Restoration.

[Guest]

Hi Barry

your getting on with her nicely keep up the good work even tho she might be in bad shape shes a looker

Jonny

[Springsong]

This gives a better view of the broken ribs, taken from the inside out as it were. We think it is probably fifty years of clobbering quay headings and the like rather than one good bang, the other side is in a similar condition, perhaps not quite as bad, but still requiring attention. Ivor is not going to replace them right up to the deck, that will require major surgery, so he is going to double them up i.e. run another one up the side of the original from the hog.

This is the remains of the side board, the rest Will has taken away to either repair or renew depending on how it goes. You can see the hull is gradually getting its coat of bilge paint from Jock, a fairly thankless task but it gives such a great result when applied.

It is difficult to get a decent picture of these doors fitted without the back a bit back a bit oops syndrome setting in so this is the best we can do, I say we because I’m not sure who took it, I have given up trying to climb that pesky ladder.

[Guest]

Hi Barry

the cockpit door look great will you be varnishing them of using linseed oil??

Jonny

[jillR]

hi barry

GL had a similar problem with broken ribs in the bows but not so bad, thank heaven.

at the time, i was replacing some of the decks in that area so it was easy to get in with new ribs.

before the decks were replaced, i fed in a couple of spare ribs either side and left them there in case

any more needed replacing in the future.

jill

[Springsong]

Hi Jonny every thing will be varnished hopefully to a high gloss

Hi Jill We are only going to repair / double up the ribs, if it were a sailing cruiser or a sea boat whole different ball game but being a river cruiser (motor) none of the stresses and strains as with the other two; fingers crossed.

The extra length in this planks shows better the twist and curve necessary to get up the last five foot or so to the bow. The steamer and then the clamping into position whilst drying and cooling is what allows these curves and twists to be made. If left unclamped for any length of time these shapes will eventually “fall†out the process thus needing to be done again.

This shows the plank in position, I find it is difficult to see where all that twist and shape has disappeared to when you see it in its final setting. It has been cut from a six inch wide plank thinning down to three inch at the bow, all clever stuff.

Moving to the port side now the first of a few planks to go in. Again this has been steamed, it really is amazing to watch and see how much easier it is to work with the wood straight out of the steamer, the down sides being it is uncomfortably hot to handle, but has to be done because once the heat has gone out of the wood you are back to square one.

I don’t know whether you can see in this photo there has been a very short length of a different wood let in, this is very bad practice and on top of that it was not fastened properly and with steel screws; a recipe for disaster. The garboard plank as you may know runs beside the keel the length of the boat, it is probably the most structural of all the planks, we are going to have to replace some lengths on both sides at the bows.

Jock has started to strip the decks of their old covering of trackmark in places this has lifted the top layer of the ply decking. We don’t anticipate this being a problem that an application of good old epoxy wont sort out. Obviously where there is evidence of any rot or damp penetration we will let in new ply, then cover the whole with scrim cloth and epoxy with possibly pigment and grit in the final coating. It really is a shame that Trackmark is no longer available, the more modern Trackmaster just doesn’t do it for me.

[Guest]

Hi Springsong (and other restoration thread contributors)

It is a delight to follow your restoration threads. I particularly appreciate the pictorial content which shows the progress and problems encountered.

Wood is a particularly pleasing material to use although it has to be said that it requires dedicated maintenance to ensure trouble free boating.

I wonder ..... when finished will you simply enjoy putting around or will you hanker after the steam box and planes?

Keep up the good work!!

[Springsong]

Hi smellyloo

Thanks for the comments its very encouraging when people such as yourself post. As for myself I shall be very happy to potter around all day every day just maintaining the paint and varnish, as for the others I would imagine they will have had quite enough, for a while at least. Jock can use his party platform to his hearts content.

[Springsong]

The sideboard refurbished. There are still some watermarks to be seen in the top, I personally don’t mind this as it is an old boat and shouldn’t necessarily be all new wood, apart from the cost of new oak.

We shall have to wait and see what Jock thinks.

We thought at first that the water was probably coming in through the window somehow. This being the case a closer examination was required so we took the whole frame off the cabin side. I then by appointment took the whole thing up to Vintage Supplies at Hapisburgh who specialise in allsorts for vintage and classic cars

On inspection he thought that the perished rubber was probably glued on at a later date and was not part of the original. He thought that the important bits looked in reasonable condition. I am immensely pleased about this since I was not relishing having to take the windows apart. I have brought away some samples of some self adhesive black rubber foam which he recommended; meanwhile I shall take the whole to the barn and remove the bubbled rubber , remove all the old paint prime and recoat in cream enamel to match the roof and clean all the chrome, finally grease the winding mechanism.

[Springsong]

Will has made a new frame for what we call the cocktail cabinet, it in fact is probably not tall enough to take a full sized booze bottle, as usual his work in solid oak is great as you can see. The round thingy as most of you will recognize is a roll of oak veneer with which to cover the sliding doors of the above mentioned cabinet. I look forward to seeing the end result of this.

The window that we removed last week I took up to the barn to work on it. The frame appears to be mahogany and has suffered from water damage and at some time had been very poorly filled. This water damage is clearly the same ingress that has caused all the necessary repairs to the sideboard below. I had hoped to just sand it and refill it, but after some poking around found the damage to be quite significant as you can see from the pictures. The rest of the team haven’t seen it yet, so I shall be seeing Will later today and I shall take the short rail with me for him to look at.

[Loops]

Blimey Barry,

You lot have your work cut out

Lou xx

[Springsong]

Lou it seems everything I/we touch turns to rot, but it has to end somewhere, I am hoping once we get out of the saloon into the cockpit it wont be as bad fingers crossed That's instead of a HUH.

[Springsong]

I popped in to see Will the other day and he was well on with creating the new cupboard doors, whilst he was very quick to point out that they are work in progress to my untrained eye they look pretty damned good.

Much is going on as usual, plenty of it behind the scenes as it were. Will is doing a good amount of his work at home and bringing it down for its refitting to the boat. I meanwhile am spending more time in the barn preparing the various pieces for varnishing. One such piece was the window frame; I have had to take that to Will so that he can make a new bottom and side rail, the old ones being too rotten to repair. The bottom glass sat in a V of rubber which we are going to replace with Sikoflex, far more waterproof.

Ivor meanwhile whilst dodging the rain storms has been getting planks into the port side bow, just three to go including the garboard plank.

[Springsong]

The cupboards fitted back into the sideboard, the upper on with its new frame and doors, the lower one with its new doors and repaired frame, both with newly veneered doors looking I believe really rather stunning.

To orientate yourselves the gap to the right of the sideboard is the cockpit floor and where the steps up to the cockpit go, they are in pieces up at the barn receiving attention from me.

The window frame with two new rails fitted just some bits and pieces to be put back on such as the metal channel that hold the top rubber in place, I have got to pay a visit to Vintage supplies to see if I can get a replacement for this top rubber as the original is possibly reusable but I would prefer to have new. We don’t want any water ingress and a repeat of what has happened here before.

The oak faced ply the window is lay on is to be fitted to the galley side of the rear doors, this ply is also going to cover the bulkheads in the galley where not hidden by units, machines, or stainless steel in the cooking area.

[Springsong]

Ivor has as usual been working away on the bottom of the boat. He has been preparing the garboard plank that needs replacing up to the bow. This is not as easy to fit as the other planks, the join where the new wood meets old has to be scarphed, this is like a step in the two pieces of wood, this is because there has to be a clear run down the bilge to allow any water to flow down the bilge to the lowest point and the bilge pumps.

You can see the step I was referring to in this picture. The three remaining planks left to go into the port side bow section, quite difficult work as the planks get quite narrow at the bow thus reducing the space available to work in, clamps becoming hard to place for any purchase which is required to hold the steamed wood in place to ensure the shape is set into the wood.

[Palmtree]

Hi,

It is a pleasure to see the craftsmanship going into this project

Ian

[Guest]

Hi Barry

stunning work mate

I am loving the cupboards were they like that design when you first got the boat?

Jonny

[Springsong]

There are several reasons for my not posting lately . Firstly and most importantly is that we have lost both Ivor and Will, very careless I know but they have gone on to pastures new, so as a result of this things have been a little slow of late. Ivor has agreed to finish the planking in the hull before he leaves but we are waiting for wood at the moment. Everthing is completely amicable Ivor has bought a little RCC tacht which requires an amount of time and restoration, and Will needs more time to dedicate to his other projects.

Another reason is I have been on holiday to North Wales, and thirdly I am now operating on Linux which I am quite happy with but I am having to learn how to use it and the software. One of the difficult things has been to find an easy resizer, so this is my first experiment with it , so here goes.

This is how she looks looking aft through the galley with the newly clad galley/aft cockpit doors closed, with on the right of the picture some of the ash tongue and groove that is going to cover the upright surfaces of the saloon.

[Guest]

Hi Barry

its realy nice & bright in there

Jonny

[Springsong]

Well that seems to have worked ok.

So here is anothe of the saloon, I think all the ash will make it a nice light enviroment to live in. The bows are coming along in the second picture, the starboard garboard plank is now infact fitted so there is not much further to go to get that area finished, just a few timbers to be doubled up an or repaired.

I have been working in the barn and things are progressing well, I have now started on the wind screens to get some varnish onto them, I will take some photos when next I@M up there. One of the oak drawer front getting a good finish at last.

[jillR]

that looks brill barry

sorry to hear your in the same boat as me regarding boat builders, sam has been to busy to do anything on GL.

jill

[Guest]

Ash interior ... spot on, that would certainly be my first choice if I had the luxury of choice.

[C.Ricko]

Looking superb Barry, the interior is a beautiful environment to be in.

[Brian]

THe Saloon Picture, im looking at it and just can smell the wood. Thats Stunning Barry

[Springsong]

Thanks for the great comments chaps. I to think it looks so comfortable to live in and am really looking forward to doing just that.

[Springsong]

It has been awhile since I had anything to report but I haven't been completely idle, I have been down to the barn regularly to do the varnishing which is coming along great.

I do have one bit of terrific news, at least for me. Whilst I have been away Alan our new team member has built, mainly from scrap wood, a staircase beside the boat, I can and in fact did yesterday get onto and into the boat for the first time in nearly two years. I can tell you that it was such a marvellous feeling to see first hand and for myself all the work that has been going on. I shall now have to split my time between the barn and the boat. I hope I have added a photo of said stairs, but with this new system I am not sure.