Moving The Hull Part 3: Outside

|Peter Johnson
Moving the schooner hull outside, part 3

Part 5 of 6 in the Moving the Schooner Hull series.  Start at part 1 →

The move of the hull outside went easier than expected, and our multi-wheeled caterpillar worked great: we were out in the sunshine.

hull out in the sunshine on the caterpillar

Our next plan was to actually rotate the hull and have it the right way up. I didn't want the hull on the ground, and I didn't want it damaged.

The idea was to erect a quarter hamster wheel around the hull, so as it tipped it would rotate on the wheel and not on the hull and ground.

erecting the quarter hamster wheel around the hullhamster wheel turning frame around the hull

The turning frames were attached using the holes for the ballast keel to bolt them to the hull, then connected with 2x4 timber to make a big tyer to spread the load.

turning frame tested by using a fat man

The frame was supported off the hull; according to the best-laid plans, this should work and the turn should go sweetly.

turning frame ready for the rollturning frame supported off the hullnever look pleased, you know it will go wrong

Never look pleased with yourself at this stage: you know it will go wrong somewhere. Read how the actual turn went in Moving The Hull, the Turn Over.
Peter Johnson

Written by

Peter Johnson

Pete Johnson is the owner of Epoxy Ltd, trading since the late 1990s and supplying MAS epoxy and boatbuilding materials to professional and DIY builders alike, all under the philosophy of "Simple Perfection". When he's not helping customers, he's usually elbow-deep in one of his own projects, from building the 38ft schooner Iracunda from scratch to restoring boats like Junior, a 1950s Yachting Monthly dinghy rescued from the scrap heap. He writes the workshop blog to share the practical, often hard-won lessons learned building and repairing boats with epoxy.