How to Do It

To all intents and purposes this is a sound-looking engine bracket. But take a good look at this ‘hidden issue’ and what to look out for on your boat.

This following account relates to one of my charter Luggers, operated by Dragon Drascombe in the South Ionian Sea this past summer of 2022.

Lugger Ellie has been a part of my Lugger fleet since 2017 and seen more than 1200 hours of engine use over this period of charters, with these 4 stroke engines hung on the Iroko transom bracket.

It has always been a concern of mine that these heavy engines are supported by the transom bracket and just 4 x 10 mm bolts connecting it to the boat transom moulding, even though I check on the nut tightness regularly.

On a cleaning and maintenance day this past summer I happened to notice a movement in the top of the transom board when the engine was put into forward gear, the bracket ‘dipped’ back from the hull moulding slightly. I also checked with the engine off by pulling the top of the engine case back and yes, there was movement in the Iroko bracket itself.

Hmm this is not good!! Potentially could result in a serious problem. Out offshore under engine with lots of power required to get back in gusty, heavy windy conditions, and the thrust of the engine could rip the bracket off its two top bolts. Not very clever at all. So, it was a case of diving inside the Lazerette and removing the 4 nuts and washers, remembering it’s in the South Ionian Sea at 38C plus in the boat yard!

It’s a procedure for a whippet, lying on one’s side on the floor of the narrow cramped Lazarette with both hands outstretched removing the nuts off the threaded bolts, then wriggling back to extricate one’s body from the opening of the Lazarette in order to straighten up. It’s a job I’ve done on numerous occasions when rebuilding Luggers in Wales, but not in tropical temperatures.

So what did I find one might ask?

These clearly show the enlarged two top holes in the glass fibre moulding of the transom which have been eroded by the movement and pressure from washer behind.

The lower holes had not been subjected to this wear, it’s the weight of the engine combined with the thrust from the long leg of the engine that puts so much pressure and leverage on the two top bolts.

One significant observation was that the thickness of the transom moulding in the area of contact with the engine mounting bracket was varying from 2 to 5 mm only, very thin indeed for such a heavy engine to be mounted on, given the movement created by the thrust of the engine.

One could cut a block in this enlarged area behind as a packer then add a bigger washer!! On reflection this would only be a temporary solution.

The long term solution was to not only affect a glass and resin repair but to add strength and backing support to the inside of the transom moulding, it’s clear that the thickness of this area is not sufficient and well below a safe and acceptable standard.

Here we start with two sections of 12 mm marine ply, the width and length of the internal face of the transom moulding and well oversize strips of heavy weight chopped strand mat. This accompanied by the requisite resin, containers and brushes to wet out the mat.

We now need to bond these ply packer / strengthening sections to the inside face so they are secure whilst applying the bonding glass mat and resin to them, with lots of overlapping onto adjacent areas of the deck moulding.

Always allow adequate time for the resin to cure, remembering one has to get back into this cramped and confined area to cog up the nuts and holding washers. The fumes that this Polyester resin omits are quite significant, so be careful!

With the engine bracket now in position, I have added a different bracket, the original has signs of stress cracks between the 2 top bolt holes, it’s now a matter of drilling through the Iroko bracket and then through the original glass fibre moulding plus this additional marine ply packer support which has been glassed in. You will note the extra large ‘Penny ‘ washers that I have used to spread the load and pressure.

For future reference, I will be working through my charter Luggers and adding this modification to the inside of the hull moulding. Also, my future rebuild of Luggers will include this additional modification.

When I get orders in from Lugger and Longboat owners for a replacement Iroko transom bracket I will be advising them to carry out this modification, and these two marine ply packers / strengthening I will now have in stock as a standard part at no extra cost to the transom bracket.

All’s well that ends well, but this could have been a serious issue for my Lugger charter clients in the South Ionian Sea.

The two stern aft-deck seats on the early Luggers have always been my preference for having access to the Lazarette storage area, rather than the face fitted ‘Tea tray’ that followed it with the Mk2 Lugger onwards.

However, there were several issues in their manufacture. Firstly, and for my Luggers with the Mainsheet traveller tube fitted across the beam of the boat as opposed to the older version where there was just a slack wire from side to side to act as a traveller for the Mainsheet block, the glass fibre moulded seats would not easily slide in and out under the traveller tube, note in pic 1 how close the tube is to the seat.

Another downside was their size and weight to have inside the cockpit, leaving the possibility of tripping over one if left on the floor boards, or in my application with Dragon Drascombe Luggers in the South Ionian Sea people without shoes on could easily damage their feet if accidentally in contact with this moulded seat.

So it was time to rethink this design whilst keeping this access from the topside and having a much easier seat to access.

To start, in the first picture I have cut away the upstand flange of the deck internal moulding, which leaves me with just a flat surface.

The second picture shows the completed framework in white that I have made to sit on this flat surface of the internal deck moulding. This framework which is bonded into the internal moulding allows a seat to sit on its top surface, the seat being flush with the aft deck area.

I have made these 2 deck seats out of Iroko and Ash and protected with just Teak Oil. Yes this oil does burn out slowly and will require a rub over from time to time. As an example, my Lugger Angie has had two summer charter seasons out in the South Ionian Sea. The first picture shows her as she was in late September 2022 having been used for 5 months and then the second within a week after a good clean and re-oil pic. This is very good considering the constant use and time subjected to these harsh marine conditions, sun, wind and salt water.

To make these Lazarette areas more useful and dry, I have made 6 mm marine ply raised floors, some 80 mm at the keel line off the floor bottom; there is always a drop of water sloshing around to the aft of the boat, so it’s good to have a dry area for storage.

I am in the process of jigging up this modification so it can be manufactured as a kit for your own home fitting, for those with suitable skills.

However, for those who would prefer this modification to be carried out professionally, Dragon Design at NP22 4 LA could undertake this work in just 3 days maximum, cost on application with a few photographs of your boat please.

This is a great modification to the MK1 Lugger

All the engines Dragon Design fit to its rebuilt Luggers are Mariner 4 HP 4 Stroke engines with a long shaft and Powerdrive propeller. Consequently for whatever reason there is always an issue with the tip of the leg fin clearing the transom and allowing the leg to rise sufficiently for the lock to click into place. The second picture shows the tip of the fin hitting the underside of the transom.

To overcome this problem Dragon Design make a neat pad out of Iroko and with 4 brass screws this is screwed to the engine mounting bracket, so throwing the engine head further away from the engine bracket. Consequently this enables the lower leg fin to clear the underside of the transom.

This picture shows the clearance achieved. In this position and with an adjustment on the locking bar we have the lower led standing off the end of the keel band.

For security Dragon Design always fit engine locks to its rebuilt Lugger. These will not fit as standard but will have to be cut in order to slide the tube into the well.

Another great job achieved by Dragon Design

The capping rails that JLJ make are from Iroko. We do all the machining and processing ourselves, from receiving the sawn boards from the importer, thicknessing, machining the scarf splice to achieve the length, and the underside groove to take the Gunwale lip on the boat. This scarf splice join is set up in a jig and resin bonded with West Resin, absolutely bomb proof!

To achieve the curvature of the Gunwale profile we steam treat the critical area of most deflection. This is then formed in our jig and left to dry out, this curvature when removed from the jig is set and will arrive with you to more or less this shape and ready to fit.

This shows the rail ready for its final fitting on Katerina. We have pre-oiled it using Rustin’s Danish Oil, a product which has proved its credentials over the past eight years in the South Ionian Sea. Both rails on Katerina were pre-fitted and the bow stem head cut in. With all the fixing holes pre-drilled and countersunk it’s a straight forward task for 2 persons. In order to avoid the sometimes bad original holes in the boat Gunwale lip, we have used a different spacing.

Before the capping rail is oiled I pre-cut the housing for the stem head fitting. In the case of Katerina it the original, repaired and buffed up. It still has its ID number stamp clearly visible, 1120.

The second picture shows the capping rail in late November before the making and fitting of the new pair. Not a good state!

All ready now for applying the deck and rail fittings

After a summer in the sun of the South Ionian Sea, with a little regular care these capping rails still look good. The second picture shows Angie, our March 2021 rebuild, being enjoyed by George and his wife this past summer. This is what he said about our beautiful boats.

These blogs on ‘How to Do It’ are indeed built up after a number of years of actually having hands-on experience of manufacturing, with continuity through to the present day. If you need help or guidance you can speak with the guys that make all of this fine joinery

There would have been a restriction plate fitted originally, but not one now. There was evidence of a place it could have been top face fitted and not recessed. The task now was to create a slot below the top face so we could glass in this brass plate to act as a stop for the arm of the centre plate.

Having now got the slot cleaned and down to a flat surface ready to glass in. The next picture shows the plate glassed in and just slightly proud of the underside of the casing top board. To get this flush we had to produce an indent in the underside of the top board so the restricting plate sat into it.

So all done and the final picture shows the surface mounted plate fitted on the casing top board to correspond with the restriction plate.

These are not an essential piece of joinery for the Luggers. However, after 40 odd years of use, sometimes abuse and neglect, the centre plate case which is quite an active part of the craft can suffer serious damage due to it being the fulcrum pivot position of the centre plate.

Please note how the Mk 1 Lugger just had a bare structure of glass fibre ribs to support the trunk, however in this instance getting at the pivot pin for the centre plate was easy.
The second picture of Mk 1 Angie image was of her with her casing completed and looking very much the part.

The kit comes complete with all holes drilled for the screws provide. You will note the fairlead and jamming cleat on the port side will require longer machine screws. We can supply these once we have information on your present fittings size. It’s all removable for cleaning and maintenance, but doesn’t it look so much more a professional piece of work?

For the MK2, in our case Katerina, it became a MUST to use this facia panel kit from JLJ. You will have followed the glass fibre repair works and replacement of the centre plate pivot pin with the strengthening side plates and new pin. To gain access to this area it was necessary to cut away a small area of the outer skin of the casing. This is purely an outer casing and not the centre plate trunk. But aesthetically it certainly needed a full side and forward facia panels to be fitted. All new fairleads and jamming cleat were then fitted through the facias with machine screws, nuts and washers. Again, all fully removable if needed.