Restoration.

[Springsong]

I must say I was really pleased with the result, having never used it before.

[Springsong]

I am sorry about the quality of some of the photos but I was playing around with the camera settings for this yer moon shot and forgot to put it back to boat mode, so there you have it.

I must say it is great to have some decent weather and to have the cover off. The front port side deck beams are now all screwed and glued with a coat of paint on them. No rot in any of them just the odd one cracked so we have not had to replace a single one which is somewhat surprising.

I am now giving the other cabin side some serious attention. It is most peculiar the other side the paint just fell off with the hot air gun but this side it will not shift at all, as you can see I have burnt it trying and that was through the paint; the result is that I am having to sand the paint off, which let me tell you is bl***y hard work even with the new sander.

As you can see it is not in as good condition as the port side with two pieces let in in the middle section, I shall have to have a closer look at those screws that are showing. I have a feeling that they may have been just filled as it was just painted, if this is the case I may be able to dig out the filler and put in some decent mahogany plugs to hide the screws and fill the joints with something to try and lessen the impact of the joins. You may be able to see the wavy lines just above and below the bottom set of screws, I rather think this maybe a water stain that has made its way down the grain probably from the original damage resulting in the pieces being let in. I shall try the acid on these and what I think is probably the burns on the wood.

[Antares_9]

You're looking at some nice weather to be getting on with it now Barry, as you say, it's surprising what a bit of sunshine does for motivation on an outdoor job.

[Springsong]

You are so right, I have just been to the gym and the sun is shining and all is well, with me at least.

At last I am able to get some varnish onto things. The weather seems to be a little more constant temperature wise, into double figures, not before time either.

I have after three undercoats on each length managed to get a first top coat of cream gloss enamel onto each board. As you can see from the picture the biggest problem I have is where to put them all to dry wet boards every where, some will have to be attended to as clumsy me I trod on the ends and then tried to catch them so finger and foot prints, at least it is only the first coat and will have to have a major rub down anyway.

The starboard interior cabin side is coming along nicely there is not much to do now a little more paint to strip and then an application of the magical acid and we will be ready for a couple of 50/50 coats of varnish which hopefully will protect it from any greasy hand marks over the coming months.

While I have been doing that Alan has removed the four forward window boxes. Our thinking being that they will be starting on the forward cabin roof at Martham in early May so to save time (money) we have removed them and will take them and the rear ones as well to the barn.

While they there I shall clean all the glass and chrome and sand all the wood frames and paint them with the same cream gloss enamel.

There are some rubbers which seal the windows when they are up and down, these with fifty odd years of sun and rain are not at their best so I am going to replace them. Vintage Auto Parts at Happisburg keep this kind of thing by the mile and being bus windows the rubbers are automotive parts so hopefully job done.

Every thing is going to be stripped out of the forward cabin and anything attached to the cabin side in the heads. The bulkheads appear to be alright so everything else can stay (please).

[Guest]

Barry i can wait till shes in the water & get a chance to see her i think she will be an outstanding testament to you

Jonny

[Springsong]

Thanks jonny I can't wait myself, hopefully next year.

Alan and I visited the boat jumble on Norwich Show ground the other Sunday. He very kindly pushed me around in a wheelchair which had two benefits, one it allowed me to see everything and two gave us somewhere to hang all that we bought.

Towards the end of our visit we found this fender which we thought was a worthwhile period piece to hang over the transom. We also bought the length of rope (hemp maybe) the price was right and if the salesman was to be believed the provenance was interesting as it came from the winding up sale of Toughs of Teddington, a well known Thames boatyard.

I have a friend who has volunteered to do all our splicing of ropes. We will use some kind of quick release shackles so that it can be stowed away when not in use. We have discussed some method of putting an eye in half way up so that it can have two heights to be able to set it at, whether this can be done with a rope of this thickness I am not sure; we shall see.

It perhaps looks a little on the small side but I think once she is the water it will look better, the other reason is that we made the locker as large as possible to take just such a fender or its modern counterpart.

We are starting to get ready for our move to Martham. The window boxes have all (eight) been removed to the barn for cleaning and painting, this will also reduce weight for the move and removes any chance of accident damage heaven forbid !!

The cockpit floor is back down and all the ireplaceable bits from the front cabin and heads have been taken off and removed to the barn. A rather nice octagonal tilting mirror and some light fittings.

[Springsong]

I have already said that all eight window boxes are now at the barn. I have now started to give them some attention. The bottom piece that shows from the outside was covered in all kinds of gunk, I guess origonally varnished but with some bitumen and loads of sikaflex sealant added over the years. I am hoping that a thin line of clear sealant on the inside edge and plenty of varnish will be enough because I really don't want to have to take them all apart and rebed the frames.

Here is one I have stripped already. I hve now to use the flat scraper on it to try to bring back the mahogany colour to it before sealing and varnishing.

[Guest]

Barry keep going mate

I liked the looks of the swirly lines on the windows until i noticed they were on the cloth under the windows

Jonny

[Springsong]

Thats right Jonny an old shower curtain that came with the boat. Still at it today trying to clean the chrome on the window, what a job bl***y Sadolin everywhere I am going to have to resort to paint stripper and wire wool to get it all off.

[Mowjo]

Get a move on Barry, I've booked my place for the re-launch, lol

We also bought the length of rope (hemp maybe) the price was right and if the salesman was to be believed the provenance was interesting as it came from the winding up sale of Toughs of Teddington, a well known Thames boatyard.

Barry! I worked for them back in 1966 it was my first job after leaving School, I started at Teddington and ended up as a trainee Barge builder at their Brentford Depot, I've got some good memories of the fun and games we used to get up to while working there, I was with them for 5 years and never met the Boss once,,,,

Mowjo,,,

[Brian]

Hi Barry, its great to see your ship moving on, many thanks for keeping the thread updated

[Springsong]

Thanks guys.

To reply firstly Frank. Toughs that must have been a great experience, they certainly built some great boats over the years. It was Douglas ? Tough who assembled all the boats for operation dynamo (little ships) I think I am right in saying. You weren't involved in that were you Frank. Oh by the by Jock has your books thank you very much for the loan, sorry for the delay I am a slow reader.

Brian it is my pleasure to update you all, and yes we are slowly making progress thanks.

[Springsong]

So here we are . The long awaited move to Martham from Wayford Bridg

I was a little worried that the weather might break and we would have to put

it off. Ian from MBDCo (Martham Boat Development Co.) wanted to transport her

sans any covers and also it being unfair to other road users to move her in the rain.

The first photo is of her being loaded at Wayford. This trailer is the most sophisticated

piece of kit. It hastwo hydraulic rams at the back with large pieces of ply attached,

these raise and lower the aft end the whole of the centre of the trailer can be

tipped and extended by probably 10'. The keel is supported in two places by

steel beams which are adjustable by the aforesaid tipping of the trailer, by tipping

I mean that the front can be raised leaving the back in place. I hope this makes sense.

Ready to go.

On the road.

Martham turn off.

Finally in her new home, undercover at last.

She will stay where she is until late June when she will go into the shed next door

to have the new front cabin roof fitted. Meanwhile Alan will fit the new decks

so that when the new roof and cabin sides are fitted the whole of the top ie both roofs

and all the decking can be clothed and epoxied in one go. This means that apart from

both cockpits sha will be waterproof on top.

[Palmtree]

Hi,

That must have been quite a stressful day.

But the next move must be back on the water

Ian

[Guest]

WOW Barry a massive improvement from when she was lifted out the water....

Jonny

[Springsong]

Hi Ian

Yes I was on tenderhooks for a good day before and during the move, especially when one of the trailer wheel bearings started to smoke abit as it shed liqid grease I'll tell you what though I slept well that night.

Hi Jonny

Yes she is beginning to take shape, hopefully around June next year should see us back in the water, even if not completely finished.

[jillR]

lovely barry, well done

[Guest DAYTONA-BILL]

Hi Barry, she`s really showing all your hard work now. We`ll be on the broads in late june, so if it`s ok, we`d love to come and see her in the flesh?. Regards ............... Neil.

[Springsong]

Hi Neil I will be on the river myself late June but I will PM you my mobile number so that you can give me a call or text me and we can see what we can arrange, and thanks for the nice comments.

Jill thank you

[Springsong]

Under the fore deck we have found a little rot, a very little, on each end of the beam that supports not only the deck but also the front of the cabin. It curves / bends through two planes but is just help in place with screws, no steaming needed. We think that this beam is not really strong enough considering the job it has to do so we are putting a really strong piece of old cross cut oak in front of the old beam to help distribute the loads. You can see it clamped in place, it has now been removed to be cut into shape.

The rot at the ends of the original beam will be treated in two ways. The portside end will be treated with cuprinol and when dry will have a liberal coating of epoxy; the other side will have to be cut out and a new piece will be scarphed in, again Alan has found a lovely piece of old oakjust right for the job.

The white “blobs†you can see are where some bright spark has liberally sprayed expanding foam into each and every opening or gap, one assumes for insulation, but in fact all it does is attract damp.

This shows the new piece that will sit alongside the existing beam, it will be taken off for some shaping a home with a dand saw. It is a great piece of very dense old oak so will add a lot of strength to the fore deck.

The next photo shows the beam shelf on the starboard side a foot eighteen inches back from the bow. I guess a hirer or even an owner has at some time hit something very solid extremly hard. It seems to straighten out with clamps so we are going to glue and screw a piece inside the beam shelf and clamp the whole until it sets. Job done hopefully.

[Springsong]

The “new†oak beam is now glued and screwed in place. We are very happy that this will give really good extra strength to the foredeck and also to the front of the cabin and cabinsides which all sit on the deck which in turn sits on the beam(s).

The original design of the cabin roof was slightly flawed, in that any rain that fell on the slightly raked cabin front then ran onto the front deck exactly on the join between deck and the cabin front. Also the windows would be prone to leakage. The windows are at present made of perspex and rebated on the inside, we intend to rebate them on the outside and use toughened glass. We intend to remedy this by putting a small (but perfectly formed) peak onto the front of the coachroof, as the decks are to be epoxied it is not as important but better safe ect.

The cracked beam shelf has been clamped into place with a substantiall piece of oak glued and screwed inside it to give it back its strength.

The bulkhead in the saloon is coming along beautifully as you can see, just the bottom half to be done now. The port side just has to have the edges de sadolined and cleaned up then I can start to give it some 50/50 coats. The starboard side has a little further to go.

The rear cockpit doors with their first of six topcoats applied. This is with the new varnish I am using from Witham Oil and Paint, it really goes on beautifully, but of course only time and uv will tell.

[Springsong]

I knew there were two water tanks to be removed from the starboard side midships but when Alan said he had found yet another one I was to say the least confused. This fourth tank was forward of the two starboard tanks actually in the small cabin forward of the cockpit which eventually will become a wet room. We after some discussion decided that it was probably an header tank to create pressure to the other tanks and therefore at the taps. We think as we will be fitting a pressurized water system we shall be able to dispense with this small tank.

These are the other two starboard tanks that we shall have to replace with S/S. Again we have been discussing this and we cannot see any reason why we cannot replace these two tanks with just one S/S one. The old galvanised tanks have a one inch flange around each end which means we have an extra four inches to play with when fitting the new tank into the existing space, plus the space between the two tanks. We will have to build a new support at the forward end of the new tank but it is no big deal.

This is the space the two tanks came out of, this will all have to be checked over and painted. You can see to the right hand side the small support for the R.H. End of the tank so we shall have to build something similar for the L.H. Side with possibly something in the middle as well. There is going to be two fillers one each side of the boat with a balance pipe between the tanks.

This one of the rear cockpit / galley doors with six coats of varnish applied, I will probably do a couple more but once they are hung.

[jillR]

looking good

[Springsong]

Thanks Jill.

This is just some of the rubbish Alan has stripped off either side of the cockpit floor hatches.

Here is the new port side water tank in its new home, it will have to come out again to paint the inside of the hull. The space forward (to the right) is where the new fuel tank will go, we have yet to have it made.

This is the old fuel tank.

The Window rubbers on all the wind down windows are in a very sorry state. Fifty plus years of sunshine frost and rain have seen them off with a vengeance. I remember from my vintage car days Paul Beck in North Walsham doing all types of parts, so I took some samples of the rubbers that I needed. The chap I spoke to there was really very helpful and we got together a complete set of silicone based “rubbersâ€. The first picture shows two rolls of different thickness's the thinner of the two folds over the glass and grips it in a channel of the s/s cross bar. The thicker one goes in another channel in the same cross bar but leaves maybe an in showing which as the window goes up and down clears the standing water from the glass. That maybe doesn't make much sense but when I have one finished I will take a photo to show what I mean.

The next photo shows the other rubber. This I thought we may have had more trouble sourcing but it is a perfectly standard cross section. This fits in a metal channel that screws to the top wooden rail of the window frame so that when the window is wound fully up the upper metal cross bar presses against the rubber with flap of rubber on the outside taking any falling rain away from the join.

Very difficult to describe but I shall try to do it with photos later.

[Springsong]

Good news Martham Boat have made a start on the top plank. When we arrived on Saturday morning they had already made a start, in fact that is an understatement he had nearly finished the port side before we rocked up. One of the bonuses of being retired.

The photo shows the top plank almost fitted just the copper nails to be turned and the odd screw to be put in, and as you can see at the aft end of the new plank the top edge has to be planed down to the right level. Electric planers are terrific for this kind of job, (in the right hands)

This photo shows the port side top plank fitted and planed down to the right height just the starboard side to be fitted and the first layer of the fore deck can be screwed down.

Andrew starting to remove the starboard top plank.

We have found that the damage done to the bow at some point is rather more extensive than we at first thought. You maybe able to see from this photo with the way the light falls that the second plank down it standing out considerably. This is because a short piece of wood was put in for around a foot, back from the stem, just to where the light stops. This has allowed the plank beyond to spring out so this plank will have to be replaced pretty well to mid ships. The reason it has to go so far is that as you may recall she at some time or other took another major hit this time amidships; so a short plank had been put in where the two forward engine room vents are, so the second plank will have to go to the join aft of the engine vents. This will be longer than we had hoped but in the end will make her much stronger and look smoother. I don't appear to have a photo to explain this so I shall take one tomorrow.

The short second plank at the bow.

Starboard top plank removed.

I think these photos may be in the wrong order my appologies.