Continuing the fuel tank installation and now just need to fix the base down and fibreglass into position

Setting up at the right height 

Make a plywood pattern to the correct shape and size to make the fuel tank base

Cut the plywood base roughly to size 

The cut out the hole for the fuel tap and sump drain in the plywood base 

Just a bit of trimming and the base can be fixed and fibreglassed into position 

 

Starting to fit fuel tank in bow

Set out the position for the fuel tank with a couple temporary beams to work out height and how far forward the tank can be positioned in the bow 

Just setting up a spline to check the deck camber to see how much of a camber the deck beams need to have in them

The position to the will be finalized once the tank beams are fitted along with the plywood shelf is fitted and glassed in position. 

 

It is almost 2 weeks on from the operation and feeling better every day

 This coming Monday it will be 2 weeks since I had my emergency surgery. Everyday I am feeling better in myself although having to come to terms with restrictions on how much I can do on a day to day basis. So I am trying to employ some short term staff to get the ball rolling again so I can get the cashflow running again. Like any business cash flow is king, no cashflow no business.

So on Monday morning it is back to the new normal for me, Get other people to do the heavy work while I sort the lighter duties around the yard and workshop. Doing some light bench work which does not involve any heavy lifting, This way I will be able to keep myself motivated and on the ball.

Some friends are helping at the moment to get things sorted as best as possible, however, I do need some experienced boat builders to get through the backlog of work in the yard and workshop so that I can see a clear way through and start to get my business back on its feet.  

How my life has changed in the course of a week.

It is amazing how your life can change in a matter of days and your view on life can change and your priorities  shift. 

This time, last week I had a quiet Saturday after a busy week at work doing a number of jobs on my clients boats over the course of the week and was looking forward to a quiet weekend at home with the family and planning our next trip up to Chance to continue with her restoration.  Over the month or so my family with the help of my brother John had been getting on well with dismantling the furniture on the inside of Chance. Having cleaned much of the aft cabin and forecabin back to the hull  apart from the main bulkheads between the cabins which keep Chance in her correct shape. 

Much of the galley area had also been removed and so had much of the aft heads and the engineering room. Also 3/4 of the internal pig iron ballast had been removed at this point in time. 

This left just the remains of the locker in the galley area and the small amount cabinet work in the aft heads to remove then make a start on the  main saloon. This would leave the cockpit to do. This being the biggest challenge, the removal of the engines and the tankage in the engine compartment under the wheelhouse floor. 

Then life took a curve ball. Last Sunday night life was turned upside down in a way I did not see coming.  I felt a little under the weather thinking it was just that I had push myself a bit during the previous week. Little did I know that the next few hours that I was going to go into my local area general hospital for emergency surgery  for a strangulated hernia.    Because of my age and other health issues the surgeon laid it out on the line. If I do not operate on you now in the next few hours you will die as you will die of blood poisoning. However, because of you underlaying heath issues you have a 50/50 chance of coming through the surgery. 

So I took the way that gave me the only option to  survive. Thankfully I am still here to be writing this blog to you my patrons. It is good to be alive and still in the game, however with a different view on life and work  in general. 

In the weeks to come it is going to be a time of re-evaluating life's priorities and offloading the rubbish around ones self's especially at work and making plans for the future. 

The main plan is to clear as much of the work in my yard as possible by employing boat builders to get the jobs in hand down to a   manageable amount so that when I am back on my feet I can do more supervisor work until I can get back to a place where I feel able to get back to work. This is a the plan for my future. 

The restoration of  Chance will be put on hold for a couple of months while I sort out my  yard and workshop so that there is room for the boat to be back here in Essex. 

So over the next few weeks there is going to be a lot of planning on how to get the ball rolling and get get on my feet and get my yard up and running again.  

What a couple of days I have had crisscrossing the country from south to north and east to west

  What a day, today has been travelling across the country from one side to the other side. Starting on the east side of the country and driving over the Pennines to the west coast. 

Yesterday after a very tiring day driving up the country from my home in the south east of the country in North East Essex. Because of a car crash on the one of the major north to south roads in the country I was using to get to my brother's home and the fact the crash was between the  two slip roads  I could use to take a different route to my brother's home. That Life,  Having had a good nights rest I set off to Chance to get a few things sorted and clean up round the boat.  Namely cover up the cooker and the toilet which were  not covered up properly when I had to leave last time because of the problems with my Transit van. The clutch problem which was to be repair this last week. It was repaired but then failed after a short while and now back to renting a car to keep working.  However, that is a story for another day when I am not so stressed. 

I did get to Chance this morning to find her in good order with the covers I put over her still in place and doing their job of keeping the rain and weather off the deck and keeping the inside of the cabins dry. So that next time I am up working on Chance the weather will not be a problem that will stop me and my family working on her interior. 

I will be posting a few short videos of the boat in the coming days to highlight what as to be done over the next few weeks and months. The three main areas to finish off are the toilet room and the main cabin cupboards and settee areas to expose the hull in these areas and finally the engine room / compartment which has to have the engines and tankage removed and disposed of and in this area it is going to be completed re-designed to bring it is line with modern requirements. 

Lets hope I get my Transit van back on the road soon and I can get on with my work on Chance and make a living doing my day job as a boat builder, which helps fund these early stages of Chances' restoration .