Princess 25 refit

So it begins, now it is time to start to make new panels and boards to go into the boat where the old one were either damaged or rotten or both. Another job that has to be done is to put in new items of equipment that were not there before to bring it up to date and within the new regulations for boat safety. This is especially true of the fuel and gas systems on the boat.

Once all the panels are made then it will be time to take them to the boat and first fit them to ensure they are going to fit correctly to the boat before ordering the material to cover them.  So it is going to be a busy day cutting lots of plywood and marking out old panels and making new patterns for pieces that are missing.

Today was day one of getting the new panels cut out to the old panels and tomorrow it will be the day that they get their edges machined up and get a coat of varnish to seal the panels for the bunk tops and the floor panels/ inspection panels for the bilges in the main cabin.

It has been a busy week getting new panels cut and varnished and getting other jobs sorted along the way. So that next week the work can continue on the boat and get the fuel tank out of the boat and also start to paint the lockers out with fresh bilge paint and sort out the new bulkheads and make patterns for the ones that are missing.

Finally there is an end to the taking apart the boat?

At last it appears there is an end to the taking apart of the Princess 25. Just got to remove the old fuel tank out of the boat and the old fuel line to complete the job. Then will come the process of putting the boat back together once more. The biggest job will be to reline the cabin out with its vinyl covered panels which are going to be made from starch again as the old one's are not around any more.

But before any of that can be done, there will have to be some repairs to the window surrounds were there was damage to the surrounds when the old windows were removed.The new windows are going to build over the next few weeks and once they are done and the sidelining panels are made and refitted then the boat will once again be watertight in the cabin. That will the first stage done then the rest of the refit can start with the sort of of the water system and the wiring of the boat up to a modern safety standard and the other systems brought up to date at the same time.

Princess 25 refit.

Now it is time to start to get the wood and other gear ready to start rebuilding the cabin. Like with all jobs like a refit there are times when you have to get items to do jobs when you can not work on the boat. So given that today was one of those days it was a day spent going to collect items to do the interior of the boat and start to cut new panels to be fitted into the boat when the side and headlinings are made and covered.

The coming week at J-Star Boat Services

Over the coming week it is going to be a very busy time with three boats on the go. One in the workshop, one at Canvey Island and the another boat in Ipswich. The boats are all very different to each other and in need of very different skills to do the work on. One is having new planks fitted and that takes a special skill to cut wood to bend round a complex shape in the bow of a dinghy. The boat at Canvey Island needs the skills of carpentry to fit bulkheads and furniture, also to fit new wiring and pipework and pumps. The boat in Ipswich needs the skills of a painter to repaint the hull and interior of the boat as well as the yards of varnish work that needs to be sanded down and re-varnished.

Fruitful week with a lot done to all the boats that we are working on.

It has been a week of going two steps forward and one back with the restoration dinghy project. This is because having just finished off putting the final screws and nails in the first two full length planks it is time to take out the other damaged planks that need replacing as they have spilts and bits missing out of them. So it was back to grinding off the roves and punching out the old nails and removing the old planks in one piece so that they can be used for patterns for the new planks.

It also give the owner a chance to look over the underside of his dinghy to check out any problems with the bottom of the centrboard case and the general condition of the underside of the hull in general. Also at a late date give it a coat of primer to seal the bottom before painting the boat completely before taking it for its first sail after the work is completed.

The other boat that is being worked on at the moment is a Classic Princess 25 which is in need of a fair amount of TLC and rebuilding. The first jobs of the week was to clearer out the inside after first putting plywood blanks in the place of the windows that are out to be replaced. After the blanks were put in then it was the turn of the cabin to get cleared of the old gear the was laiding round the cabin. Removing parts that needed keeping for patterns and otyher that needed disposing of as they had seen better days and were in need of updated to present regulations.

Then I was able to get the wood for Mai-Star II's new cabin sides this week so that job can go ahead over the next few weeks and get the boat back in the water and sailing agaIN.

The project has begun and getting underway

 Here a few photos of the task ahead on the restoration of a classic Princess 25

  

A photo of the main cabin looking forward

 

 A photo of the engine room

 

 Another photo of the engine room

 

 Main Cabin looking aft towards the steering position

 

 The doorwayand toilet compartment

 Floor access to bilge

 Bilge access in forward end of cabin

 

 Galley area in need of a bit of TLC

 Bathroom sink unit in need of a bit of TLC

 Another photo of galley area

 Forward end of the main cabin looking at chain locker and water tank filler pipe

 Port side front bunk

 

 Steering position in need of a bit of TLC and revamping with new controls.

doorway

 Old fuel tank

 Locker under the galley sink

 light wiring hanging off the deck head

 Old water pump system this will get revamped with a new system.

 Two photos of the cabin windows boarded up to keep the weather out while working on the inside getting that back together.

 

The lid of the water tank before it is cleaned

 The inside of the forward water tank in a bit of a state, but it can and will be cleaned and made safe

 A photo of the port side of the forward bunk with the stickly back plastic removed

 The same on the starboard side before it was done.
  

 

This is a photo of the forward berth started to be cleaned of the old material and glue that has covered this up for years. 

Now some more planks coming out of the restoration as these were in a poor way.

The next set of short planks to come out of the boat these are just a few.

                                                Two on the Starboard side of the boat

 now there will be two on the Port side nce the planks are cut and the nails removed from the plank lands

There is the owner grinding off the roves off the old damaged planking.

 

Now there are two more planks out of the port side where they were spilt along the planks where the bilge stringer was fitted. These will be the last of the planks to come out and then once they are done the thwart stringers can go back in and the rubbing skates can go back on and then the deck fittings. 

New work for the coming weeks.

Over the next few weeks, J-Star Boats is going to be restoring a tried Princess 25 back to its former glory and back into commission. The main focus of the job is to go back to the shell of the boat and start again. This will involve a fair amount of pulling out of wiring, pipe work, electric pumps, cleaning out bilge areas and water tanks and even fuel tanks.

also the removing of old windows from the cabinsides and blanking these off while they are rebuild and the side linings are refitted.

more on this as the project progresses.

Summer offers from J-Star Boat Services

J-Star Boat Services are offering a time limited 20% discount offer on all refit work booked during June & July for the winter refit season. So if you need any work done over the winter then book it today to take advantage of this great offer.