Re: Name This Woody
Jay,
Thanks for the advice and I am fully aware of the danger of going thru the thin layer of veneer. I am using a palm sander with 120 grit paper and very tediously working my way thru the varnish/shellac or whatever and being very careful not to go too deeply. It is working out nicely and I nearly have the whole boat done with only one small spot at the bow that was thin and i went thru in a spot a half inch in diameter that I can hopefully fix with stain.
If I can bleach/stain the multitude of black spots(found quite a few staples in the veneer actually, then it will come up nicely with a bunch of coats of good varnish.
That spot is exactly why sanding is not the way to go. What's done is done, however. I was hoping to grab your attention before this happened, but I guess I was too late.
You have probably found that you have what looks like a double ring where you went through the outside layer. This is formed by the worn through wood and the layer of resorcinol glue that was used to build these boats. It sounds like you are going to bleach or stain in very small areas, just to cover imperfections, and that is probably all you can do.
The staples are part of the construction method. These boats were built by putting the side rails, the keel and the transom together first. This was done with the boat upside down and the usual procedure was to then take strips of about 6" in width and glue/staple them around a form to the keel and rails, at a 45 degree angle to the keel. A layer of glue was them applied to the already installed veneer and the next layer was laid up, at the opposite 45 degree angle. The staples were used to keep everything in place while the glue cured.
While this construction method resulted in a very strong, very light and very pretty boat, if the varnish was not kept in top condition over the years, you get the kind of damage to the wood that you have described. Also, since the varnish probably wasn't kept up on your boat, I suggest looking for rot in the areas where the cold molded hull meets the frame members and the transom. The area of the transom/hull joint is one that can be a likely candidate for this problem.
I have owned a couple of Whirlwind cold molded boats (built in Cockysville, MD) and really like them. I don't have one now because there are too many obstructions in the water where I now live. Unfortunately, such a pretty boat wouldn't survive long here.
One of the things that you will find out, if you don't have rot/glue separation issues, is that cold molded boats are extremely strong. I once found myself six feet in the air in one of mine, after having to climb over a rouge wave at the mouth of a breachway in Rhode Island. It was one of those situations where I was either going to get rolled over backwards, or climb the face of the wave and get over it. I made it over the top, but ended up suspended in air as the wave passed. I dropped like a stone and slammed into the water harder than I would have imagined the boat could take. It not only held together, but didn't suffer any damage at all!
On power, I agree that a mid fifties OMC 25hp motor would be great. Either a Bigtwin or a Seahorse would be just the ticket. Depending on how fast you want to go, a 15hp or 18hp motor of that era would also push it. Since the boats are flat bottomed, with a rounded chine, and are also very light, they plane without alot of power.
The first Whirlwind that I owned was my grandfather's boat and it was passed on to me when he died. His was a fourteen foot '58 model and it originally had an 18hp ERude on it. I remember the boat doing quite well with that motor and he didn't move up to a bigger motor, until we grew as kids and wanted to water ski. At that point, he put a Johnson 28hp on it and then a Chrysler 35hp. The last motor that I had on it was a mid sixties 40hp Johnson. I don't know how fast it went with the 40hp, because that was long before the days of accurate checking of speed with a GPS, but I would guess about the mid to high 30s.
Congratulations on your find - you're going to really like that boat. Not only will it be pretty, but it will be a very economical and functional boat.
