Making a start on rebuilding the cockpit, just first got to take it apart

The old cockpit as it is at the moment

Stern tube and propeller shaft out of the yacht so one less part in the way.

The main bulkhead which will need rebuilding while doing the cockpit work

The seat bulkhead one minute its there the next it is gone

Now even the framework as gone as well

Let the jigsaw puzzle rebuilding begin, now I have some of the bits the rest will fall into place

The framework and its assorted items on the aft deck

The cockpit floorboards which will be repaired or replaced depending on their condition

Removing the old stern tube and fittings

Once we got the stern tube out of the yacht the first job was to clean up the propeller shaft and see how worn it was to see if it could be build up or a new shaft making.

The outboard end of the Stern tube where it broke off in the outboard end fitting

The inner end of the stern tube still in good condition 

The outboard end of the stern tube, aka the cutlass bearing showing the broken bits of stern tube in position, however one major problem with this fittings is the waterways to cool the bearing are filled and blocked so the job they are there for is not able to do its job

A quick clean up and new packing and bearing for the outboard fitting and they will be good for many years ahead.

A view round the J-Star Marine Services workshop and the yard

The nerve centre of the business the small office space, just need a couple of plywood walls and a couple windows to make a better place for the office staff to work in ordering materials and doing the necessary paperwork to keep the business running   

One of the woodworking workbenches as well as a woodwork lathe  and a second 

bench with the thicknesser and overhead saw.

The other woodworking bench and the tablesaw 

One of the three boats we have in the yard at the moment under going different levels of refit and restoration on them for their different owners.

The first Boat is a 35 year old Hardy 25 in for a major refit with a complete electrical equipment upgrade and general interior and exterior  refit and up dating.

The second boat is a 45 year old Finesse 24 in for a major refit which includes have new main decks and coachroof deck  and some other smaller jobs done 

The third boat is a 1930's classic gaff cutter which is in for a major restoration and is a project boat for the apprentices to work on to gain knowledge of older types of construction of older craft that are still sailed by owners in this part of the country and well as other parts of the country which this company does work for when asked to travel to do this type of work.

Final a dinghy which the company is building when it is not working on the bigger boats and is a good boat to help apprentices learn the skills of building clinker boats 

Continuing work on the Classic yacht restoration and putting the Hardy 25 battery locker back together as it was when it left the hardy marine yard

The cabin front beam end of the port side spilt as the iron knee connecting to the gunwale was trying to be removed. It is not a major problem as the  whole area needs rebuilding and the cabin side and front need raising up about 2 inches to line up with the rest of the deck camber and the water to flow off the decks and not to pond as it does at the moment.

Some major reconstruction needed in this area of the yacht where the chain plates and deck beams come together and the major loading comes together.

Need to lengthen the rib to the deck as this one was put in short of the deck the top plank is un-supported 

A clean up needed in the bow and in the general area of the bow so that it can be seen what is needed to be removed and replaced  

One of the bunk front bulkheads that need to come out so that the work on the deck beams can continue 

Finally the battery locker is looking more like it should do, a little bit compact, however more like it was when it left Hardy Marine in the early 1980's when she was build. Although the battery charger was not standard when the boat was build it was where they were position if it was in there as standard. The only bit of equipment left to put in the locker is the 240 volt fuse box for the shore power. Once that is in position then the shore power circuit can be installed. 

The restoration of this classic yacht is now getting underway again

There is a lot of dis-mantling to do to get to the major parts that need working on, this part is the top end of one of the main frames which the chainplate is fixed too. 

One of the major jobs that needs doing this time during this restoration is the removal of the doubled up and in some cases more ribs put in for whatever reason, who knows why.

  

These deck beams have the correct camber 

This deck beam is misshaped over the years it as been in position, one of the reasons could be that when the yacht was changed from keel stepped mast to deck stepped mast there was not enough support under the mast and the beam

Covers off and getting to work while the sun shines 

Starting refit the instruments head units and navigation light mast and other jobs on the Hardy 25

Now it is the turn of the head unit for the windspeed head unit to be fitted to the wheelhouse roof next to the navigation light mast, the other Ariel's to fit on top of the wheelhouse roof are the VHF ariel and the TV ariel. 

Soon the instruments will be all wired up and it will be time to have a systems check and calibrate the instrument the boat is recommissioned. 

This space is now getting filled up with the batteries for the engine starting and the domestic systems on the boat and the battery charger and the shore power control box. 

The varnishing on the finesse 24 cabin sides and coaming is coming along well.and other jobs

The owner is getting the coats of varnish on the cabin sides and coamings and is building up the coats so that Simon can get on with laying the new fore cabin roof and make repairs to the main cabin roof and the deck beams.

The last time these cabin sides possibly looked as good was when she was originally build forty five years ago

With a good sander and time the cabin sides and coamings have come up well 

P.S. the owner also removing the propeller to get ready to remove the outer cutlass bearing on the outboard end of the stern tube as it is worn out and there is too much movement in the bearing to leave in place. Now the propeller is removed the owner can now go about removing the old bearing and have a new bearing fitted into the original outer casing and then refitting it to the yacht once the job is completed.

Other work done today was getting the Hardy 25 navigation light and radar reflector mast base fitted back on the deck and sorting out the wiring for the light and ordering a new anchor light to go on the mast and then sorting out how and where to fit the TV Ariel to the mast as well as the wind speed and direction mast unit as well. 

While this was going on the company apprentice was put to work on the work's classic yacht to start on the major repairs that need done to get this yacht basck in the water for next spring. 

Today was all about wiring up systems and checking through wiring circuits

Most of today was spent wiring up old systems and checking wiring circuits to see which systems were working and which were not and checking the reasons why and re-running new wire through parts of the boat which needed doing  where the old wiring had past it being able to run correctly.

The rest of the day was spent running new wiring through the boat for new equipment which is being fitted to the boat, such as wind speed and direction system and forward viewing sonar/ fish finder and a new VHF radio with builtin GPS. Then on top of that a TV for the owner children to watch when they are moored up for the night. A other new addition to the boat is a large solar panel to keep the batteries topped up and finally a shower in the toilet compartment  which will be heated by both the engine when away from the shore power and can be heated by shore power when in marinas. 

So tomorrow it is going to be another day of sorting and fitting new and old systems and getting the systems to talk to each other where the systems are set up too.

The three stages of rebuilding the steering console with the new upper console in position

The new upper console in position without the new instruments in position, it is however fixed in position 

The new instruments in position just need wiring up to the switch panel and the circuit testing to ensure the system is working correctly.

The lower console temporarily in position while the rest of the wiring is re-connected and then the console will be permanently fitted back in position, then the steering system will be re-made and connected up.

A lot of the work today as been behind the two consoles, so although it looks like very little as been done there as been a lot of wires re-routed through the boat and new wires run through the boat for new equipment to be fitted next week.

Fitting upper instrument console and making a start on rewiring the boats instruments

Having made the upper instrument console it is time to fit it in position and set about fitting the instruments to the console and running the wires through boat to the different areas.

The main power supply for the instruments 

The buss bar and bit more robust than the old buss bar that was there before

A clean and tidy set up and not a lot of redundant wiring clouding the area  

from equipment that as long since gone 

The upper console with its instruments fitted in position, just need fixing in position once the wiring as been run through to the power supply and switch panel.