Info sought on my Boat

[zebedee]

Hi

I recently purchased a restoration project that had been sat in the bad weather for some 10 years and suffered quite badly.

The boat is a Crossbow built by GRP Products in leeds and thats as much as i can find on this.

It was a member of the FFSC which i assume is Felixtowe ferry sailing club?

I am quite well on in the restoration process and have the wood all finished and ready to fit

All the dividing panels between the cockpit and cabin were rotten as was the Transom board and wash boards. These are all re-fabricated and varnished ready to fit but i now find i need a part for the Boom

There is a Plastic channel that the foot of the mainsail slides into to secure it to the boom and it is broken and now i am trying to find a replacement. It is 7' 8" long and in black.

I am trying to get another plastic runner to replace as i don't want to mis match the mast and boom.

Any info on the part needed and even better any info on the Boat it's self would be greatly appreciated.

Incidently the Boat came with all the rigging the sails the rudder and keel are in good condition and the reserve engine bracket is fine also. It came on the trailer and i only paid £400 but knew there was a lot of work ahead which as i say is almost complete.

Thanks

Zeb

[Silkie]

I hate to see a (sensible) post go unanswered on here but don't have a single piece of useful information for you!

I'm not even very sure whether you've got a big dinghy or a small cruiser but it sounds like it's been quite a project. How long have you been at it? I've previously spent many happy hours on a £50 dinghy (trailer included) so can empathise.

If I was to offer one piece of advice it would be to avoid getting too hung up on restoration. Just get her sailing and you can continue to look out for the perfect boom doo-dah after you're afloat.

[zebedee]

The Boat is a Weekend sailer 3 berth LOA is only 15 feet bit it seems much larger.

The woodwork had been started now i am half way through the refitting i have the cabin nearly rebuilt i only need to make the top half of the cabin door now and hang the door.

I also have one of the washboard in place and a new duck board made.

Still no joy with the guttering for the boom but i hope to get sorted soon.

The transom went on nice and easy and looks very good and i am now re-varnishing the reserve drop down transom.

In all to date it's taken about 6 weeks to get this far from the mess she was in but watching it all come together is worth it

I made a small mast head with the Navigation lights so when i am not sailing in her i can use her as a River Cruiser as she happily seats 3 adults and 1 child so i am taking her to the Broads in February with my Folks n my Son for a week on Hickling Broad

Should all be finished by then but i will start off using her as a Cruiser first till i get the boom sorted.

Oh one more thing to ask!

I take it there should be some support from the floor of the cabin to the roof to take the weight of the mast etc is this right??????

At the fore end of the keel there is a circular hole in the GPR and i assume this is where the support sits? I just can't find a fixing point on the cab roof???

Oh well here goes again out with the brush n varnish

I will have to try and get some pics sorted







This is her as i got her i will have to get some new photo's taken when i am finished to show how good she looks now

All the wood in the Photo's was rotten through and falling to bits and the transom fell off when i touched it

All the wood you can see has now been replaced bar the reserve transom and the grab rails which are solid enough to re-use.

I chose a lighter shade of wood to compliment the hull as the dark teaky wood to me looks way old and more for sloops and wherries than a GRP craft.

OH and that GUARD rail HAD to go yeuch the clem who fitted it made a real nice mess of the foredeck it has some cracks in it but my old man is a pro laminator and mould maker so he is gonna rectify it for me


Zeb

[Nick]

The orange is a bit lifeboaty, but she looks tough.

Not all boats with deck stepped masts have mast support posts underneath - sometimes (eg in our Albin Vega) an internal bulkhead or support beam takes the load. The curved shape of your superstructure looks as though it might be quite strong, so maybe the boat never had a mast support. You can always try stepping the mast and gradually tightening the rigging while checking for deformation of the cabin top.

The problem with a mast support post is it seriously restricts the space down below in a small boat.

Looking forward to hearing more . . .

Merry Christmas,

[zebedee]

Well i finally got her into the water in Feb at Hickling Broad in Norfolk

At the boat yard when we launched her



Moored near the house boat we hired for the week



Bad pic but shows Tonneau



Going out for the day



Into gear and off we go



We called into Bath on the way bown to get a Custom Tonneau made it only cost about £120 and i was well chuffed with the craftmanship.

He even made me a Tarp top door half which saved me having to make a profiled top half of the door. That and all the fixings came to an extra £20

Unfortunatley as you can tell from the pics there is no mast??

Well when we had her over to look at the hull closely there was severe delamination round the hull at the point where the keel feeds through and my dad is a Pro Laminator so we decided to re-lay the hull and plug the hole and made her into a motorboat

I now have a Rudder-tiller + brackets and a beautiful marine ply keel sitting surplus to requirements

She sits well in the water and the seagulls manage to push her along fine.

My Son had a go at the helm for a while and really enjoyed himself before the mother of all rain storms hit us for about 5 days

The boat is left there cost around £360 for a year in a Boat yard with access to the slipway so can't grumble

Hell of a drive from newcastle to Bath then to Peterborough then to Acle. Man it took over 20 hours of non stop driving MAN i was shattered

Was worth all the hard work in the end though we had a great week and i now have a nice little boat for when ever i go to the Broads sitting waiting for me to take her out

Zeb