Boatdreams

Robin Watson Yacht and Boat Builder

Although the original Mahogany planking was dry tight seamed, it was decided to put a fine caulking seam on the new Teak planks as the wood was not seasoned and could shrink or move a little. This would allow the caulking to be tightened up at later date.The sternpost had some large shakes and generally looked tired so it was replaced with English oak. Luckily the sternpost was dovetailed into the keel so the new timber could be slid in from the side.

The topside planking was found to be soft and rotten in way of the large stainless steel internal chain plates. These planks were also replaced with teak. A new rudder was made along with new cast bronze fitting, as the old bronze was suffering from severe dezincification. The old fittings were faired with body filler to make a mould for the replacements.When the head lining was removed rot and some poor repairs were found. There were so many areas that needed attention that it was easier and quicker to replace the whole lid. Oak was used for the main beams and Douglas fir for the smaller intermediate beams. Epoxy glass was laid over the marine ply top.

Comet came off Olin Stephen’s (Sparkman & Stephens) drawing board and was built in Chicago, USA in 1946. Comet’s graceful lines are very similar to those of her older sister’s Dorade and Stormy Weather, also similar in size at 53 feet.

Peter Woodd, the current owner has renamed this classic yacht “Cometa”

It was obvious straight away that Comet’s underwater planking needed replacing, it was denatured and tired. When the garboard and the next couple of planks were removed we found some soft areas in some of the frames, so before we could proceed with our primary objective we had to replace a dozen or so lower parts of frames . The frames were originally of American white oak but we chose to use English and laminated them in situ. Closer examination found a few more pockets of rot, mostly in the heads area where fresh water being sloshed around for fifty odd years had taken its toll. These frames were taken care of by scarfing in steamed English oak sections as required.