The forepeak area of the picnic boat now cleared of the old top and bulkhead and the fibreglass matting, now ready to rebuild the area for the fuel tank.

All the old rotten plywood removed and just the fibreglass matting to remove and the clean up the area 

Cutting back the fibreglass matting with a diamond edge multi tool blade to cut it back as close to the hull as possible to cut down on the amount of grinding needed to flat the surface back to the original hull surface.

All the fibreglass matting removed and ground back to the hull  

Time to sort out the missing starboard seat stringer that needs to be replaced  to support the two remain thwarts

 

Dismantling the forward locker and changing it into a fuel tank locker and building a fore deck over the space

Now that all the old rotten plywood is removed it is just a matter of cutting back the old fibreglass matting and grind the hull flat again and working out the height of the fuel tank and glassing supports for the base of the fuel tank and then glassing in a couple of supports to hold down the fuel tank below the new foredeck  

Before any work is done we have to insect the inner apron to see if it needs replacing 

The port side as a thwart support that goes to the bow however the starboard support is missing 

The starboard support rail is missing as is therail all the way along the starboard side.

 

Starting to get the engine aligned with the propeller and bolting in the engine irons and the framework for the side benches ready to panel withmarine plywood

Now I have a piece of stainless shaft it is  to align the engine and once in the correct position will be able to drill and bolt the engine irons in position and then continue the work on the engine installation 

The engine is close to the correct position at the gearbox coupling, just got to adjust the forward end to get the forward position in the correct place and then drill and bolt the forward end inplace.

The engine is a close fit in the area between the aft and middle thwarts and the exhaust elbow is close to the forward part of the aft  thwart

The framework now ready to be clad with marine plywood 

 

Picnic boat aft lockers and engine irons getting marked off and ready to drill out so that the engine can start to be fitted

Continuing on from the last update the verticals are now fixed in so the framework is now strong for being stood on. The next thing to do is panel the fronts and make the panels for the top with lift out lids to store fenders and warps in the lockers when the boat is in use

The seating area is much increased to make the best use of this area of the boat

Marking off the fixing position for the bolts where they go through the engine beds 

The engine back in the boat while the engine irons are drilled. Then once the irons are drilled they will be bolted on the engine flexible mounts and the engine will be bolted onto position.

 

Starting to make the side benches for the motor launch

Now that the aft bench bulkhead has been fibreglassed in place, it is time to make a start on building the framework for the side benches. Fitting the upper rail to the same curve as the side of the hull as requested by the owner has he wishes to keep the same curves throughout the inside of the boat. 

Clamping down the second rail into position and marking out the width and depth the aft end of the rail needs to be set in position and the same at the forward end 

The forward end will have a block fixed to the thwart on its aft face and a cutout made to fix the forward end in place.

Once these rails are in position then the lower rails will be made and fixed in position and the vertical posts with be made to fit between the upper and lower rails to give the framework its strength and the plywood panels will have some where to be fixed too. 

 

Fitting the aft locker transom locker top beam

Having glued up the wood to make up a wide beam to set it up square to the bulkhead at the front of the locker it was time to shape the aft face 

Setting up thebeam to be square with the forward bulkhead of the locker it was time to measure  the gap and set the sliding bevel to the correct angle to ensure the aft face was at the same angle as the transom  

Because of the inner transom pad the area in the centre of the beam had to be cut out first to get that part fitted first before doing the rest of the beam

Having made a series of saw cuts across the beam at the correct angle and depth then chiseled out the waste material until the correct angle and depth was achieved  

Once the correct angle was planed on the aft face of the beam it was screwed down at the ends in to the thwart stringers and thickened epoxied to the transom.  

 

Next Time I go to Chance , There is going to be a lot of work done to lighten the boats weight.

 Having made a start the last time as was up at Chance. I have made inroads into reducing the weight within the boat by removing the paneling from both ends of the boat which was stopping air circulating around the inside of the hull. 

This dismantling job as high lighted the position of the original aft cabin berths and also in the fore cabin the position of the forward heads in the fore cabin with its single berth. 

It would appear that the fore cabin was laid out as a single crew cabin with its own fore hatch and ladder. 

After removing the modern berth arrangement in the aft cabin it appears that this cabin had to single berths and a small chest of drawers or a double berth to starboard and a small settee to port. When I am able to get hold of a set of plans for Chance I will be able to be sure of her lay out and put her back the way she was originally build. 

The largest job to come is the removal of the engines out of the boat. At present there is no visible way of getting the engines out of the boat other than removing the wheel house roof and craning them out that way. So when the time comes it is going to be a major job in its own right to remove her engine. 

Once the engines are removed then I will be able to remove the fuel and water tanks  which from dipping the tanks will need replacing with new tanks. 

Next Time at Chance I will take photos of the engine compartment and the work needed to get the engines and tanks out of the boat

Once all the loose gear is off the boat it will be possible to transport her down to my Boatyard in Essex to continue the restoration. 

The job on the interior removal of the cabin furniture to gain access to the hull

These next two phots show the area of the interior which will be carefully dismantled to gain access to the hull so that the hull fixings will be exposed and will be able to be re=fixed in the same way they were when Chance was built in 1948 

The major change in this area is to remove the diesel cooker and re-instate the cabinet work that was here when she was build and put the cooker back in the galley area on the port side where it was originally positioned 

The port side of the main cabin is where there was a heater to heat the main cabin, There will be a heater placed there, however it will not be the only form of heating in the boat when she is restored as the there will be blown warm air heating to the whole boat.

This whole area will be re-build to look has close to its original layout and any changes that were done over the years removed and the interior design reconstructed 

The foredeck hatches will have to be rebuild as the forward one is falling to pieces and is nailed down. So I will have carefully drill out he nail in the upper part of the hatch and carefully remove the hatch top and the base and take them back to my workshop to rebuild the hatch once more 

The same is true of the galley and main cabin hatches, these to have been nailed down and will need careful drilling out of the nails holding the hatches down before ant work can be done on these beautiful hatches, They just elegant skylight hatches and show off Chances' beautiful lines  

The position of Chances' main mast tabernacle which along with Chances; mizzen mast tabernacle will be re-instated towards the enf=d of the restoration when she will be re=rigged as the Ketch rigged motor sailer e=she once was 

The vast foredeck which will be filled with the mossing deck fittings she once had when she was last in commission  

  

Major clean out and able to see the hull and know how much work is needed in the ends of the boat

As I said last night I would post the before and aft photos of the fore cabin 

Firstly the before phot

The pile of rotten and damaged panelling 

The after photo with the panelling gone and the gull able to air circulating round the inside of the hull for the first in over 20 years  

The next area to get the wood work removed to get air to the hull 

The aft cabin has had the berth removed to find the old position of the original berth design behind the more modern athwartships berth which is not the one Chance was built with in 1948  

The original framework and paint work showing how it was originally made up 

Major rebuilding needed in the aft end with a completely mew transom to be made and deck repairs needed for the davits can be placed on their original position 

 

Dismantling the aft cabin berths to find the original berth design and a photo of the fore cabin before it was dismantled

The aft cabin berths now half removed yo expose the original berth design underneath the berth design put in by a later owner

part of the original framework which is going to be re-instated later in the restoration

one of the original davit sockets still bolted in the boat

the steering cable tubes for the steering wires to run through

a good clean up in the aft cabin once the remaining wood is removed and a temporary floor is laid in place of th original floor boards which be cleaned and repaired as necessary

the fore cabin has it was this morning will be posting a photo tomorrow to show what it is like now