COQUINA, HMCo #??? Day ONE

[Steve]

These photo-journals are great.  Keep 'em coming.

[Adam]

Adam - I'm curious on the lead keel - are the stress cracks from lateral movement, or is the lead an alloy (IE it has impurities in it) that overtime weaken and fail? I've noticed old lead seems to sometimes get chalky and brittle almost like hull anodes zincs and galvanic corrosion.

[Adam Langerman]

In this case, there seems to have been a large amount of impurities that has caused corrosion and subsequent movement of the material.  It could also be described as cancer....  Adam

[Adam]

Yep - well that would do it for me....Start from scratch, forget the repair...(it's nice spending someone elses money and time...)

[Adam Langerman]

If only life were so easy...  This is still a decision not made lightly.  First, there is another option or two to explore.

[Steve]

Adam:  I have been reading about alternative ballast placements in the S-Boats.  Apparently, HMCo had multiple configurations.  Do you know anything about this?

-Steve

[Adam]

I would worry micro cracks are present and that patching would just hide unseen damage further down - and possible failure elsewhere. Never heard of anyone magnafluxing a lead keel before - not sure it's even possible with Lead seeing it is non magnetic - although I know they use penetrating dye's with softer metals like aluminum and copper, so maybe there is a process for lead? But seeing is Lead is easily melted and re-molded I'd still vote for a re-make. (See there I go spending others time and money again - as well as giving advice not asked for - to people who probably know a whole lot more then I do...ain't the internet grand   )

[S boat afficionado]

I too am curious about the ballast differences in the various S boats.  I had read that about 50 pounds of ballast was added after the first year.   I had also heard that the ballast was shifted on boats after a certain hull number.   I would be interested to hear the details of this (which hull numbers were affected) as well as any impact on performance.   I love the site, the forum, and the progress photos on Coquina.

[Steve]

Welcome to the Forum.  I was just reading a full treatment of the topic in the 1994 Ken Upham S-Boat Register.  Do you have access to it?

-Steve

[S boat afficionado]

Thanks, it's nice to be here!   I don't have access to that publication but have heard of it and I understand a revised edition is in the works.   Can I purchase a copy somewhere?   

[Steve]

I am pretty sure a new edition is in the works.  I have shared some information with the folks who are working on it, as have some of my contacts, though I haven't heard anything in awhile.  I don't believe the current version is available for purchase, though the Herreshoff Marine Museum library has a copy.

Do you own an S-Boat?  If so, which one?

[Adam]

From Jones:

"At the end of the first season Nat added 50lbs of Ballast to the forward lower edge of the Keel beginning with design number 852, the 17th in the series."

also presumably designed to the Universal rule "s" other designers also designed them - and made changes (see Herreshoff #931 by Alden). Additionally it is unclear to me if the Lawley built boats were by contract to HMCo thus using Nats design - or had made some changes?

[Steve]

Jones ?

[Adam]

http://www.amazon.com/Herreshoff-Sailboats-Greg-Jones/dp/0760311609

 

[Steve]

Ohhhh    I even have an autographed one of those