If you’ve built your hull upside down, now is the time to consider the turnover. When the plating is completed and all of the final outer welds have been run, you can decide on the best method for turning your hull and setting it in the upright position. No matter if yours is a large or small hull, give considerable thought to safety factors when considering how you will turn it over. Plan how to set up the hull and level it, ready for completion. The last thing you need at this stage is an injury to yourself, a friend, or hired assistant, so take care.
Several methods have been used successfully to turn over large boat hulls. The method you choose will be in some part decided by the size of your boat, its location, and the accessibility of your building site. Boats up to about 25 feet (7.62 m) long can be rolled over without the use of mechanical assistance. For small hulls, you’ll need no more than a few willing friends and a few bottles of cheer.
If you’re building in a large, substantial commercial building then you may have overhead track fitted with chain blocks. It may be possible to set up strong points in the building that are capable of taking the load. You can arrange two overhead chain blocks for two endless slings capable of lifting the hull. Now the structure can be rolled over in its own width. The two slings are placed about 20 percent in from each end of the hull. You will need restraining lines to control the hull during the turning-over operation.
It may be preferable to remove the hull from the building and turn it over outside where there’s more room. Or you may already have built hoops around your hull so that it can simply be rolled over. The hoops will later be used to tilt the hull to various angles, thus allowing easier access to the job at all times. Or you may wish to build a “turnover cradle,” shaped something like a crate, around your hull and turn it over one side at a time.
Our choice would be to hire a crane fitted with a spreader bar and two endless slings. The slings are placed in about 20 percent from the bow and stern and the crane lifts the hull sufficiently to allow it to be rotated in the slings. Make sure you determine the balance fore and aft before the serious lifting begins. You will need restraining lines attached to a winch or other suitably strong device, to control the hull as it reaches the up and over stages.
When you have turned the hull, you’ll need to set it up level in all directions. Use the waterline locations that you have previously marked on the outside of the hull as a guide. The simple type of water level with a clear tube will make it easy for you to set up the hull true and level in all planes.
Moving the Hull
You can move large, bulky, and heavy items such as boat hulls using the simplest of tools. You can use a few 2-inch (50 mm) diameter pipe rollers about 9 inches (230 mm) long to roll your hull. Simply lay down planks for the rollers to run on, and keep taking the rollers from the back and reinstalling them at the front as the hull moves along the desired path. If you use either 4 by 2 inch (100 by 50 mm) timber, or 2-inch (50 mm) pipe levers, say 5 feet (1.50 m) long, you’ll multiply your strength many times when it comes to lifting or shifting heavy weights. When you’re lifting the hull or frame to insert the rollers, you’ll find the levers are much quicker to use than a lifting jack.
