Restoring a Phil Bolger designed Cartopper

Sailing dinghy damaged in a mudslide

Besides suffering the normal wear and tear of a boat that is well used, this boat was damaged in a mudslide. Her owners brought her to us to be repaired and refurbished.

Exposure to the elements was evident in the peeling varnish, faded paint and worn keel. The owners asked us to repair the damage from the mudslide, fix the deteriorated centerboard trunk logs, upgrade the rudder hardware and repaint the interior and exterior.

The damaged transom

Her transom was damaged at the corners, partly because it had not been reinforced when originally constructed.

New quarter knees being installed

We added quarter knees to the stern. These will reinforce the transom and provide a handhold for carrying the boat.

Damage to the keel

The keel of the boat was damaged by being dragged up the beach.

Adding bilge runners and repairing keel

We added bilge runners on either side of the keel, and reinforced these with a strip of brass half oval running the length of the keel and the bilge runner.

Here you see the installed bilge runners and the half oval ready to be screwed on.

In addition to the repairs, we repainted the interior and exterior with marine enamel. For the interior, we used a semigloss soft yellow and the exterior with a semigloss green. This is easier on the eyes in bright sunlight than the original gloss white. We also stripped most of the hull varnish and applied two coats of varnish, with the owner wanting to apply the remaining coats.

Now she's looking great and ready to go!