Gallery
The first major task was re-planking the topsides.
The boards were secured with hundreds of bronze screws, mostly rotten along with dozens and dozens of copper rivets, which were not.
Removing the planks revealed the extent of the damage to the ribs and seam battens. We replaced all the seam battens and any ribs that were beyond salvation.
Once the starboard side was re-planked, on with the port side.
Over the years, the deck has been replaced several times. It was originally double diagonal mahogany; by the time I got to her, she was covered in a myriad of small pieces of plywood - all rotten.
We were able to salvage two of the foredeck frames, with some inlaying of new timber and had to replace eleven of the side deck frames.
I am going to replace the deck with teak.
Starting on the inside was an exciting moment - until we discovered that the internal timbers were as rotten as those on the outside.
She only had one stringer - and that was broken - so there was no question that serious replacement works were needed.
One of the reasons the port-side engine was blown was because the stern-tubes has been re-tightened so many times, they were no longer aligned with the prop shaft. This resulted in too much strain on the engine - and massive, terminal wear to the shafts.
Solution - to let in a section of hardwood to give a new, durable base for the bronxe stern-tubes.
There has been a lot of preparation involved in getting the cockpit bilges sorted and getting the sole frame installed.
The stringers were built 18 months ago and have been taking up space in the workshop. Time to bite the bullet and get the cockpit done.
