Phase 2 is a bit of a con really, it gives me a boost as it is the removal of the last of the rot. The port and starboard sheer strakes have been removed and new brazilian mahogany boards of ¾ x 6 x 13ft have been scarfed to make 25ft lengths.
I shall take a 1½" wide batten off the side to make the rubbing strakes of 1½"x ¾" x ⅜" thickness the boards to ⅝" prior to shaping to profile to the patterns.
The top of the transom was nail sick with a bit of rot where the sheer strake was fastened. This has been cut back about 3" and new wood inserted with a backing piece glued and screwed inside the transom overlapping the joint by 1½ for added strength.
Whilst the glue was curing I started on the stem. This is a laminated mahogany structure which I am carefully delaminating as it is a bit soft in places to a depth of approx. 6", particularly where the sheer strakes are fastened to the rebate. As the forestay is attached to the stem head by a plate fitting through bolted transversly through the stem head I want to make sure that it will take the load. Once the new timber is laminated back in I can either glue and through bolt right through the stem or get a new fitting made that can be attached about 17" down the outside of the stem
It is the first week in March and incredibly cold. Outside temperature 4°C. The wind is N.E. and the chill factor takes the temperature down below freezing and makes working outside very unpleasant.
The top of the transom has been faired in and is now completed. The stem head has also been faired in and completed.
April was taken up with removing all of the furniture from the inside of the boat and removing all of the old paint from the inside of the hull and taking it back to bare wood from the stem to the aft end of the saloon. A very tedious and soul destroying task and even with knee pads it was not very comfortable kneeling on the frames. It has had four coats of primer,two undercoats and two topcoats of Toplac gloss. It takes but few words to describe the activity but the best part of a month to complete it.
The port and starboard sheer strakes have been cot to profile using the old strakes as patterns. They were offered up and cramped in position and the bottom edge checked for fit against the plank below as these two faces would be glued using West Epoxy. They were faired to fit and glued and screwed to the frames with Silicone Bronze screws and the holes plugged. The top edge was left proud to be faired in after fixing.
Before the deck is covered I shall fit new furniture and incorporate more locker space which the boat was lacking in the saloon and install a single berth,new toilet, vanity unit and a wet hanging locker in the fore peak. It will all be fashioned from 9 and 12mm Mahogany marine ply with all exposed edges lipped as I do not like to see ply end grain. The berth backrest will be 12mm ply with stowage space behind with access pockets behind the cushions. The bases of the berths will be two sheets of 9mm ply glued together with the lower sheet to provide lips for the locker lids to lay flush on as well as providing the necessary stiffness for the berth.
August 2001- Progress since the middle of June seems painfully slow. Apart from enjoyable weeks sailing I have had many distractions calling upon my time.
The saloon berths have been made and installed as have the backrests and shelves. In the forepeak the two drawer vanity unit and the wet hanging locker have also been manufactured with the exception of the locker door which can be made and fitted later. This module was very time consuming to make. Because of the compound curvature of the hull a pattern had to be made of every vertical and horizontal panel prior to cutting. These were made from strips of scrap ply nailed together at the corners. When the panel was cut they were unfastened and used again for the next panel.
All of the furniture has been designed so that it can be taken apart and removed from the boat enabling access to be gained to the frames and planking behind it for painting or repair etc. Having established the position of the furniture the final painting of the inside of the forepeak and saloon could be completed.Where the hull sides could be seen through an aperture it was painted white using Toplac and anything below the water line has been painted red with Danboline bilge paint.
Right up in the forepeak I am building in a chain locker which the boat was lacking. It will not go right up to the underside of the deck as I only intend to carry 30 metres of chain. The top of this locker will be be fitted with an access hatch and the edges fitted with fiddle rails to provide additional stowage space.
October 2001- Three weeks into October and I wonder what I have achieved with my time. The plywood deck has been fitted to the fore and side decks as far as the end of the cockpit. This was roughly marked out and cut to shape. Then screwed down in position and faired to the shear planks and the underside was then marked out to the beams and edges. A gauge was fashioned to mark out the deck 12mm in from the outside of the hull to allow for a covering board integral with the rubbing stake to be fitted. For this I shall use Mahogany as it holds varnish better then Teak.
This will be some 10mm higher than the ply as I intend to lay a Teak deck on the top of the Ply. The covering board protects the end grain of the ply from the ingress of water as it will be glued to it. The whole lot of deck was then removed and faired down to the witness marks and the underside masked off and given four coats of primer and a coat of undercoat and allowed to dry. It was then finally glued and screwed down using West Epoxy Resin. This saves a lot of laying on ones back painting the underside in situ.
The cockpit has been completely gutted down to planks and frames and all of the paint from 1955 removed. It has been brought back to bare wood, sanded and four coats of primer applied. New cockpit floor bearers have been made and await priming and fitting. When the inside of the boat has its final coats of paint on the next job will be to drop the engine in and line it up whilst I have plenty of room in which to manoeuvre. A self draining locker for the gas bottles has got to be made and I want to try and fit this outside of the cockpit under the stern deck. It will be a tight squeeze but I can afford to move the deck beam about 38mm if it makes life easier. When this is installed the stern Ply deck can be fitted.
The good news has been that all the frames have now been exposed back to bare wood and there is no sign of rot or fracture in any of them and that greatly pleases me. Likewise the planking, apart from the sheer planks which I renewed, are as good as the day the boat was built.
