Restoration.

[Springsong]

I went to see Tim Collins the timber merchant on the Rhond in Wroxham with a piece of the ash cladding that Will started to fit in the saloon. He has said that making the required profile would not be a problem.

So yesterday my job was to measure all the remain places where this cladding is to be fixed.

A giant profiler is that a twenty stone

The first measurement has come out at 120 metres of this 50 something mm wide facing. I shall go with the old adage measure three times cut once mainly because it will definitely change and the more we order the cheaper it becomes per metre, so a little extra for the odd boo boo probably wouldn't be a bad thing.

Whilst measuring I wondered whether to go right down to the floor behind the steps up to the cockpit. I took the steps away to look at what I thought was a tatty old piece of plywood. It was rather loose so we decided to remove it altogether at least for now.

Mmm abit out of focus but you get the idea.

Having examined the panel a little closer it turns out to be two pieces of solid 1" mahogany joined down their length by I guess a tenon joint, I actually don't know what it is called. The result is it has gone to the barn where I am going to attempt to restore it to some kind of glory. We decided that it was far too nice a piece of wood to cover so it will be varnished on the saloon side and the old foam insulation taken off on the engine side and I will look into this 3M Thinsulate sound proofing that I believe Industrial and Marine Coatings at Worstead stock.

The black at the bottom is I think oil but mixed maybe with a little damp. The bottom two inches or so sit in a kind of trough so it is not too important cosmetically except for the left hand side where it creeps up a little. We shall see I guess.

Whilst I have been measuring Alan despite constant interruptions from me has done a fine job with a aid of his “profiler†on the lockers, you can see where he has used it to go around the ribs on the floor, which incidentally I think look so good I am tempted to leave varnished, just paint the edges and underside with bilge paint, the only problem it may make it rather dark when the front goes on.

When we arrived on Monday there were small sheets of ice falling of the covers as we were working inside but we now have a small fan heater on board and one of those big low wattage square daylight type lights on board , kettle, gold blend, cake so it's almost like being at home, very snug. So if any of you are around Wayford and we are around make yourself known.

The final photo shows where the “profiler†comes into its own going around stringers and deck beam. There was a skin fitting in the way, I cannot think why we should need one there, so we removed it hence the hole, I shall have to see if I can find a plug cutter that size, maybe Ivor has one.

As I think I said before we designed the locker to take a large transom fender, this has worked out very well, in fact we maybe able to get a spare round one or two in there as well.

As usual I have the photos the wrong way around sorry about that.

[jimbo]

The profiler seems to work a treat Barry Very tidy job.

[Springsong]

Clive

I guess you are probably right, it is very handy in awkward corners like these lockers,I think I may use it to make a cardboard pattern for the curve of the roof when I do the ash on the forward bulk head in the saloon.

Hi Col

Yes as you can see it has worked very well, a really handy piece of kit. If you are really considering making one here is an idea alan thought of; you know those sort of sliding angle tools, if you bought half a dozen or so very cheap ones all you then need is the piece of wood to mount them on, you will have the point the slide and the wing nuts already.

Hi Jimbo

Yes very impressive

All

[Mowjo]

Hi Barry looks like it's coming on a treat, that joint is either tongue and grove or a splined joint (I think thats how it's spelt) the splined joint has a grove in each section, then a inset (spline) made of ply, It's probably the strongest joint if it has to take any weight, I'm sure you know what tongue and grove joints are, I've found a couple of books you might find handy, ones an old one on restoring wooden boats, some handy bits in it, the other is about making jigs for woodworking, I'll give them to Jock to pass on or I'll drop them off at Wayford, I'm backwards and forwards to my boat at the moment, so if you let me know when your there I'll try and pop in,,

Regards Frank,,

[Springsong]

Hi Frank

We are nearly always there on a Monday after half nine ( but not next week) alternatively tell me when you are going to your boat and I will pop down, unless you would like to come and have a look see.

Regards

[Mowjo]

Barry! at the moment it's a case of look out the window, if it's not raining I go to the boat, so if it's not raining Monday week I'll pop in and see you at Wayford.

Regards Frank,,

[Springsong]

Sounds good Frank

[Springsong]

So here we are another week. Alan is having a bit of a holiday so as it is raining and a little icy I have not been to the boat but have been to the barn.

Soon after we first started I got an unused floor board from my son in law which we cut to length and used on the galley floor . I quite fancy having a varnished floor in the galley, so I have got another board cut roughly to length and have given it an initial coat of 50/50. I shall have to check but I don't think it is quite as attractive as the first one so I may yet clean up the first one. I may eventually add a little oak stain to the varnish to make it look like something it's not. The photo is of the boards just sanded awaiting varnish.

A first coat of varnish on the forward steps, they are beginning to look something now.

This is a not very good photo of the panel that stands behind the forward steps with its first coat of varnish. I hope all this varnish works as the temperature in the barn just barley made 3 deg.

[Guest DAYTONA-BILL]

Hi Barry, it`s certainly coming along. Hopefully the weather will soon break and you`ll be able to get back on with the outside, although as usual, the detail work always seems to take forever. I know in my line of work, you can spend several days doing preperation of panels, and then withn a couple of hours bonding you have a major constuction looking back at you. If Swmbo and i DO get to go on the broads this year, hopefully we`ll be able to drop in and have a look. Regards...............Neil.

[Guest]

Hi Barry

as always the work is stunning but the color from the wood is brilliant.

Jonny

[Springsong]

We have now had the quote for the ash to finish the cladding in the saloon this from Tim Collins at Wroxham. We had a good mardle and we discussed in some detail our requirements and between us, fortunately Alan was with me to do the technical bits, we designed a rather pretty piece to finish the edges over the sideboard and on the opposite side; It is based on what I believe is termed hockey stick.

All this was a week last Friday, on the same outing we went to have a look at what was Badger but is now Broad Star and what a beautiful job has been done on her, full marks to Roger and his team at ANH in Horning.

On the Monday we were on SP and I thought I would see what needs to be done to her to get this ash fitted. Looking at the forward bulkhead there was a sheet of ply at waist height running the full width of the bulkhead. This will have to be removed which I started to do, I suppose I was not really thinking about much else other than the ash but when I pulled the ply away it then struck me that the bulkhead was actually three 6' by 2' by 1†thick pieces of solid mahogany floor to ceiling. On showing Alan we thought this may just too finer hunk of 60 year old hard wood to cover up. This decision still remains to be made,

I think Jock will have to make this one.

The cleaning up to get it good enough to varnish will take some doing, nonetheless the paint will have to come off for the ash to be glued in place.

The other great thing about these solid pieces of wood means that the cockpit bulkhead is solid mahogany as well so much easier to work with than plywood.

I have been thinking for sometime about a high level crew seat on the back bulkhead and wondering how I was going to get decent fixings, with 1†thick wood to fasten to there should not be any problems. The picture is not very good but shows the cockpit bulkhead just waiting to be stripped and brought back to life.

The lockers on the starboard side are now completed as I said before the forward one is big enough for a 28†sausage shaped fender to protect the transom when moored stern on, the after one is as you can see just perfect for the odd warp and a couple of rhond anchors. All that is required now is for me to paint them next week.

The other week we attempted rather half heartedly to remove the steering wheel as it is desperate need of some serious TLC. This proved impossible so another friend at the MOB, a motor bike restorer, when asked if he had a suitable puller came up trumps with a three legged one. The wheel is now off and the chrome rings on both sides which hold it together are removed so I can start to restore it at the barn.

When we centred the wheel to remove it there appeared to be some resistance so we traced the wire back and found that where it was fastened to the quadrant with a shackle the shackle screw head was fouling the underside of the centre locker lid. Alan removed the cross piece and refitted it a little more toward the centre which should solve the problem. You can see in the photo to the right of the quadrant the screw head and on the lid also circled where it was fouling. Note to self I must remember to paint the quadrant with red oxide.

[Guest DAYTONA-BILL]

Hi Barry, It`s good to see she `s progressing well. We`ll be on the Broads from 5th June for a week so i`l have a peek at your workmanship if we`re in the Wayford bridge vicinity, if that`s ok of course?. Keep up all your hard work, Regards.........................Neil.

[Springsong]

Hi Neil

My daughter is getting married on the 5th June in Hampshire so I am not to sure of my movements after that date, as with I guess many married men I am completely in the hands of SWMBO but I will PM you my mobile number so you can give me a call and we will see if we can sort something out.

Down the barn today with the wheel in pieces. I was going to make a start on it but I really have too many half started bits and pieces on the go so I shall leave it for another day. As you can see I did actually make a start yesterday, I just get too easily distracted.

The chrome on the two retaining rings is in pretty good condition so shouldn't need more than a good polish

A first coat of 50/50 on the cockpit to saloon hatch, I'll tell you what this old mahogany is just so rewarding to work with, you can get a really good surface and are repaid with such beautiful colours.

The panel behind the steps has had another coat and is beginning to look reasonable.

Finally the galley floorboards. I am not really happy with these. I like the idea but the actual boards are not in the best of condition, I think maybe I will swap them with the ones already in the boat.

I was in B&Q the other day and came across some oak T&G flooring and I wondered if it might work in our galley, it is not particularly cheap but would look rather splendid, and we would only need 1 pack. It said in the blurb that it is not suitable for splash areas such as a kitchen I really cannot see why it is after all wood. I suppose they are just covering themselves in this litigious society that we live in.

[Guest DAYTONA-BILL]

Hi Barry, where abouts in Hampshire is the wedding?. Swmbo and i are only a couple of miles or so from the Hampshire border, so we`ll wave when we go past you on our way to the Broads . Back to the boat, the photo`s really do show just exactly how much work you`re all putting in, and i`m sure the finished produt will be a real credit to you. Regards....................Neil.

[Guest]

Hi Barry

those window hatches & ships wheel look stunning

keep updating :

Jonny

[Springsong]

We have started work on the galley now. You may remember we had bought two B&Q oak effect 500mm units. On the port side we are having a 500mm domestic double cavity cooker, with a proper grill for the bacon, this will be against the aft bulkhead and the unit shown in the photo will be against the forward bulkhead. We have got I think 1050mm to play with so once the oak faced ply goes on the bulkheads from around waist height upwards and I think maybe a piece of S/S on the after bulkhead around the stove we wont have much space left. As you can see from the photo we have yet to put the legs on the unit to bring it up to a decent working height, they are rather flimsy plastic affairs so we may build a decent plinth to sit them on this should also allow the unit to move further back and still clear the turn of the bilge. I should add that the second piece of wood across the top is to give it some rigidity whilst being manhandled around. I just hope they still sell this cooker when we finally are ready to fit it. I forgot to mention that the cooker has a glass lid which also acts as a fail-safe to cut the gas off when it is down, and provides extra work surface, and when in the upright position prevents any splashes going backwards.

We hopefully will be having solid oak or at least real oak block worktops but 900mm deep so it will run right under the side decks I think it should look pretty good.

I have continued painting out the lockers, I cannot believe how time consuming this is get to all the edges of the ply to ensure that everything has a coat of paint.

I have also been to the barn for yet more varnishing, I have now started on the inside of the cockpit side, I have after looking at the finish on Broad Star (Badger) decided that I will use Epiphanes on all the exterior woodwork so I shall have to buy some and try it when I turn the piece over. The forward stairs are nearing completion maybe a couple more coats and the edges done and some of that self adhesive non slip tape strategically place to hide the worst of the filler.

[Springsong]

Monday at Wayford Alan continued to work out how the galley was going to fit together, I had always wanted the cooker on the port side the main reason being that the gas supply was on the port side therefore necessitating the shortest possible run of gas pipe literally just through the bulkhead.

Hopefully you can see the pencil markings on the bulkhead. The rectangular shape is the outline of the cooker taken from the dimensions on line, the curved line is the arc of travel for the glass lid of the cooker. This lid when down will act as extra worktop and has a built in safety feature of an automatic gas cut off. This lid when raised is 1450 mm high so determines to an extent where the cooker can stand, too close to the side of the boat and it will foul the cabin side when upright, it needs to be through the perpendicular, but , too far away from the side and it will be too near the after door opening. This is all made more difficult I believe without physically have the cooker there to play with, but we do not really want a cooker hanging around for a year or so while we finish the rest of the project. I am now going to check the BSS for splash requirements on bulkheads next to cookers and for through bulkhead fittings for gas pipe.

[jillR]

hi barry

looking brill

jill

[Springsong]

Thanks Jill

There is only so much one can say and show about pieces of varnished wood, so I shall make this the last photos of these pieces until they are finished.

The inside of the port cockpit side with its third coat of varnish.

The oblong piece is one of the cockpit to cabin doors with its first coat of 50/50 varnish/white spirit and the two square pieces are the side board doors from the saloon with a similar 50/50 treatment. The sides of the steps are nearing completion as are the treads so I shan't show those again until I reassemble them. The odd shaped pieces are bits of the wheel with their first coat of 50/50.

Someone has suggested a dip and strip for the wheel which sounded a good idea certainly worth a look at. I rang a place in Norwich who wanted in the region of twenty five pounds and were not too sure about the effect on the chrome boss. The end result is that I have decided to do it all myself with paint stripper as my labour is “free†and I cannot be bothered to go into Norwich.

The unit is in its final position now, just fixed with one screw to hold it in place. Alan for the time being has only used the front legs to see how it sits we can always use the back ones if the need arises. One can see the extra narrow painted board he has put in to support the front legs . The cooker will by necessity stand a little forward of this unit but I don't have and cannot see a problem with that.

[Springsong]

I have made an executive decision and have painted the plywood backing to the sideboard in the saloon also the piece that fits under the deck. I have painted it in the same cream enamel as the deck head. He alternative was to varnish the ply which would have been rather dark in an otherwise light area, or face it with ash or oak faced ply at a price. The photos show it with just one undercoat and so far one coat of enamel, I shall I think put two more on to give it some depth. The side board itself has had one 50/50 coat of white spirit/varnish and one full strength, and as you can see is already beginning to look something like.

In the cupboards below are thin pine shelves which I have up at the barn, they previously were varnished but as boat cupboards tend to be dark places I think I may give them the cream treatment as well A to lighten the interior and B it will at least feel to be cleaner, I am also considering painting the bottom of the drawers for the same reasons.

The galley is coming along too, Alan has now fitted the starboard unit which will house the sink with the fridge standing to the aft end. We did a fair bit of cogitating over this galley, which side to hinge the unit doors for instance, we decided that probably one was more likely to want to exit the boat in a hurry than enter it a hurry therefore we have hinged them to close if exiting because doors will infringe into the opening from the saloon, this is because we wanted to make the most of the 900 mm deep solid wood work top that we hope to use, this will run right under the deck on both sides providing that little bit extra storage space. Bringing the unit forward on the starboard side also means that if we decide to fit a silencer to the exhaust system it will fit very comfortably behind this unit, the black tube you can see is the exhaust.

[Sunny]

Looking good,Great post

Steve

[Guest DAYTONA-BILL]

Hi Barry, you really are making some progress, and it`s looking very good indeed. Regarding the painted surface behind the sideboard, i think you`ve deffinately made the RIGHT decision, as it`s very easy to have TOO much varnished wood on a boat. Getting the right balance between light warm colours and varnish will pay better dividends in the end. I think boat interiors look better with light colours painted, and some varnished cappings and panels to offset the paint finish is the perfest interior, and i think you done the right thing. I hope i will be able to see her if we are in your area in early June. Keep up with the stunning workmanship, and kindest regards ...................... Neil.

[Guest]

Hi Barry

Looking stunning

Jonny

[Springsong]

Having elected not to dip and strip the wheel I had to take it home from the barn to use paint stripper there being no water at the barn.. I used Mangers as opposed to Nitromors purely on a financial basis and I have no complaints at all with the end result. Swmbo had gone to the City so I was able to do it outdoors on the patio using an old washing up bowl and scotch bright thingy, she would not have approved and would have made me nervous thus spilling more and generally making more mess. A good result as I was finished and the wheel back at the barn before she returned.

I think i have said before that I thought I might paint the shelves in the sideboard cupboards. I have painted them with two coats of undercoat primer and two coats of pale cream enamel to match the ceiling and sideboard back panel, the idea being it will lighten the interior of what might otherwise be a dark cupboard that receives very little natural light.

I have really be struggling to get a decent finish on these companionway steps, but at last I think I have cracked it. I have been using a larger brush of a different make to my usual varnish brush, so on a whim I went back to the smaller original brush and everything seems to be better, so hopefully one more coat on the outside of the supports and I can screw them all together and put them in the finished area, (wherever that is).

You can also see that the connecting pieces for the wheel have had another coat as well.

I am sorry if the pictures are in the wrong order but I am having a not very good day so far today.

[jillR]

looking brilliant barry

jill