Originally posted on the rowing newsgroup by Mark Underwood, USA. Reproduced by the Rowing Service with explicit permission from Mark.
I'm almost finished with the Pocock restoration I started last spring. It isturning out OK (considering this is my firstand probably only try at boat restoration) and my stumbles along the way havenot resulted in any major mistakes,but there are lots of unsightly details that I would do differently knowingwhat I know now.
Just for the record, and for anyone that may benefit from my mistakes, here isa summary of what I did.
The boat I started with is a 1979 Pocock Teardrop Single. There were somemajor cracks that had been repaired prettywell in the past but it was obvious that the boat had been stored in theweather with the starboard side hull getting allthe sun and weather. There was one large check that needed repair and lots ofcobwebs, dirt and old crazed varnish.The riggers were pretty rusty. I rowed it a couple times just to be sure Ihadn't bought a sieve and then startedrefurbishing it. I disassembled it and stripped off the old decking so thatall the wood and structure were exposed.
I repaired the large crack (the check worsened once I started flexing the hullby sanding) first. I used epoxy andfiberglass cloth on the inside, after I had cleaned and sanded the insidesurface. I forced the hull to the right shapewith strings and wedges (don't use string with any kind of oils on it, itstains the hull--mistake #1). I probably usedway too much epoxy and cloth, adding weight. My next few small crack repairs Iused less epoxy and lighter weightcloth and they seem fine.
I decided to leave as much of the old varnish on the hull as possible but inretrospect I would use a chemical stripperto remove it all. It now looks splotchy where I sanded down to the wood forrepairs and the starboard side is lightercolored than the port because of the past sun bleaching. My final varnish jobturned out beautiful but the boat justlooks bad. Also, there are small indentations in all the repaired spots whereI sanded down to the wood. These arenot noticeable until the varnish is on the boat. However, given that thestarboard side was so weathered, I think thatmaybe leaving the old, solid varnish on may have been good because the wood wasso dry and vulnerable thatremoving the varnish, sanding, etc. may cause more small checks and cracks thatwould have to be patched. I alsothought I would save time, but that is questionable.
Applying the dacron deck is not too difficult. I built a box and went throughthe entire procedure before I startedcutting the $$ cloth for the boat. Good Idea! I learned how the dacron, glue,ironing and varnish behaved and it wasdifferent than I had imagined. Practice paid off! The only unsightly partsare at the stem and stern where there is solittle cloth to shrink up. It didn't tighten up and kind of puckered when Iapplied the varnish. I considered cuttingand redoing but decided to leave well enough alone--it is waterproof and Imight screw it up when I already had it98% right. Next time (if ever) I might experiment with a heat gun to tightenup the ends.
Varnish is much more forgiving than I had read about. I had no problems withbubbles and applying it was easy. Bythe sixth coat it was looking great. I used foam brushes. My first attemptcollected a lot of dust but when I kept thegarage clean and started wetting down the floor just before I applied thevarnish I got virtually no dust. I also keptthe kids out of the garage during the 24 hours after the application.
I am now ready to reassemble the boat. I should have it on the water in acouple weeks, after I get the riggers backfrom the plating shop and set up the rigging again.
I bought the boat for $1575 and have approximately $350 in materials invested,not to mention all the time. I feel Icompromised between a professional restoration and getting it refurbished sothat I could get back on the water thisyear before it gets too cold. I think that once I am gliding across the lakethe mistakes I made will look a lot lessimportant than they do sitting in my garage :^)
Mark Underwood
Bremerton, WA