First Gen Bristol Issues - Downside?

[Mainebristol]

I've got a Bristol 32 as well, 1976. I hit an uncharted rock at five knots. Was with a friend in a Pearson at the time. He couldn't believe the sound of the impact, and came alongside to rescue me from what he thought must be a sinking boat. That fall, I had to repair a little gelcoat on the keel. I always figured she had enough extra glass in her to make a sizable daysailer.
Check that the chainplates lead fair. Seems obvious, I know, but what can I say, mine did not. The original wiring might be suspect. I have found some wire nuts, if you can believe that. I don't know if that model has a deck stepped mast, but if it does, see how the bulkhead in way of the mast is holding up. I'm watching mine carefully, as it moves a little.
Have fun with her. The hulls of these old things are just bomber, and the mast is at least twice what it needs to be. The rigging, if it is new or replaced, is extremely strong, much stronger than the boat actually needs. Look up the blog "The adventures of Ute." It's a fun read.

Mainebristol

[dcneuro]

My chain plates are good. I did inspect them since the impact. I think the fact that I hit wood, was much like today's "impact absorbing" bumpers on autos whereas your boat hit rock, much less forgiving. You do however bring up an excellent point regarding the bulkhead. I have noticed that my starboard bulkhead which forms the aft wall of the stand up locker has pulled away about 1/2". I pressured it back by wedging planks in the door frame and used 5200 to reseal the bead, but t pulled away again. I marked the point where it receded to last year and it has not moved any further in a season and one half. I have also had our yard fiberglass guru, who is very good, look at it and he said to leave it be, it is just age and that it would be more sensible to just shave 1/8" off the door so that it would close again rather that try and move the bulkhead back. He found no gross instability. I have also recenetly begun noticing eary creeks, which I am not sure if they are coming from the deck stepped mast cup, or the main support bean which lies beneath it and is concealed neatly within the confines of the deck. (Do you know if there is supposed to be a bearing or gasket of some sort in the mast cup? I have nothing in there and the mast sits directly on the cup).

[Fishman_Tx]

Yeah you may wanna check that main support beam pretty quick. New creaks and seperating bulkheads; age or not, it should be looked at. May have a bit of downward flex in the deckhouse overhead. Thank God we're keel stepped, but the shoe is completely ate up and will have to be replaced. I agree the boat hull is definitely tough, and if thats ok, all else is fixable.

[FloridaWriter]

Originally Posted by dcneuro

My chain plates are good. I did inspect them since the impact. I think the fact that I hit wood, was much like today's "impact absorbing" bumpers on autos whereas your boat hit rock, much less forgiving. You do however bring up an excellent point regarding the bulkhead. I have noticed that my starboard bulkhead which forms the aft wall of the stand up locker has pulled away about 1/2". I pressured it back by wedging planks in the door frame and used 5200 to reseal the bead, but t pulled away again. I marked the point where it receded to last year and it has not moved any further in a season and one half. I have also had our yard fiberglass guru, who is very good, look at it and he said to leave it be, it is just age and that it would be more sensible to just shave 1/8" off the door so that it would close again rather that try and move the bulkhead back. He found no gross instability. I have also recenetly begun noticing eary creeks, which I am not sure if they are coming from the deck stepped mast cup, or the main support bean which lies beneath it and is concealed neatly within the confines of the deck. (Do you know if there is supposed to be a bearing or gasket of some sort in the mast cup? I have nothing in there and the mast sits directly on the cup).

I would ignore the advice of that "guru" and fix your bulkhead properly. You should probably also pull the chainplates and inspect the bulkheads and knees that they bolt to. You are obviously getting movement there and you need to correct it.

Good luck,

[Dave Carter]

I have a 73' Bristol 40 which I bought a few years ago. In 15,000 plus miles I've encountered a few problems. My headstay sheared off the deck sailing transat but the mast held strong. Certainly check the tabbing on the bulkheads, I've had to re-tab mine, it's easy enough. The knees on my boat were also rotted inside the fiberglass. If you're getting a lot of flex you can suck the cabin top down down to the mast step.
That being said my girl is solid as a rock, I can't recall how many times she's forgiven my mistakes

[Mainebristol]

Hi Doc. There is no gasket for the mast step on my B32. The movement inside on the bulkhead is maybe 1/4". Let me know if you ever get up to Casco Bay, someday when the rain stops. I have a mizzen, so I have a split backstay, and the chainplates for the backstay don't lead correctly, is why I mentioned that. The bend in them does not match the angle oft he backstay, by about 15% degrees.

MaineBristol, B32 Eider

[dcneuro]

So how would I go about fixing that bulkhead? I probably should have been clear on the fact that the glass tabbing itself is in order. It is only the wood dressing that has slipped away, about half an inch. But this is not a structural component, which is probably why I was told to leave it alone and just shave the door.

[FloridaWriter]

<<I have noticed that my starboard bulkhead which forms the aft wall of the stand up locker has pulled away about 1/2". >>

The head is opposite this locker so you have two issues: the starboard bulkhead pulling away from its tabbing, and the head door which is framed by a support arch that is your mast compression system no longer closing. And this happened after you center punched a fixed pier? Do you suppose these things are related?

<<I probably should have been clear on the fact that the glass tabbing itself is in order. It is only the wood dressing that has slipped away, about half an inch. But this is not a structural component, which is probably why I was told to leave it alone and just shave the door.>>

There is no "wood dressing" as you put it on a first gen Bristol. The bulkheads are plywood. The plywood is tabbed to the hull as is all of the furniture in the boat, and why the boat is so strong and rigid. If the wood has pulled away from the tabbing you have essentially broken your bulkhead at this point. Squeezing 5200 into the gap will do less than nothing--only make a godawful mess to clean up before you can do the repairs.

The fact that your head door will not close means that the mast compression system is somehow compromised and is not supporting your mast correctly. It might be related to the collision or it make be simply that you are suffering a failure of the maststeps at bottom of the two vertical frames for the head door--something other B32's have suffered from--or a failure of the horizontal support above the head door that connects the compression of the mast to the two door frames. Tightening your rigging will not solve this issue--it will only drive the mast down more, and cause further damage.

The fact that you hearing creaking and noise when the boat is sailed hard is a big red flag.

[FloridaWriter]

Originally Posted by Mainebristol

Hi Doc. There is no gasket for the mast step on my B32. The movement inside on the bulkhead is maybe 1/4". Let me know if you ever get up to Casco Bay, someday when the rain stops. I have a mizzen, so I have a split backstay, and the chainplates for the backstay don't lead correctly, is why I mentioned that. The bend in them does not match the angle oft he backstay, by about 15% degrees.

MaineBristol, B32 Eider

As long as your turnbuckles are toggled at their lower ends, it is not an issue that the chainplates are out of angle to the masthead. If your turnbuckles are not toggled, then they should be.

[Fishman_Tx]

Originally Posted by FloridaWriter

The plywood is tabbed to the hull as is all of the furniture in the boat, and why the boat is so strong and rigid.....

Well dang, I guess that's really going to increase the skill level of reworking the cabinets and counters......crap. Can't just pull out, refinish, and replace.....


David, RE: your PM; I'll be talking to my partner (co-owner)tonight and let you know 'if' and 'where'. Unfortunately, I may be losing my interest in the boat if my bud moves to FL with his job. Seems our trip down there lit a fire under his butt. A little under mine too but don't think my "ole lady" would want to move. I gotta get out of South Texas, too damn dry!

[dcneuro]

Thanks for the feedback. Couple of corrections though. It is the V birth door that doesn't close as the stand up locker bulkhead is pulled away. Head door works fine. The creaking doesn't occur when sailing hard, it occurs at random at rest with normal small wave activity on our mooring. This creak stops when I spray the mast cup with WD40, which is why I wondered if there is supposed to be a bearing of some sort in there.

[Mainebristol]

Weird. I hate to say it, but if the mast compression forces squash the deck, the crown would flatten, the deck would become wider, forcing the hull out at that point, taking the bulkead with it. This would be obvious, though. Anybody in a dinghy could see that the freeboard wasn't fair. Have you looked? So far, mine does not seem to be doing this, but other B32's have. Check out S/V Kestrel Some where in that site you can see where he reinforced his cabin top. I set my rig up a litttle loose. That mast is a tough looking extrusion, extremely well stayed. I figure a little slop side to side is okay (I'm not racing). I hope this is not the case with you. All I can say is that my forepeak door closes okay, and I don't seem to have much movement around the compression post. (1/4", tops.) Let me know if you want some digital photos sent your way. I'm away on business, but I should be able to send them late next weekend, if this @%$^& rain ever stops.

Mainebristol SV Eider, B32

[FloridaWriter]

Originally Posted by Fishman_Tx

Well dang, I guess that's really going to increase the skill level of reworking the cabinets and counters......crap. Can't just pull out, refinish, and replace.....


David, RE: your PM; I'll be talking to my partner (co-owner)tonight and let you know 'if' and 'where'. Unfortunately, I may be losing my interest in the boat if my bud moves to FL with his job. Seems our trip down there lit a fire under his butt. A little under mine too but don't think my "ole lady" would want to move. I gotta get out of South Texas, too damn dry!

Sorry to hear you are losing momentum on the boat. It's understandable thought.

David

[FloridaWriter]

Originally Posted by dcneuro

Thanks for the feedback. Couple of corrections though. It is the V birth door that doesn't close as the stand up locker bulkhead is pulled away. Head door works fine. The creaking doesn't occur when sailing hard, it occurs at random at rest with normal small wave activity on our mooring. This creak stops when I spray the mast cup with WD40, which is why I wondered if there is supposed to be a bearing of some sort in there.

OK I understand, but the bottom line is you have a bulkhead pulled away first of all, which needs to be fixed properly. Second, if the mast were correctly situated on the maststep (and your maststep were not failing in some respect) it would not be moving on the maststep so that oiling it would quiet it. These are indications of more serious issues that need to be addressed.

Just my opinion,

[dcneuro]

She was fair as inspected on land on stands the winter before last. The problem did exist at that point. The cabin door stopped closing properly around 2005. It has to be caused either due to age, the crash I discussed, or very heavy seas while moving the vessel up the coast in 04. Took a pounding in as much as 15' seas.

Would love to see some photos.