Got a new sailing dinghy

[Davidasailor26]

A couple months ago @Captain W asked for some opinions about good choices for a tender, and @TomY mentioned the Dyer Dhow. I had pretty much forgotten until I saw Tom's post, but my grandparents had a Dyer Dhow and it's the boat I learned to row on - New Tender. Coincidentally two days after that post my mom said that my aunt, who had the dinghy now, was moving and wanted to know if I'd like to have it. I couldn't pass up the chance, and by next summer my kids will be the third generation in our family to learn to row and sail in it.

I drove it back to my house this weekend and It's going to be a good winter project to get it back in better condition. Structurally it's not in bad shape but cosmetically it's pretty rough. The interior paint is peeling off, leaving big sections of fiberglass exposed. The gunwales are rotten away, which sounds like a pretty common problem for Dyers, and the centerboard is swollen and stuck in the trunk. On the good side the glass itself is in fine condition - no cracks or anything that looks concerning there. The seats are weathered but serviceable, and the mast, boom, oars, and sails are all in great shape. I'm looking forward to getting it back together, and as I do I'll post some pictures and notes with my progress.

 

[PaulK]

We had squirrels nest in the flotation foam of ours. Make sure you keep it somewhere they can't get to!

 

[jssailem]

Oh Merry Christmas to you @Davidasailor26

 

[31seahorse]

Thanks for the "feel good" story! We need those as often as possible. I'm sure we all would enjoy seeing the before, during and after pictures. Enjoy the winter work.

 

[capta]

Yep, that's a great lil dink. We'd love to have one, but they are few and far between down this way.

 

[Tom J]

Love the Dyer! My brother in law restored one, and tows it behind his Cape Dory 28 trawler.

 

[Davidasailor26]

Work is underway. Step one was to build a bit of a cradle. Dyers are very flexible. To keep the boats light they used the minimum amount of fiberglass and resin that they could get away with. Especially with the gunwales rotted the whole boat twists from bow to stern. Before I started leaning on it to scrape paint I wanted to be able to keep it a little more stable. I made a cardboard template, cut some OSB, and used some scraps of lumber to frame a brace for the bow.

For the stern I got a dolly so I can easily roll it in and out of my garage, and braced a couple improvised bunks to keep the back from rocking on the skeg -

I was able to extract the centerboard by screwing some long wood screws through a 1x3 into the board, then using the 1x3 as a handle to lift up. It looks like the board was just some 3/8” plywood. I’m going to try to laminate a replacement with some fiberglass and a thin plywood core.

With the hull relatively secure I was able to remove the front and middle seats and start doing a little paint scraping. There’s plenty more of that to do though.

 

[PaulK]

At least you won't need to do much to make it better than it was!

 

[Davidasailor26]

I am going to need to figure out how to get some of the old paint off. The layup is so resin starved that the fiberglass cloth texture is exposed on the inside of the hull. In some places the paint chips off easily, but in others the paint is still adhered into the texture. I don’t want to start sanding down the glass itself, but I don’t especially want to paint over the existing paint either. Suggestions are welcome on that part.

 

[Nomad555]

I am going to need to figure out how to get some of the old paint off. The layup is so resin starved that the fiberglass cloth texture is exposed on the inside of the hull. In some places the paint chips off easily, but in others the paint is still adhered into the texture. I don’t want to start sanding down the glass itself, but I don’t especially want to paint over the existing paint either. Suggestions are welcome on that part.

We have used paint/varnish stripper (letting it rest, following directions) on Nomad's transom.

 

[Davidasailor26]

We have used paint/varnish stripper (letting it rest, following directions) on Nomad's transom.

That might work. I’ll need to be sure to read the directions and maybe try a test spot to be sure it doesn’t hurt the resin or cloth.

 

[DArcy]

If you do damage the glass in the paint removal process it isn't too hard to add a layer of epoxy or even a layer of thin glass and epoxy inside.

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

I suspect the rub rail was intended to add needed stiffness. My approach would be to make a form from plywood, and use clamps to lay up a laminated rub rail made of thin wood strips glued with epoxy. I'm curious what @TomY would do. (He might have a better method).

 

[TomY]

I suspect the rub rail was intended to add needed stiffness. My approach would be to make a form from plywood, and use clamps to lay up a laminated rub rail made of thin wood strips glued with epoxy. I'm curious what @TomY would do. (He might have a better method).

You may still be able to get the steam-bent rail for the Dyer Dhow, try here: Sailboats

Or you could try steaming your own parts but that's a little tricky in that getting the proper stock isn't easy.

I would probably try what Larry suggests. The blunt bow on the Dyer puts that rub rail under tremendous strain on impact. Strips of stock ripped to about 1/8" thick would easily laminate around a form. You could do them together leaving plastic in the middle to form an inner and outer rail.

I'd be tempted to improve the design by making the rub rail thicker and perhaps wider.

Then I'd surely finish it with the padded 3/4 round fender material you tack or screw on. That alone would protect the rail from most impact(such as the stern of the boat towing it). Plus the dinghy is easy on topsides.

This dinghy I built has two laminated parts inside, one in the bow and a full width beam in the middle. I ripped 1" Douglas Fir into 1/8" strips and glued (epoxy) them on a plywood form. Still rock solid after 25 years.

 

[TomY]

I am going to need to figure out how to get some of the old paint off. The layup is so resin starved that the fiberglass cloth texture is exposed on the inside of the hull. In some places the paint chips off easily, but in others the paint is still adhered into the texture. I don’t want to start sanding down the glass itself, but I don’t especially want to paint over the existing paint either. Suggestions are welcome on that part.

I'd try a heat gun first, carefully, with a few scrapers. Then I'd try some paint remover. Then sand paper, hopefully not much of that.

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

You could do them together leaving plastic in the middle to form an inner and outer rail.

Great ideas! The extra strength and added padding would also be a nice addition.

 

[shemandr]

If the dhow is that flexible you may want to run some temporary cleats across the boat while doing the rail replacement to stiffen and re-enforce the shape. Otherwise you may end up with a lopsided dhow.
Laminating is sooooo much easier than steam bending. You have to consider that the rails will be bending in two directions - horizontally and vertically (If the boat has any shear at all.)
Search the forums for Rgranger's home made paint remover.

 

[Davidasailor26]

I'd try a heat gun first, carefully, with a few scrapers. Then I'd try some paint remover. Then sand paper, hopefully not much of that.

Good call on the heat gun. I worked on the bow section with that and a putty knife for a while today. It lifted at least 80% of the paint, with a lot less work than scraping or sanding. A couple of the remaining sections seem to be held down with some other kind of primer that sticks much better. I’ll probably come back and hit those spots a second time. A couple spots I couldn’t get are where the paint is very thin and really in the texture of the cloth. Those areas might need some stripper. I was careful with the heat and I was able to comfortably touch the glass and paint as I was working it.

I was also able to remove the aft seat. It was screwed down to fiberglass flanges tabbed into the inside of the hull on the sides, and screwed up into the board that reinforces the top of the transom. The side screws took some boat yoga to reach. The heads of back screws were too worn so I had to dremel through them. Good news is that there were no squirrel nests in the styrofoam PaulK .

 

[CarlN]

I'd really think about stripper. Probably safer than a heat gun on old fiberglass (I realize you're being very careful). I've used Total Boat TotalStrip from Jamestown Distributors with good success on a few projects. It doesn't have strong fumes and pulls up paint and varnish well. Here's a video of them using it on a fiberglass dinghy/ They started by sanding but gave up and at 1:00 and switched to TotalStrip

 

[Davidasailor26]

I’ve scraped about all I could. All that’s left are a few places that are especially well stuck and a few where the paint is thin and in the cloth.

I did find this in the side of the hull -

Not sure what happened there, but there are about 10 other holes the same size along that side that have been plugged. This plug came out because it was apparently better stuck to the paint than the hull. I’ll probably taper around each of them and patch with some cloth and epoxy.

I do also need to take a closer look at the centerboard lever hole. It was caulked with what seems like silicone that’s now degraded. The hole is lined with a plastic bushing that feels like it has a lip on the inside of the trunk, so I can’t just pull it out.