Musings

When you are refitting vintage grp boat, built in the time of the transition from wood to grp, you occasionally come across bits where you can see the boat yard workers attempts to find solutions by putting their traditional skills into the new technology of the day.  The simple example I came across today was a piece of teak trim between the saloon cabin sole and the saloon seats/berth mouldings.

The curved cabin sole of a Kingfisher 30 is supported on formed reinforcing ribs about an inch deep,(the only bilge facility) which follow the hull shape up to where it meets the berth moulding. The angles and shaping at the join is quite complex as the berth moulding flares away from the deck at an angle that allows for a reasonable width of the saloon berths whilst providing maximum sole width at the base when heeled over.

Internal moulding technology these days would probably make this as an all in one mould allowing for to the constant flexing of the hull by using modern jointing materials to avoid stress between internal moulding and the hull. Hence, the often seen stress crazing on some of the turns and hard spots in the flimsy budget build boats for today’s charter market.  

The solution the Westfield Engineering boat yard employed, 50 years ago, was to fix the berth mouldings to the bulkheads either end and finely shape 2x 6ft triangular piece of teak to sit between hull ribs and berth moulding and fix them with bronze screws (long since perished and replaced with stainless steel circa 1988) to the moulding with a piece of teak backing.  This allows for the base to move over the sole moulding. A simple solution you’d think; except even the smallest amount of water in the bilge slops over the top of the cabin sole as soon as you get into any kind of seaway.

This piece of trim has been looking sad for some time and the thought had passed my mind that I would replace it. However on removing it and holding it in my hands, the appreciation that these pieces of teak had been hand crafted to fit, by an unknown craftsman some 50 years ago demanded my respect, notwithstanding the amount of time effort and skill required to replicate it. The timber itself is still solid albeit stained and full of screw holes where they have corroded and been replaced. So; with a little sanding, filling, varnishing and re-bedding in modern sealant adhesive mastic job done and cheers to a craftsman of yesteryear will take them forward for perhaps another 50 years’ service and hopefully stop the bilge water slopping over the cabin sole.