This week at J-Star Boat Services, it is the end of some projects and the begining of new projects

This week it is the end of some long time projects and the start of new projects. The "Jasmine" is now finished and is now going back to the owner for him to do the painting and varnishing over the winter months. He will then being it back in the spring to have a new deck put on it and for the deck gear and mast refitted and rigging sorted out. Then put back in the water and ready to go sailing again.

The other projects that are coming to a close are the narrowboat refit on "Little Doris" until next year when the bedroom and bathroom are sorted out with new side and roof lining. Its owner like "Jasmine" owner wants to do the painting and varnishing themselves.

The Princess 25 refit is coming along well with new windows fitted and then the side and head linings can go in and the cabin will then take shape.

A new project that came in over the past week was a old Hardy Navigator 18 which is in need of a bit of TLC and possibly a little more to get it back on the water next year.

Also will be making a start on the New clinker dinghy this week, getting to grips with shaping the keel and shaping the stem and fitting the stem and apron to the keel. the sorting out the planking.

Princess 25 refit, the windows now going back in and making it look brighter inside.

The windows now going back in the boat . The time they are being fitted it is to ensure that the old holes are not to large or small and then repair the holes where necessary.

The first side completed dry fit and now ready to sort out any repairs necessary

Second side almost completed.

This photo shows the view out of the new windows which is a good feeling after looking at plywood blanks for the last few months.

This is the view out of ther port side, now the interior side lining panels have to be fitted and the windows sealed in.

Jasmine now all but completed this stage of the restoration and now it is up to the owner to finish off the paint and varnishing

This photo shows the outside of the hull as been varnished and the bottom as been sealed with underwater primer

This photo is of the starboard side after it as been given its first few coats of varnish and its first coat of underwater primer to protect the boat.

This photo is of the finished inside of the boat now with its thwart stringers in place and all of its now rThis is a photo the inside looking forward down the starboard side, now its up to the owner to finish it off and then he is coming back to get the deck renewed next year and the deck and rigging sorted out and so he can go sailing in her.enewed.

This photo looking aft and now it is ready for the owner to clean up the inside a little and paint and varnish the inside to bring it back to the same condition as the outside.

A second photo of the inside looking aft.

New windows in Princess 25 and the start of the outdrive overhaul.

This first photo is of the first new window going in the main cabin. It is dry fitted to make sure the sidelining are cut out to size of the new windows a.d to ensure that they make a good seal

 

 

This photo shows all the port side windows dry fitted and in place

 

This photo shows the starboard side windows going in place and being dry fitted.

 

This photo shows the good fit in the cabin sides on the starboard side

 

The same on the port side.

 

This photo shows the outdrive off the boat and before the outdrive over haul as started. One of the first jobs will be to remove the transom shield off the leg unit so that the pivot pins can get removed and renewed.

 

This photo shows the top of the transom shield and shows the rubber block is missing and in need of renewing and also the seized povit pin which will have to be removed before any major work can be done on the outdrive leg unit

 

This photo shows the old anode looking a bit past it best and will be replace just before the boat gets back in the water.

 

This photo shows the business end of the outdrive unit which is in need of a bit of TLC .

 

Princess 25 refit Window gelcoat repairs and other jobs

This photo shows the areas which are going to be repaired and reinforced to stop the window surround from breaking.

 

This photo shows the areas coated with the first of two coats of gelcoat

 The same was done to the side window areas where the same problem was incurred where the surround was damaged

 This phot shows the first of the bits of fibreglass matting applied to strenghen the weak areas of the window surrounds which had broken

 This photo show the same thing being done to the side window surround which will then be fibreglassed again to strengthen the area the the side panelling can get put in place and the windows replaced.

 This photo is of the cockpit screen to roof trims cleaned up and having their first of six coats of varnish applied then the cockpit windscreen can then be fitted back in place and the boat will start to take shape once more.

Feedback from people at the Essex Country Show.

Over the past weekend, the staff of J-Star Boat Services was exhibiting their latest new build, a wooden clinker dinghy designed by Wolstenholme Yacht Design. The staff at J-Star Boat Services will be building this dinghy over the winter at their workshop and will be featured on their weekly blog with updates of its progress over the coming months.

There was a fair amount of interest in the new build and the fact that we has a company use a mixture of modern and traditional tools and methods to do our work and keep old traditional ways a live in this modern world.

This week it will be back to our other work that we have scheduled with other clients and the dinghy will be progressed slowly over the next few months and will be ready for its new client in the spring for him and his family to use next year.

More work on the new dinghy

This photo shows the sheer line batten in place and the transom blank in place and now it is ready to mark off the plank width on the moulds

 This photo is from the stern looking forward showing the sheer line.

 The second part of the stem. The inner stem or apron as it is sometimes called streamed around its jig and left to cool down before being glued together.

 The second part of the stem now being glued together and left to set before removing it from its jig and cleaned up and shaped.

The second week work in the run up to us exhibiting at the Essex Country Show as been busy

The week as been busy with getting things sorted for the stand we have planned for at the Essex Country Show. Making units to show items that are used in modern boat building as well as some traditional tools that are still used in building wooden boat in this modern age. We will be exhibiting our new dinghy which we are building during the show and will show people who visit our stand how a traditional clinker dinghy is built and the skill needed to make a work of art. The first part of the build is done that of making the moulds for the planks to go round. then the work of marking out the plank widths and the marking out of the planks on to dumpy planks so that these can be transfered to the boards of timber from which we cut the planks out and fit to the keel and stem and tramson.

This week so far the staff at J-Star Boat Services have made the new outer part of the stem glued it up on its jig. Then it is the turn of the inner stem of apron as it is sometimes called to be glued up on its jig and finally the stern knee to have the same treatment and be glued up on its jig.

When this is done, then the parts can then be cleaned up and fitted to the front and back of the keel/hog on the stocks and then the hard work of putting the planks on the keel/hog and then round the moulds and then build the boat up form the keel to the top plank and then to fit the ribs and then fit out the boat.

The new build is getting underway and we will be exhibiting at the Essex Country Show on the 14th & 15th .

This photo shows the lower part of the keel being fixed to the building stocks before the upper keel or hog is fitted to it

 

This second photo shows the second half of the keel fitted and the mould stations fitted to the hog before the upper braces are fitted to the moul stations and the plank widths marked out on the moulds.

This photo shows the top cross braces in position and the braces ready to have the fore and aft braces fitted to hold the moulds in position while we fit the planking to the moulds as we build the new boat.

 

This new build will be on our stand at the Essex Country Show over the weekend of the 14th & 15th on Stand Demo 10, so pop along and take a look at the boat.

 

 

Today was spent doing the rounds of the suppliers for the new build and other jobs

Today the main job of the day was to go to the company's suppliers for different items, such as tables and chairs and notice boards for the Essex Country Show. Going to one timber merchant for wood for the stem of one boat and then off to another timber man to get the local timber for the new dinghy and some oak and larch for another boat. Then off to another suppler to get some leather for a newly restored pair of oars and the leather for a restored bowsprit. So it was a long day on the road getting the items together ready for the next stage of the yards' work load.

Then in the morning it is back to the workshop to build some cupboards to put items in for the Essex Country Show and other shows we will be attending over the next few months. 

Getting the keel planned to thickness and other jobs

This photo shows the marking out of the second part of the keel ready to be cut out of the seasoned oak plank

 

This photo shows the keel cut out of the oak plank and before it is planned down to thickness and edges trued up.

 

In this photo it shows the two halfs of the keel having been planned and edages trued up ready for putting on the building stocks when they are made.

 

This photo shows the other work in hand like sorting out the oars for a dinghy and the spars for another boat.

 

 

Other than the new build, there are a number of other jobs to do such as removing old planks out of a classic wooden yacht and an enterprise dinghy restoration to do. A Princess 25 to refit and a narrowboat refit to complete.

 

The first day of the new build of the dinghy.

This photo is of the station mould half patterns that are transfered to plywood patterns and then made into full size mould stations that will form the shape which the planks will bend round to make the hull of the dinghy.

 This photo is of the plan which sets out the thwarts and seats and centreboard case and other interior fittings

 This photo shows the mould station positions as well as the position of the slot for the centreboard.

 This photo shows the plywood patterns for the moulds

 This photo is of the mould stations on the plans

 This photo shows the measurements for thre stem and also the width of the keel and hog and the shape that they have to be on the stocks.

 This photo shows the keel being marked out on a plank of seasoned english oak .

 This photo shows the keel marked out in total in the oak plank.

This photo shows the keel just been cut out of the oak plank and ready for final cutting to shape before planning to thickness.

The new boat starts its life.

On Monday morning the new dinghy takes its first steps to be coming reality. It will take the form of marking out of the keel on a plank of seasoned English oak that was sourced from a local forest. Which has been seasoned for six months and is in just the correct conditon to take the shape of the keel of the new dinghy.

While this is being done the apprentice will start to build the stocks on which the boat will take shape. After this is done the apprentice will start to make patterns for the station moulds which the planks will be bend round. He will also be making the pattern for the lamiate stem as well as the pattern to make the transom and also the stern knee to support the transom on to the end of the keel.

Once the patterns are made then both myself and the apprentice will cut out the moulds from a good quality plywood and once the keel setup on the stocks with the centreboard slot cut out. Then five station moulds will be setup on the keel and the build can then start in earnest.

This new dinghy will be shown at the Essex Country show where people can see how this type of dinghy is constructed and can see the boat builder showing his skills to the people attending the show over the weekend of the 14th to the 15th of September.

The build will be photographed as it goes along on our blog page on our website www.j-starboatservices.co.uk under the heading daily blog and latest news. 

A new start for the Autumn at j-Star Boat Services

This week sees the start of the autumn season at J-Star with the addition of a new member of staff in the position of apprentice boat builder to help with the increase in workload of the company. Also to train a young person in the art of wooden and other types of boat building that is used in modern boat building.

Over the coming weeks and months J-Star will be building a new clinker stem dinghy for a long time client of the company and at the same time teach the young apprentice the methods used to construct a traditional clinker dinghy from plans to the finished boat.

At the same time we will be at the Essex Country Show on 14th to the 15th of September on Stand Demo 10 where people can see the first stages of construction of this new dinghy taking shape.

So over the next few months there are a number of projects underway and challenges both new and old to overcome so these are exciting times at J-Star so watc this space for our daily updates through our blog.