A big Thank you to my Clients who stood by my business through the Covid Pandemic

 I had like to say a big thank you to all my clients who stood by me during this challenging past year. The year was extremely challenging for everyone given the restriction of Covid and the lack of movement to see their boats and even work on them.

However, as the year opened up and there was an easing o restrictions and people were able to get out and go to their boats and get work done on them, life did start to return to a new normal.

In the early part of the year I was able to work through the Pandemic as I work alone for most of the time and during the early part of the year I did just that.

Over the course of the year work did start to come back into the yard, although a little slow at first, as people started to regain their freedom once more.

Many of the projects which were put on hold over the course of the lockdown have now restarted and are now back underway once more. The Morgan Giles 30 is now coming towards the end stages of her major restoration and hopes to come out of the workshop in the late spring or early summer. The picnic boat is also gaining speed as much of the interior work is now complete . So it is now time to get her out of the workshop and turned over to be able to fit the keel which will enclose the propeller shaft and fit the rudder at the same time. Before it then comes back in the workshop to get the decks covered with a mahogany and holly laid deck and the floorboards and engine box fitted and the engine finally bolted down in position. Then get the hull and bottom painted before it goes on sea trails..

The two motor boats in the yard will have their work finished off and returned to their owners and the Cornish Crabber will then be brought into the workshop to get her restoration underway again.

So in the meantime, We are looking to employ a skilled boat builder to help with the increased workload we have for 2023.

So if you are a boat builder who is up to a challenge get in contact with Simon on 07534045729 for a chat

New Emergency tiller for a client with a Catalac 9M

I was asked by a client if I could make him an emergency tiller for his Catamaran. 

Between, we made up the metal work and I made him a tiller that could be used both as an emergency and also as a tiller to use without having to sail the boat from the wheel.  

Because it is a good length there will be little pressure to be needed to make any manoeuvres. That way he has the best of both worlds 

The tiller even pivots as well so when not being used it can be lifted out of the way of the cockpit.

 

So the change back to orange is on its way.

So the long job of sanding back the ghost coat of black until the hull turns grey one more 

The first go around will get rid of most of the ghost coat and the second go around will give the hull the smooth finish it needs to apply the first coat of orange two pack paint 

So far halfway down the starboard side, there's a long way to go until we are back at the stem on the port side.  

 

So The Morgan Giles 30 was orange, then it was grey and now it is black, What is the world coming too?

It has now come to the stage in the refit to think about doing the hull re-painting. It can be seen that the Morgan Giles 30 was once an orange hulled boat, Which it is going to be again, however, it had to go through a transformation first. 

First we had to paint several coats of Hi-Build epoxy primer to the hull after we removed the old paint system off the hull and did any necessary repairs and modifications to the hull during its long refit.  

So it has come to the time when after the coats of Hi-Build epoxy primer have come to an end and it is now time to flat back the epoxy primer back to a smooth finish ready to start the repainting back, you guest it back to orange again. however, it is a different shade of orange this time 

The ghost coat of black paint as been sprayed all over the hull which now as to cured before we sand the hull down back to a smooth grey colour before coating it with its first coat of orange

So there is going to be a few hours of sanding the hull ahead for us over the coming days before we are ready for the first coat of orange.

So let the fun begin 

 

Getting back on to the paint job on the Morgan Giles 30

First job was to more all the plywood from behind the boat so we had enough room first sand down the transom and then to paint the transom.

Having moved the boat up the workshop and gaining enough room to set up the staging to sand the transom.

Thefirst coat of three to go on the transom to make the paint thickness to the same as the rest of the hull.

The new top coat arrived from the supplier so when the hull is ghost coated with a coat of black paint and then sanded back this will be ready to apply to the hull.  

 

The Catalac tiller in the fresh

Starting with a drawing from the owner and looking at the dimension's and seeing they were a little under spec, We decided to increase some of the dimensions to give a safety margin when putting the tiller hard over in a blow

Having done that we decided on the final size and shape and the tiller was born

The tiller was made up of mahogany and ash strips epoxy glued together 

An amount of shaping then took place and the finish shape was made and the hand grip area made into a comfortable shape and size 

Now starts the long process of building up layers of varnish until the correct number of layers of varnish are achieved 

 

Making an emergency tiller for a 9Metre Catamaran

The scale drawing for the tiller, which is a good start however, having talking to the owner questioned the thickness of the length of the tiller and have resized the shaft to be a much larger size, so when put under stress will not break. 

All the parts of the tiller put through the thicknesser to get to the same size and now have to set up on a jig to cramp it together with epoxy glue 

This will be a very strong tiller which is going to be made out of mahogany and ash.

 

Now starts the fun part of sanding down the hull of the Morgan Giles 30.

 The first job will be to put walk boards round the boat at a height that will make it easier to sand down the hull and to also move the boat into a better position in the workshop to be able to work all the way round

This will mean moving things around in the workshop to make room to set them out.

So today is going to be spent moving things around until I get it right so that I can work one side at a time safely.

So let the fun begin on sorting out the workshop ready for the move for the sanding to begin on the hull.

The decks getting the same treatment has the hull

The decks are now getting the same treatment has the hull, now the decks have two more coats on the decks and now this will cure over the weekend and then there will be a bit of spot filling where it was not filled enough when they were sanded earlier.

The deck will now be filled where needed and then will get extra coats to buildup protection 

The deck are a lot smoother and will be able to stand up to a lot of hard work over the next few years.

 

The hull is on its way to getting painted and then it will be the turn of the deck.

The hull is getting coats of hi-build epoxy primer so that the hull can get faired up ready for the final coats of orange paint 

There are a few more coats to apply to the hull, however in the meantime the deck of the boat is in need of the same treatment with coats of hi-build epoxy primer to seal the decks after they have been repaired and in some places major work as been done on them.

So while the hull cures between coats it will be time to get on to the decks and clean them down after months of not working on them and set to work on getting them ready to coat up with the first of three coats of epoxy primer.

 

More Hi-Build Epoxy primer applied to the Morgan Giles 30 as we continue building up the new paint job

After a long period of doing other work, now started to apply more coats of Hi-build epoxy primer to fair up the hull.

This is the first of three coats of Epoxy primer before the undercoat and then the final coat of custom orange top coat 

The hull is getting fairer with each coat of hi-build primer, just a lot of long boarding with sandpaper so we finish with a fair hull ready to apply the finish coat.

now just need to let this coat cure and then apply more coats.

 

Some of the project around the yard that need sorting and moving along to make room for other project waiting to be done over the coming months.

This Cornish Crabber is one sduch project which as been a stop- start project for a few years now and needs coming along to make room for other projects to get done. 

The major job first is to renew the cover over the boat as soon as able and set the work underway again and get the inside refitted and the deck and beams fitted and the new deck fibreglassed in place and then put in the workshop to be resprayed and then given back to its owner to sail.

The two dinghies in the foreground are in need of a bit of TLC over the winter before they both can go out on the water and be used by their owners to explore the Walton Backwaters.

Another project which need some attention to get finished off, a major sanding and filling of the outside of the hull and fairing and spraying and then the inside refitting out ready for next season

I will soon have to get some more stock of hardwood and softwood for the projects coming through over the next few months and build a cover over this area to keep out the weather, so i can put outside the plywood which is taking space in the workshop.

 

Work coming along on the picnic boat and the yellow boat

Just sorting out the foredeck, making the planks all the same length before gluing it all down using vacuum bagging method to glue it down without any fixings 

Got to do the same method to glue down aft deck

Once the foredeck will have a laminated Mahogany break water to make the water run off the deck and also be where the front of the canopy is fixed to when it is made towards the end of the refit 

The inside of the cockpit is now painted apart the area where the joint needs more fibreglass to reinforce the joint

Once that is done the rubber fendering can be bolted to the joint to protect the joint of the hull from any damage.

The top of the boat where the windscreen is going to be fitted is grey so that it is less bright and better to have in front of you when steering thee boat than yellow