All in a days' work at the boatyard

Shoring up the planking to get it back and keep it in place while refitting the new ribs in the port side where the ribs were all broken on the turn of the bilge.

Burned the paint off  the transom to find there is a lot of work to be carried out at the edges of the transom and along the top.

Finally got the second plank steamed on to the boat after the first one was found to be faulty and having to wait for a new piece of wood and the time to steam in on the boat. 

The cabin sides are finally in place and glued and screwed in place and putting a few homely pieces on the cabin sides.

The front of the boat is now the tool store while doing the work on the boat.

The steam box in position  ready to steam both the plank in place and also the new ribs as well.

A producive day with major steps forward.

Yesterday was a productive day in that it got the new cabin sides in place and finally glued and sealed in place. Also the hull on the starboard side was finally had all the paint removed and the hull sanded back to bare wood and one of the original scribed waterlines was find two and half inched below what was the one that was found before.

Having found this waterline the paint was stripped down to this mark, The one I was using appears to be one the was marked into the boats' hull when the engine was fitted and seeing as this is no longer going to be there the waterline is now being lowered to its original position.

The new cabin sides are this time fixed in a way that the original one should have been fitted. That is to say fixed to the carlins and not sitting on the side decks and then screwed to a covering board which itself was fixed to the carlin. The problem with the first way was when people moved down the side deck the joint between the side deck and the cabin side would move and the whole joint would leak. At least time the chances are it will not happen.

The next job on the list of boat jobs is to put back the ribs that are missing and put the final plank in the bottom on the port side. Then fit the deck beams on to the cabin sides and then fit the cabin roof so it to will appear as a old fashion roof from the inside , however from the outside it will be a modern roof made from a sheet of marine plywood which will be sheaved in epoxy matting and epoxy making a very strong roof.

So all in all it as been a good weeks' work on the boat and now there is a light at the end of the tunnel and a finishing line that appears to be sight.

The new cabinsides are now back in place and ready to start work on the deck beams.

This photo show the last part of the cabinsides now in place and ready to be fixed in place.

This photo shows the starboard side jointed into the cabin front.

 and the port side too. Now it is a matter of getting the corner pieces cut to length and fitted to try the whole lot together.

This is a major step forward to getting the new cabin roof / deck back in place. Now that the cabin sides are back in place. It will be a matter of cutting down the cabin sides to the level of the cabin front and then fitting the deck beams back into the top of the cabin sides as they were before. But before this is done the four corner pieces have to be made up and fitted and then the whole lot will have to come out and be given a thin coat of varnish and then the corners glued together and the cabin sides will be set on sealant where it is fixed to the carlins.

Another busy day ahead.

Another busy day ahead with work to be done on the planking, namely the refastening of a number of nails on a few old ribs and a few fixing on a few of the grown frames where the planks have moved off the frames. These have made steps in the planking so it looks more like a clinker than a carvel planked hull. So with a bit of careful jacking up back into place and re-fastening it should be a lot better.

With the help from my wife, she will be doing some burning off of the old paint on the starboard side and then some sanding on the inside. The list of jobs will soon be got through.

Another job to be done today will be moving the filler cap for the water tank and the making of some locker bases for the cabin lockers so that more of them can be used for storage, as on any small boat this is of a short supply at the best of times and Mai-Star II is no different to any other boat.

Busy day on Mai-Star II

A large gap between the stern post and the inner knee, most of this will go when the boat is back in the water and a couple of through bolts are put in the stern post and the two are bolted together.

 

 

The new two bilge pump outlets dry fitted.

 

The two outlets from the outside

 The port side all back to bare wood and the started to be sanded down ready to have work done on the hull.

 A head on photo before and after and showing the waterline being change as the weight in the boat is now changed.

 The hull now started to be sanded back ready to have the work done on the hull.

Busy week ahead

This week's job list includes getting the hull of Mai-Star II cleaned back to bare wood and then the ribs fitted and then the hull can be faired up. The cabin sides will get fitted and glued together after fixing to the carlins.

Once they are in fixed in place the cabin roof deck beams can be refitted and the cabin roof can be fitted which this time will be made up out of two lays. One of T& G and then covered in 4mm marine plywood and the covered in epoxy matting and then painted with anti slip deck paint.

Another job to this week is to get the new deck on the Enterprise Little Mai and get her back on the water for the summer so I can go sailing with my son at the weekends.

The next week is going to be busy getting the boats ready for Easter and thev weeks ahead.

The next week should bebusy as there are a number of boats to get ready for Easter. The Enterprise dinghy will be getting its new deck on after the new front bulkhead is glassed in and sealed. Then the deck will go back on and then the long job of varnishing the new deck and the inside of the hull and then the outside of the hull will be painted and the boat rerigged and all the deck fittings will be put back on. Once the Enterprise is done, the Mai-Star II will get its planking sorted and the new cabin sides will be fitted and the new roof will be fittied after the deck beams are fitted back and this time the ends will be fitted so they can not come adirft like them did before. Then the hull can be cleaned off back to bare wood and faired up and filled and then repainted. Then the new cabin sides and the rubbing stakes and the toe rails can all be varnished. Once that all done then the boat can be re-rigged and the sails set up.

Busy week with lots of little jobs and not so little jobs either started or finished.

This week has been busy with a lot of little jobs being finished and a number of bigger jobs either started or re-started. Got the old GRP dinghy cleaned up and polished and re-painted as necessary and taken down the boatyard ready to be launch next week. Also moving the Hardy 18 to its new mooring and so the owner can get off and on his boat without any problems. Finished leathering up the spars so that they do not wear when the sails are set and rubbing along the rigging. Did a bit of work on the Enterprise dinghy, filling the screw holes on the hull and also the little holes left in the deck beams and gunwales from the old nails and screws from the old deck.

Also had time to get some work done on Mai-Star II and start to get the new cabin sides into position and start to fix them in place. Then go and do a bit of own boat tuition with a boat owner on his new boat. 

Giving the old dinghy a bit of TLC

Today's jobs are giving the old dinghy a bit of TLC and a coat of paint on the bottom and good compounding on the hull and then a coat of paint on the inside both on the topsides of the hull and then giving the floor a fresh coat of anti slip paint and then taking it to the boatyard to put in the water for the start of the new season. Once that done then turn my attention to the Enterprise and Mai-Star II and get them sorted out.

This photo is of the dinghy from died ahead show one side has been compounded and the other is yet to be done

 

This photo is of the bottom being antifouled

 Another photo of the bottom having been antifouled

 

This photo showing the boat all finished on the outside

 

Another photo this time from the port side

 

This photo shows the inside topsides having been given a fresh coat of paint and just the floor to be done then the boat will be ready to go afloat agan for the season.