Hoping I can repair my bowsprit! Yikes!

[roland stockham]

Does the WA in you details stand for Washington USA? Is that where you are now? If so there is tones of excellent spar quality Cedar or Pitch Pine available and will be a local carpentry shop with a band saw. It is a simple job, just take the old one off and into the shop and ask them to make a copy. Good for another 30 years and looks right. Should be cheaper than a stainless one and you don't need to worry about the design.

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by rbk

Replace it or you may find yourself replacing your whole rig. Quickest way would be to have one welded up, or laminate and shape one yourself.

This. It's empirically been weakened by rot and could go if it's stressed, either by just giving way when you tension the forestay, by giving way when you get a gust of wind on your foresail, or by giving way when you come off a big wave.

The last two could lose you your rig, as the person above correctly states.

[S/V Alchemy]

I would also add that it's pretty rare for the peanut gallery here to all sing in the same key!

[CarinaPDX]

Been down this road...

When I arrived in Ireland I found rot at the forward end of the bowsprit: it had developed inside the Krantz iron and spread. First thing to note is not to use a Krantz iron that is closed at the front as water can get trapped. I went to the old guy that had supervised the production of wooden boats at the yard decades earlier, and asked him to make me a new one. I suggested a tropical hardwood, perhaps teak. He was emphatic that such woods were too brittle and could shatter when hitting something. He insisted on "Oregon Pine", AKA Douglas Fir, as it was strong, could flex if needed, and was somewhat rot resistant. The OP is located in Doug fir country so the choice is easy: make a new bowsprit out of Doug fir.

Greg


[He was also emphatic that no repair would ever be good enough - replacement was the only choice.]

[TrentePieds]

Replacement is the only viable option. Some have suggested chipping out all unsound wood and then filling the resulting void with a "Dutchman". IMO that is NOT good enuff due to the constant flexing of a sprit, however well it may be stayed. The Dutchman will pop out and you are back where you started.

Removing the existing sprit should not be difficult since destruction of it is of no great consequence. It's gone anyway. Just make sure you take accurate measurements of its dimensions before you start pulling it out.

Shape a new one to the same measurements. The new one having the exact same measurements is critical only as to the length and to the moulded and sided dimensions where the sprit passes through the moulded GRP hull. You can do it on sawhorses using the tools most handymen would already have, although you might find a power plane a great boon.

You will be able to buy the required tools many times over for the cost of having a new srit professionally made, let alone the cost of repairing your rigging if this sprits let go.

Someone mentioned softwood. I concur. There is NO need to spend the money that teak would cost even if the existing sprit is teak. Clear, straight grain Douglas Fir, available from specialty lumber suppliers or even (in these dimensions) from retailers such as Windsor Plywood (here in Canada) is MUCH cheaper than teak and actually better suited for a purpose such as this. If I were doing the job I would laminate the stock from 2 x 8 or 2 x 10 DF using epoxy for the glue. It could even be done from 2 x 4 DF.

You can make the new sprit before you remove the old one. Make sure that for the period the boat is sans sprit you have set up a temporary forestay. It needn't be complicate since you'll not be sailing the boat so there will be little strain on it, but you do need to have one.

Let's know how you go.

All the best

TrentePieds

[svJasmine]

use fir for the new one. use penetrating epoxy on the new one, then paint.


it's too structural to just repair.


I did it on my westsail. took about a week of work and a big piece of wood. I used a solid piece , but many have laminated fir. Teak is too brittle. You need a strong piece of wood. I would guess yours is not teak.




rich

[stnick]

Find yourself a local boatwright and take his advice. Its alot of work to do it correctly because of the stress put on the bowsprit . weather he does the work , or your a wood worker . Just do it correctly for saftey sake !

[Allied39]

Na, she'll be right. Stuff a wad of well chewed bubble gum in there.....not like the thing is structual........right?

[Mike Banks]

What rbk said.

My first though t was to chisel it to a nice rectangular form with a slight taper, then to make an identical plug to fit and to glue it into place using Resorcinol glue. Then I thought waht a lot of trouble to go to when a better option would be to replace it--because teak is a BASTARD to glue.

Do not mess about with it--get rid of it. Marine aluminium alloy heavy wall tubing tube will be stronger and lighter.

[sailandbail]

Originally Posted by S/V Alchemy

I would also add that it's pretty rare for the peanut gallery here to all sing in the same key!

Haha, absolutely!! This is very much appreciated, even though it's not really what I wanted to hear.

[sailandbail]

Originally Posted by svJasmine

use fir for the new one. use penetrating epoxy on the new one, then paint.


it's too structural to just repair.


I did it on my westsail. took about a week of work and a big piece of wood. I used a solid piece , but many have laminated fir. Teak is too brittle. You need a strong piece of wood. I would guess yours is not teak.




rich

I love this idea because I so happen to have A LOT of really large old growth, clear fir beams. It's very interesting to learn that using fir is a good option because of that fact that it is softer in nature and is able to flex as needed. I am a woodworker but haven't tackled a project like this before. I've got access to all of the right tools and materials. I'd like to take the time to do this correctly.

Thanks all so much!

[sailandbail]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

Replacement is the only viable option. Some have suggested chipping out all unsound wood and then filling the resulting void with a "Dutchman". IMO that is NOT good enuff due to the constant flexing of a sprit, however well it may be stayed. The Dutchman will pop out and you are back where you started.

Removing the existing sprit should not be difficult since destruction of it is of no great consequence. It's gone anyway. Just make sure you take accurate measurements of its dimensions before you start pulling it out.

Shape a new one to the same measurements. The new one having the exact same measurements is critical only as to the length and to the moulded and sided dimensions where the sprit passes through the moulded GRP hull. You can do it on sawhorses using the tools most handymen would already have, although you might find a power plane a great boon.

You will be able to buy the required tools many times over for the cost of having a new srit professionally made, let alone the cost of repairing your rigging if this sprits let go.

Someone mentioned softwood. I concur. There is NO need to spend the money that teak would cost even if the existing sprit is teak. Clear, straight grain Douglas Fir, available from specialty lumber suppliers or even (in these dimensions) from retailers such as Windsor Plywood (here in Canada) is MUCH cheaper than teak and actually better suited for a purpose such as this. If I were doing the job I would laminate the stock from 2 x 8 or 2 x 10 DF using epoxy for the glue. It could even be done from 2 x 4 DF.

You can make the new sprit before you remove the old one. Make sure that for the period the boat is sans sprit you have set up a temporary forestay. It needn't be complicate since you'll not be sailing the boat so there will be little strain on it, but you do need to have one.

Let's know how you go.

All the best

TrentePieds

This is really encouraging. I know it's a big project to undertake but I now see how absolutely necessary it is. A lot is depending and relying on the strength of the sprit, which to a completely naive (idiotic) novice like me, I've been conveniently ignoring. I'll tackle this project and count myself very lucky, because I've taken her out sailing in pretty heavy winds dozens of times in the last couple months. Makes me nervous now just thinking about the risk I was taking.

I'm a woodworker by trade and have some great tools and some really beautiful old growth VG fir beams that I think will work beautifully. Until I posted this I hadn't realized fir would be an option because it is softer and couldn't be more pleased that I can put those beams I've been saving to use. I think that I've got a beam or two that are large enough to construct the new sprit out of one piece which would be great, otherwise I'm assuming I can epoxy two of them together?

If anyone is local in the Washington area, I would be happy to share some of my clear, vertical grain fir beams if you have a boat project in mind. I traded my labor a couple years ago for a large stack of good looking old growth fir fresh from a sawmill 50+ years ago that has never been used.

Let the measuring begin... I will make the new bowsprit before I remove the existing. Really hoping that this project doesn't eat up too much time as this weather is changing and it's a beautiful time of year to be out on the water!!

Thank you so much, everyone, for all of the advice.

Evan
Sea Bird

[TrentePieds]

Quote: "... inside the Krantz iron …"

Offered in the interests of keeping our treasured "sailor speak" correct :-): It isn't a "Krantz iron". The gizmo is not named after a German gentleman. The origin of the word is, however, Germanic right enuff - specifically, it is Middle Dutch "krans", meaning "ring" :-)

The gizmo is a "cranse iron" and is so called because it forms a cranse - a ring.

Its purpose is twofold: Firstly, by forming a ferrule around the outer end of the sprit, it prevents the wood from splitting under load or under impact. Secondly, it is a convent place to affix lugs, called "tangs" to which the ends of the several required stays may be made fast. A stay called the "bob stay" leads to the outer stem just above the waterline via a "dolphin striker"(a spreader bar), a "sprit stay" on each side leads to "chain plates" on each side of the hull, about at deck level some distance aft of the stem, and a "topmast stay" leads to the top of the (fore)topmast at the "hounds" (in ships of yore the place where the topmast is joined to the mast proper. The bigger and more complicated the ship, the greater the elaboration of this basic scheme.

TrentePieds

[zeehag]

find old salt
buy wood
buy epoxy
buy glue
table saw helped a lot
fix sprit.
find welder
find materials
fix the undersprit supports and tangs and anchor roller etc.
fix krantz
re-rig with same or new cables and parts.
go sailing.
building this will help with wood masts later if needed, as a new skill will be added to your toolbox.
and you will feel pride of ownership instead if weight of being owned.
ps my mizzen is looking good awaiting re rig...

please post pix and progress so we can kibbutz err suggest err help..err watch the beauty re form.

[CarinaPDX]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

The gizmo is a "cranse iron" and is so called because it forms a cranse - a ring.

Mea culpa. Thanks for the correction.

BTW the inside of the cranse iron should be a conical section, not cylindrical. The sprit should extend a little (1/4"?) in front of the iron and sealed/painted. Cranse irons that are closed in front can trap moisture at the end grain and start rot without any external indication - as happened to me. I replaced my SS weldment with a proper bronze casting from Port Townsend Foundry - infinitely better.

Greg