The vast range of marine services we have on offer at J-Star Marine Services

From traditional wood boat building to modern boat construction  

Repairs to boats that major de-construction done to them. In this case rebuilding the centreboard case and strengthening up pivot point for the centreboard pin which was under spec before. The next job isto some major grinding of the inside of the hull round the centreboard slot in the boat before carefully re-building the lamination's to refit the centreboard case back in its original position and once it is in position re-enforce the sides of the centreboard from the side loading on the centreboard case.     

The long term refit of the Morgan Giles 30 which will be going out in to the yard so other boats waiting to come in the workshop can get their work done 

The cold moulded speed boat is now ready to be sprayed so it can also be removed out of the workshop and turned over and the deck and the engine can be fitted so it too can get back on the water 

We have apprenticed trained boat builders who can restore even the tidiest of classic craft back to their former glory

We even mould our own class of classic grp dinghy 

The Mai Star Class dinghy is now almost finished apart from small items

The centreboard is now fitted and just  a few more coats of varnish and a pair of quarter knees and a rudder to make.

Now complete with a pair of traditional oars  

The centreboard just needs to befitted with the fiction pad on the front face of the centreboard to keep it in its position when rowing or sailing 

Looking more like the Mai class dinghy  that was planned for as the tender for Mai Star II

Because it is going to be working dinghy basic fitting to be fitted to this boat, However, any of Mai Star Class will be able to be fitted with bronze fittings  

Fitting the Rowlocks to the Mai Star Class dinghy, getting one step closer to its maiden voyage

Marking out and masking up the new varnished gunwales and sheer strake

Cutting the first part of the socket for the rowlock plate to sit in

The first of the two plates fitted

The first rowlock now fitted, just the second rowlock to fit and then just the bow ring to fit on the top of the stem 

Short half deck beams and the amount of wasting on some of the nails on Mai Star II

The side deck half deck beams now out of the boat and labelled up. Keeping these as patterns for the new deck beams 

Looking a bit worse for weather, however, they have been in place for over 70 years, so they done their job.

They were half dovetailed into the carlin and the top of the beam shelf. 

All the dovetails were different, however, when they go back in they will be either the same as each other or as close to it as possible 

One of the frame nails that came out of the boat, this is the worse nail, However, seeing as this is going to be a major restoration of the boat, there is going to be a drawing of  a number of other frame nails to see if it is the same all over the hull.

Plans for the weeks ahead

This coming week it is going to be a spilt between the Cornish Crabber restoration and Mai Star II's restoration. The Cornish Crabber restoration is starting to put items back together, such as the deck beams and the centreboard case. The main part to get refitted to move the crabber project ahead is the re-instating of the centreboard case as all the other interior fixtures and fittings are based off its position in the boat. So until it is fitted back in the boat the project can not go ahead. So the main job on the boat this coming week will be the re-glassing in of the case after grinding back hull in the bottom of boat where the centreboard was cut out by a previous owner who was going to change the boat into a shallow draft fixed keel yacht. That project as been scrapped by the present owner who wishes to return it back to how it was originally build.

On the Mai Star II restoration project, The start as been made on removing the damaged and broken frames and ribs on the port side forward of the mast position which at sometime in the past as been damaged. The next job in the boat is to take the old interior out and then remove the cabin superstructure off the boat and rebuild the cabin sides and front before refitting after all the deck structure is rebuild and the cabin structure can be refitted on to new deck structure. With the cabin and deck structure out of the way, it easier to sort out the frames and ribs that need replacing without anything the way. This restoration is going to be a keel to cabin top and from stem to stern restoration and replace everything that is in any way sub standard. So that's the plan for the near future.

Making a start on the major restoration of Mai Star II

This photo is of the fore peak of the yacht, On the port side it was inspected and find that all but one  of the ribs and and two of the frame needs renewing. The ribs were either doubled or tripled up because of damage she had earlier in her life. The frames are either broken of rotten at the top .

Down both side decks the half beams between the beam shelf and the carlins have been removed and marked up from the position they came out starting from the stem back as far as the aft cabin bulkhead. The the carlins and the infills around the cockpit have been removed and marked up in the same manner. 

One of the frame tops that as seen better days and will be removed and replaced with a new piece of oak as it was originally build with back in 1939.

The start as been started on the port side as it is the easier side to start on and is the side with the most damage as much of the starboard side appears to have faired better over the years. However, as my former apprentice and myself start to get to grips with this project we are sure to find more problems to solve along the way. We think it is going to take at lease 18 months to complete the project and get her back into sailing condition once more. However, as the project progresses the will be updates as we going along over the coming months. 

Starting to make up the new strengthen pads for the centreboard pin

Setting out the area which needs to be re-enforced to take the weight heavy centreboard which damaged the centreboard case 

First job is to clean up the area around the centreboard pivot and then fix the new pads to thecentreboard case and then glass over thepads to make them part of the centreboard case

The new pivot bearing which will be fitted to the centreboard once the pads are glassed into position 

The marine plywood pads being glued together to make them the correct size to fit the new bearing into once these are glassed on to the case

The Rib boat repair finished just need to paint the Antifouling paint

The repair before it was started on at the beginning of the week  

The hole was repair by re-gelcoating the hole in the hull and then relaying the matting back to the original spec

A new watertight inspection hatch fitted should it be necessary to get under the floor in the future 

A coat of underwater primer to seal the surface of the hull before antifouling the bottom with hard powerboat antifoul paint 

Next repair, this time a hole punched in the bottom by a mis-positioned roller on the trailer

A small rib in for a repair to its rib bottom which was damaged the last time it was out on the water 

Firstjob is to cut an inspection hatch in the top of the rigid bottom so that it can be repaired from the inside

The engine in need of servicing while at the yard 

The repair needed to the bottom 

A mixed bag of work this week

A new tool to help putting wood through the thicknesser and wood cut on the bench saw, it will makelife a lot easier to cut and shape larger pieces of wood 

Gluing up new deck beams for the Cornish Crabber so we can get ahead with the refit of the foredeck and cabin of the boat.

Thecentreboard case already to go back in the boat once the hull part of the grinding is done and the centreboard case can be glassed back into position. 

The plate needs a light girt blasting and then repainting before its installation  

TheMai Star Class dinghy is getting a fresh coat of marine varnish.

The dinghy mould is ready to get its hull laid up in the mould 

making new deck beams for the Cornish Crabber

Bolting down the blocks on the deck beam jig 

Dry run to make sure the blocks in the correct position

Sorting out the clamp position and number needed to do the job

Plastic sheet to stop the glue stick the beam to the jig  

Glued up and now left tocure over night 

A new tool to make working on the bench saw and any other machine that needs the wood supporting while going through the machine