Re: Seadog tabernacle

[Brian Jones]

Hi John,

I am glad you found it useful. I think upon reflection that I used  Sikaflex to fix the marine ply panel to the fibre glass bulkhead. Used correctly that stuff is amazingly strong with some flexability. As I said the trunking never did at any time part company with the aft cabin and the weight of the dinghy was about 95lbs empty but of course it was a lot heavier than that when in use because being a sailing dinghy it also had the mast and lug sail plus oars, fenders and so on in it. Hanging on the end of the boom would have put a tremendous strain on that trunking, but there was no sign of anything going wrong and I would have noticed if there had been. I had the dinghy built specially for the aft cabin roof and she was put up there in 1995 and I used her all the time but at each time she was put back on her chocks. So over that period if there was anything showing in the way of a crack or a fracture I would have certainly seen it.  I did however renew the mizzen mast in 2002 because I fitted a Radar to just below the cross trees but before doing so I checked the contamination under the cross tree plate and found that the mast was nearly eaten through in several places. So when the new mast came I fitted a good thick neoprene gasket between the plate and the mast. At that time my friend John Rice of Istow Marine services gave me a small sack of monel rivits which was part of a much bigger sack that he got from Appledore Shipyard. So I had enough to do the mizzen mast and the main mast and I've still got half a sack full left which I will be using on my new Vertue when the time comes.

I don't know if your Seadog has a bow sprit or not but if you really want the boat to fly to windward that's the way to go. I fitted a African teak bowsprit, 8ft long x 91/2" wide and 4 inches thick. I removed the stem head plate and cut through the bow section and also removed the anchor winch and the samson post. The plank sits on top of the winch pad and followed the line of the deck through the stem. Before fitting it I refitted the stem head plate in the same position but lower down on the bottom of the piece I'd cut out. The tab of ss steel which the forestay before was fitted through the teak plank by using an extension so that the new forestay of the new forsail could be fitted to it. At the same time I fitted a new electric winch in the same place as the old winch was. So then I bored holes through the plank and deck and through the oak piece which was already glassed to the underside of the deck. Four 1/2 inch stainless bolts were inserted through the winch and push down through the holes and a s/splate was fitted in the forecabin beneath the oak pad. Like wise the samson post was also removed and then through bolted right down as the winch was fitted. The top of the port and starboard capping rails were then level with the top of the new bowsprit and were scarfed in to make a perfect fit.  Then I cut a oblong hole right through the bowsprit and about 12 inches infront of the stem head. After removing the anchor I took some chain from the locker below laid it over the winch and passed the end through the hole in the bowsprit, the 25lb CQR was then fitted to the end of the chain. When the winch was operated the the anchor stock came up through the hole and I was able to pull the stock down so that the anchor head fitted exactly beneath the bowsprit. There it locked itself in position. Having found that everything was correct I then removed the anchor and chain and lined the edges of the hole with stainless steel. I also fitted a stainless steel plate to the top of the plank between the winch and the exit hole so that the chain did not rub off the varnish. One of my friends who just happened to be a ship wright made  the intercostal pieces which fared the bowsprit into the hull. those were stuck in position with Sikaflex and nothing else. The new Jib or in my case a 240sq.ft. genoa fitted onto a plate of 3mm polished stainless steel half round cap that was fitted on the outer end of the bowsprit which was four feet from the original bow plate position. The main stay went to the top of the main mast and parallel to the forestay I rivited a new plate to the main mast. This was where the top of the new stay sail was fitted. Both sails were roller fitted. The new foresail was of the same sq footage as the mizzen was, so that in really rough weather I could remove all sails except the mizzen and the new forsail to keep her into the weather. By using the engine on tick over I could maintain my course but stop her rolling to a great extent. I soon found that when lifting the anchor, the chain came in so fast that it blocked up in the pipe below. So in the forecabin I removed the pipe having first pulled all the chain out and unfixing the end which was tied with cord to a plate in the chain locker. The chain pipe was not the problem. The problem was that beneath the pipe was a two inch hole which was bored through the top of the chain locker. So opening that out to four inches which is the diameter of the chain pipe solved the problem.  The new winch was a Lofrans Royal with chain on the starboard side and rope on the port side. It was so powerful that it absorbed 1000 watts and therefore it needed it's own battery  and the engine on be on tick over when lifting the anchor. Once in Baltimore I got the anchor stuck in some rocks I think. The winch managed to pull the bows of Rouselle down about eighteen inches before either the rock moved or in some other way the anchor was released. I always fit trip lines to my anchors but that had no effect so without that winch I would have had to leave that anchor there. I should have mentioned that I had fitted a stainless steel plate just above the water line in the bows and through bolted , through the hull and a block of oak inside.  The bobstay was fitted from the end of the bow plate down to the  plate on the hull. That was put under tension as when punching to windward there was a tremendous upward strain on the bowsprit.

The boat was transformed with the new sail area and would forge to windward in a force 5/6 like a train on rails. She was so well balanced and that rig was absolutely perfect for her whether the wind was for'ard or aft. On a long passage from Watermouth harbour to Cork she was trimmed for whatever wind speed there was  at that time and set on a course by using the mizzen and not the steering wheel at any time. Doing it that way she was always balanced. Of course you had to watch her because if there was a wind shift she would follow the wind and not the course.

She was a wonderful boat to sail single handed. You cou leave her for long periods to sail herself, you only had to watch out for other vessels. She would get in her grouve and tramp to windward at about 61/2knots in a force 4. Down wind I would put up her large coaster and mizzen staysail and let her go. She would fly at well over 7 kts mile after mile in a force 4/5. She had the power and the strength to go through anything. Once we hit a wooden crate half submerged and there was a tremendous bang and the air was fill with splinters. She was wonderful boat to sail but unfortunately I had to part with her because I was then eighty years old and I was getting a bit unsteady on my feet. My partner worried every time I went to sea. So I down sized and I now have a 25ft Vertue. She is known for sailing long passages around the world and has been described as the finest small long keeled cruising boat ever built.  So now at 83 I can't wait to get out on the sea again. My life long partner died last year and I have named my Vertue after her.  Anne of the Isles. Rouselle is now owned by Alexia Jenkins and she is moored about a mile seaward of my Vertue on the Beaulieu River.

Best wishes

Brian

On Wednesday, February 16, 2022, 02:27:16 PM GMT, John healey <john...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hello Brian  and many thanks for your detailed and helpful reply.  Yes the hatch runners has been giving similar problems and was contemplating dismantling to rebed so will certainly try the wick idea.  This has been the cause of the decay in the vicinity of the upper set of bolts. Looking through old Seadog Journals I find that back in 1989 Peter French was having problems with the lower set of bolts so the remedial work undertaken then has lasted 30 odd years! At that time he also mentions fabricating a spout to direct any rainwater coming down the tabernacle away from the bulkhead and into the bilge. However this seems to have been removed during installation of a new engine, when also a new piece of ply was attached to the bulkhead for mounting filters strainers etc. Unfortunately no mastic was used and it was not pulled up tight either with the gap perfectly aligned to receive any water from the tabernacle!!  I too cannot quite make up my mind whether to epoxy or mastic new ply to the bulkhead, but intend to epoxy to adjoining still good ply and to “floor timber” in bilge.

 

Rouselle looks most lovely-Seadogs were surely meant to have a bow sprit and twin head  sails !

 

My thanks again and very best wishes

 

John Healey

 

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From: Brian Jones
Sent: 14 February 2022 22:09
To: John healey
Subject: Re: Seadog tabernacle

 

Hi John,

 

Rouselle had a problem in that area. I didn't get a gap at the top joint but I did get water coming down the inside of the aft bulkhead. Once I'd stripped everything out I could see what was wrong. I removed the long rusty bolts and replaced with new galvanised bolts. The backing timber on the inside of the bulkhead appeared to be OK but just wet. So I removed the timber which was easily done as it wasn't secured or epoxied to the grp.  Once I'd dried it out I replaced it but I can't remember whether I epoxied it to the grp bulkhead but I must have done something similar because it had to be held in with something.  My trouble was with  tired teak joints around the forward starboard quarter of the hatchway.  When we got any rain it came through this joint because the water flowed forwards in the slides of the hatch top and was not coming out of the tiny hole through the teak as intended because of capillary action.  Even with a larger hole still no water came out and eventually it would over flow and make it's way down the inside of the mizzen mast trunking and the bulkhead. This probably had an effect on the rusting of the bolts. The very simple solution was to stick a piece of cord knotted on the inside through the hole to stop it falling out and hanging down the outside by about two inches. It acted as a wick and completely cured that problem. Then I recovered the inside of the marine ply with cork to pretty things up a shade. 

 

I found that the four galvanised bolts held the trunking in position and I made a mental note to remind myself to renew those bolts every ten years or so. The trunking was very secure

 with just those bolts as the weight of it is on the engine flooring around the engine bay. This is a pretty thick piece of fibreglass and really all the bolts are doing is holding the thing against the bulkhead. The mizzen mast, main aft  and forward stays also if set up correctly do the same thing. My Mizzen mast had quite a load put on it as I lifted my mahogany clinker dinghy aboard using the mizzen boom as her chocks were on the aft cabin roof, many times a year and there was no sign whatever of it coming away from the bulkhead. I don't think it is necessary to put straps around the trunking at all as it's not carrying any weight.  The really good bit of design of the Seadog is the provision of cold air entering the trunking of the cockpit via the vent on the forward cabin roof , down the steering trunking into the engine compartment and exiting up through the mizzen mast trunking and out at it's base. If your hands get cold when you are out at sea that is where you should put them!

 

I hope this helps . If you have any other problems that I can help you with, feel free to send me a line.

 

Kind regards

Brian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

------ Original Message ------

From: "John healey" <john...@hotmail.com>

To: "Brian Jones" <brianbr...@yahoo.com>

Sent: 14/02/2022 21:00:38

Subject: Seadog tabernacle

 

Good evening Brian and apologies for bothering you.

 

I posted this earlier on the Facebook page and the “Administrator” ( perhaps that’s  Hilary) has replied suggested you advice likely to be very useful.

 

Much appreciated

 

John

 

“Know this would be better addressed to the Forum but without a g mail account not sure i am able to post anything there, but hoping might be some feedback via Facebook . I am about to tackle the reinstatement of most of the ply to central section of the after cabin bulkhead-essentially behind the mizzen tabernacle and within the housing for the sliding washboard. My query relates to the attachment of the tabernacle to the bulkhead currently it is through bolted with two bolts top and bottom made up against largish penny washers. The problem with the bulkhead really came to light because i noticed an ominous gap beginning to open up between the tabernacle and bulkhead and looking through back issues of the Seadog Journal I have found reference to a suggested couple of improvements in this area. Firstly the addition of an intermediate set of bolts and secondly at each of the fastening points the addition of a stainless stirrup strap wrapping around the tabernacle. Wondering if anyone has any experience of these suggestions and regarding the strapping should this be formed so that it can also be fastened through the bulkhead, although on the starboard side this would in fact be in to the weatherboard framing? Re the bulkhead my thoughts are to piece together various bits of 1/2" and 3/4" marine ply and to add additional ply to the full height of the bulkhead behind the tabernacle, bonding everything together with saturation epoxy. Any advice most appreciated”G

 

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