socrates

Thanks for posting this. Yes, I can see that they are a little bit shorter than our sides. The problem is that we can't get our Boat to Martham. Looks like we will have to go for the joint option.

Thanks Doug, I rather suspect we are being optimistic trying not to joint the cabin sides. But it was worth a try.

I forgot to mention we purchased a log of African Mahogany then had it cut into 23 foot x 2 foot 6 inch boards. If anyone knows someone who can plane wood this big - please let me know. I would rather not cut the boards up for the sides.

If there is space, we would like to come in Broadland Grebe. However, as we will probably only have just gone back in the water we would feel happier if someone would travel across with us. This is because it takes a bit of time for our planks to "take up". Any volunteers?

Exactly. We may not be boat builders but we do consider ourselves logical, so we started at the bottom. We are now replacing the cabin sides which caused so much consternation.

In August, we had two very good friends join us for a couple of weeks cruising on Broadland Grebe. We planned the trip to include a weekend visit to the Wooden Boat meeting in Beccles, something we were really looking forward to. We booked a mooring in advance and arrived with eager anticipation of spending a weekend with fellow wooden boaters. After mooring stern on we set about preparing for a relaxing afternoon sitting in the chairs we had placed behind our boat, everyone else seemed to have done this and we were looking forward to getting to know some people. While gathering a supply of drink and nibbles from our store cupboard, we heard a conversation taking place on the jetty behind our boat. Several seasoned wooden boat experts were discussing our boat and casting their knowledgeable eyes over our pride and joy. The experts were not happy, in fact they were being very pass remarkable and critical of that we had turned up with a boat that did not meet the requirements or standards of the Wooden Boat meeting. We sat and listened with a mixture of anger and shame, not daring to show our faces to the assembled group of riparian experts, who were clearly unhappy that we had not only turned up with scruffy cabin sides but we had the audacity to be next to them. In no uncertain terms we were unwelcome, and our boat was a disgrace. My wife was livid and it took three of us to prevent her saying something unfitting for a woman of the cloth to the assembled gathering of experts. Avoiding a conflict and feeling unwelcome, we decided to leave Beccles faster than a French warship from a sea battle. Without making eye contact with the wooden boaters, we slipped our moorings and proceeded elsewhere. If those people at Beccles are reading this, and we know who you are, you did not ruin our holiday you simply showed us what sort of people you actually are. Lesson learned. We freely acknowledge we are not experts on wooden boats and we are near the bottom of a steep learning curve when it comes to the technical aspects of maintaining a wooden boat. We are not rich, so can't afford to put the boat into the hands of a boatyard for years in order for her to be restored within an inch of her former glory. We are not stupid, we know our limitations and we actually know enough about boats to be aware of the enormity of the task involved. The experts knew nothing about us but they were happy to condemn. I make no apology for posting this, and hope that, when you read it you think about what you are saying about other people and their boats. If you had taken time to talk to us, you may have increased your knowledge of a different model of boat, met someone different to yourself, and enjoyed our company.

With a lot of rotten planking replaced, we set about restoring the paintwork of Grebe. This meant rubbing her down almost to bare wood, a task which exposed an interesting variety of sins and omissions on the part of previous owners and even more suspect planking.The previous owners had mixed their own paint which was possibly Dulux house paint, but more probably some own brand discount paint from QD. It was a sort of white with a hint of green, I am sure it had a name like "Apple Orchard" or "Meadow Mist", you are probably familiar with the poetry of the paint aisle in a DIY shop.Sanding discs became clogged with this stuff as we stripped the planking down, a job which took over two weeks of pretty solid work. We coated exposed bare wood with primer and gave the boat three generous undercoats, rubbing down between every coat. For the technical people we used a brush and roller. This was followed by three coats of topcoat using a roller and brush. We were then able to replace the rubbers and toe rails with new one's we had had made up. The rubbers and toe rails were varnished with 5 coats of varnish. Previously, the toe rails and rubbers had been painted using garden furniture paint, the colour being "sewage works brown". A new transom was also made from two pieces of African mahogany. This was varnished with 8 coats of varnish. Following a week of graft, I went away for a night on the beer with a friend in Norwich. It was Easter Sunday when I returned to the shed with the mother of all hangovers. To my horror, the owner of the boat next to us had decided to sand the blue hull of his fibreglass sports boat. I will just leave this to your imagination. It took yet another week to strip and re-varnish the transom, a week we could barely spare as I was restricted to school holidays. We had intended to be in the water for the May holiday but had to spend the time re-varnishing the transom. Grebe was launched on time thanks to the help of a friend who was able to re-varnish the transom for us. The boat slipped into the water at the start of the May holiday week and she looked wonderful. There was still a great deal to do, but the newly painted hull and varnished transom meant that we could see light at the end of the tunnel at last.

In George Orwell's book, 1984, there is a language called "Nu-Speak", it seems that in recent years a form of Nu-Speak has been adopted by a great many organisations. This form of language is common and has been imported from (mainly American) management gurus, and now permeates the English language like a plague. This particular document is written in an ambiguous language which is open to a variety of interpretations. It leaves me asking the question: what exactly is this document saying? For example: who are the "stakeholders"? I would certainly suggest that toll payers can be regarded as stakeholders, yet there is no mention of those of us who pay our tolls. A look at the membership of the group who wrote the report gives no indication that there was any input from anyone who has a boat on the Broads. Any report about the Broads should, in my humble opinion, include input from boat owners and local businesses. This document lacks both clarity and credibility, and shows that the BA are failing to engage with stakeholders at any level. In order for a report to have credibility the views of toll payers must be considered. I would suggest that the BA commission an independent report by a committee made up representatives of everyone who has a stake in the Broads. Once again resources have been spent on a meaningless activity.

Now, we all know as car or house owners what it means when the trades person looks at the job and sucks his/her teeth. That look in the eye that shows the proverbial pound sign. I recall that look from my Navy days when I asked for time off and the boss would look heavenward and then there was that sucking noise followed by the word, 'well'. You just know what the answer, or at least the spirit of the answer will be. So it was one Friday afternoon. We were heading back to Somerleyton from Beccles at the time, chugging (and we did chug) along making that incredible blowing noise, when the incident occurred. we reduced speed to pass under the bridge and make the sharp turn into the marina when - nothing. The engine was running but nothing happened when Madam Captain tried to reduce the speed of the boat. Of course I blamed her and took over the controls to no avail. The exhaust went blacker than an undertaker's hat, the sound was like the Flying Scotsman on acid, not to worry because we "ferry glided" into our moorings stern on and made fast in a cloud of multi-coloured smoke. Having a rudimentary knowledge of engines sort of helps in these situations. Believe me when I say my knowledge is rudimentary, a quick look and a few minutes with a spanner revealed that a cylinder liner had cracked. I suspected there was a problem with this engine from day one but we had put off doing anything until the following year. We sort of knew it was terminal but thought we could manage a couple of weeks. As it happens our local engineer was at hand to confirm the diagnosis was correct. A new engine was ordered and paid for, we retired to the Duke's Head for large quantities of beer and some re-calculations of our boat fund. A few weeks later we were back on the water enjoying the October holidays with a new Nanni engine. Now I know some of you will object to putting the new engine in and tell us we should have repaired the old one. OK, fair enough, but there comes a point when practicality and long-term gain wins over sentimentality and one can only preserve so much of the past. Being realistic here, we want to use our boat and it would cost a fortune to keep the old Lister in spares which are rare as rocking horse manure. Short-term gain over long term pleasure meant that the new engine won. We could have got spares and repaired the Lister but for how long? What we did not want was a large engine bill later. We are more than happy with the new engine and what is more it gives us more room to store beer. One thing about owning a wooden boat is that you need plenty of beer to numb the pain.

Metal bit comes later. That was deep joy!

Wait til I tell you about the engine!

A couple of people have asked me to report on the progress of the restoration of Broadland Grebe. I have been reluctant to do so for several reasons: not least of these is that I admit to being no expert on the subject, and I am all too aware that most people on this forum know a lot more about wooden boats than I do. Furthermore, I am all too aware that there are a loot of keyboard captains who just love to tell me that I am mad and naive! to undertake such a task. To the experts I say that I welcome your advice, but I love many, trust few and always steer my own course. To the keyboard captains, I say don't waste your time on me. The caveat part over with I will begin at the beginning. My wife and I spent about ten years hiring boats every summer, we hired from a number of companies and the boats were pleasant with most of the mod cons one would expect to find. Being a teacher, we hired every summer and this eventually ended up every October and soon it was every school holiday. There was no option other than to think about purchasing our own boat. We spent a couple of years looking at different types of boats, mostly ex-hire craft and a few others. Throughout this time we constantly admired wooden boats, there was just something about them that seemed to resonate with us. It was our admiration of wooden boats that took us to the wooden boat show in Beccles some four years ago. It was there that we saw the boat that made us go "wow", although looking rather sad, the streamlined shape struck both us. We knew something of the history of the boat and it was love at first sight. A look around her revealed a degree of neglect, and like the sad dog in the dog shelter, this boat needed a new owner. Another look round her revealed even more issues, a few gins and some calculations, followed by a trip out on her showed us that she was in a sorry state. We returned home to think and plan. Finally we offered a price that was agreeable. The previous owner arranged a survey: one look at this "survey" told me it was not worth the paper it was written on. No names , but the so called "surveyor" was no more of a surveyor than I was! Moral of story - check the credentials of the surveyor. Luckily I knew where most (but not all) of the problems where. So in October of 2012, we took ownership of Broadland Grebe, eight ton of boat, an estimated ton of rot, and a crippled Lister engine which belched multi-coloured smoke and sounded like the Flying Scotsman on acid. We spent the October holidays cleaning (as much as we could) and doing a short cruise from Somerleyton to Beccles. Whilst cruising, we began to find the leaks spurting from various places and the mushrooms (yes, actual mushrooms) around the back bunk. Further investigations revealed the "wood" in this area was more like sponge, previous owners had done "repairs" that would make Dodgy Dave the Essex car dealer proud. Filler and more filler held the oat together. I began to think that the previous owners had shares in a filler factory. So out of the water we came. Now the real work began. We had discussions with our friendly boat builder and drew up a five year plan. We worked out that we could do restoration in the winter and still have the boat in the water by May to cruise in the Summer holidays. Whilst taking her out of the water, the transom was removed in one sweep of the power washer! Much to our amusement and the horror of the person operating the washer. Well, we were intending to replace the transom! We tackled the worst parts first, it was difficult to decide which because there was so much rot. Wheelbarrow after wheel barrow load of rotten wood was removed from the aft part of the boat. The port side top four planks needed replacing urgently, not to mention the transom steps. (see pictures). We also stripped back the paint and repainted her As planned we were back in the water in April of 2013. We were also on budget! Did I mention the cooker blew up! So we had to get a new one. Oh, the fridge as well. Not to mention the bits of wood we would find breaking off. Now dear reader I will have bored you with our little journey so far. So I will leave this here and wait to see if anyone wants more. More rot....there is lots more.

Yes, she was in a very sad state and was beached on the mud for a few years.The bottom was wrecked. Anyone taking on the restoration of a Rippplecraft needs to be aware that they are not easy to work on. In particular, the bottom planking is difficult to remove and replace, we found that our the hard way. Even I would not be brave (or foolish) enough to take that particular old boat on. i will post more fully about our restoration journey when I get back from working on her in a couple of weeks.

The smaller and lighter engine means more room for beer stowage.

Happy to keep anyone who is interested updated on our progress with Broadland Grebe. We tend to keep off forums and avoid events after a bad experience at the wooden boat meeting at Beccles a couple of years back. However, we have met some wonderful people who are not pass remarkable about our messy cabin sides, don't suck their teeth and claim we are naive to have gone into this project. We knew what we were taking on and spent a considerable time planning how we were going to climb this mountain. My advice to anyone thinking about taking on such a project is to think, think, think and let the head rule the heart. However, we are now in a position to come out of the woodwork. At the moment we are replacing the decks and cabin sides, having "completed" the major work on the hull and fitted a new mahogany transom over the past three years. Things were bad when we could put our fingers through the old marine ply transom, it was so bad we were lucky it did not fall off whilst we were cruising!

We had to replace the old keel cooled Lister with a Nanni 50, the liners were split and there was a hole in the piston. It was at the point when repair was simply not economical.

We are the owners of Broadland Grebe and are currently restoring her at Somerleyton. We are on the rivers every summer in between winter restorations.