Gday all!

Hay um...ive just about finished a total rebuild on an old hood 23.

Deck is now solid and dry and mast step cut out and renewed...all rotten ply stripped out and re done though entire deck.

was a massive... massive job.

Cut out the head and the galley to make the bunks go all the way to the bulkhead etc.

was dark and cramped....now its light and cramped he he lol!!

anyway.....

the boat has not moved yet, and i have never sailed a hood 23...just our farr 6000.

are they nippy?...are they slow?...weather helm?....stable?....do they point?

im excited about the maiden voyage....just wondering what to expect???

anyone??

thanks so much guys.

dave

Thanks heaps c.r.!

Anytime mate. I'd love to help.

The usual way is to drill a series of holes down from the top. Inset a nail bent at 90 degrees into an electric drill into the hole so the nail can be rotated at speed and turn the foam into mush. Suck it out and replace with epoxy filler mixture. Not sure of an easy way if the ply is still intact.

I used to build thes Hood 20's and 23's at Spit Bridge Marina, the fibreglass was hand laid and the ply was brinzeel ply, boats built in the 70's are lucky to see the 2013 but many do, and your boat is a good one. I had an old folkboat that did not have any osmossis and had a little deck rot. Another way to rectify is to install another aluminium plate support under the mast with added strengthening plates on the underside of the deck and an aluminiun strut to the keel as a compression post. The strengthening plates on the underside of the deck will need to be fitted connecting the chain plates and use duralac isolation paste when connecting the stainless to the alloy.

Airex or divinicell foam core. If it has broken down due to water ingress then some times it is better to drill holes and inject epoxy resin into the void, patch the holes with fibreglass matt and gelcoat.

Hi brizzydave

just read your epic about your restoration...had missed your thread somehow.

Bravo!! What a job!

I've taken great inspiration from your experience - and the advice of the other contributors - as I can no longer ignore the deck problems in my old cat. So far, I've just spot-fixed the most offending spots, however, the legacy of a very dodgy paint job by a previous owner - + her age + years of neglect + fear of lack of XX skills/abilities on my part - has caught up. Have a watch of 'Hannah Has a Go' on Adam Hills Tonight and, taken in context of some of my maintenance attempts, Hannah looks like a bloody genius lol!

Just got a 10% off voucher for haulout and hardstand so, August looks like the month to start The Project.

As for Hoods, I think I mentioned in another thread that we had a Hood 20 when I was a kid. She was one of the less common round bilge and yes, I do agree with you, they do have a quirky aesthetic appeal. With that flush deck, you too will learn to be a contortionist

The boat would not have been that old when Dad bought her - mid '70s - but I recall even then, that she was in the shed for a while having something major done to the deck.

Dad never understood the word 'fear', and I can still remember that day going across to Tangalooma in 45 knots. Mum was pretty nervous and had me down below (which facilitated my hurling) and kept on suggesting that maybe we should turn back. To which Dad kept replying, "...nah love, the closer we get to the island, the more protected we'll be. We'll keep going".

It was uncomfortable, wet, and wild. The short, sharp chop of the Bay is nasty. Dad was close to hypothermia once we'd anchored up, requiring a good tot of medicinal rum, however, that little 20ft boat was tough enough to endure all of that.

Also, in our learning to fly a kite phase - on a too regular basis - we would round up and end up on our ear, water coming over the gunwale. However, she was a very forgiving old boat and there was never a threat that she would not come back.

See you and your girls on the bay sometime brizzydave