This section will show articles and pictures on bowsprit replacement. Jasper built his with normal shop tools and without the lathe we used. He did a beautiful job on his, so he gives us proof that owners can do good repairs. I suggest you look at Jasper's and Karen's discussion on Bowsprit Repairs on Newporter 40 Together to see, especially, their good pictures on the process they went through.
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| It is in its place, but still under construction A good look at the Bowsprit "Ears" |
BUILDING A BOWSPRIT
Starting with the Fittings, with No Dimensions
Begin construction of a new bowsprit by selecting your lumber. Douglas fir is the wood of choice by top ranked boat builders, but other woods are usable. Basically the bowsprit is made up of three pieces of wood, but the main piece, that becomes the bowsprit proper, can be a laminated structure which is counted as one. The three pieces are the main piece and two lengths of square dimensioned wood I call "ears." The bowsprit has two ears, the purpose of which is to increase the width of the walking surface. I have always found this increased width to be enough, but I have seen many different ideas used to further increase the area. These always seem to detract form the clean traditional look of the Newporter, but note in Jasper's pictures of the finished bowsprit job his pulpit (that extends back to the hull) and the width of the his walking area. That is a great idea and very well done. I do not fault anyone who redesigns this, or anything else on their own boat. But to be honest I don't always like changes to what I consider the standard Newporter.
Before you start you need to know the measurements. Remember, this article is for those who do not have the measurements of the bowsprit but have all the fittings associated with one. First, the main piece; get the width and height from the inside measurements of the "socket" into which the inboard end of the bowsprit mounts. This gives the sectional measurements, two of the three needed. We will discuss finding the length later.
The next fitting to use is the "roller chocks," the fitting over which the anchor rode is passed when anchoring. Measure between the two mounting tabs with the three fastener holes in them. This is the total width of the finished bowsprit in the way of the "ears." Subtract from this the width of the main piece and divide that by two. The result is the width of each of the ears. The height of the ears is found by measuring from the bottom of the angle iron to the bottom of the mounting tabs. The ears are rectangular in section where the roller chock mounts and fore and aft of the chocks the lower outside corner is cut away to make the rest of the ears basically triangular (see the drawings). The length of the ears will be found once we find the length of the main piece.
Let's now turn our attention to the drawing below:
With the exception of the roller chocks for the anchor rode all standard fittings are shown. To get the total length of the bowsprit, rig some sort of a contraption that will hold the eye band in its proper position. To find this position use as much of the standing rigging that is normally installed on the eye band that you have available. These will be the jibstay, bobstay, and the two whisker stays. The jibstay probably can't be used because the main masthead must be in its sailing position and it won't be without the bowsprit. If the mast is stepped the jib halyard can be used in place of the jib stay. If the mast is not stepped and you are on the hard (i.e.: the boat is on hard ground) you can prop the outboard end of this contraption from the ground.
Now let's build the contraption; this is where you'll see why I call it so. You'll need something to hold the eyeband and something to hold it up (jib stay, jib halyard, or prop), something to hold it down (bob stay), something to keep it centered on the centerline of the boat (whisker stays), and something to hold it forward: the brown plank in the drawing below. This may have to be narrowed up some where it sits between the forward ends of the bulwarks and trimmed at the after end to fit centered in the socket. My suggestion is a 10 or 12 foot 2 X 6 to lay flat on the deck. Affix a mount on the outboard end to hold the eye band at the proper height above the extended bottom of the bowsprit. This board and mount combination should be assembled first. The drawing was developed from the drawing above by deleting everything except the eye band and socket then drawing in the contraption.
Hopefully your "socket" is still mounted to the deck or that you have measurements with which you can reposition it. It does not have to be mounted for this, just put it in position and pencil it in so that the back end of the bowsprit can be located. All that is needed is a pencil mark athartship as the end of the bowsprit on the deck, longer that the aforementioned 2 X 6 is wide, centered on the centerline of the boat.
The drawing above is hopefully self-explanatory, but not that you should keep the plank centered on the boat and that it needs a lot of pressure forcing it forward so the bob stay and whisker stays are as tight as you can get them. Keep the bottom of the plank straight and parallel to the deck. Now, to find the length of the main piece, take the measurement from the forward face of the back of the socket to the back edge of the eye band. Add to that the amount needed to go through the eye band plus a couple of inches or so to extend beyond the eye band. This section is rounded and tapered to fit the eye band.
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| Painted, and fittingless |
a) I'd use epoxy adhesives
b) the pulpit mounts over the eye band and is fastened to the bowsprit by the U-shaped band under the sprit with a flat bar of like steel across the top of the bow sprit under the pulpit. There are short lengths of pipe under the pulpit that sit on the horizontal tabs of the eye band at the forward holes through which a bolt holds it all together. The length of the pipes is determined so as to hold the pulpit parallel to the bow sprit as its after end sits on top the flatbar that holds the U-shaped band.
c) I'll do my best to answer any of your questions.
d) The choice of construction method and materials is up to you. I'll make requested suggestions but it's your choice.
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| Installed and Rigged, but not finished- the walking area is yet to be added |
I'll be following this with notes about the way we did things but many of these will be based on production shop ways. These might be of more interest to boat shops than to those who only need to "do" one.
