Manhasset restoration

August 2020 - putting on hardware; multiple coats of McClosky Spar Varnish. 

 

Saturday, July 11 -  Took a long COVID break from the restoration & Kricker workshop. 

Refreshed our memory as to where we left off - got in some sanding & a coat of varnish!  

                                    Another set of brackets for strength, but also to cover up rough

                                     edges....

                                  

                                        Getting first coat of Varnish. 

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Put chocks back on plank; had previously filled all bolt holes with epoxy; drilled out holes, squared up chocks. 

tung oil applied to cockpit.

Epoxied strips into larger spilts in the mast.

Note strip filling in split further up the mast.

Put the tiller post sleeve back in place. Bronze bands to go back on as well. 

Hudson River Chrome....
Dock wire brushed and cleaned up original nuts/bolts/washers.  

Making adjustments to get runners parallel in chocks. 

Chocks on!

February 29th 

                      Julien working some pieces of bronze; 

                     to become supporting brackets at the 4 attachment points of cockpit to backbone. 

           4 bronze brackets installed, aft end and forward end of cockpit. 

       Putting threads on a bronze rod.  Another piece fashioned to help stiffen and secure cockpit. 



Tuesday, February, 2020

Finished screwing cockpit together. Julien created a piece to fill out the cockpit "floor." Seems we lost one of the tongue & groove slats. Put coats of tung oil on Mast & Plank.  Prepping for varnishing once it warms up. Dana mixed up some stains to blend in bungs and a few patches - trying to match as best as possible, color of backbone. Hoping to attach cockpit to backbone next time.

ratchet strap helps pull cockpit into place. 

Bronze screws secure floorboards to cockpit sides. 

Some hardware still to be attached, after we drop this back onto backbone,

rubbing stain on lighter parts- from sanding, patch work, new bungs. 

Plank quickly soaked up 2 coats of tung oil.

Drilling out tiller post hole; New plug of wood was added at aft end of backbone. 

Saturday, February 8, 2020
Julien & crew begin reassembling the cockpit. attaching the floorboards to the rails with screws. More to go, then we'll drop it on the backbone and attach with more screws.   Shop was a toasty 38 degrees today..

Trimming some oak used to patch the ends of cockpit
 ( some rot and wear at all 4 ends)

Aft end; slot for backbone. Bronze fittings are for diamond stays.

holes at edges of floorboards lined up with holes on underside of rails.
Most were plugged with epoxy and redrilled.

Forward end of cockpit.
Trying to solve the mystery of missing plank #2....

Saturday, December 14:
Back to restoration of Manhassett.  A small group has actually been back working on the iceboat on and off since October.  Today we epoxied screw holes in cockpit; began putting bungs in the sideboards of the backbone, and repaired the end sections of the cockpit rail. sanding, cleaning up the  backbone, prepped mast for varnish.  As always, big shout out to Jim for firing up the stove in advance & thanks to Dana & Julien & Reid, and, speedy recovery for Jack.

The cockpit rail, inner rail of oak, cherry on outside. the ends were rotted some;
Julien notched out punky wood, scarfed in some new oak.

                                       Oak wedge, glued in... 

There are both sides, glued up & clamped; This will get fitted to cockpit planking.

Here it is sitting on the plank. Getting ready to varnish plank & mast in next month or so.  

The 'flooring' - filled screw holes  with epoxy while repairing splits,
and sections that splintered off.   will redrill holes & use new fasteners.

cutting out bungs and gluing them into backbone, covering the new screws used to
refasten side boards of backbone.

Shop was quite comfortable today, almost reaching 50!

Saturday, June 8:

Added extra blocking at several bulkhead locations - near both cockpits. 

Leveled up, for the most part...

Note added from restoration crew, 2019.

Original note from 1906 - George Buckhout & his glue crew - added back in one of bulkheads. 

Hopefully no one will ever need to see the HRIYC patch added...

Epoxy all around on starboard side board.

Starboard plank flipped into place; little extra epoxy here & there. 

new screws, clamps to pull it together; Backbone reinforcement and repairs, done.
next, cockpit restoration.

Oh, right... the cockpit!

Saturday, June 1:
ready to epoxy port side board into place.

getting backbone level...

epoxy to rabbit joints; thin mix coat
, then add thickener.

Port side plank on right, epoxied and ready to set onto backbone frame.

The adhesives... modern alternatives to original animal glues that bonded her together in 1906.

port side plank set into place; now screwed onto backbone frame.

epoxy, screws, clamps...

Saturday, May 25:
new stern bulkhead fitted;  rabbit joints cleaned up;  getting ready to glue side board  back on - west system epoxy & new screws.

New "plug" of pine in aft end;

aft end - bulkhead and underside board  (Douglas fir?) replaced.

will drill out tiller post hole...

Port side board fits back pretty well.

Port side board slips in to place beautifully.  to be epoxied in place next time.

Saturday April 6:
Finally get the port side board completely off.

side boards to the left, backbone to right. top side with handle. bulkheads still glued in place.

Want to know more about the glue that held the hollow backbone together all these years?  Some technical data on animal glue is here,  from the Ray Ruge collection.


Saturday March 16:  after a few weeks off, we are back in the shop; the starboard side board is completely removed. Today we commence pulling of port side board. More steam, more gentle prying. We get about 1/3 of the board detached.

bow of backbone; port side board is removed  slowly.

markings Buckhout put inside the box. This denotes the point to be
at the center of the plank.

Saturday February 9  no sailing, just steaming....      see current conditions via link on right column...

Julian's Steamer does more than wall paper...
it was essential to help  weaken the hide glue bonds; it's a tedious task. that glue held tight. 

Slowly, the starboard spruce board - 34' in length, is peeled off.

Interior blocking - bulkheads- are spaced every 4 ft or so, or at stress points ( at the plank, the mast step...)
The block is to the left; the one to the right was stuck in to prop up the board.

We work about 3/4 of the side board off. Hal digs inside for something he notices.. 

George Buckhout glued a card inside the backbone. He notes the "glue team".
Added mystery though..... 
It was always thought Manhasset was built in 1912. This notes the backbone being made in 1906
( or is it 1909? - I say '06)
Card was a bit soggy from steam.

I'll be steaming in Australia & New Zealand for the next 2 weeks.....

Saturday February 2: 
Chilly day at the shop: it got up to 32....

Removing the last of the bungs and screws; ready to
pry the box apart.

Beginning to pry off the starboard side. Glue still holds tight after 107 years...

We found hidden fasteners that made the separation challenging.

backbone - aft end. .. starboard side board on top - sitka spruce? - separating from the backbone.

Thats the block of wood - bulkhead - aft end of the backbone. Tiller post ran through this. We
got all the screws, but that old glue held fast...
Top plank to left, starboard plank at top.

Next time, steam the inside of the box as we pull apart the sideboards from top and bottom.

Saturday January 12:

Cold is here; we are watching the ice in several locations. stay tuned;
Meanwhile, restoration work on Manhasset continues:

It is amazing how many screws George Buckhout put into the Manhasset; Taking them out 107 years later is no easy feat...

Here is the cockpit of Manhasset. We are trying to get to the stick that is the backbone. This needs removal.

Underside of cockpit. Skeg will be removed.
This is tongue & groove  pine, screwed to the backbone.

We remove each piece of cockpit bed; this is the bow underside.

12-28-2018
With no ice here in the Hudson Valley, and with the government shutdown in DC, which stymied a plan to set up FDR's Hawk at the FDR site in Poughkeepsie ( as we did 2 years ago), we are turning efforts to begin restoration of the ice yacht Manhassett. Find her story here. 

We plan to take apart the hollow backbone.  

Hardware is removed - beautiful bronze cleats Buckhout created in Poughkeepsie.
Bronze mast step is already removed - note the light patch at Doc's elbow.

Removing oak bungs to get at bronze screws underneath. 

Some screws came out easily, others not so much...

Nose of the backbone. 

Thanks to club member Jim Kricker for allowing us to use his well appointed wood shop!
See previous restoration posts from 2 years ago HERE.                  More to follow....