Boat Building: Boat Building 2022 Projects – Top Picks
If you’re a regular follower of epoxycraft, you’ll know we like to feature projects on boat building and boat repair using WEST SYSTEM epoxy. We have thoroughly enjoyed hearing about many WEST SYSTEM projects this year, so we thought we’d share some fascinating ones with you!
A World War 2 Restoration Project
A boat steeped in WWII history has been saved by a family. Sarinda formally known as ML1392, is a 72ft craft, built-in 1943 and was a navigation leader at Gold Beach during the D-day landings in June 1944. Looking worse for wear, she is now in the big stages of restoration.
Gemma’s best moment of the build so far, as mentioned in the latest Epoxycraft article, was the completion of the arduous woodwork replacement to the starboard interior bow section “we have spent the past 12 months slowly replacing every bit of the rotten frames, stringers and webframes, so it was a big milestone in the restoration works.”
Follow Sarinda’s restoration journey on Ship Happens YouTube channel.
Building A Battery Box
Time to grab a cuppa! Our video with Tom Cunliffe – Sailor, Author & Broadcaster and WEST SYSTEM expert David Johnson is a great way of learning how to build your own battery box. The pair take you through all the steps so you will be ready to make your very own in no time!
A well constructed battery box will extend the life of your boat battery by keeping it both secure and protected. Acid spills are not something you want to see in a boat, especially in a wooden boat.
Restoration Of Ex-Ocean Youth Club Sailing Vessel Francis Drake
PRO-SET® and WEST SYSTEM® epoxies are being used extensively in the restoration of ex-Ocean Youth Club sailing vessel, Francis Drake. This 46-year-old sailing ketch is being lovingly brought back to life by brothers Nic and Dan Couchman. Dan is running the build management restoration under the banner of H2Eau Projects, an arm of H2Eau Sports Ltd.
The H2Eau Projects team has this year been involved in stripping back the vessel to its bare bones and working on the preparation stages. They have used WEST SYSTEM epoxy to produce mould tooling and backing pads, as well as for rebuilding the bow stem section to assist in the repair work of the vessel.
Working on the initial restoration of the keel area and keel plates, they have been using G/flex epoxy for bonding, “In our experience, G/flex is the best product for bonding fibreglass and metal” as Dan, Project Director at H2Eau Projects discusses.
G/flex epoxies also being toughened make them resilient and impact resistant, giving them the ability to make structural bonds that can absorb the stresses of expansion, contraction, shock and vibration. With a high modulus of elasticity of 1 GPa, G/flex epoxy is also more flexible and can deflect further than traditional epoxy adhesives. These characteristics should make G/flex ideal for the initial blanketing of the keel steel plate structure down through the centre line.
With the preparation work almost coming to an end, the focus now will be on the next laminating phase which will involve working with PRO-SET LAM-135 and PRO-SET LAM-125 epoxies.
You can read more on the progress of the restoration here
RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show 2023
The RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show makes a return in 2023! It will be staged at Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre on Saturday 25th February – Sunday 26th February 2023.
With hundreds of boats, the biggest names in marine retail and manufacturing all under one roof, this is the perfect show for boat enthusiasts!
The WEST SYSTEM team will be exhibiting at the show with LIVE demos. Be sure to follow us for the latest updates on the show on Instagram or Facebook.
BOOK RYA DINGHY & WATERSPORTS 2023 SHOW TICKETS HERE
