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Old 11-03-2012, 09:20 AM   #1
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Hendo's Randall 35 Cray Boat complete rebuild, Perth, Western Australia

Hi all,
I'm new here so I thought I'd pop in and say g'day. I'm currently doing a complete strip down and rebuild of my Randall 35 timber Cray boat.

I'll post up a story and photos shortly

Regards

Matt
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Old 11-03-2012, 09:24 AM   #2
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•The Beginning
I was approached by a good friend of mine that had told me he had a35ft timber Cray boat that he wanted to dispose of as he didn’t have the time nor the money to do the work required to fix her and was sick of paying club fees to have it dry stacked in their yard. He said it would cost $500 to gets omeone in to chop it up and get rid of her and asked if I wanted her before hec ontracted someone in to take to her with a chainsaw. I went and had a look at it and to say she needed "some work" was an understatement. She was on this rusted old truck chassis, I couldn’t walk in her as the floor was rotted out, the ply was falling off and well she was a mess. I spoke to the Minister of finance (aka my wife) and bought her down to see what she thought. Luckily for me my wife is a one of a kind woman and saw my vision and said...Yep let’s do it. My mate and I agreed that if I took it out of the hardstand at the boat club that she is in so he doesn’t have to pay for club fees any longer then I can have her for free. Well after that we shook hands on it and the boat became mine.



· Her History
The internet is a wonderful thing!. I was looking around trying to find the history on my vessel and came across this website that offered to find information on boats histories. I emailed the person and asked what the go was and he said that his hobby is being a marine historian. I was a bit skeptical at first because who does this as a hobby? Seriously?, let alone do it for free! So I spoke to him on the phone and sussed out his work and it all checked out so I emailed him what information I had on my boat.

I gave him the rego, size, what I knew about her etc etc etc. He did a bit of digging around and came back to me a couple of days later and said that he had contacted his colleague that works for the Department of Maritime and maritime museum here in WA and that they had the original survey card of my boat. I was so excited and pleased!.

He typed out some information of her for me that his colleague had sent him. They said she was built in 1958 and carried the name ACE HIGH. She was purchased in 1960 for Ross fisheries and was commissioned as a Working Cray boat carrying the numberLFLF430.

This coincidently marries up with the scribed markings I found in her hull showing ACE HIGH and F.430 that I had discovered when I removed sections of paint to see ifthe hull sides were any good or not.

I was shocked with the information he gave me as I hadn’t told him about the name or numbers at that stage as I hadn’t begun removing the paint so was unaware of these scribing’s under the years and years of layers of paint .

He said he can’t detail her complete history but I can make an application through the Department of Transport under the Freedom of Information act to get her activities list, when she was decommissioned and basically her life story. It’s great to find out information like this. It makes the boat building project all that much worthwhile



• Finding a Home
keeping to my word of moving her, I was straight on to finding her a newhome close to my home. In Perth, we don’t have very big blocks of land in the residential built up parts of the city so having a 35ft Cray boat on my verge was out of the question. We have a newspaper called "The Gumtree" in Perth and this is a place where people can list things for sale, free stuff and you can find pretty much anything from nails and screws to a horse or a house.

I advertised in there looking for a place to store my new toy. I listed that this place will need to have power, water and have the ability to store this boat whilst I rebuilt her. Well it wasn’t long till a nice lady rang and said that she had a place to suit me and invited me to have a look. Well my wife and I toddled out there and inspected the place on offer. It had everything going for it. The ground was flat, it was cheap, it had power and water and it was close to home! Well we agreed on a monthly price to rent the yard, we drew up a contract so we knew what the expectations of each other were and the deal was done! I now had a home for my project boat.


· The Move
Well Time had come to move the vessel to her new home. After some painstaking inquires,several non-returned phone calls, several unanswered emails and some outrageous prices, i found someone that was not only willing to move the boat, but do it at a reasonable price!

I was so excited about the move, on the day of her leaving the yard i was two hours early and sat around talking to the boat (c'mon stop laughing, we have all done it)

I got a phone call from the driver to say that he was 15 minutes away and I walked out the front of the yard to meet him. Well true to his word, this massive 22 wheeler Scania truck and trailer came coasting over the horizon and pulled up. So with a loud airbrake pressure release and a massive cloud of dust the truck had arrived.

The driver and I did the introductory thing and I walked him down to see the boat and work out a plan of attack. He measured the boat and said “mate she’s close”. I asked what he meant and he said she is 30mm under the maximum allowable width to travel on the road without pilot vehicles and 50mm under the maximum allowable height for travelling without having a permit from the power company to move her under the power lines in the street. "Well", he said as he stood there rolling a cigarette, "it’s gonna be a sh*t fight but let’s give it a crack ay" and with that he walked back up to the truck and bought it into the yard. Now this truck was massive,like really long and high 'Massive' he rolled into the yard and before I knew it he had this thing turned around and was backing down the lane way to the back of the fishing club yard. In the two hrs. I was there, I saw many guys trying to reverse their boats and trailers that were under 1/4 of the size and struggle and run out of room. To say I was impressed with the truckers’ skills is an understatement. Either that or the boaties were really really crap lol

The trucker positioned the trailer next to the boat and shored it up for the boats weight. After unloading the trailer, the trucker positioned the prime mover behind the boat so he could get full maneuverability of the Hiab crane arm. After a bit of fluffing about and with some assistance by yours truly, we had the boat slung and ready for lifting on to the trailer. So with bit of creaking and groaningshe was lifted high into the air and lowered into position on the trailer. Fromthe moment he started lifting her till the time she was loaded on to the trailer, took a grand total of 5 minutes.

We spent an houror so getting her strapped down and braced and shored up and making sure she was safe for the two hour trip to her new home.
Once this wasdone, the trucker loaded the trailer on to the prime mover and we were off.

Now normally it would take one hour to get to the destination but as we were oversize, we weren’t allowed to use any freeways so we had to go the back roads. Great news for the trucking company at $180 p/hr. but sad news for me.

I am pleased toreport that the move went very well and without any incidents. We arrived ather new home and was unloaded safely and the trucker left.


· Day 1
My wife, my stepson and I all went down the following day which happened to be a Saturday(luckily or else I could have felt a work sickie coming on hehe)
Straight away Iwent to her with a reciprocating saw and took off the cabin and began stripping the starboard topside of the hull. We removed the batteries and did a little clean up. We only spent 2.5 hrs there as we had other commitments to attend to.


· Day 2
On Sunday morning I was up and out of the house very early. My wife and Step son went out to the shops and met me at the boat afterwards.
I had done afair bit in the 3 hrs I was there. (Probably because I wasn’t answering all of the “why is that like that” and ‘what does this do” and I’m bored, I’m hungry,can we do something else questions from the boy lol

I had removed the remaining parts of the cab, I removed the transom and marlin board, I had removed the floor and was cleaning up when my lovely wife had arrived with lunch.

We sat down fora feed, talked about the plan of the boat and then packed up and went home to watch the Rugby League Grand Final. My team was playing and yes they won!
Gooo The Melbourne Storm!!! Woohoo!

· Day 3
This was a productive day. My wife dropped the boy off at his friend’s birthday party andwe both went down to the boat. We completely removed the starboard side ribs, stacked the timber for use in other areas of the boat (only in nonstructural applications. It’s more of a sentimental valuethan a requirement. It will be nice to have some of her former self on board) we braced the engine as nothing was there supporting one side of it and did a bit of tidying up. I got a call from a bloke that I had rung earlier that day selling a workshop manual for the engine I have so as we had finished what we could, we went over and picked up the manual and that was pretty much it forDay 3.


· Day 4
This was just a 20minute stop over as there were forecasted rains for the area and as the motor was out in the open I deemed it best practice to cover her up. I took some inox out with me and gave the motor a drenching in the stuff. It will just help when I turn my attention to cleaning it up and getting her ready. I covered her up and as soon as I closed the door on my Ute down came the rain. Perfect timing!
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Old 11-03-2012, 09:31 AM   #3
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Welcome! Love your part of the world! Have many great memories visiting Perth and parts south....love the Karri forest.
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Old 11-03-2012, 09:32 AM   #4
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Ok well today was an RDO for me so over to the boat I went. Day five working on the boat saw me removing the drive shaft and rudder as well as the driveshaft stuffing box and the rudder stuffing box. I've kept both boxes but they won't be put back on. I'll be install two of those mechanical dripless jobs. After I had removed those items I started making up the ribs. I got 4 done today. I have made the rear ribs 500mm wider to give an overall beam width of 3mtrs as opposed to the 2mtr beam she used to have on the arse. As you can see in the pics, this will make a massive improvement. Tomorrow I plan to continue with the ribs provided the weather holds off like it did today.

Ok we'll that's where I'm at atm

Cheers

Matt
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Old 11-03-2012, 09:35 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by Pau Hana View Post
Welcome! Love your part of the world! Have many great memories visiting Perth and parts south....love the Karri forest.
Hi,
Thank you for your reply! Yes the the Karri forests are great! Where abouts are you from mate?
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Old 11-03-2012, 10:01 AM   #6
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Greetings,
Welcome aboard and WOW!!!!!
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Old 11-03-2012, 10:39 AM   #7
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Based on the story, you are re-building a boat. Based on the pictures, you are BUILDING one.

Anyway, God bless you and welcome!

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Old 11-03-2012, 10:59 AM   #8
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Thanks guys. Haha yeah the plan was to rebuild her but after the ply came off there were more buggered ribs than good ones so the plan has been changed a bit lol. I had planned on just replacing the ply sheeting but after it came off it was agreed that the ribs will go too. Basically I'm only keeping the mechanicals and the keel. Everything else will be scrapped. Not that much more $$$$ the timber only cost $297.00 and the savings in the long run having good hardwood Western Australian jarrah will pay for itself. Another upside is the jarrah is about 40 years old. It came out of a roof of an old house so it's all dry and as strong as steel.

Cheers for the comments :-)
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Old 11-05-2012, 09:16 PM   #9
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Wow, Hendo, just caught up with this thread. Man, you've taken on a project there, but at least you will literally know her down to the last screw once finished, and the feeling of accomplishment will be fantastic. Good onya Mate...keep us posted with progressive pics. I can see now why the layout of the Integrity 330 appeals. You can just about do what you want in terms of layout and fit-out going back as far as you have. That's a recreation more than a restoration...all the best with that...
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Old 11-05-2012, 10:48 PM   #10
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Wow, Hendo, just caught up with this thread. Man, you've taken on a project there, but at least you will literally know her down to the last screw once finished, and the feeling of accomplishment will be fantastic. Good onya Mate...keep us posted with progressive pics. I can see now why the layout of the Integrity 330 appeals. You can just about do what you want in terms of layout and fit-out going back as far as you have. That's a recreation more than a restoration...all the best with that...
G'day Pete,
Cheers for the support mate! Yeah the 330 layout will be ideal. Hey thanks for sending those links through, theres some awesome pics of the integrity that I've not seen before.

Yeah got my ticket in the $100ml

Cheers again for the support. Ill post updates and pics as they happen :-)

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Old 11-05-2012, 11:00 PM   #11
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Yeah the 330 layout will be ideal. Hey thanks for sending those links through, theres some awesome pics of the integrity that I've not seen before
The Integrity 330 was at the 2011 Sydney Boat Show, good use of space. The 380 is around now, looks great.
You are blessed with beautiful boat timbers in Western Australia. In Tasmania they say you can`t cut huon pine down, but cutting up is ok.
All the best with the project. BruceK
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Old 11-05-2012, 11:18 PM   #12
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The Integrity 330 was at the 2011 Sydney Boat Show, good use of space. The 380 is around now, looks great.
You are blessed with beautiful boat timbers in Western Australia. In Tasmania they say you can`t cut huon pine down, but cutting up is ok.
All the best with the project. BruceK
Cheers for the comment Bruce. I'm really excited about building my own 330. Maybe I should call it a 330.1 for legal reasons hahaha

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Old 11-09-2012, 07:09 AM   #13
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Well today saw more ribs going on and I started on the sides, the floor bearer and floor joists. The other day i pre-ordered 30 sheets of 2400x1200 ply so figured I'd better get a wriggle on. Weather should be fine this weekend so looking forward to making some good advancements.
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Old 11-09-2012, 08:22 AM   #14
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Wow that is a project. You must have patience!!

My father-in-law rebuilt many wooden boats and then glassed them afterwards. One time he had all the planks off and had replaced several ribs but needed a hand to retrofit the new stem. He asked if I would lift the front end a bit so he could reposition it a bit so thinking it was heavy I leaned into it and lifted. Well wouldn't you know I flattened the entire project. There wasn't anything that was vertical. I was expecting him to take a rib and crack me one but instead he said nothing other than perhaps we should start picking it up.

The long and short of it all, he finished the rest by himself and it floated just fine..

Red Green says " if the women can't find you handy they best find you handsome " - guess I don't fit either category lol

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Old 11-09-2012, 09:05 AM   #15
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Wow that is a project. You must have patience!!

My father-in-law rebuilt many wooden boats and then glassed them afterwards. One time he had all the planks off and had replaced several ribs but needed a hand to retrofit the new stem. He asked if I would lift the front end a bit so he could reposition it a bit so thinking it was heavy I leaned into it and lifted. Well wouldn't you know I flattened the entire project. There wasn't anything that was vertical. I was expecting him to take a rib and crack me one but instead he said nothing other than perhaps we should start picking it up.

The long and short of it all, he finished the rest by himself and it floated just fine..

Red Green says " if the women can't find you handy they best find you handsome " - guess I don't fit either category lol

Elwin
Lol good thing I'm handy then hahaha. Thanks for your comment Elwin. :-)

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Old 11-09-2012, 04:14 PM   #16
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G Damn Matt - You're Simply an Fn' WILD Man!!

I'm always warning boaters to not take on an ol' woody needing restoration due to maybe more work than they figured on... NOW... I'll be warning the woody boats themselves to not take you on due to them being ripped stem to stern quicker than a flash! Hope the repair needing wooden boats take heed of this thread! - LOL

Get it on man! I look forward to see final outcome. Respectfully to the recent disaster and with love in me heart to all those who'd been aboard I say the following... Sh*t, man lets raise the recently sunk tall mast square sail Bounty! --- With you commissioned she'd be back up and sailing sooner rather than later!

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Old 11-10-2012, 02:01 AM   #17
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G Damn Matt - You're Simply an Fn' WILD Man!!

I'm always warning boaters to not take on an ol' woody needing restoration due to maybe more work than they figured on... NOW... I'll be warning the woody boats themselves to not take you on due to them being ripped stem to stern quicker than a flash! Hope the repair needing wooden boats take heed of this thread! - LOL

Get it on man! I look forward to see final outcome. Respectfully to the recent disaster and with love in me heart to all those who'd been aboard I say the following... Sh*t, man lets raise the recently sunk tall mast square sail Bounty! --- With you commissioned she'd be back up and sailing sooner rather than later!

Happy Boating Daze! - Art
Hahahahahahahaha cheers for the comment mate! :-D ... She's quite the project isn't she?!

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Old 11-23-2012, 08:56 AM   #18
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Hey all,

Well it was day 8 working on the old girl today. Today was a bit of a backward step with a little side shuffle before stepping forward again. I removed the side frames and trimmed 200mm off the bottom ribs. I fitted the chine rail to the ribs. I left the floor joists the same length then bolted the side frames back on. This gave the sides a flare. A much better look than the block look it had before IMO.

The last hour saw me starting to remove the port side. Im removing the port side rib by rib and replacing the ribs as i go due to stability of the structure during this part of the build.

So yeah that's where I'm at today

Cheers
Matt

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Old 12-02-2012, 08:32 AM   #19
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Day 9

Hi all. Did a couple more ribs on the port side. Racked the frames with ratchet straps and fixed some straightening beams. Getting ready to install the sheets over Xmas holidays.

That's all. Hope everyone else's boats and projects are going well

Cheers

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Old 12-02-2012, 08:47 AM   #20
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This reminds me of when Michelangelo said he could see a sculpture within a block of marble, and all he had to do was carve away the excess rock.

You, my lad, must have a very strong vision of the finished boat in your mind! If you pull this off, somebody will give you a hero badge!!
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