THE ARRAN BOATS BLOG

I have just bought an open Arran 16 in with a 15hp Mariner tiller steer engine on it and its sat on a galvanised bunked trailer.

We will be splitting the package and the boat in two.While on first appearance the boat looks great it has a rotten transom.

They normally have a single splash well drain hole but this one has two.They were no longer sealed properly and this has allowed water into the plywood and over 25yrs has rotted it.

I removed the rotted outer plywood transom plate and the two plastic bungs.As you can see the chisel is sticking into the rotten transom wood.How far it extends out from the holes I wont know for sure until the boats in half.The fendering was removed all around the boat and the rivets which held it on were drilled out.

Next job was to flip the boat to get the rusty old keel band off.

I simply levered what was left of the keel bands off as the screws are only short on these early boats.

Once the bands and screws were out I tried an area of Antifoul to see how easy it came off.The power washer removed a bit but its going to be a long slog with a scraper and sandpaper.

The engine would start and idle but not rev so I checked the fuel filter and fuel in the tank.

As can be seen the filter is black and the fuel tank and line had water in it.It still would not rev so I took the carb off and found the jet blocked.

Once the jet was blown clean with an air line it ran sweet as a nut.

The 15hp Mariner that was on the boat is up for sale on this site.

I spent three hours with a flat bladed blunt scraper today removing antifoul. Remember to wear glasses and a mask as its nasty stuff and goes everywhere.It is going to take me a few more hours yet just to get the thick of it off.Once its off I will use a chemical stripper on the last of it.The chemical stripper was not very effective so it was back to the scrapper.Another three hours of my life gone and its still not finished but its getting there.

Having drilled all the rivets out I used an overhead hoist to lift the top deck of the boat at the stern.

The old rowlocks were bolted in but with the bolts removed they refused to budge.I put the hacksaw blade into the rowlock and cut in lengthways all the way through.It then had room to move and came out with some force applied.