Floor boards made and the centre thwart dry fitted then varnished and the inside of the hull isflow coated

The floor boards are now made up and the turnbuckle is made and fitted to the centre batten which will hold the floor boards in place.

The centre thwart is now cut to length and dry fitted in position 

The centre thwart is now starting to get its first coat of thinned varnish along with the outboard pad and the rowlock blocks and when they are finished being varnished will be fitted to the dinghy 

The inside of the dinghy's hull being given its first coat of grey flowcoat 

Fitting together the launching tollery and when the dinghy is finished positioning the pads to fit the hull of the dinghy

Starting to make the floor boards for the Dinghy and also making the outer outboard pad

Making the floor boards for the dinghy before the inside of the dinghy is painted with grey flow coat 

The centre thwart blocks are now glassed in position and the blanks for the rowlock bases are made 

The first of the floor boards made up and just the ends to be shaped to the curve of the hull and the centre batten fixed in position and the turnbuckle fitted to hold the floor boards down in place.

The floor board pieces being set out ready to fix together

 

Busy times down at the boatyard and in the workshop

 As spring as just sprang then the boatyard and workshop go into overdrive with a number of jobs all coming together. The refit of the Hardy Pilot is well underway with the holes in the galley unit getting filled up with custom made panels to fill in the holes where a former owner had cut holes to fit door in the unit to use the area under the galley area for storage. Which the present owner wishes to return the boat to its former three berth layout. 

The Hardy Pilot is also having a new toilet bulkhead and doors which will be edged. The the head linings being recovered with the same material as the cabin sidelinings which have been glued in position over the weekend and the new Perspex cabin windows and rubbers have been fitted, they just need sealant putting between the rubber and the windows and the rubber and the cabin side and then the insert fitted to finish off that job. 

It as also had a new cabin floor fitted and glassed in place and just needs flowcoating when it as cured. So this Hardy Pilot is have a major refit to get it ready for the new season when it is possible to get out on the water in the summer. 

The8 ft. dinghy is coming along with the centre thwart being made  and the blocks epoxied in position which will then be glassed over and the thwart fixed to the glassed in blocks.

Starting to set out the floor board pieces and when the other pieces are machined up the floorboards will be then fixed together. 

Then theotherboats in and around the workshop and the boatyard can be worked on as well 

Fixing the Starboard Gunwale/ Rubbing Strake

The starboard gunwale / Rubbing strake starting to be fixed in position with copper nails and roves 

Once that all the nails and cliched in place the any of the hull which is above the gunwale/ rubbing strake will be sandeddown so that it is level with the top of the gunwale/ rubbing strake and then the whole thing will be cleared up andthe first coat of varnish will be applied to seal the surface 

 

Clearing the gunwales and getting the wood ready to steam and then bend it round the top edge of the dinghy

ensuring the top of the dinghy is clear of any obstructions and is ready to have the steamed wood bend round the top of the dinghy hull  

The first pair of gunwale/rubbing strakes ready to putin the steam box for an hour to make them flexible to bend round the hull 

The clamps at the ready 

The first pair of gunwales and rubbing strake steamed into position 

The second just about to go in the steam box so that they can be bend round on the port side

Now the second gunwale/rubbing is steamed into position, it is now time to let them cool off over night and then fix them in position with copper nails and roves after they are trimmed and fitted in position 

 

Hardy Pilot bulkhead and toilet doors cut and need trimming and then edging and the rubbing strakes and gunwales been started

The Hardy Pilot toilet Bulkhead and doors are now cut and will be edged with teak edging before refitting into the boat once the cabin and hull linings are refitted to the boat.

The hull carpets are now cut ready to be glued back in position and the small bulkhead panel is covered in the same hull carpeting as it was originally done. 

The gunwales and rubbing strakes are now down to their finished width and depth and will now have an routered edge put on the outer edges top and bottom 

The floorboards are being made up and just need the edges run over with a router to take the sharp edges off them before they are made up.

 

Setting out the floorboards and finally sealing the Forward and aft seats

Setting out the floorboards position in the bottom of the boat so that we can make up the floorboards 

There is going to be a good size area of floorboards as the bottom of the hull is fairly flat

The last of the fibreglassing is now done of the seats, so the seat are going to be part of the boat's buoyancy as well as seating within the boat. 

 

The seats are now getting glassed in position and while the fibreglass is almost cured cut back to a neat line

Fibreglassing in along the top edge of the both the forward and aft seats 

While the fibreglass is curing it is possible to cut along the edge of the fibreglass to cut a neat edge along the top of the seats 

Once all the fibreglassing is done on the seats the fibreglass will get a coat of grey flow coat to seal the surface and make the seat watertight.

fitting the keel infill and outboard pad and setting up the forward and aft seats

In order to fix the floor boards down in position, there was a timber infill fixed in the keel channel which was epoxied in position.

The outboard inner pad shaped and fixed in position with thickened epoxy 

The forward seat being set up in position with the aid of a chock at the base and leveled up 

The last part of the infill glassed over to seal in the infill

The outboard pad being glassed over and then the aft seat can be put in position using the same method as the forward seat with a chock temporarily fix to the infill, so while it is glassed in position it will not move out of position 

The aft seat like the forward seat masked up ready for the seat to be glassed in position and then the matting can be trimmed  

 

Fitting the ash inner keel and shaping the outboard pad

Fitting the infill for the keel to which the floorboards will be held down when it is glassed over and the turnbuckle is made to hold the centre of the floorboards

Shaping up the outboard pad which will be fixed in position with epoxy and then glassed over before the aft seat in glassed in place.