Buchan Sailboats

[svquest2]

I believe the boats were built in Bremerton WA and the company is long gone. I think the original design was done by Bill Buchan and modified slightly bu the builder. He had formally been the Bremerton Postmaster who retired and loved boats. There is one now at the Port Orchard YC and there were several at the bremerton Yacht Club. I think a note to those clubs would put you in touch with a number of current or previous owners.

Good Luck

Joe S

[Distance]

JB, There really aren't any drawing or manuals for the boats. The lines drawings apparently made by Lon Robinson when hull number 8 was being built. I was a boeing engineer so he reverse engineered the boat. I do have some original blue prints of the boat that I can make copies of but they do not have any construction details. There was a guy who did re-do the hull deck joint on his boat and it looks super cool. I don't know his full name but he owns Walrus machine shop and the boat is out at Shilshole

Good luck

[jarrodbailey]

Thanks for the lead Distance! I'll google the machine shop to see if I can get in touch with him.

If it's possible to scan the blueprints, I would be greatly appreciative.

I am working on making some drawings of her that I would be more than happy to share when I'm done (although it may take me a couple of months, as I'm doing it while in the midst of working on her).

Cheers,
JB

[Marksman]

Hey JB,

I had some leaks in my deck join as well, but they went away after I refinished and sealed my toe rail. I had thought of removing it so I could rebed it properly but after seeing how much work it would be given the glassed over fasteners on the inside I abandond the idea. The best I can tell is the deck fits inside the hull laminate and is glassed into place on the inside with maybe some adhesive applied to the edges of the deck where it contacts the hull, just guessing here. As I was digging out the tons of silicon sealent (hate the stuff) used to fill in the gaps under the rail I found some places where the deck laminate was loose from the hull. I wicked in some epoxy and then sealed with 3M 4200 though I don't expect the epoxy to adhear given all the silicon that was used there previously. Perhaps the deck edge was never bonded on purpose so the deck could be removed without destroying it by just cutting away the fiberglass doublers on the inside. The toerail fasteners will have to be replaced eventualy because they are already rusty and won't last forever, and the track for the genoa is only screwed to the rail, not through bolted to the deck. This may be alright and accepted practice but it doesn't seem strong enough to me. I'm afraid I will be beating hard to windward and have the track, rail or both come loose and spoil my day. Anyway, what ever you find out I hope you can share with the rest of us. Good luck with your toe rail project, did you manage to get it removed?

Fred

[jarrodbailey]

Hey Fred,

Thanks for the insight--the toe rail project is not something I am looking forward to. I didn't get a chance to look at it this weekend as I was working on other projects on the boat. I am detailing much of the work here: blog « gratitude at sea.

I'll keep you posted on what I do with the toe rail.

Cheers,
JB

[Marksman]

Hey JB,

I don't mind saying you bit off a big ol hunk o sweat equity though I can't say I wouldn't have done it myself. Maelstrom had some issues when I bought her too. I had to take the hull down to fiberglass waterline down and epoxy coat, see pic. But the interior was in pretty good shape. I don't know if my cabin top is sandwich construction or just plywood as there is 1/4" teak ply acting as veneer throughout. I guess you never know what evil lurks behind a pretty face but as far as I can tell it's all good, aside from the drooping head liner anyway. Heres a couple of pics of the inside in your interested.

Cheers,

[jarrodbailey]

Hey fellas,

It's been a journey. Progress is coming along and we're scheduled to be hauled out next week.

We're in the middle of redoing the hull to deck joint. We've removed a section of the rotted out teak toe rail discovered what the joint looked like. The deck has an upward turned flange and meets the vertical flange of the hull. There is a piece of 3/8" ply that rests between the two flanges (I'm guessing used to help join the two members?).

Wondering if anyone here has redone the hull to deck joint on their B37's. And if so, did you use ply between the two members (or something synthetic)? Any help or feedback would be greatly appreciated.





Cheers,
JB

gratitude at sea

[Marksman]

Hi JB,

My deck join is quite different. I had a delam in the join at one of the scupper locations in the toerail, and what it appears to be is just a butt joint with the deck (about 1" thick, cored) bonded to the inside surface of the hull, flush with the shearline, and a heavy fiberglass fillet laid into the resulting corner on the inside. The toe rail was installed flush (mostly) with the topsides. I have a different cabin top than you so I think we would be comparing apples and oranges. I had heard everyone who bought one of these finnished them out themselvs so you get a lot of varience from boat to boat and year to year. Wish I cold be more help.


Peace,
Fred