Plan of Action

There are many steps to the repair of this boat, and each need to be taken in order so as to not risk the shape and integrity the boat has.
Our first priority is to replace her steel ribs. These cannot be removed all at once, but in sections. The first step is to replace the bulk of the half-ribs running into the bilge. Then to replace every other of the complete ribs until all are replaced.
These are being fabricated in 304 stainless at a workshop on Gotland using the old ribs as patterns. They will be dry fitted and then fastened to the planking with 316 stainless bolts after passivation. The ribs will be isolated from the wood with "tar-paper".
Once all the ribs are in place we will install stainless-steel "doublers" to some of her deck beams, tying the ribs together at deck level. This will in effect create ring-frames in stainless at some of th emore highly stressed points of the boat. This is not really necessary for her as she is rigged but will allow us to re-rig later with a more powerful rig... If she shows potential!
The floors will be welded in later after we have removed the hog. We will bolt some temporary floors to hold the boat until then.
Fitting the ribs rquires that we remove the covering-board on deck and the garboard. Once the ribs are in place the repairs to the planking will start. These are fairly comprehensive:
1. The sheer strake will need replaced - we will be using Siberian larch for all the planking repairs. We will also need to scarf some repairs into the deck-ends of some of the oak ribs.
2. All joints in the planking are currently butt-joints: most of which are in poor condition. We will cut these out and scarf new pieces in. This will be both stronger and stiffer than the original, and less likely to rot in the future. The scarfs will be glued with epoxy.
3. The seams on the original planking that is to be saved will be splined with epoxy and the larch.
At an appropriate time in this process - depending on how many planks are to be replaced - the repair to the stem and sternpost will be done.
4. The planks below the waterline will be replaced with larch - but we'll wait with the garboard and maybe the next. They will be be prepared as tight-seam and glued using Simpson or something similar.

Next: the hog!
We need to lift the boat from the keel and the hog will follow with the keel. Using a combination of the old hog, measurements from the boat now, and when the new ribs are in place we will cut a new piece of oak.
While the hog is out we can weld the floors to the ribs.
Thankfully the keel-bolts look in great condition!
Then fit the hog, drop the hull back onto the keel, fit the garboards, sand and fill all the holes, sand and paint!
Then we move on deck- fit a new covering-board, tidy the deck, remake the cabin roof, a new cockpit, sand and varnish, then toe-rails.
After which is just a finish of the topsides....Stick her in the water and rig her ( obviously we may find time to throw some varnish at the spars) then sail to Nynashamn for the Regatta.

Not a long list really - just very time consuming with the careful removal of the ribs and re-fitting. The rest should go quite quickly!

Assesment

Oscar had sent me some pictures of the boat, and said she needed the steel ribs replaced... And maybe some other work?
I had to go to Gotland with some tools and see how much "other work".

I had already commited in my mind to making this boat ready for the Jubilee regatta and had started the process of persuading my long suffering wife.
The obstacles were/are not small! The boat is situated on Gotland, an island in the Baltic, and I am based in Stockholm. This means a two and a half hour boat journey, after an hours drive - so clearly not practical to commute to "work". We have two daughters - a self-sufficient teenager and a three year old. And my wife works in the restaurant trade - so I have primary care for our children outside of school/daycare. I have my own business that I work from home, my own classic boat, and two part finished restorations I am consulting on... How to make it all fit together?
We decided that I would work intensive weeks on Gotland taking responsibility for the technical solutions and handing over to Oscar to work in my "off-weeks"... During which time I would work on my other stuff. Our youngest would follow me to Gotland and I would make it work as best I could.

We went to Gotland as a family and had a holiday, staying on Oscar's farm. I started digging into the boat...

Clearly at least 30 pairs of the steel ribs need to be replaced with the floors. The hog, a large section of the stem, some of the stern-post, re-planking below the waterline, the sheer plank, covering boards, toe-rail cabin-sides, cockpit, hatches... Then some painting and varnishing after some heavy sanding....
Doesn't sound too bad if you say it quickly!

 

Scary pics of the bilge!

 Starboard planking of keel! All has to go - a real mess!

Oscar was a little shocked by my list, but for some reason has faith in my ability to bring it home... In budget!

He did however make the stipulation that work would have to wait until the barn was finished. The barn is old and he hates working in the cold. So a new structure was built within the barn, insulated and weather tight. This also gave us new beams to lift the boat from the keel for replacing the hog.

Construction Details

Iris II is constructed in a typical fashion for racing boats of her day. She is approximately 12m long, 2.7 wide, 1.8 deep. Her planking is native pine ( of some description!) on a combination of oak and steel ribs. Her deck beams and planking is also a very resinous pine. The stem, stern-post and hog is oak. She has a mahogany cabin roof, sides, cockpit, covering-boards and kingplank.
She is lightly built for racing with long overhangs. Flat spoon bow and long flat run on her stern... Not a comfortable boat in a seaway, but potentially fast and well suited to the swedish archipelago she was built for.
She was built with a gaff rig - but never carrying a top-sail as the rule did not allow it. but as mentioned earlier has been re-rigged at least twice. She now carries a classic Marconi-rig from a 55sqm Skerry Cruiser. Her rig is better suited to cruising today.

The Story so far!

Iris II was built in 1905 to Herreshoff's new Universal Rule by J.A.Östman of Nynäshamn.
She rated as an R9. She was successful during her early racing career with overall victory in Sandhamn 1907. Over the years she has been also classed as a 75 sq.m., and is currently rigged as a 55 sq.m.

 Here she is - second from the right - with her original gaff-rig off Sandhamn in 1906.

Fast forward to today: She came into the ownership of Oscar Almgren via the Skerry Cruiser Restoration Fund http://www.sskf.se/rf/- who had found her "abandoned" in a yard. Oscar put the project on the back-burner, needing to concentrate on business and his new home on Gotland, and perhaps a little trepidation as to how to proceed. Eventually she came to the top of the "to-do" list - primarily because of the date.
In 1912 the Olympic games were held in Stockholm. The sailing took place in Nynäshamn and Sandhamn, with the official medal races in International Meter boats and an International Olympic Regatta for all comers. IrisII raced in the regatta, but didn't do well.
July 2012 Nynäshamn will host a Jubilee Regatta for the Olympics... Suddenly she needs to be finished and sailing.
Oscar contacted me, and I jumped at the opportunity to oversee this project. Basically six months to re-build her. Of priority is structural integrity, cosmetics come second if we have time and budget. She needs work, but it is doable....

The rest of this blogg will be pictures and details of significant moments of the restoration... If you don't like dry, technical boat stuff... Might not be for you! ;-) But there may creep in some family pictures and stuff. Any comments concerning technical aspects will be greatly appreciated - the more information the better, we learn new things everyday!