thompsondockside.com

Thanks to Andreas I know the boat I bought a couple of weeks ago is a 1960 Thompson 16' Sea Coaster built in the Peshtigo plant. It is in rough shape.

After I stripped out the seats and hardware my must do highlight list list includes replacing most of the ribs aft of the cockpit area, the windshield and deck, (The remainder of the deck provides little structural strength) scarfing in a couple of feet of both sheer planks and dealing with an open seam and a couple of splits in the transom. Both stringers should be replaced along with the outer boards on the keelson. I'll know for sure about the center keelson board after I get the outer boards off.

On the plus side, the lapstrakes are in pretty good shape. There is some surface delamination on the inside of a couple and a suspicious length of about 4' in a strake near the bow with a string of steel bolts instead of brass. My trusty icepick has found little rot even in the keelson, it's gray and ugly and wood in missing but under the dirt it seems reasonably sound.

A lot of the damage that has to be repaired was caused by a raccoon that took residence and some unfortunate improvements to the interior that had to be removed with a sawzall.

My question is at the 10,000 foot level. What should I do first? I'd like to do as much as I can from the inside and finding help to flip the boat will be a challenge so I want to do it as few times as possible.

Welcome aboard!

Andreas

Sounds like a neat project

I am a radical, but I would flip the boat and disasemble it, then reassemble it using olds parts for paterns. These boats come apart very easily as they are bolted together. I believe it's easier to 100% rebuild rather than piece mill each little problem.

If the transome is spliting, it means it will come apart very easily and can be run though a thickness planner and cleaned up and then reassembled with new screws and glue. Only a light pass is probably needed toclean it up.

Sorry it gas a mixture of several of my boats.

Here's a link to some of my disassemble work, mine was in much better shape.

Some might say get another boat, but I'm for rebuilding what you have.

Any pictures?

www.aerialimaging.net/john

That sounds reasonable. Pardon me for thinking like a programmer.

I'm a little unclear what would be the most efficient disassembly process. Does this make sense?

1) Remove the nuts from the bolts holding the garboards to the first strake
2) Brace the boat so the flip doesn't cause more damage
3) Flip it. I may have to hire helpers for that.
4) Remove all the paint from the hull; find and clean out the bolt and screw heads along the garboard
5) Remove as many bolts as possible from the bottom.
6) elevate the boat enough to allow crawling under to punch out the remainder
7) Remove the keel
Remove the screws and nails holding the ribs and the garboards to the keelson and stringers. I guess brute force will be required here from time to time. Maybe grinding off nail heads.

Could the keelson drop out of the boat at this time? If so should it be braced up to prevent damage to adjacent parts when it does?

9) Somewhere in this process remove the bolts fastening the keelson to the stem.
10) Assemble a new keelson and reverse the process, except for putting screws through the ribs, using new wood as required and all new fasteners.
11) Flip the boat and start on the rib replacement as needed.

On the transom. I assume before removing it I would have to do something to prevent the boat from flying apart. Perhaps a strap with a come along the keep the strakes from springing out of shape while I work on it.

Thanks for your reply.

Looking forward to seeing the replies to this thread. I'm in the same predicament.

short version is go slow, and brace as you remove parts, take pictures and try to go back in same holes, with slightly bigger screws and nails

I too will watch with interest. I will be flipping mine to strip the hull, replace the garbord panels, replace both sister keelsons, and fix a hog.

When I get the garboard panels off and see the condition of the frames on the underside, I'll decide how much father I'll go into disassembly. In any case, not planning on having this boat in the water next season.

Question for the original poster and whoever else is planning on doing rib replacement.

How much of the rib are you guys planning on replacing or doing the whole thing? I'd say %75 of the ribs in my boat are rotten at the keelson. It looks like they are in good shape at or above the sister keelsons. Is there a common place for splicing in new rib sections?

Nick,

When splicing in new wood on ribs there are a couple things to remember.

1 - Always use a scarf joint of atlest 6 to 1 or greater.
2 - Always stagger the scarf joints so all of them are not lined up in the same place along the planking. Stagger joints so that a joint at the same loaction on a rib is at least four ribs apart from one in the same location.
3 - Try to get the scarf joint located so a screw or bolt is located in the center of the joint longitudinally.
4 - Try to keep the new rib materials as long as possible. Do not try to scarfing in a short piece near the keelson. Work your joints into the flat postion of the hull between the keelson and the sheer strake.
5 - Always use Quater Sawn White Oak Heart Wood. If you do not have to steam bend the ribs you are replacing it does not need to be air dried lumber. A slight bend can be done with steaming kiln dired lumber especially the ribs as they are very thin. For tight bends air dried lumber is the best for steaming.

Keep those things in mind and you should have good new ribs scarfed in to your pride and joy.

Good Luck,

Phill

I pressure washed the interior a few days ago. The result has show me that replacing all the frames up to the dashboard is required. It's amazing what water under pressure can do to rot, so no scarfing required. I guess I knew it all along, just had to be convinced. I'll build the steam box this winter when it's too cold to work directly on the boat.

I bought a multi-tool knockoff also and I plan to use it to cut the bolts I can't unscrew holding the garboards and perhaps the nails into the keelson so I can avoid crawling under the boat. It should save some time especially if the spring loaded nail set I found works to pop out the stub ends without damaging the wood. I think it will.

I'm now puzzling out how best to block up the boat while I work on the bottom. I don't want to move the boat into the garage so I have to contend with a gravel pad alongside the house that's sloped to drain water away, such as there is in the desert. The book and forum advise says get the boat level side to side and make sure the stem and transom are plum and properly aligned on the center of the boat. What's the best way to do that given my site problems? Can I muddle along on some trashed tires or is something more elaborate required? I'll build whatever I must to do it right. Any and all suggestions are welcome.

Bill

Bill, I made some stands out of scrap lumber and carpet remnants. They work excellent no matter how is boat is turned. You may want to strengthen for your heavier boat but it may work for you. I can rotate my boat by myself or position at just about any angle up to 45 degrees. Below is the link and the photos with the stand are at the end. Good Luck with you project!!

-Brad


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