based on dimensions found in the Fiberglassics library I believe it to be a Brisbane.
I bought it in June of last year after being contacted by the seller on a totally different subject, it was only during the course of the conversation that I found out about the boat.
I had been thinking of buying a classic boat for some time as we live in Dorset and so are quite near the coast and I fancied a classic boat to compliment my 1966 MK3 Ford Zodiac.
The fact that it was being advertised as a 1965 boat and had engine and trailer were the big selling points for me. Not having owned a boat before I had to do some rapid research before committing myself. After satisfying myself that it was worth having I agreed to buy the package and the seller took it off Ebay. Indeed some of you may have seen it on there as I understand it had been advertised for some time.
So I sent off from Dorset to just south off Scunthorpe to a small village on the river Trent. The boat was as advertised and the seller had warned me that the trailer wouldn't make it to Dorset so I had to take a trailer to pick it up.
Arriving Back in Dorset, The Nordic Folk Boat belongs to a friend
Once I got it into the shed over the coming weeks I began to asses its condition and start to take off the fittings with the aim of cleaning it up.
The seller had told me it belonged to his father but had not been used in at least ten years. Apart from the seats the boat was complete and in generally good condition with most of its fittings. The only major thing missing was the markers plate which was a disappointment. This had been removed when the transom was reinforced.
The first thing was to take anything useful off the trailer as it was completely rotted out. Following that I started to clean out the boat as it had been stored outside and collected a lot of leaves and foliage, more of that later. The interior of the hull had been repainted blue over the original white I started by scrapping this off, the best method proved to be elbow grease and a heat gun. The first thing I noticed was that the boat had taken on a lot of water, rain water, no doubt from being stored outside. Also it became apparent that this water had got under the floor through the eight 1/2" holes left were the seats were taken out. Consequently all the timber under the floor was wet. How wet I don't know but it's still dry out now. Despite advise to the contrary I have refrained from removing the floor/sole, the timber is too good and the construction so solid I think it would ruin the boat. Without the hull being fully supported I don't think I would be able to restore its shape whilst renewing the floor/sole. OK so there are a few pockets of de-lamination of the fibreglass covering the floor/sole, but these don't warrant ripping it all up. They can be rectified I think by injecting some resin into the effected areas. Removing the paint from inside the hull was relatively easy until it come to under the deck and around the transom.
It was at this point I discovered, as you won't be surprised to read, that the transom was rotten. My first thought after discovering how far the transom extended and how it was put in was.. How the ... am I going to replace that! After posting a couple of questions I took the advise and 'Popped the top'
To my surprise the deck and hull were not bonded together but were stapled together when the fibre glass was still 'green'
Having removed the rubbing strip and the aluminium rails I used a bolster chisel to cut the staples and hoisted the deck into the roof of the shed. This made leaning up the hull, removing paint and setting about the transom a lot, lot easier. Currently I have removed the old transom and have been preparing to do some fibre glassing once the temperature gets above 15 degrees.
In the mean time I have dismantled and freed off the ride guide steering that was seized and bought a replacement Merc control unit and am in the process of oiling the cables with a hydraulic oiler design for motorbikes. Also I've started to build a replacement trailer using some of the old parts (to get around IVA) with the aim of building someone of a period feel having studied the numerous adverts for period trailers, and their ingenious features, that appear on Ebay. Plus the prices being asked on Ebay and Gumtree seem really excessive for what they are. Mind you, it didn't take long for someone to point out to me what B.O.A.T stands for! However in my case it's more like a hundred. My advise to anyone would be "Don't buy anything that displaces more water than your wallet"
I have also made use of the poor weather by taking the RYA online Essential Navigation and Seamanship course in preparation for taking the level 2 power boat course.
I've also started work on the outboard which turns out to be something of a rarity in being a 1963 Mercury 'Cloud White' 50hp 500. I've started a thread regarding this over on Fiberglassics.com
http://www.fiberglassics.com/glassic-fo ... wn-problem
I'll post more once I've photographed the boat in its current state.