The Song of Joy Restoration Project

[Guest]

Hello folks ,Well I am now starting the s.o.j. project ,it had been put on hold due to work commitments and lack of funds,so I have had to try and come up with a solution to fund the project ,so here goes......

Song of Joy is a 36ft cruiser built in 1936 by george and sons boat boatyard in wroxham,she has a wooden hull and top construction of I believe pitch pine,I bought her in 2008 for seven hundred pounds,

She is in a very bad state of repair , most of the hull is rotten in fact most of the boat is in this condition and requires a complete restoration/rebuild, most have said it is a crazy idea as she is in such a state (they all own steel or plastic and do not have the love for wooden boats) .

Now a little about me,my name is lee, I have been restoring classic wooden boats for several years working and being trained by tom of fine wooden boats in huntingdon,he is regarded as the no 1 in classic boat restoration and has restored many classic rivas ,one which was finished last year was shown and won the top award (gold) at the henley on thames regatta ,we also restored a broads cruiser called nymph(planked one side),and a branhams(cant remember her name)which tom bought to live on and was in a similar condition to s.o.j ,all my work is to the very highest standards I will be posting photos shortly.

So the idea I have come up with to fund the project is this....

I am writing to companies that advertise in marine magazines and also local companies situated around the great river ouse were I am based to ask about the possibility of sponsorship,I have decided that once restored any sponsors will be given (depending on the amount donated)several footage of each plank upon which I will place advertising such as their web address etc on the hull for the first two years until she is repainted and anti fouled(the hull will be painted the rest will be highly polished varnished wood),then the hull will be stripped and varnished. I am also going to have a brass plaque placed in the cockpit with the names of any company who donates over 500 pounds which will remain there.

I have had some good responses one being the offer to apply to johnston knox insurers as they run a restoration fund.

If any one has any other ideas I am open to suggestions(except dont do it lol)

So in the next few days I will upload all the photos I have and will keep you updated of my progress

namste lee

[Springsong]

I presume this is the Song of Joy from George Smith that you mean.

This was my boat also from George Smith from a Blakes brochure of the same year.

[Antares_9]

Another restoration thread.... goody, we like restoration threads..... a lot, thanks for posting it.

[Guest]

hi , yes that is indeed my boat springsong , i just hope I can do her justice she has gotten me through several floods even being as rotten as she is,mind you a few hairy moments,but I did promise her that if she got me through it I would rebuild her and so.........

back very soon

[C.Ricko]

Ok everyone, thats enough chit chat,

Where are the photos?

[jillR]

nice one lee

jill

[Guest]

sorry but can someone help me understand how i upload pics off my pc ,thx,

p.s. hello jill

[diesel falcon]

hi, try this,get back if your struggling

Attaching an image:

When entering your post look just below the Save Preview and Submit buttons and you will find an Upload Attachment tab.

Click on this and pop up appears that will let you enter the file position and name or browse to select your photo file.

Once you have done that then Click on the Add the file button.

You will probably get a message like "The image must be at least 0 pixels wide, 0 pixels high and at most 1600 pixels wide and 1600 pixels high. The submitted image is .." i.e. its too big.

Open the file with "Paint" or some similar program and resize the image to be 1600x1600 or less!

Save it with a new name (.e.g small.jpg) and then try attaching that version.

You now see a little box where you can type a comment on the photo (e.g. Its location).

There is another button there for Place Inline, position your cursor where you want the photo to go and click this

[squze1]

Hi Lee

Song of Joy is my old boat i owned it for 11 years and lived on it for 10. i bought it in 1997 from Jones Marina in St Ives.

She is a 1932 herbert woods 1st class broads crusier 1 of 2 made.

she is mohagany on oak.

fibreglass added to hull in 1973 after she sank on her mooring at Jones.

I have photos and video footage of her while i owned her and what can only be described as a school type project of her history.

let me know if you would like to know more.

Mark

[jillR]

hi mark

nice to see you here

jill

[jillR]

hi lee

some where i did a post with pictures to show how but i cant find it now so ....

open the box to post then

Look down the page a bit below the test box,

There's two buttons which say Options and Upload attachment

Click the button Upload Attachment

This then opens another box, Click Browse

then find the pic you would like to upload, add a file comment if you would like to.

Then click Add the File

It then uploads,

Then Click Submit

jill

[Guest]

well here goes they are far from pretty but you can see just what I'm taking on and how bad a state she is in ,I have no pictures from the inside as it is far too dark to get any decent shots at the moment as I had to cover her to stop water getting in and as it is only a temp covering so we went over the windows ,

i'll get some done soon.

[jillR]

lots of work there

good luck lee

[Guest]

here is a few pics just to show the standard of my work hopefully giving you an idea of how good s.o.j. will look once finished all but nymph were in the same state as s.o.j. and took one year to complete

[jillR]

thats stunning lee

[Guest]

Thanks jill ,like you say I have lots of work to do but I'm looking forward to it but I also have just as much work getting the sponsorship so lets see how it goes,i'll keep you all updated.

[Antares_9]

Looking forward to reading more Lee.

[Guest]

I would just like to make it clear that this project has nothing to do with fine wooden boats in any way , the project is to be completed by myself only and I do not intend to imply that either tom or fine wooden boats is or has had any involvement whatsoever.

[C.Ricko]

I have never seen a stem cut out like that, why did you not try to keep the hood ends? did you keep the old one whole because you needed the offsets seems like a big job as all the planks need replacing now, or was that the plan?

Also, with the cabin roof how will you waterproof the plywood, would it not have been easier to coat the original roof with a West scrim?

Good luck with the restoration, keep us updated BUT we need to know EVERYTHING!!!

[hollydown]

Lee

I look after Tom Neale's website As you say, he is one of the finest restorers of wooden craft, having served relevant apprenticeships in the UK and Italy. After speaking with him, I think you should make clear to potential sponsors that you were not trained by Tom, as you suggest, but you were self-employed and did some basic work under contract - such as sanding and cleaning. As far as he knows, you do not have the carpentry skills nor did you demonstrate a capability to undertake the restoration that is needed for S.o.J.

One of the pictures you show is of Tom's own boat

and the other belongs to a FWB client. To use Tom's work as evidence of your own skills could be thought misleading, more so when you are asking people to give you money.

Brian

[MBA Marine]

not sure how to repond!

[Antares_9]

not sure how to repond!

I do, If you read the thread you would see that Lee at no time claims anything else, your post only serves to detract from his efforts and dampen his enthusiasm, furthermore all the photographs were taken by Lee and are therefore his to do with as he pleases.

[DelticMemories]

Best of luck with the project Lee. I look forward to hearing how things progress.

[hollydown]

Antares_9, there is no concern about Lee's ownership of the photographs but of the way they have been used. Although it may not have been intentional, two statements in the thread could lead the reader to think that Lee was instrumental in restoring those boats and that he had been trained by Tom Neale. That is not Tom's recollection.

June 22nd Lee wrote

'I have been restoring classic wooden boats for several years working and being trained by tom of fine wooden boats in huntingdon.....,we also restored a broads cruiser called nymph(planked one side),and a branhams(cant remember her name)which tom bought to live on and was in a similar condition to s.o.j ,all my work is to the very highest standards I will be posting photos shortly

June 30th Lee wrote

'here is a few pics just to show the standard of my work'

I have no reason to doubt Lee's enthusiasm and hope eventually SoJ is restored fully, it is always good to see a smart classic boat on the river.

[650xs]

ohhhhh................................