N3219 Plastic Baggs

[National 12 Webmaster]

The life of N3219 Plastic Bags. Design: Baggy Trousers, designed by: Robert Peebles in 1980

[alk]

I have just taken on Plastic Bags via Paul at Trent Valley and will be trying to tidy it up this winter. Tasks involve stripping and probably painting the wooden decks, repairing a hole in the front buoyancy tank and fitting some new toestrap.
Any tips on repairing the buoyancy tank are welcome. Rather than patching up the tank, would cutting a large neat section away and inserting a bouyancy bag in this space work? At least it wouldn't trap water. Also, any opinions on whether I should attempt to extract the old foam in the front tank? It looks a bit manky.

 

 

[Tim Gatti]

Hi - personally, I would get rid of the foam and (providing the rest of the buoyancy tank is in good order) I would cut back the forward bulkhead to sound material and glue in a patch panel of 6mm marine ply or similar to seal up the hole.

Make sure it is well epoxy filleted.  You could pre-drill some drain holes in it prior to fitting if necessary.

You could make a more elaborate repair but is it worth it?

Given the price of a standard Crewsaver bow bag these days I think the ply patch approach would work out much cheaper for you.

I attach a pic of a similar repair the late Donald Acklam made some years ago to the forward bulkhead of a Pipedream that was in a similar condition.

He used a piece of Tufnol sheet that he had lying around instead of marine ply.

Good luck

Tim Gatti

[Tim Gatti]

I attach another photo showing the repair once I had completed the renovation of the interior several months later

[alk]

Hi Tim, thanks for the suggestions. I think I'll go ahead and remove the foam and make a simple ply patch, similar to that in your pictures. Thanks, Alex.

[alk]

Spent a fun afternoon scraping off varnish, decks and buoyancy tank starting to get there. A little bit of rot is present (last image), what is the best way to deal with sections like this?

[alk]

More varnish removal completed at the weekend. Fellow club members have noted how rough my approach seems to be (I've been using a scraper as my only tool thus far). I will give everything a good sand prior to applying any finishes though. Starting cleaning up the buoyancy tank before cutting begins.


Can I ask what the (crudely) highlighted lump of wood that supports the mast step is known as? This, inevitably, is pretty damp and rotten, so I'm keen to replace this along with a section of rotten gunwhale and deck at the rear.

[alk]

No more pictures, but a replacement hog has been glued in place, as has a fresh patch for the front buoyancy tank.


Unfortunately, as my first attempt at wielding epoxy and fibreglass, the patch repair is perhaps the messiest piece of work ever attempted on a sailing vessel (I will probably skip posting pictures to save face). Since the repair I have thought of several things I could have done to achieve a neater job, such as tacking the repair patch in place whilst the epoxy was setting (Doh!) and using smaller strips of fibreglass cloth to avoid difficulties getting the cloth to hold its shape. At least I have learnt from the experience. It might even be watertight.


Final job is priming and top coating the decks and waiting for a nice new cover from P&B.

[alk]

Finally nearing completion now.

Front tank repair tidied, primed and painted, along with the decks and rear tank. Looking much neater now.

[alk]

Baggs now back outdoors!