Restoration Verses Preservation
All owners of old wooden boat come up against the problem of maintenance and the costs involved. Its a lot cheaper and simpler to maintain a modern fibreglass craft. Just because Hatasoo is a small boat doesn't change the fact that she requires an enormous amount of time and skill to keep her fit to sail. This means cash.
As we have previously said we wanted to keep her sailing and also as original as possible with the materials available. After sailing her for a couple of years it became apparent that she would need major work to be able to safely enjoy her but also so I'm not responsible in losing an important part of Scottish racing history and design. She was after-all one of the most if not the most successful racing sailing boats of all British classes.
So as described in previous posts we have started to investigate the maintenance needed, which as you would have gathered after reading the previous blog posts are quite considerable.
Our remit for Adam at A & R Boatbuilding has always been to retain as much of the original boat as we could. Most of the timber and fittings are original to her so are now 130 years old. This in our view would retain the integrity of Hatasoo and I would class as a restoration not a rebuild, thereby deserving to retain the name Hatasoo. All very romantic maybe! Many a boat has been rebuilt with the keel still present but most of the timber renewed and then still classed as original. I'm not sure I would agree, isn't it a new boat with an old keel attached?
I remember a sketch on Only Fools and Horses where Trigger claims to have had the same broom for his whole career as a road sweeper. He had cared for it and replaced the head numerous times and the shaft other times. Is it the original broom or many different brooms?
With Hatasoo most of the timber is still original, the it is still the same lead ballast keel. The mast, boom bowsprit and yard are still original.
Preservation
We could donate her to a museum for her to be preserved like her sister boat Frika. She is in the Falmouth Maritime Museum, as an exhibit, she will never sail again.There are other 17/19 class boats that had waited so long they became un-restorable. We are at a crossroads with Hatasoo that she could end up with the same problem. Many a person would claim she has already got there and the best thing to do would be to preserve, then go and buy a boat I could sail and cruise with abandon, easy to maintain and much as with any boat you do still just throw cash into the sea, but not to the same amount that Hatasoo will take, this as pound sterling per foot it is an extraordinary amount, especially as she is just a day sailor/racer.
Restoration
We originally were planning on spending between £30K & £40K to bring her back to sailing with the reduced rig that she has at the moment. An extraordinary amount of money for a day sailor! We had budgeted for that. Unfortunately now the problems have been identified the cost is going to far exceed that. The following list is not everything but will at least outline some of what will need to be completed. All will need documenting as we go and all timbers numbered for reassembly.
As explained to me by Adam at A & R Way Boatbuilding. The only way to tackle the restoration is bottom up.
The keel, stem and backbone assembly. Some parts we can not avoid but to renew them. Other parts need to be rejointed and the rest require something in between of various degrees.
Hull framing, unfortunately over time every frame has formed a defect. All the frames need some kind of repair with new sections being formed. The steam bent ribs will probably all need replacing.
Hull Planking, considering that the planking is 95% original, it is remarkable that there is very little rot, however almost all planks will need some kind of repair, some will need to be replaced. All of the planks have loose seams to the next one. They will all have to be removed one nail at a time to allow their repair and refitting on new frames.
Decking is loose and damaged at the ends, at the very least it will need removing and restored before refitting one at a time.
As a consequence of all the work every nail screw and bolt will be carefully removed and replaced.
All the hull planking and deck planks will need the ends of the timbers repaired / grafted. Every piece of timber both the width and the curve is different in shape, the documentation will be paramount to ensure reassembly goes to plan.
When replacing any timbers we will endeavour to find a timber that is the same as the original but that is going to take time as many woods that have been used in the past are not available any more, or if they are its the quality that is an issue. The planks are only 3/8" thick in yellow pine, quarter sawn yellow pine the quality we require is going to be an issue.
Now the cost of the restoration has far exceeded the original budget! The consensus "if" we are going this far we should go the whole hog and change her back to her original rig so she becomes a true 17/19 again. The mast will need to be refitted to its original location. The new boom to add length, whether by scarfing a new bit of timber on to the end, we still have been using the cut down original, if possible it would be good to retain. It could end up being a new one if that is not possible. We also need to check the length of the hull, and the length of the bowsprit.
Some of the details I hope to gain from researching the archives where the largest collection of documents are safely kept.The financing of the project is our next challenge. We cannot take on the restoration without ensuring that it will be completed. Then we would hope to be able to continue sailing Hatasoo into the future, attending some regattas and allowing others to see and a few experience her. To be able to sail her on the west coast of Scotland where she started her life would be a great achievement for all involved.
My next post will outline the fundraising plan.
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