At least the edge of the woodwork wasn’t too hard and angled, and it was a solid bit of boat. Has everything else on deck held firm while being wrenched about?
The way the white line finishes slightly before the bow might allow you to take a white line up the front of the bow.
How about installing a bow eye and a bow eye shield.
Example here:
http://www.catalinadirect.com/index.cfm/product/1412_17/bow-eye-shield-c-22.cfm
Same idea as the bow eye shield but a protective metal strip for the whole bow? In stainless it would reflect the light on the water nicely. Such a strip is on a few boats here in the Baltic where bow to morning is the norm.
Same idea as the bow eye shield but a protective metal strip for the whole bow? In stainless it would reflect the light on the water nicely. Such a strip is on a few boats here in the Northern Baltic where bow to morning is the norm.
I reckon that’s the best idea – but it would be expensive. The S/S plate has to be curved to exactly match the shape of the stem and I don’t think the curvature will be constant all the way up. Nice if it can be done and it can be epoxied in place, no need for screws/bolts etc.
The bow eye shield is probably much cheaper and more practical but be careful that the eye isn’t a danger to other craft or you might have a close encounter of the more expensive kind.
Why not use some 4-inch boot-strip tape? A light sand and FG-filler to clean-up the scrapes and such to fair-in the hull true, some primer brushed or rolled-on to seal the hull’s fiberglass from the water, and apply the tape. It could be white, it could be a dark blue to match the anti-fouling bottom-paint, or some thing quixotic. It’s flexible so someone with a good-eye could follow the curve of the bow-up. They probably have decorative arrowheads and fluer-de-les available.
Plus if the tape gets damaged, you can repair it. And you’ll notice if the bow rubs against something in the future.
Do not despair I had some damage to a Hirrondelle Cat and the cleaver guys at the yard made it as good as new I could,nt tell where it had been
problem is the yard is at Millbrook Cornwall, but there will be other at other yards which are just as capable
Have a good summer
Nigel
I wonder if it would be possible to make a mold when the boat is out of the water. From the mold make a former and then get a machine shop or other appropreat provider to make the plate?
Usually a shape like that is rolled from flat-stock stainless steel since it’s a fairly open-radius, or you have it brake-bent for a sharper-radius than the underlying hull. Threaded studs are welded/brazed to the back-side as through bolts, then it’s final polished. It’s similar to a piece of automotive moulding trim.
The problem is you wind-up needing to drill holes in the stem, right on top of the major-hull seam — not the best idea. Plus, you then have potential leak issues and you can never get a perfect joint along the edges to the fiberglass since the fiberglass flexes slightly as the boat moves in a seaway.
Personally, I’d be worried about the mould-seam of the fiberglass hull. Your boat-buddy Roger Ball might know more about this joint. I don’t know if Minstrels were one or two-piece moulded.
Lets face it mate, its ruinated.
best bet is to list it on eBay as salvage only with a dirt cheap buy it now price!
let me know the exact time it goes on, theres a good chap.
Many years ago I used to work in an auto-parts store. We used to sell thick rubber-trim rub-strips and linear bumpers to protect car-doors and fenders from dents and chips from other car-doors opening and hitting the painted surface. Some was just black rubber, and some was attached to a metallized-chrome backing with a strong adhesive-attached.
Maybe something like that might be appropriate — if available — that was flexible to handle 2–3 inches of gentle-radiused stem, and up the bow-stem from the waterline or slightly below to the underside of the hull-joint. It would conceal any primer-painted surface repairs and it would afford some protection against further soft-impacts and rubbing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxzCZ-5lMxY
this guy has a whole series of vids on repair… a bit scattered but does a great job explaining things.
American site, but two videos show how to pattern cutwaters.