Doing the Charleston!

[PeterCharleston]

Hi All

I Clearly need the "Super Swordsman" addendum to your book Ben.
Hey it might not have keel bolts or leaky windows (there's none fitted !), but holy grail moment "Curved Teak"

Martin has kindly put me in touch with Malcolm Elvy who hopes to transport Charleston, so all being well she (or is Charleston a he ?) will be tucked up in the shed in the next few weeks.

i'll take pics through the drying out process.

Regards
Peter

[Folly Reach]

Malcom Elvey top bloke.
Loves Fairey boats. Has moved boats for me in the past.
Approved contractor to the RNLI often to be seen in the Lord Mayors Show in London with a lifeboat on his rig.

[PeterCharleston]

Yep, he sounds very knowledgeable on the phone.
Percy is now booked for Tuesday.
Charleston will be on the move, so steer clear of all roads from Somerset to West Sussex !!
We walked the dog around Chichester Marina today, took some happy snaps of Xalon at its pontoon berth and Gander on its blocks, cant beleive i now have my own Fairey.
Regards
Peter

[PeterCharleston]

Hi
Charleston is now at her new home, well sitting outside, figuring out how to slide her into the Barn without damage to the rudders and props!
Many thanks to Malcolm Elvy and Percy, fab job .
Charleston is much wetter than i had originally thought , but once inside she can gently dry out.
Once dry i guess the first job will be to get all the paint off and expose all the timber and any rot etc, is the normal routine to scrape or does anyone have experience of stripping, Soda Blasting looks interesting but maybe tricky to remove the residue ?

how do we upload pictures ?

Peter

[nickkieffer1]

When I removed the antifoul the only way was to scrape(no heat) of old paint the modern removers are a waste of money, it took best part of a week . Torch and scrape on hull major probs if it has epoxy you cant use a torch. really just hard work mark your water line as this will help when you start to repaint in a couple of months?

[Ben]

I've found the best way is the Bahco Sandvik 50mm scraper with the tungsten carbide blade, do an hour at a time. Worth using a grinder to buzz the corners off the blade, stops them digging in.

[wsmempson]

Used CO2 blasting on MaidFast, which was pretty effective and not too destructive; it's a fine balance to strike.

[robin3boats]

Its down to the operator.
I have used symblast

[wsmempson]

I think we used these guys


www.cryogenesis.co.uk/

[PeterCharleston]

Hi , many thanks for the replies.
The anti-foul has been removed and it looks like some sort of primer coats have been applied, i'd like to add pics so you can see , how do we do that ?
There are several soft spots on the hull and also the transom etc.
Quite a few spots bleeding through that may be brass screw/nails.
I will leave her for a few months indoors and then re-check , a possible plan would be to try a stripping system as a test out, on the obviously damaged areas which will need cutting out and then no additional harm done.
But i am worried about any damage so elbow grease it will probably be.
At the moment i am removing all the loose items and storing them to dry out, interestingly found a load of very dated electronics !! (loosely described there!) self steering controls, navigation system, generator controls ! all sorts of kit.
Even found some "designer" plastic cups, not a De Savary monogrammed in sight though!
Did i read somewhere on here that there is a windscreen and frame manufacturer ?
Cheers, Peter

[PeterCharleston]

Hey, Cryogenesis is only 4 miles from my house !!
ill pop in and see them
cheers

[tjsb]

Peter,

Have you managed to get Charleston inside - noting your post about not damaging rudders. Is the issue one of support (cradles) or height for cranes or winching or pushing. If either of the latter I may be able to assist. Critical if the boat can't be craned into position is to have a strong cradle that provides plenty of support. Having winched something bigger (40 ish foot and steel with heavy keel) out of a farm shed with no option for rollers due to the ground) you will find that if there is too much friction, the tension can get taken up and then the boat suddenly moves, hence why you need a decent cradle. Ideally some sort of trolley is required, but ground conditions make a lot of difference as to what will work. Of course I am just guessing at the problem, but happy to advise as nec.

T

[PeterCharleston]

Hi T
many thanks for your interest.
Charleston is sitting on an extremely substantial cradle, i think it was built and used to transport it on its various trips back and forth across the Atlantic.
I plan on winching it into our storage Barn which is up a slight slope from where it is currently sitting, i will probably use cut lengths of scaffold tube as rollers (i had hoped to weld some castors onto the cradle but not found anything substantial at a decent price)
i will have to create a slightly reduced incline so the rudders and props do not dig into the ground as it rises up the slope stern first.
Regards
Peter

[tjsb]

Peter,

Here goes...

Assume weight of boat is 6.5 t and cradle 1t, total 7.5t. I assume it is on hard ground (tarmac or concrete) - if not, the numbers change. Assume slope is 5 degrees. Assume the cradle sliding on the floor therefore it will behave like tracked vehicle with locked tracks. Rounding up is applied for these calcs. At work I would go to the nearest tonne for rounding, but this is such a small weight so I have not rounded all numbers right up.

Rolling resistance = weight/ground factor = 7.5/25=0.3t
Gradient resistance = weight x degree of slope/60 = 7.5x5/60 = 0.625
Damage resistance = 2 locked tracks = 2/3 weight = 5t
Safety factor = (RR+GR+DR)/4 - (0.3+0.7=5)/4= 2.5

Estimated pull = RR+GR+DR+SF= 8.5 = 9t. Therefore you need 9t of winch pull.

If the assumed numbers are wrong then you have the formulas above to do your own calculations.

I would not push this with a vehicle as the control will not be there until you are into a serious ballasted heavy haulage truck with crawler gears and ideally a torque converter.

This also means forget any recreational winches such as on the front of some 4x4s - they are simply not good enough and you won't get the anchorage. A tirfor T35 with snatch block would do, but the snatch blocks are very rare. I may be persuaded to winch with my Scammell Eka (20t straight pull, 40t at 2:1). You next need to find out whether you can get access from the far end so you can pull it through. If not, you will need something that will anchor 9t for a snatch block so you can do an indirect pull. If you can get a chain through a hole in the far wall and onto anchor plates, that would do. Two holes will be ideal so you don't have to winch back through the cradle. Note in all of this, you need to check your tackle is up to the job. I am assuming that the cradle has suitable points which a chain can be wrapped round. I use 16 mm chain rated for 10t lifting, 16t pulling. Note your anchor chain will not be big enough (unless you have a ship anchor). If there are real dramas, then I would consider a compound pull with my T516 tirfor.

Finally, without having seen the approach angle, I don't know how easy it will be to reduce the slope with timbers. Alternately, you could lift the stern on the cradle and block with large timbers (including all along the keel) to get more clearance. These will need to be sufficiently immobile not to fall out while providing all the support the hull needs. If in doubt, double the strength and support and double it again (think railway sleepers). Clearly the hull is best supported underneath the keel and bulkheads.

Lastly, have you thought of removing the engines before you go into the shed, given lifting height will likely be an issue inside. This would allow concurrent work while reducing the weight by about 1.3t and consequent stress on the damp hull...

Do feel free to get back to me if you need.

Toby

[nickkieffer1]

I think that the boat did not have engines or boxes installed so the weight will some 2 ton less .Nick