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The story continued......
Inside comes out
The big shock came when we started to work on the inside of
her, and what a problem ! Some of the modifications to her had
been done in chipboard. It looked just like soggy cardboard,
and had the same amount of strength. So we tore everything out
of the inside, along the way finding that the engine bearers were
in a very sad state, so out they came as well.
Now with a bare hull inside we set to work. The bilges were
scraped, sanded and treated, then we fit new engine bearers.
The company who had epoxied the hull now supplied us with
glass fibre matt and the necessary resins. They also suggested that the area underneath
where the new engine was to be installed could be levelled up with a mixture of resin and
volcanic ash. The advantage of this mixture is its strength, its resistance to oil and fuel, and
the incredible lightness of the material.
Rebuilding starts
So, we now had three boats, one inside the other, like a Russian doll. We had decided to
extend the bridge area forward, and eventually, in between showers, we were once again
water-tight and secure. Autumn was fast approaching and the weather getting wetter, so
we rented an industrial unit near to home, and had her moved so work could continue.
Internal Design
Now we started the long and frustrating slog over
Deciding the new layout and floor height. We fitted
new steelwork to support the floor, allowing for full
access to the engine,gearbox and propshaft, We
repositioned doors and designed some steps which
work like drawers, the bottom step pulls out from
under the top one, sliding back under and out of the
way to clear the floor when we’re at sea. Each has
ample storage space inside. One will be used for
emergency supplies just in case we ever have to skip ship in a hurry !.
Mock ups
One of the more difficult decisions was the positioning of the hatches
in the floor. I know it sounds strange, but with an empty hull and only
rough sketches and a lot of imagination to go on, things seem very
different. The solution was to divide the boat up into the different areas
using some really cheap plywood to create the temporary floors and
bulkheads for the new cabins. This really helped by bringing the new
concept alive.
The big shock came when we started to work on the inside of
her, and what a problem ! Some of the modifications to her had
been done in chipboard. It looked just like soggy cardboard,
and had the same amount of strength. So we tore everything out
of the inside, along the way finding that the engine bearers were
in a very sad state, so out they came as well.
Now with a bare hull inside we set to work. The bilges were
scraped, sanded and treated, then we fit new engine bearers.
The company who had epoxied the hull now supplied us with
glass fibre matt and the necessary resins. They also suggested that the area underneath
where the new engine was to be installed could be levelled up with a mixture of resin and
volcanic ash. The advantage of this mixture is its strength, its resistance to oil and fuel, and
the incredible lightness of the material.
Rebuilding starts
So, we now had three boats, one inside the other, like a Russian doll. We had decided to
extend the bridge area forward, and eventually, in between showers, we were once again
water-
Internal Design
Now we started the long and frustrating slog over
Deciding the new layout and floor height. We fitted
new steelwork to support the floor, allowing for full
access to the engine,gearbox and propshaft, We
repositioned doors and designed some steps which
work like drawers, the bottom step pulls out from
under the top one, sliding back under and out of the
way to clear the floor when we’re at sea. Each has
ample storage space inside. One will be used for
emergency supplies just in case we ever have to skip ship in a hurry !.
Mock ups
One of the more difficult decisions was the positioning of the hatches
in the floor. I know it sounds strange, but with an empty hull and only
rough sketches and a lot of imagination to go on, things seem very
different. The solution was to divide the boat up into the different areas
using some really cheap plywood to create the temporary floors and
bulkheads for the new cabins. This really helped by bringing the new
concept alive.
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