Timeline

Timeline

D-Day   (D is for delivery)

Wednesday 5th July 2017

On the eve of D-Day I called around the various parties involved - Watchet Marina, Interboat - the delivery driver and Tonhout, the crane driver at 'home' end, just to check all was ready. Everything was set; there was a weather window; nothing could go wrong. I took up my advanced position near Bristol, ready for the short drive to Watchet with nephew and photographer, Alex.

Alex and I left bright and early, looking to arrive at the harbour for coffee and bacon butties at 0800. At 0745 I got a call from a rather distressed lorry driver seeming to say that there was no-one available at Watchet to drive the crane. But I had confirmed the 'lift' the night before - surely some mistake. Several increasingly annoyed phone-calls later, I had to dismiss the delivery driver and escort vehicle as it became apparent that the lift was, indeed, not going to happen that day.

Whilst waiting for the Marina Manager to return, Alex and I spent a lovely sunny morning in charming Watchet completing seven of the eight 'Things To Do In Watchet' as recommended by the Town Council. (For the curious, the eighth was 'Go on a fishing trip aboard 'Scooby Doo'. For the first seven, I suggest you spend a very short amount of time in Watchet...) Sadly, none of the 'things to do' was to strangle the Marina Manager. Shame.

One fraught conversation and several more phone calls later, D-Day was postponed for 24 hours. So, back to my billet in Bristol for another (very enjoyable) evening with my kind hosts with everything set for the following morning.

Thursday 6th July 2017

Having been coerced into a second day in sunny Somerset with the promise of another bacon butty, Alex and I arrived back in Watchet hopefully to oversee the safe loading of 437 onto the low-loader to be delivered to her new life on a farm about as far from the sea as is possible on this small island.

The contrast with the day before was startling. The marina staff were efficient, working as a well-drilled team under their leader, Ian Lambert, and with minimal fuss 437 was loaded on, strapped down and ready to go. 

With the problems of the previous day forgotten, warm handshakes (and a considerable sum of money) were exchanged. At 10:00 prompt the low-loader, with 437 on board, and the escort vehicle set off for Buckinghamshire. I made sure to get ahead and arrived in Bucks before the 'unloading' crane arrived. The second part of this fraught day was about to start.

The decision was taken to send the low-loader in across the pasture to the north and the crane through the yard from the south. This way, both vehicles had the ideal approach to get into position and neither would be blocked in by the boat, once unloaded. It was a simple plan - to reverse the lorry into the yard, for the crane to lift 437 straight up, for the low-loader to then drive forwards, back the way it had come into the yard, and for the crane to lower 437 straight down onto the blocks and stands we had ready.

Well, bugger me if it didn't all go exactly to plan! With the combined expertise of the three drivers along with Matthew and I waving and shouting (and generally getting in the way) 437 was gently lowered into her new home, albeit outside the barn in which she will finally stay for the duration of the restoration.

Sunday 27th August 2017

When the boat was being unloaded (see above) we found out, rather to my surprise, that she weights 7.5 tonnes. This could be a problem. I understood her displacement to be 5 tons imperial (5.08 metric tonnes), fully laden, so I have had the trailer built to 5 tonnes. Discovering, therefore, that I need to shed 2.5 tonnes (not personally, you understand, though it might help) poses a problem: How am I going to shed in excess of 2.5 tonnes in order not to destroy my beautiful new trailer? Answer: to strip out absolutely everything that isn't nailed down and quite a lot that is. 

So that is what Andrew and I are doing today. We have already taken out six lorry batteries but today was mostly rusty tools, a seized pump, various fittings, the anchor, chain and about a hundred miles of frayed ropes and, most surprisingly, bags of sand and unopened bottles of mineral water.

It seems that when a previous owner had the genius idea of attaching a keel to the hull of 437, poor old thing, they played merry hell with her then revolutionary underwater profile. The first thing they did was to attach trim tabs to the stern. For those of you who aren't familiar, trim tabs are a bit like flaps on an airplane; they comprise a pair of hydraulically operated flaps at the rear of the boats that dig into the water, disrupting the water flow, the idea being to bring the prow down to achieve level 'flight'. This patently did not work because their next idea was to fill the bilges under the wheelhouse and fore-peak with bags of builders sand (from Penarth Building Supplies!) and bottles of mineral water. Apparently this was deemed a success because, although she never achieved more than around 10 knots, at least she was level in the water. Bonkers!
Monday 28th August 2017

Big day! Propeller removal! Somehow, the propellers of a boat have a strange, mystical aura. They connect to the very soul of a vessel and much time in my current boat is focused on not fouling the prop. So prop removal day is a special day. 

Having done my research (thank you Chapman and Hewitt's in Wadebridge) I have purchased a bearing puller, just for the job. Step one is to remove several inches of accumulated Watchet mud from the rather sorry looking screws and then remove the securing nuts. Considerable brain-power was exercised in deciding if the thread would be counter-rotating or not or if they were different on each side. Thank heavens: lefty loosey; righty tighty. (Not very nautical, that.) OK, so now the nuts are off, WD40 has been liberally squirted into every seam between prop and barnacle encrusted shaft, time to apply the bearing puller.

Now at this stage, I should have considered the difference in size between the puller (tiny) and the propellers (fairly substantial), but I didn't. I applied the puller in the appointed fashion and taking the largest spanner I had (actually, Baron, it was one of yours...sorry) I started to bring some force to bear. Hmmm. The thread is turning, the puller is gouging chunks out of the propeller but the prop is not shifting. More force required, I think. Enter: a two-foot scaff bar. I don't know much, but I do understand torque, or leverage, or whatever it is. Inserting the bar over the spanner and I was feeling empowered; I brought some of my not inconsiderable weight to bear and PING! Pausing only briefly to congratulate myself, I stooped to pick up Baron's broken spanner. Bugger. Time for a re-think.
Saturday 2nd September 2017

I am hoping to get the engines out next Friday - twin Perkins SM6s, for the aficionados. So today's task is to disconnect everything attached to the engines - cables, hoses, drive-shaft - and , of course, remove the engine mounts. Now Baron is much more the grease monkey than I am, so I left him to it while I continue to strip out bits, and what a splendid job he did.

We also need to remove the two fuel tanks, located half in and half out of the aft-peak. To do this, we have to drain the tanks down. I have managed to acquire two 40 gallons steel drums from a gin distiller friend of mine which, whilst we aren't absolutely sure how much fuel there is, should do the job. First of all, we had to drain the remaining gin out of the drums and dispose of it in an environmentally friendly fashion... with tonic.

It turns out there was around 250 litres of diesel in the tanks; that's a precious 1/4 tonne, for those of you paying attention.

Prop Removal #2

Having succeeded only in breaking a spanner with the first bearing puller, I have invested in a larger, hydraulic puller which will hopefully result in getting both propellers off today. With Pete's help we removed the securing nut on the shaft, positioned the puller, applied liberal quantities of WD 40 and started pumping the handle bring pressure to bear on the prop. Realising I needed something from the workshop, on the way back to the boat there was a satisfying crack-and-clatter as the port-side prop and puller both flew a yard or two across the yard. Lesson to self - keep the securing nut loosely in place.

Feeling much more confident, and leaving the nut in place, we went through the same process with the puller on the starboard prop with 100% success.

For a short video of the successful, starboard side, go to: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjavmZ3lsrs&t=0s&index=4&list=UUmsKzq-2XWaDz5UchMj8ujg
Friday 8th September 2017

Local company Ian Webb Engineering have proved themselves to be valuable allies during these early stages as well as being very skilled. Today they came along with their HIAB truck to lift the engines out of the cockpit. This had the potential to be a tricky job but Terry, with his many years experience, made it look easy. Baron had done an excellent job of de-coupling the prop shafts and removing all the wires and pipes, with the result that both engines were lifted comfortably and quickly onto the back of the truck, which was then reversed into the boatshed and the engines were unloaded. Perfect.

We should now be more or less at the minimum weight. 437 is ready for the BIG MOVE.

Moving Day has been set for Saturday 1st October. 



Friday 9th September 2017

In order to keep myself busy prior to the move, I am continuing to strip out anything that I can to get the weight down. Whilst I have every faith in Ed and Paul, I am concerned that 437 is considerably heavier that she should be (women of a certain age...!) So today, I started lifting out the floorboards. They are absolutely sodden. I lifted one board from the wheelhouse - approximately 14 inches square - an left it leaning up against a bulkhead for a few minutes. When I can back to it, about a pint of water had drained out of it. Man, this is a damp boat. I suspect that being largely open to the weather hasn't helped but I am awaiting nasty surprises. She also has an un-nerving number of bilge pumps fitted. I think I may have my work cut out...!



Saturday 16th September 2017

I am off to Greece for a few days later in the week so I am having the last fettle before Moving Day. Once we got all the boards up last week, we found copious quantities of oily, gloopy water sloshing about thin the bilges. So armed with a pig-tail stake (farmers will know) and a jet washer we attacked the bilges today. There are a number of holes along the length of the keel of the boat, left when the steel keel was removed, which provided very handy drainage. Many of the gaps in the frame, intended to allow water to pass between compartments, have become blocked over the years. Using dishwasher soap to break down the worst of the goop, the jet washer to get everything moving and the stake to free up the various holes, we made good progress on getting rid of the worst of the water although we are left with a thick sludge which I suspect I will be removing by hand. What it really needs, is the opportunity to dry out. 

Saturday 1st October 2017

MOVING DAY

Moving Day is finally here. Everything has been done that can be done in preparation for today. I have built scale models and 437 will fit through the side portal of the barn… but its tight. Very tight. By my calculations we have three inches clearance at the lintel and 1.5 inches clearance between the uprights. The problem is that once the transom is flat against the back wall of the barn, there is still twelve feet of boat still sticking out into the yard. 

The trolley I have had built has been fitted with small, high loading casters; this will enable us to move the boat in any direction, unlike axle steering. The plan, therefore, is to reverse more or less straight in until we hit the back wall then pull the stern sideways whilst allowing the curved shape of the prow to stay as close as possible to the right hand upright of the barn. She will fit. She must fit.

Getting the trolley into position was fiddly, but straightforward. The plan was simply to jack the bow of the boat up, adjusting the stands as we went (just in case) until we had sufficient clearance to slide the trailer in from the stern. It wasn't without its moments but went, more or less according to plan.

The first obstacle is that she is facing backwards on the hardstanding so we need to turn a 42ft long boat around on 35 ft of hardstanding. There is a building at one side, which limits our available space and mounds of rubble to the other side. Using a tractor as motive power, along with 'man' power we just managed to get her around. At one point, the prow was tight against the building and the stern was dug into the rubble. Close call, but 'challenge one' surmounted.

The route into the barn involves going over a particularly deeply rutted patch of soft ground. We have filled the ruts with scalpings and laid 3/4 ply over the top to give us a surface. Once the trailer hit this surface there was a lot of crunching sounds as the small wheels crushed the ply but she moved fairly easily. Just as I was starting to feel confident, the trailer drifted sideways onto a part of our trackway that had ply but no scalpings and with a ghastly splintering sound, the caster half disappeared through the ply wood. Bugger. I hadn't planned for this.

There was only one thing we could do. We positioned the jack under the beam of the trailer, jacked the trailer up so the caster was clear and then moved the trailer forward using the arc of the rotating (collapsing!) jack to carry the caster onto 'solid' ground, six inches away. This was a nailbiting moment; at one point, the trailer was on two wheels. Bearing in mind it was built for five tonnes distributed over four wheels, having all the weight bearing down on two wheels was a very anxious moment for us all. If the trailer has given, I would be the owner of a broken trailer and some very expensive firewood. It is testament to Ed and Paul's engineering skills that this didn't happen - the trailer held and performed impeccably through the whole move. Hats off to you, Gents.

After that bit of excitement, the final manoeuvre into the barn was relaltively trouble-free. The clearances were exactly as caluculated and there was much shaking of heads but I had confidence that she would fit, and she did. 

ST437 is now in position and restoration work can start in earnest.

The whole move went remarkably smoothly and mostly according to plan. I must pay tribute to the five Gentlemen who turned up on this Saturday morning to help with the move: Ed and Paul, who also built the trailer; Baron, my next door neighbour; Matthew who drove the tractor and Ian, an engineer of many years experience. Thank you chaps. I really couldn't have done it without you.

There is a video of the whole Moving Day on our YouTube channel. Search 'ST437 Restoration' on YouTube or go to:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSpkogJMwV0&list=UUmsKzq-2XWaDz5UchMj8ujg&index=2


October and November 2017

STRIP OUT

Having got her into the barn, most weekends over the last couple of months, we have been stripping out practically everything from 437, taking her all the way back to the hull. One of the most charming jobs was removing all the dried sludge in the bilges - nasty sticky, oily goo about two inches thick. We have also taken out all of the fixtures and fittings - I have an extraordinary selection of fairleads, cleats and other deck fittings, all swathed in countless layers of paint in a rainbow of different colours, most recently red oxide. Didn't stop the deck rotting!!

Taking the rudders out was interesting - thanks Baron. I hadn't noticed earlier but the rudders are different shapes - that must have helped her handling. We have left the rod that connects the steering mechanism to the rudders in place; they'll be one of the last things to go as they run under everything else.

As the hull paints flakes off more and more 437 is revealing more of her secrets: there is a significant repair amidships on the starboard side. There is a board that has been inlaid vertically across the diagonal planking which has then been covered with a piece of stainless steel. Predictably, it crosses the three longest planks on the entire hull. It has also become apparent that the aft-peak is going to need re-building. There are some major repairs that have been carried out at some point. Maybe this was the 'damage' referred to in the Admiralty sale catalogue..? It'll be fun, anyway. I am actually looking forward to it.

Gordon Leith, a Curator at RAF Hendon Mueum, has been very helpful in sourcing original drawings and other information. I now at least have some drawings that give me an idea of what she should look like. 

There is a little more stripping out to do - bulkheads followed by the coachwork and then it will be time to start concentrating on the hull. We will have all the paint sand-blasted off so we can make a full appraisal of the hull and establish how many boards will need replacing, whether the underside is sound - all sorts of critical information like that.

December 2017

MORE STRIPPING OUT

The laborious process of stripping out continues. It should be this difficult but nine out of every ten screws either is broken or breaks when you apply any pressure to it. I was given the hot tip of tightening the screw slightly before loosening it and this has marginally improved my success rate, but it is still problematic. It also doesn't help that this boat is incredibly well made and the original builders put her together in a particular order, not necessarily the same order (or opposite...) that I am taking her apart. All good fun!

Another interesting note is that, when they built these boats, they obviously had the mill make up lots of boards in a small number of standard thicknesses - 3/8" and 5/8" being the most prevalent - and when they need 1" timber, they laminated one of each board together, or 1 1/4", 2 x 5/8 boards, etc. Very clever but it makes dismantling tricky as the lamination appears, in some instances, like the saloon seating, to have been done in situ.

FOR SHAME

I can't believe it has been nine months since I last updated this page! We have not been idle. much progress has been had, by various different folk, and much fun had.

437 is looking a little different, now, so I will try to catch you up, month by month:
January 2018 was a landmark month. We had the hull stripped of all it's paint - about an inch of the stuff! OK maybe not an inch but definitely 3 mm. It was like doing archeology; cutting back layer after layer, each one dating from successive tart-ups. What a pity no-one thought to remove the previous coat. I suspect it is only the consecutive layers of paint that have kept her afloat all these years. We opted for a ground glass 'grit' on the basis that is is highly abrasive enabling us to use less pressure, minimising the damage to any exposed timber. In truth, it was partially successful in that the paint has all gone, but so has a mm or two of the timber. The softer timber around the leached (de-zincified) screws came away easily resulting in their being surrounded by small pits. This will have the benefit of making them easier to remove, I suppose.
Before                                                                     After
February 2018: One thing that has been apparent from the start is that the transom is in no fit state to take to the high seas and is going to have to be replaced. 437 obviously took a knock here at some point which has left her without the expected lazarette (look it up) and reinforcing timbers where there should not be any. Now that the paint is gone, the damage to her rear end is even more apparent - excessive rot around the exhaust ports and side fixings, repairs to the corner plates and, most odd, a large steel plate running across the bottom of the transom. I reckon this was added at the same time as the trim-tabs (the very first things I removed) to give them something solid to take the stress they were imparting - because the timber certainly is not strong enough! This was a surprisingly time consuming and messy (lots of nasty, sticky, black pitch everywhere) job which took several weekends to finally achieve, requiring me to also remove the aft deck. But I feel justifed: the uprights of the frame are made of two timbers - the original and the repair pieces - clumsily bolted together, there is no top rail and the uprights do not joint into the bottom rail. It's gotta go!
March 2018: Cousin Barney dropped in to do a day's work. I had left the removal of the steering system for him. It is an original fitting so the utmost care was required. It turned out to be a particularly stubborn installation and Barney was NOT going to be beaten. In spite of furnishing him with a socket set and screwdrivers, he preferred a more direct route and opted for a lump hammer and cold chisel. Bless him, it took hours, but he got it out. 
The steering assembly is a joy of 1940s engineering. Manufactured by a company called Harris it converts the rotation of the steering wheel into a lateral push/pull of the connecting rod which runs almost the entire length of the boat to the rudder assembly. 
In spite of the heavy engineering approach, we got the assembly out in one piece and, although there is some rust to the cover-plate and various hues of off-white paint, with a little TLC and a re-fabricated cover, whe will be as good as new when re-installed. 
It is a warming thought that, in the future when Barney comes into the wheelhouse, he will glance at this steering column and remember what a bugger it was to remove. Happy days!
April 2018


I had a few visitors this month - each charged with a job to do:
Eldest son, Fraser, worked on the transom, brother-in-law, Justin, removing windows and youngest son, Andrew, doing all sorts of things.
It is fabulous to be able to share the utter pleasure of doing something mostly physical, but slightly cerebral, in our otherwise 'tech' dominated world. It is also a chance to chat about nothing-in-particular, which is a rare joy for whcih we are usually too busy.
The main thrust for April was to remove the roof from the cabin and the wheelhouse. Another piece of genius, the person who replaced the cabin roof a few years ago decided to use 'robertson' screws. If you have not come across these, they are an American invention and have a square hole in the top of the screw as opposed to the more familiar, slot, or cross that we are all used to. They claim to be better but I have never got on with them. If you don't have your screwdriver exactly straight in the hole, either the screw or the screwdriver tears maiing removal nigh on impossible.
The cabin roof was fairly straight-forward; three pieces of 15mm ply laid onto the rafters. The wheelhouse roof, however, was a whole different kettle if fish and took ages - every board had been glued and screwed together so even when you thought you had all the screws out, the damend thing wouldn't come apart. With the right tools for the job - wrecking bar and lump hammer -  given the level of rot, she finally came apart.
October 2018

Screw That!
This months project is to remove the first three planks from above the waterline. All of the estimated 40,000 screws on the boat are rotten - the copper has been leached out by the salt water so they all need to be replaced. Although surveyor Tony Tucker has marked up a dozen or so boards that need replacing, my feeling is that if I have to remove all the screws, it seems ridiculous to then put the old planks back on. So, even though it is going to cost a small fortune - circa £8K - I am going to replace all the side planks and the outer boards below the waterline.
Starting on the starboard side, Baron and I have removed the beaching leg socket and the beautiful hoisting brackets. Looking at the task ahead, it is time to call for reinforcements... 
My sister Jo and her husband Justin, who you have seen earlier on glass removal duty, came up for the weekend with strict instructions to bring their working clothes. While Justin and I got on with making sure the 437 is absolutely level and stable, prior to plank removal, and removing the stern uprights, Jo armed herself with a chisel, a screwdriver and a pair of nippers and systematically worked down the side of the boat, removing screws for about six hours solid with barely a break and no prosecco - a first, I think.

November 2018

Things are now starting to move on apace. I finally have the wherewithal to buy some timber so the rebuild can start in earnest.
The first target is the transom. There are four bronze brackets providing rigidity between the side of the boat and the transom - one at gunwale height and the other pair secured into the chine. On the advice of Tony Tucker, my surveyor, the brackets have leached out the copper which will have the effect of making the brackets much more brittle and, since they are critical to the structure, they will need to be replaced.
I have found a foundry (?) in Uxbridge who can re-cast the brackets for me - at quite some cost - but I have the pleasure of knowing that they are the same founders who make the BAFTA awards! Illustrious company, but the brackets will not be quite as shiny, I suspect (or mounted on a granite plinth.
Cleaning up the brackets ready for re-casting.
Today I actually got to do some woodwork. I have had DVL (Dame Vera Lynn) for almost 18 months and today I finally sharpened up my old tools and did some proper woodworking - about bl**dy time!
You may recall from earlier that 437 picked up an injury to her stern resulting in the transom and aft deck being re-built. My suspicion is that she was moored too close to another vessel alongside a quay and to prow of that (much larger) boat, smashing the stern section. If you look back at Feb. '18, you will see a picture of Baron working on the stern, the transom having been removed. Since then the uprights have been removed leaving a big hole so the current project is to replace the stern-post ( 100 x 65 mm) and uprights (40 x 60 mm) but also install a rail across the top of the transom which seems to have got lost during one of the repairs. All the uprights will be replaced with mahogany and the rail will be European oak.
I have decided not to relay the planking over the transom frames until later in the project. As she stands, the lazarette, and the steering gear which will eventually be housed within, are extremely accessible. If I re-plank the transom, this advantage will be lost.
It turns out that my re-introduction to carpentry has been rather 'in at the deep end'. Because the hull is sloped and the transom is also sloped, the resulting compound joints are a bit complicated. The first few cuts were tentative... Hey! Just like riding a bike.
December 2018/Jan 2019

Timber!
Today the new timber arrived so we can start re-planking the hull. Lots and lots of 5/8th inch utile - very similar to, but more environmentally friendly than, mahogany. (Who mentioned cheaper?) You may recall back in April I had Marine Surveyor, Tony Tucker, survey the entire boat. One of his many recommendations was that a number of planks needed replacing. Well, having considered the options, I have decided to replace all of the outer planks - i.e. the side planks and the outer layer of bottom planks. This will add months to the project (yippee!) and pounds and pounds to the bill (boo!) but will do justice to Vera's hull and give her a proper, full life ahead. The fact is, if I have to remove and replace every screw, as they are all rotten, the thought of re-attaching the old boards seems bonkers.
Now, removing the planks is a seriously arduous task - in addition to the screws every three inches along the seams on each plank and the screws attaching the boards to the ribs, a previous owner decided to rivet infills on the inside of the hull between the seam battens, effectively doubling the thickness of the hull. I have given much thought as to why they did this... Judging by the amount of filler used, I think it must have been to stop water ingress. Only history knows if this was successful but if the waterline on the inside of the hull is anything to go by, it wasn't! Anyway, each board has around 24 screws and eight or ten rivets to remove.
Help, however, is on hand in the delightful form of my sister Jo. This is becoming a proper family affair (still no sign of my wife...). Jo, and her husband Justin (see April) came down for the weekend and spent a sizable chunk of their time here working on Vera. Jo has discovered that removing screws from an old boat is extremely therapeutic! As a result, she is perfectly happy to spend six hours with a screw-driver in one hand and a pair of snips in the other slowly removing, or trying to remove, rotten fixings.
Jo and her plank. And Justin...
Another big landmark this month has been fashioning the corner posts of the transom. I only had the old and rotten pieces that we removed to go on so I have had to use my imagination in places. Not having any machinery other than hand-tools made this a particular challenge but patient work with a spoke shave and cabinet scraper has had the desired outcome and I have now got two matching corner posts. There has been quite a bit of fettling getting the various angles right but all in all, it has been very satisfying.
Early February 2019

The first four side planks are in place and we are starting to see how beautiful she is going to be once fully re-boarded. 
We started the re-planking with the longest boards first. The timber, which is being milled to the correct width and thickness by Robbins Timber because we have no machining facilities, has come in two lengths - 4.2 metres and 4.8 metres. The longest boards needed are 8.8 metres long so the longest eleven side boards (there are 25 in total per side) need to be scarf jointed. I decided to make the scarf joints as long as possible, to maximise strength, and have gone with 200mm. Over the width of 16 mm (5/8"), this gives me an angle of 1:12, or thereabouts. Each board is marked on one end, using a marking jig to create a consistent angle to all the boards, which are then power-planed to within a mm or so of the line and finished off with a hand plane to get a perfect finish. The two boards are then placed in a clamping jig which aligns the boards and holds the joint together while the epoxy goes off. After a little planing across the joint we are left with perfect, sound scarf joints and nine-metre long boards to play with.
At this point the board is offered up to the ribs, now neatly plugged and, in some cases, repaired and each end of the board cut to shape to fit at the gunwale or chine, or more recently transom as we progress aftwards. The real fun will come when we start having to do the serious bending at the bow. We won't need to steam the boards, I don't think, as they are very pliant, being so thin, but Baron has a theory, and I have no reason to doubt him, that, much like orange-peel segments, we are going to need to taper each board slightly, to get them to fit. I guess we'll find out soon.
April 6th 2019 - and some maths.

It has been two months since we laid the first side planks on the starboard side and we now have fourteen of 25 fitted. Today we hope to have the last long board - that requires scarfing - fitted. The last eleven boards are single piece of timber and, whilst they still need to be shaped to fit, they will be relatively quick and we hope to have the starboard side finished by the end of the Easter weekend (four days - bonus working hours).
To be clear, this is a 'first fit'; we have not not caulked the boards or fitted the seam screws. We are going to do this in a single operation once all the boards have been fitted. It will mean fixing eight screws (at 25p each) per foot of timber. I am not good at maths, as you know, but I think that will make around 2700 1 1/4" no.6 screws - that's some £675 of screws, not including the vertical fixings, of which there are another three per foot, at 30p each. That's another 1000 screws (or £300): £2000 on timber; £1000 on fixings - to re-built 25% of the hull. Holy smoke!
But...
She looks so beautiful!
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The good news is that Baron's 'orange-peel' theory doesn't look like it is going to apply. However, the degree to which the board width varied on the original build, and the implication, has become very apparent. I knew, when ordering my timber, that the boards I was replacing varied between about 135 and 155 mm so I plumped for buying in all the timber at 150 mm. Don't forget, we don't have any machining facilities here, so as far as possible, we are buying in 'finished' timber.
Well, this was fine doing the boards towards the stern, where the fluctuation in board widths was minimal but as we go further for'ard the boards are getting narrower and narrower. The knock on effect is that the seam battens are getting closer together so we are having to re-notch the ribs to accept the new position of the battens. This results in there being significant gaps in the ribs where the old battens sat. Baron has taken on the time consuming task of cutting little fillets to fill each of these gaps so Vera retains her structural integrity and won't flex overly. And what a beautiful job he is doing!

I really can't express just how much fun this is; coming across problems and having to sort them out; finding bodged repairs and making them good; even finding parts where she was poorly built. It is hard to forget that these boats were built to perform a duty in the short term and not to last 78 years and counting. They were considered almost disposable; the consumables of war. Well designed but ultimately, disposable.
Fascinating.
Board Silly. May 3rd 2019.

The last four weeks have been a little frustrating; not for any particular reason, just slow progress due, in part, to other commitments. Making the fillets, as described above has slowed things down somewhat, as have finding structural elements that needed repairs. All but the last seam battens have been fitted on the starboard side and the last of the scarf-jointed boards has been fitted (for this side...). We did think this would speed up finishing this side of the boat but that has not come to pass.
Having been generally impressed by the standard of craftsmanship of the men who built this boat, I was taken aback to discover that, at the bow, where the chine timbers 'meet', the port-side chine timber is about an inch higher that the starboard side. There isn't any obvious reason, although the tacks holding the underside timbers to the chine do appear to have been subjected to some stress at some point, seemingly many years ago. However, the difference between the two sides was, if not deliberate, then acknowledged, as the rebates into which these timbers fit have been cut at different levels... very odd.
Baron has been busy removing the deck. For most of the board fitting, I have been cutting the planks to fit at both the bottom, where they butt into the underside planking, and the top (gunwale) where they butt into the underside of the decking. Having done this with the first 15 or so boards, it occurred that it would be much easier to remove the decking to allow the boards to be fitted 'long' at the topside, trimming them down when they are all in place. Always learning.
April has also been a busy month for public relations. I sent an email to the local paper - the Bucks Herald - and got a reply, by return, asking for an interview. A very enthusiastic young journo came and interviewed us both, took some photos and, a day or two later, a half page feature appeared in the paper. A day or two later, I got a message via the Facebook page - facebook.com/damevera437 - from BBC Three Counties, asking if I would appear on a radio show. Well - who would say no?? I was a little nervous about the whole thing so I set myself a target - don't be the worst person ever to have been interviewed on 3 Counties Radio! I needn't have worried; the presenter, Nick Goff, was obviously interested in the project and, very wisely, didn't let me talk to much. I was on for about 30 minutes - interspersed with music, news, etc. - but the whole experience was good fun. I have not listened back (and hope never to do so) but the consensus was that I represented Vera well and was probably not the low-point in BBC local radio's output. Phew! If you want, you can listen to the interview on our Facebook page.
(with thanks to Andrew, without whom...).
So, the May Day bank holiday beckons, with three days work available. With luck and a fair wind, we should get the starboard side finished, or very close, this weekend.

A Date for your Diaries

If you have assiduously read every word on this entire website, you will know that Vera/ST 437 was 'born' at Hythe, on Southampton Water, on July 1st 1941. I know the yard very well, as I have a former client who occupied these buildings (coincidentally). It has always been part of my plan that we would hold the gala relaunch and re-naming at this yard - it felt, somehow, appropriate. A week or two ago I decided to contact my client to sow the seeds of the notion only to discover that they have gone bust. A great shame as they were a significant employer in the area, refitting superyachts. 
Undeterred, I found that Fairline Yachts have taken over the site and, after a bit of Googling, found the name of the CEO, David Tydeman, and got myself an introduction to him via Jonathan Goring. We have, as yet, only had a brief conversation about the plan but it was positively received and hopefully, we will be re-launching Vera at Fairline Yachts, Hythe, on July 1st 2023 - 82 years to the day of her original launch. 
So put this date in your diaries (it's a Saturday) and, subject to further negotiations, and the goodwill of David and Fairline, Vera will get the re-launch she warrants.
Tension Headache, May 27th 2019

The Spring Bank Holiday stretches before us - three consecutive days of working on 437. We should get the last ten boards fitted (no scarfing now so the process is much quicker). But oh, oh! Tension headache!
We have fitted 16 of the 26 boards on the starboard side; everything has gone to plan and we are cruising towards getting this side finished. I even removed the first plank on the port side as a kind of treat (!?). But board 17 isn't playing the game. Thus far, the sides are more or less straight with only one plane of twist but by board 17 there's a twist and a bow. This is something Baron and I have discussed several times - the 'orange peel' conversation - but haven't had to face the reality. Because of my over-confidence, I went ahead and fitted all the remaining seam battens down this side - all the others have worked fine, so why not the rest? Trying to fit board 17 using the same technique - laying the board on and squidging it up with a sash cramp worked, kind of, but is building a whole load of pressure into the structure... somewhere. Something is not right.
I had a good look at the boards on the port side: they are parallel until board 18 at which point the boards taper slightly to the bow. But on the starboard side, they want to get wider towards the bow? How am I going to get the tension out?
After much discussion, head-scratching and quiet contemplation (and half a bottle of gin) the solution was clear. I have to strip back the last few boards, and scribe them in - the orange peel theory. This will involve having to buy some new, wider boards and refit some of the seam battens, which in itself will necessitate re-fashioning a number of ribs.
So here we are three days later with less of the starboard complete than at the start of the weekend. And there was me thinking that ibuprofen was the best remedy for a tension headache.

I have learnt an important lesson - don't get ahead of yourself: you're not that clever!

More later.

September 2019 - The New Season

Well, the new season didn't exactly get off to a running start but we have completed the planking on the starboard side and it looks fabulous. This is only the 'dry' fix'; I want to do all the caulking at the same time to eliminate any problems that might be caused by seasonal difference in moisture content (see above). This may be an unnecessary precaution, but with no previous experience to go by, better safe than sorry.
We also had a problem with our timber supplier that delayed delivery of the timber we needed to get started on the port-side planking by a few weeks - a bore but not the end of the world. It's not like we haven't got a million other tasks that need attention!
February 9th 2020

I have not been especially diligent with keeping this site up to date. Two reasons: first, I would much rather be working on Vera than writing updates and, more critically, my son has been posting regular updates on our Facebook page (link below or @damevera437). There is a third reason but I remember from my schooldays that multiple explanations weaken the plausibility of your excuse and sound a lot like bulls**t! So the third reason is that we have done very little other than planking for over a year and it not terribly exciting or photogenic.
However, the end of Phase 1 is approaching. The re-planking of the port side is nearing completion. We have reached the fore-peak and have only ten boards to go.
In general, the lessons learned from the starboard side have paid dividends, making the port side process considerably more straightforward. We knew what issues would come up and were therefore able to plan for them, rather than stumbling headlong into the pit-falls, as before.
We have encountered a lot more structural damage on the port side, all of which has had to be repaired: broken or rotten frames - floor and side ribs - but I relish the prospect of actually doing some proper woodwork, rather than just planking, planking. I suspect she took some damage, hitting something decidedly solid at, or just below, the waterline. I would guess a pier or possibly rocks. There is not equivalent damage at the gunwales so whatever it was, must have been largely at or below the waterline.
There has been evidence of considerable fresh water ingress on the starboard side of the wheelhouse. This is probably due to the hatches in the wheelhouse roof not keeping the rainwater out, and this has led to lots of rotten timber which previous owners have tried to mitigate by screwing lots of bits of softwood to the internal planking/chine interleaved with toweling soaked in pitch. This may be a 'tried and tested' method (who knows?) but it is damned messy to remove! It is also possible, that the pitching was done to prevent seawater ingress following the impact inferred above with the rot of the softwood coming later.
So the repair tally for the port side is: Five re-built side ribs, two repaired (spliced) side ribs, three replaced floor ribs, three lateral floor frames (in the main cabin, which I like to call the Saloon, thanks to Arthur Ransom) and countless replaced 'knee' plates, which reinforce the joint and give the whole assembly strength.
I have to point out here that the chisels, etc., are not set dressing; as far as possible, I am using hand tools. We do have a few power tools - crosscut saw, power planer, sanders, etc. - but much of the joy in this project is the woodworking. I take enormous pleasure in fashioning each piece and, if it is not right, I throw it away and make another. There is nothing on this earth quite as sensuous as a well-sharpened chisel or plane slicing through the fibres of a piece of hardwood, along with the accompanying, gentle hiss. Beautiful!
Well, it's Sunday morning and that boat won't build itself....
Easter Sunday. April 12th 2020

Here we are in the grips of Coronavirus. Most of the world is now, or has been, under lockdown conditions and many thousands of unfortunate people have died (Tim Brooke-Taylor RIP), are unwell or are just suffering the stress of not being able to leave their homes. My sympathy goes out to all those, at home and abroad, who are suffering.
Fortunately, we have not really felt much of the impact of this blight. Apart from having no work and less income than I did when I was a paperboy, I have, predictably, being making the most of this enforced Stay at Home order to make lots of progress with Vera. The side planking is complete! Well, nearly complete. We had just started the 'final fix' of the boards when my supplier ran out of screws. Worse, he doesn't know when he will be getting them in. (We need about 6000 silicon bronze 1"1/4 no 6, in case anyone is stockpiling. I'll trade you for some loo paper!) To make matters worse, we have also run out of timber. Not a good situation when you are re-building a wooden boat.
So we have had to switch our focus. To my utter delight, we are finally getting some work done inboard! Having lifted the fore deck, we found nothing but rot. Actually, that's not strictly true; we did find the original yard number and tonnage carved into one of the deck timbers. It was carefully removed, reinforced (it was very rotten) and has now been replaced.

Baron has also been very busy re-building the side decks. Over the years they have become very loose so he has set about replacing the bolts and screws securing the frames, re-fixing the diagonal braces and sanding everything down to a finish so, if we ever get our delivery of screws and finish the side planking, she'll be ready for painting.

The lack of materials has also forced us to look further down the road to find jobs to be done. The 'Bishop' (no relation, I hope...!) steering gear has been stripped down and inspected and found to be in excellent condition. It will be re-assembled and packed with fresh grease and the casings will all be re-painted. Somewhat to my surprise, the steering wheel is made of resin. I had expected, not following any particular logic, that it would be metal: it looks like metal; it feels like metal but it is actually resin with a beech 'necker-knob'. (I don't know what a necker-knob is in English - it's the ball assembly on a steering wheel that allows you to rotate the steering wheel with one hand. In North America they are known as 'necker-knobs' because they allow you to continue driving whilst not having to stop 'necking' with your sweetheart. That counts for romance in the US.)

Fraser also joined us for a day's work last week. He has played his guitar so much in the last few weeks that he has blisters on his fingers (Dr. Winston O'Boogie-style) from over playing and was so bored, he agreed to come and work on Vera. I gave him the task of polishing (!) the bronze fittings from the steering and gear-changing equipment. We gave him base metal and he turned it into GOLD! Sadly, it will quickly tarnish but don't tell him - I want him to come back.

So below a video, complete with commentary (or ramblings) which give you a tour of Vera as she lies currently. Whilst we have come a long way, there is much, much more to be done...
6th June 2020

Really? Two months since I last updated the site? Unbelievable. While others around the world have been staying at home and climbing the walls with boredom, the last couple of months for me have flown by! I would like to tell you what I have done but it is almost easier to say what we haven't done. However...

The Great Materials Famine finally eased and I took delivery of 4500 screws and about 60 linear metres of timber in late April. Firstly, and for me most importantly, it has enabled us to finish the caulking and screwing of the topsides. When I last posted I had done around ten boards on the port side. In the interim, as we know, the weather has been incredible (particularly if you have a garden to lie in and are that way inclined) and the air very, very dry. This is not especially good news if you are looking to fix carvel planking. The boards, which were fitted during the damp winter months, have all shrunk revealing gaps of up to 2 mm between each board. This is not an ideal situation. We have had no choice but to fit the boards 'as is'. We have been wetting the timbers for a few days in an attempt to swell them before fixing and this has, largely, been a success. However, I shall be leaving the next stage - sheathing - until next year. I need to find out what the boards will do when the incessant damp weather returns (usually around August!). If necessary, the boards will be removed and refitted. We have deliberately not installed all the fixings, allowing ourselves a little flexibility should the worst happen and the gaps do not close up as anticipated. On the upside, the boards went in smoothly and have taken on the convex nature of the hull well, following the shape of the ribs. A very exciting moment - the sides of Vera are largely watertight even if the hull itself still has the appearance of something in which only the Jumblies would go to sea! Patience; that is next winter's goal.
And so to the pile of timber:
I had ordered this utile (dimensioned 200 mm x 12 mm x 4.2 m) from Robbins to re-build the floor supports and engine beds in the cockpit. However, during the interim between ordering the timber and its eventual arrival, I decided to do the equivalent job towards the front of the boat instead - the 'Main Longitudinals', as they are described in the general arrangement drawings. These longitudinals are engineered timbers which run from the forward watertight bulkhead to the midships bulkhead. Their purpose is to give rigidity along the length of the boat: if the bow is on a wave crest and the stern is on a wave crest, the longitudinals prevent the mid-section from collapsing into the trough between.
When I had Vera surveyed at the start of this restoration, one of these 'members' (they are arranged in a pair, approx four feet apart) was missing and had been replaced with a bit of 4 x 2" softwood on the starboard side and the existing, original, longitudinal on the port side was broken in the middle. It was clearly identified that both of these members needed replacement and it is a job I have been rather looking forward to.
These longitudinals are around six metres long and about 500 mm deep at their widest and are made up of three-ply of 12 mm timber; the outer layers run lengthways sandwiching the inner 'ply', which is laid diagonally. This ensures there is minimal flex along the length of the timbers, giving Vera the rigidity she requires. The most fun for me was that the whole sandwich needs to be fastened with copper rivets and roves. Youtube provided the method and I manufactured a small tool for driving the rove over the rivet.
Now, I have been working wood for many years and I am familiar with two types of hammer: the claw hammer, for hitting and removing and the Warrington hammer for hitting nails and pins. I have several of each in my tool chest of varying sizes and weights. But I also have a few 'engineers' hammers, AKA 'ball peen' (or 'pein', apparently, although I would have pronounced that to rhyme with 'pine') hammers. As I woodworker I have always looked at these barbarous bludgeons with more than a little disrespect but, needing to do some copper riveting, I now not only understand the purpose of the ball bit but have elevated this excellent piece of equipment from blunt instrument to delicate craftsman's tool. And it is great fun to use. Each longitudinal has around forty rivets holding the sandwich together so both Baron and I have become seasoned riveters.
These members were completed a couple of weeks ago but I have been made to wait before installation: there were a few small jobs to complete prior to fitting and I have a lack of labour since Baron has taken a short sabbatical. Yesterday, Fraser (no.1 son) and his friend Cormie kindly came over and we got the longitudinals installed. It involved threading these six-plus metre long, 30ish kg pieces through the transom opening, into position.  Remove and fettle, replace; remove and fettle, replace; a few times until they sat perfectly in position. To be honest, it was a much more straightforward process than I was expecting. Over the previous fortnight since they were made, I have been working through the procedure in my mind time after time, so potential pitfalls had been considered and mitigated. 
I am so very glad that we took the time at the very beginning of this restoration to make sure Vera is sitting straight and true on her stands and jigs and that we have been periodically checking she remains in true. Relatively little adjustment was needed and the whole installation process took less than four hours. The key elements of Vera's structure are in place, level and true. A real landmark in this restoration story.

This afternoon I shall be fitting the required brackets, etc. to fix the longitudinals in place. Then I shall lay some temporary plywood flooring and start to see Vera's interior coming back to life. Very, very exciting!

END OF YEAR REPORT


Dame Vera Lynn. Year 2


The second year of the project has been a busy year for Vera and she continues to be an engaging and valuable member of the community. Well-liked by her peers (two enterprise dinghies and an inflatable), Vera is a pleasure to work on and we have high hopes that this will continue as we move into the next phase of her development. Vera needs to remain patient and focused on the end result and I have no doubt she will, in years to come, make a significant contribution to our national heritage.

Ribs and Frames

Much of Vera's time prior to joining us appears to have been spent repeatedly floating and then settling in a muddy environment - a harbour or estuary. She came to us with a marked tideline between her port-side chine and starboard gunwale, everything below this line was mud-caked. This was a mixed blessing: the majority of her starboard side ribs and frames were structurally sound, although needed a good clean-up, whereas the majority of those on the port-side were rotten and needed replacement. These were replaced in her Reception year, and the early part of this year, which created a solid foundation upon which later work has been based.

Topsides

Vera's topsides are now all but complete. She has been entirely re-planked with 16 mm utile which has been caulked and fully screwed down. The dry weather at the start of the summer has caused some of the boards to shrink a little but this will rectify once the traditional British damp arrives, well, any day now. The next stage for Vera's topsides is the fairing process which will be undertaken using West System epoxy and we envisage this taking place towards the end of the next build year.

On a personal note, replacing the topsides has been a very satisfying experience; labour intensive, admittedly, but the overall impact on her appearance has been very rewarding. At last we can once again see the beautiful lines of George Selman's inspired design. It almost seems like a shame to paint her.

Undersides

As was identified earlier in the project, repairing Vera's undersides was always going to be a difficult undertaking. The decision was taken, following the initial survey, not to replace all the boards, as we did with the topsides, but to only replace those boards which are damaged or have split due to drying out. This will be undertaken in the coming year.

Her undersides are double diagonal construction and we have had to make some repairs to the inner boards, notably at the prow and stern, but these are now ready for the work that lies ahead. Once this work has been done, we anticipate Vera's bottom being faired in the Spring term, along with her topsides.

Deck

Unlike many, Vera worked extremely hard during the covid lockdown. So much so, we have had to give her extra work not intended for this year group. This has included the decking. When she came to us in Year 1, Vera's decking was in a terrible state - it had been replaced, badly with plywood which had rotted extensively. This had had the knock-on effect of causing some of the structural elements to perish. Vera originally had a double diagonal mahogany deck, unlike many of her class, so the deck supports are relatively complicated. These have now been repaired or replaced and Vera is ready to receive the teak deck we hope to fit next year. Well done Vera.

Interior Structure

The interior structure does not form part of this year's syllabus, but Vera's application has meant that she has exceeded expectations in this area. The main structural components - the stringers - that run stem to stern, are intended to give her longitudinal rigidity. When she came to us, one of the pair of stringers was completely missing and the other in a poor state. These have both now been replaced - a significant milestone in Vera's career.

Furthermore, another key element of structure, her forward watertight bulkhead separating the fore-peak (and chain locker) from the wheelhouse, has also been replaced. The original handles to the hatch have been cleaned up and now sparkle once again.

Headmasters Report

Vera's contribution to my sanity over lockdown is immeasurable. She continues to be a most appealing distraction from the woes of the world and the day job. Vera is very popular - over 200 'likes' on Facebook - and is always the centre of attention amongst family and friends. She is well ahead of schedule and, going into her third year with us is a very exciting prospect with a re-vamp of her presence on Youtube and further exploration into fitting her with electric motors.

Vera, we expect great things from you...

Mid February 2021


All Strung Out


In my last proper post, back in June, I had just fitted the forward stringers. Well it looked so good, I just couldn;t resist pulling out all the nasty cockpit timbers and re-doing them. It was not originally part of the plan (as if I actually had one) to replace these but, having removed them, I am very glad I did.

The timbers that came out, and they are what gives Vera her rigidity, came out in pieces. Every one was broken in at least one place, the fixings that held the laminates together were all broken and, on reflection, it is easy to see how the port engine became out of alignment, resulting in catastrophic failure. New stringers have now been fabricated, same method as the forward stringers, and installed and it is a significant step forward.

You will also see from the picture that we have had to build a 'tent' around Vera in an attempt to create a tolerable working environment. We have reduced the volume of air around the boat by around 60% which will hopefully be easier to keep warm. I have three electric heaters, none of which is especially capable, using in excess of the 16 amps I have available to me. The upside is that I can keep the tent at 4 degrees above the ambient temperature elsewhere in the shed (usually a degree or two colder than outside!!). The downside is that I have to turn two of the heaters off if I want to use any other electrical equipment otherwise the electrics trip out. I now wish I had invested in 32 amp cable...

Another big 'win' of the year has been the acquisition of Vera's original searchlight. After three years of hassling, Owen Childs, the previous owner, finally came up trumps and we met at a socially distanced Gordano Services just before Christmas for the handover.

For me, this is a very important piece of the jigsaw and to finally get hold of the original is fabulous. I have been looking at various searchlights on t'internet for the last couple of years and none of them were quite right (and blooming expensive). This one is still painted in RAF grey and is entirely un-restored. At present it languishes on the floor on my dining room, along with my highly polished gear levers and beautifully restored steering wheel, as it will be one of the last pieces to be actually mounted on the wheelhouse roof, but I smile every time I walk past.

Other bits of progress include the replacement of some of the dodgy hull boards. My surveyor identified eight boards that needed replacement. I have slighly upped that number because I didn't like the look of one or two, but they are now well underway and the only limiting factor is how much time I want to spend lying on my back underneath Vera. It is incredibly difficult removing the hull boards as, just like the topsides, they have more fxings than Subway, only harder to get to. There are rivets, nails, screws, bolts and mastic all purporting to do the same job and all of which need to be removed. Thankfully, not so many need to be returned.


On the subject of topsides, I was fairly concerned in the summer that my beautifully fitted planks had shrunk during the warmer weather revelaing gaps of up to 3 mm. Fortunately, the return of proper English dampness has seen all of these gaps close back up again. Phew!


So, looking forwards (which I am loath to do): with luck and a fair wind, come April, when the weather begins to warm up, we will be first 'fairing' and then sheathing the hull. This is quite an undertaking, especially as I have never done anything more involved than repairing the keel on Quarry II. However, I have watched the West Systems video about ten times along with every similar video on YouTube (and there are many) so I feel adequately armed to tackle this first irreversible task. Once done, Vera will look amazing - more like a boat and less like a very expensive pile of timber - and I can't wait.

9th January 2022


I have rather ignored this webpage recently. With occasional posts going on my Facebook page I have totally omitted updates here.


Since the last post, which has been almost a year, much has been acheived. We missed the weather window for sheathing, so that remains an intention for 2022. I have talked about the width of the boards and the shrinkage: a 150 mm board of utile, with a shrinkage of up 3 percent, will leave gaps of up to 4.5 mm between boards when the weather drys out. I therefore have to time the caulking procedure quite closely.


When the gaps are at their widest - late summer - I need to apply the caulk into the gaps. This can be fairly tricky as the entire depth of the gap needs to be filled. Then, over the winter months, the boards expand again, closing the gaps and squeezing out the excess caulking, which has to be removed. And then the bit that requires timing: I have to paint the insides of the hull, to minimise moisture loss (and board expansion), fair the outside of the hull - itself a fairly delicate process to get right, and then, once I am happy with the fairing, apply the sheathing. The sheathing process needs warmer, dryer weather, but not soo warm or dry that the boards have started to shrink again. Timing is of the essence!

We have also been busy installing the bracing on the inside face of the hull. These are structural elements designed to help spread the loads between the chine and the gunwale, adding to the torsional strength of the hull. There are diagonal braces around the lifting points on each side - one forward and one aft - and smaller, vertical braces between each rib amidships.

As with much else this year, fitting these braces has been a laborious and not very glamorous task but, once fitted, a critical part of Vera's sea-worthiness... and it looks right, too!

You will perhaps remember the grief I have had with the oily bilges. Reportedly, the portside engine blew on a trip between Torquay and Watchet back in 2005, filling the bilges with dirty engine oil, adding to the general bilge gunk built up over 70-odd years of service. The legacy has been enormous quantities of oil, mixed with harbour silt, throughout the bilges especially, but not exclusively, under the cockpit/engine bays. The removal of this mess is imperative; it has soaked into the timbers which will make painting a near-impossibility. Nasty!

Ever since this project started we have been on a mission to remove as much of the oil as we can... for obvious reasons. It has been a three-part attack.

Part one, which started almost as soon as Vera was moved into the boatshed, was scraping the sludge out. It seems that Vera spend many of the tides before my acquisition settling on the Watchet Harbour silt at low tide and... erm... taking her time to re-float again. There was a dirty water line between the port chine and the starboard gunwale and everything below this line was very, very silty. That silt, plus the engine oil, had worked its way into every crack and crevice.

Part two was jet-washing, with various detergents and de-greasers - a task at which Baron excelled (and I avoided!).

Part three. It became apparent that it is the nature of timber, when it shrinks in drier conditions, to squeeze out oil that has soaked into the wood. In the summer, oil would ooze out, fairly freely, whereas in winter, it would appear almost oil-free. We discussed the benefits of 'Fullers Earth', or bentonite, to give it it proper name - basically cat-litter in powder form - that will absord any oil or other liquids. After a breif internet search, I found a supplier and did a limited test. Bingo! The bentonite went from a pure white powder to a nasty brown colour as it soaked up the oil. So part three was the liberal spreading of 25kg of bentonite (remarkably inexpensive) which was left in place over a few warm weeks. The results have been amazing - I only hope it will be sufficient when we start paint tests...

So that brings us more or less up to date. Most of the last three months have been focussed on the undersides. Without the facility to invert the hull, this has been done lying flat on my back - sanding, filling, sanding, caulking and sanding. A dozen or so boards have been replaced - rotten, split or with too many joints - so I am confident that, once complete, the hull will be sound.

Because most of the original fixings have rotted, I am having to re-fix everything. Rather than remove the existing screws and rivets, some of which are OK, I am instead fitting 'buddy' fixings, alongside the originals, with a few extras of my own. I never forget, one day Vera will go out to sea again; she has to be as strong as she was when first built.. or stronger.

The starboard side is more or less complete now so after another couple of months-worth of weekends I should have the port side done.

After that, it will be fairing, sheathing and painting - weather permitting...

June 2022


About time for an update...

First the bad news: All of my hard work on the undersides has been undone by the weather; not entirely, but annoyingly. Over the winter I splined all the gaps between the boards with the intention of getting her sheathed before the weather turned warm (and the workshop warmer). However, such was the time taken working on both the undersides and topsides, that when I went back to look at my beatifully prepped hull, the boards had already shrunk, breaking the bond between the old boards and the new splines. (To explain, utile has a shrinkage of around 3% so, as these boards are 150mm wide, I can expect shrinkage of up to 4.5 mm on each board. I did hope that the age of the boards  - 80 years - would lessen the amount of shrinkage... I was proved wrong. In some respects, this is a good sign, as it means the fibres within the boards are in realtively good condition.) The upshot is that I will have to re-spline all the joints and make sure I get the sheathing done in a timely manner.

The next update relates to the oily boards. As reported above, I had great success with the bentonite, removing significant quantities of the oil impregnated into the bilge timbers. However, as the weather has warmed, the bilge boards have started 'sweating' out more oil. Another 25 kgs of bentonite on order. Hopefully, if I keep soaking up any secreted oil, I will finally end up with paintable boards...


I have discussed earlier my passion for peaning. Copper rivets were widely used throughout the original construction of Vera. They create a very strong mechanical fixing and will ensure that everything holds together under stress in a way that screws may not. Two key elements have now been (or are in the middle of being) rivetted: the bracing on the insides of the topsides and the underside boards. The latter was not done on the orignal build but, given the age of the boat and the fact that the majority of the hull timbers have been retained, made the installation of a strong fix, effectively holding the hull boards to the stringers, is a good precaution. Structural integrity has been the watchword of this restoration. I call it 'The Bay of Biscay Test'. This boat must be able to withstand the rigours of the kind of seas typified by the Bay of Biscay - short pitch, towering seas. If not, I have not done my job!

10th January 2023


The festive season is over. I spent most of the holiday on my knees – not in supplication, you understand – in Vera’s cockpit. Number three son (Andrew) was home from Canada for Christmas and, as well as the obligatory bottle of gin from Duty Free, he was required to give me a day’s work on Vera as an entry requirement. I had decided to rivet through the hull so as not to rely upon any original fixings holding the hull planking in place. I have replaced all the principal fasteners but just felt that some additional assurance that Vera will pass the ‘Bay of Biscay Test’ (i.e. not to fall apart in a heavy sea) was a good idea. For the riveting process two people are required – one in the cockpit doing the peening and the other lying underneath with the dolly. There are 224 rivets - copper boat nails – required and it took us about seven hours: five on Christmas Eve and two on Boxing Day. That’s my kind of holiday! I am not sure it is Andrew’s idea of a good time but he happily agreed and I am enormously grateful to him. (I should point out that his girlfriend, Dev – a Canadian – spent much of this time wielding a chainsaw on a pile of wood from the last tree that came down in the garden and splitting it into logs. Wonderful Canadians, eh? It would also be remiss of me not to mention that she painted the topcoat on the rear stringers, too. Thanks Dev.)

So once the riveting was done, I could get on with the focus of my Christmas break, which is painting the cockpit bilges. Some of you may recall the issues I have had with the bilges. During her former life, the port-side engine ‘shot a rod’ spilling engine oil throughout the bilges. When I first found Vera she had a mixture of engine oil, silt from Watchet Harbour and all the usual detritus that makes its way into a bilge, sloshing around below floor level. Cleaning this up so she will take a paint has been a gargantuan task. The bilges have been jet-washed, scrubbed, degreased, scrubbed again, and even wiped down with surgical spirit before and after sanding before all the oily residue had gone. Finally, I have a paintable surface.

I have chosen Epifanes as my paint of choice (coverage, bond, cost, range, availability, etc.) which is being supplied by Marine Industrial - www.marineindustrial.co.uk - and I have applied three coats of their multi-primer, reducing the thinning over subsequent coats, and two coats of bilge paint, in grey. A total of ten day’s work; uncomfortable but very, very satisfying.

So, after a relaxing holiday, spent almost entirely on my knees, I am delighted with the result. After five and a half years, this is the first bit of Vera that is ‘finished’!


Next up, I shall be installing the cockpit stringers, rear watertight bulkhead and some temporary sole-boards before looking forwards to six months flat on my back under Vera getting the undersides finished. At least I will be lying down…

February 2023


As pre-empted in the last update, in February, with the help of my eldest son, Fraser, we installed the cockpit stringers. These are critical structural elements of the boat; there is no keel, per se, only what is know as a ‘hog’, which is a relatively light-weight timber running along the keel line, incorporating the stem, into which the garboard planks are fitted. However, because it is only 1 ¾" thick at its thickest, it will not prevent the hull from flexing. This job is done by the stringers.

The stringers were built and dry-fit a couple of years ago – see Feb 2021, above – and have since been painted. We had to wait until the bilges in the cockpit were finished and painted prior to final fitting. Now that that has been done, I can finally stand at what will be, almost, finished cockpit floor level.



A previous owner had fitted a steel keel to Vera which I had removed prior to purchase. This left a dozen or so bolt-holes through the hog which had to be filled in a way that would not compromise strength. I fashioned some hardwood dowels that were driven through the holes and wedged, top and bottom, to ensure a tight and permanent fit.

Now I really have to get to those undersides...

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