Posts Tagged: deck

Samson posts, rudder and more . . .

On June 16, 2017 - Launch 2017

Rudder in place

Bev returns home for a couple of days after the survey and the weather takes a turn for the worse with 40mph gusts again in Suffolk forcing Steve to pack up the van and take refuge in a shopping trip to Ipswich for the afternoon before the General Election. With rain and gales, Bev decides to stay in Derbyshire and as it abates in Suffolk Steve starts work on the second Samson post.

Whilst checking the fit, lying in the forepeak, he knocks out a chock and it slips, the solid oak dropping 18” onto his face! Clutching his mouth and expecting to find a handful of teeth, Steve’s relieved to find there’s just bruising. Bev doesn’t find out about this incident until she returns to Suffolk . . . apart from the Samson post being completed and fitted, the rudder is at last hung and a final coat of primer applied below the waterline in preparation for Bev’s return to do the anti-foul.

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  • Last coat of primer under the waterline
  • All engine controls connected, June 2017
  • Stern gland connected
  • Lever and stop button installed
  • Cachalot displays her Dunkirk, 1940 plaque

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More jobs ticked off the list! The rudder stock is fitted and new tiller now in place. Control cables for the engine are connected with control lever and stop button installed in the cockpit, stern gland greaser re-fitted and new capping to complete the restored cockpit coaming. Bronze skin fittings all cleaned up and replaced, along with her Dunkirk plaque, polished and back in place. We’re getting there, she’s beginning to look like a boat ready to float!

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Still lots to do before she’s ready to launch!

On May 3, 2017 - Launch 2017

Coachroof skylights and hatch back in place freshly varnished

There were two weddings, another ski trip to Val Thorens and the kitchen project to occupy us from January to mid-April 2017, but Steve made time to write a long list of all the jobs that need to be done in preparation for getting in the water this year!

There’s new sails to be made, and Ratsey & Lapthorn have been engaged to make these, so we’ll be off to Cowes later this month.

Moray McPhail, at BronzeWork in Martlesham, will be making the new keel bolts and sorting out all the other metalwork for us. Following discussions over the chainplates, it was agreed to have a channel to carry the shrouds over the bulwarks so, on our return to Suffolk at the end of April this was the first job to be done, port and starboard.

After joining the OGA at the Tollesbury Rally on 29 April, we returned to Woodbridge but the incessant wind forced us back to Derbyshire by the end of the week!

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A new tiller

On December 14, 2016 - Launch 2017

Alongside the 'other' winter project at home (a radical extension to the kitchen), Steve has a few boat-related tasks in mind. After setting up in the front room to varnish the skylights and coachroof hatch, he makes a start on the new tiller at the beginning of December, where it's warm enough to glue up the laminated wood.

The planing and sanding has to be done in the top shed, but it's brought back into the house again for the varnish, then takes pride of place along with the restored coachroof skylights and cabin hatch, awaiting the trip back down to Suffolk.

  • Making the tiller, preparing to laminate
  • Cramping up
  • Planing down
  • Shaping and varnishing
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Winter projects 2016/2017

On November 20, 2016 - Launch 2017

Renovating the coachroof skylights

With the hull painted, deck finished and all the spars ready, there’s plenty of smaller jobs to do to get her ready for launching next year.

The coachroof is not being replaced, but the skylights are in need of some attention so are brought back to the house for the winter, along with the hatch cover. The sitting room with a table set up is dry, dust-free and warm – the ideal workshop for stripping them down and varnishing!
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Packing up for winter

On October 7, 2016 - Deck 2016

First week in October and it's still mild enough during the day, though the nights are rather chilly. The bulwarks have several layers of varnish and the last coats of paint are applied to the hull. There's plenty of tidying up and sorting through all the tools to take home for winter projects in Derbyshire.

Finally we tie down the tent as best we can and hope there's not too many storms before the Spring.

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  • Finishing touches to the paint
  • Foredeck finished
  • All painted and varnished
  • Bulwarks varnished
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Bungs for the bulwarks and storing the spars

On October 2, 2016 - Deck 2016
Bungs for the bulwarks

Making bungs for the bulwarks

PVA and bungs for the bulwarks

Before the bulwarks can be varnished, several hundred bungs must be made, glued in place and sanded off. It’s beginning to be a race against the weather as we get out extra blankets at night as October approaches.

28 September finds us driving back to Derbyshire for a meeting with the architects about the ‘other project’ . . .

We return on 1 October as the weather looks set fair for a week or so to finish varnishing the bulwarks and wrap her up well before winter sets in properly.

Restored gaff spar ready to go!

New bowsprit hoisted on deck

We bring the restored gaff spar back down from Derbyshire, on the roof of the van. A gaff on top did get a few strange looks from other motorists at the service area when we stopped for a coffee!

The new bowsprit, made at Larkmans by James, is now hoisted up onto the deck for safe storage over the winter. James is still working on the boom, which will be ready in the Spring.

The weather for the first week in October is mild and ideal for finishing the varnish and painting.

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The capping rail

On September 27, 2016 - Deck 2016

The final task before painting the deck and topsides is the capping rail, to be made from the remaining iroko - but will there be enough? Steve starts with the most challenging section, the counter stern, one curved piece made from four sections. It takes two to manoeuvre it through the plane and needs some careful balancing for finishing off!

Once in place, the end is in sight - eight scarfed pieces, four on each side, and after a couple of days deluge, the weather fortunately takes a turn for the better. All goes well until the last two sections, the remaining planks aren't wide enough for the curve. Steve experiments with gluing two pieces together. After a night out to dry, they're deemed unsuitable as the join will show - so it's back to Thorogoods on Monday 26 September for more iroko and, on Tuesday, the capping rail is complete.

  • Making the capping rail for the counter
  • Fashioning the counter capping rail
  • Rounding off the counter capping rail
  • Checking the fit for the capping rail
  • Cutting the final two capping rail sections
  • Capping rail in place, September 2016
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Port and starboard bulwarks

On September 4, 2016 - Deck 2016
  • Thinking about designs for the stanchions
  • Stanchions taking shape
  • Stanchions glued up
  • Final touches to the stanchions
  • Final touches to the stanchions
  • Setting a stanchion in place

Once the counter bulwarks are in place, it's time to think about replacements for the port and starboard sides, and the capping rail.

After careful measuring, a stock of iroko is purchased from Thorogoods, sufficient for the new bulwarks as well as the capping rail. It's all sticked up ready, beside the tent . . . but what's the best way to secure the new bulwarks to the deck?

After much discussion, with various people, and several mock-ups and drawings, Steve starts production of 14 stanchions to sit neatly beneath the capping rail.

Making the stanchions takes quite a while, and was interrupted by a few days out sailing with the OGA for the August Cruise. Bev sailed with James on 'Kestrel' for the whole week, and Steve spent most days working, joining the fleet for evening events ashore . . . It was great to welcome a crowd of gaffers at the tent on 22 August though, even though she's not in the water, we kept our promise of beers a-plenty!

Bending on the iroko for the bulwarks went well, and by the beginning of September the deck was looking pretty shipshape - just needing the capping rail and enough good weather into the Autumn to allow us time to paint and varnish ready for winter.

  • Gaffers arrive to check on progress!
  • A stanchion in place
  • Making a section of the bulwarks
  • A coat of varnish before fixing the bulwarks
  • Cutting the bulwarks to fit the fairleads
  • Light coating of varnish
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Finish the deck and start painting the hull!

On July 12, 2016 - Deck 2016

Work in June had to fit in with returning to Derbyshire for the third Eroica Britannia in Bakewell on the 19th and to vote in the EU Referendum on the 23rd. The weather wasn't really 'flaming' though, and continued to be unseasonably cold, wet and windy.

There's the added problem of dust and noise as construction work at the Tidemill Yacht Harbour is seriously delayed. With dumper trucks moving heaps of soil and mud past the tent every half an hour, it's not an ideal working environment for keeping anything clean, especially as the next job after finishing the deck will be painting.

Work must go on though if she's to go back in the water this summer. So, now the deck is glassed and sanded with all the trims in place, Steve lays the king plank on the forward and aft decks.

  • Forward deck with king plank in place
  • Aft deck with king plank and cockpit coaming
  • Counter stern undercoat on starboard side
  • Counter stern
  • Starboard faired and painted with undercoat
  • Starboard counter stern painted with undercoat
  • Starboard topsides with undercoat

Once the deck is finished, Steve's keen to start getting the hull painted with undercoat, despite the continuing dust and noise. He fairs and undercoats the starboard side, but begins to wonder about the waterline. Where exactly is it?

After conversations with Tidemill Harbourmaster Mike 'the Pipe' and experiments with a plumb line, it becomes clear that the boat is not actually sitting 'true' on her cradle. This must have been the case since being moved to the North Arm to sit under her tent when the new toilet block was being built back in 2007!

 

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All those little bits of teak

On May 31, 2016 - Deck 2016
  • Teak edges for hatch and all through-deck fittings. New Samson post in place.
  • Making the teak edging pieces for the cockpit
  • Cockpit coaming fitted
  • Final sanding of the coaming, up it goes!

Once the rubbing strake's done, there's all those little bits to do. Steve carefully mitres teak edges for all the through-deck fittings. There's the cockpit to finish off, again with teak edging, before sanding down the coaming, hoisting it up onto the deck again, and setting it in place to bolt in and seal. Meanwhile, Bev's been doing OK with cycling and walking recommended, relieving the frustration at doing nothing. To keep the 'other project' on track, she set up a meeting with the architect on 25th May. Steve returns to Derbyshire for a couple of days then we both drive to Suffolk for the Bank Holiday weekend. Wide sunny skies until Monday, when 40 mph winds are forecast. With the van roof down, Steve secures the tent as best he can and we retire for a stormy night. Tuesday dawns bitterly cold, still windy, the tent flooded but no more damage and after a trip to Thorogoods we decide to retreat to the warmth of Derbyshire again.