Tuesday 18 November 2014

Life of a Boat Builder Part Two

The first Autumn at the boatyard was a shock to the system, The boatyard had a fleet of hirer boats ranging from small dinghies, half deckers motor launches and six motor cruisers.

As these boats finished the season, they were taken to pieces bit by bit and cleaned from top to bottom. I mean what I say, every little part of the boat that could be removed was removed and washed by hand with washing up liquid and hosed down and then left to dry and then stacked up inside the boat for the winter. This was only done after the inside of the boat was washed down and cleaned until you could eat your dinner out of the bilges of the boat. They had to be that clean and the boss would have no of way.

He had to do it when he himself was an apprentice and he saw it has a good way of showing that if you kept the boat clean and well looked after the chances that the boat would rot from the inside out would be greatly reduced. It also gave you an understanding of the way the boats were constructed and any possible places that rot may start if it was not looked after this way.

This job was done to everyone of their fleet of boats no matter how large or small it was. The experience was one I will never forget and it is one that has paid dividends over the years.  Once this was done to all their fleet of boats the same was done to the company's client;s boats as well which we had at the boatyard for winter storage.

This job would last for about two to three weeks, then came a mixture of repairs to the fleet of boats or to the client's boats, or if we had a new build to do then, part of the workforce would do the fleet repairs and the other part would get to help with the new build, This could be a new fishing boat or a dinghy or in some cases a my motor launch.

So the first winter was an education in how wooden boats of different shapes and sizes were repaired and how this boatyard worked and the people who ran it.  

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