Wednesday, 21 October 2026

Starting the filling of the holes with epoxy filler after lifting the boat up to a more reasonable height to work on the inside and outside of the boat

Now that the boat is up at a reasonable height it can be worked on both the inside and outside and much of the work that could not be done before can be done now.


Starting to fill the knocks and holes where old fitting have been remove are being done now and sanding the hull and painting the hull will be easier now it is at a good working height.


Because it is at a good height and it now gives me more working room around the boat to do other work on other jobs at the same time as doing this boat.


This is the only place there is not a lot of room around the hull, however, you can not everything when you are restricted by length of the boat within the workshop.


 

Tuesday, 20 October 2026

Now to ghost coating the topsides to get it ready to start painting the topsides after repairing and filling holes in the topsides

In order to flatten the old paint, it is a good idea to ghost coat the topsides with aerosol paint that is darker than the hull so that you can see where the high spots are and when you have flattened back you can see any areas you need to fair up later  


It is a long and mind deadening job, however, the end result is worth doing.


The first sanding gives you a point to start from and then you can go down the grades of sandpaper discs to you are left with a flat smooth finish to build up the layers of paint



Seconf ghost coat and start the whole job off again



 

Tuesday, 29 September 2026

Final pieces of the keel glued and fixed in place and now time for the epoxy to cure over night and start the fairing of the keel down to its final shape

The final piece of the keel jigsaw puzzle place on top of the rest of the keel,just have to mark off the leading angle and then drill out the holes for the fixings to go through.


The final piece now glued and fixed down in place.


Now comes the fun part of the job sanding and fairing up the sides of the keel and profiling the bottom face . The front section is going to be remade after a pattern is made of the stem piece so that a new laminated stem can be made and steamed in place.


The keel is this deep because the boat engine needs a 12 inch keel ahead of the propeller to protect the propeller from damage


So tomorrow start the fairing up of the keel before it gets coated with epoxy clear coat and the Gelshield 200 epoxy treatment like the rest of the hull. 
It is being discussed whether or not to start to prepare the hull before it is turned back on to its  bottom, It will be easier to get it to pre gloss paint stage and the spray the hull once it is back up the right way up.

 

Monday, 28 September 2026

The keel on the motor launch is also finished being made up with the final piece being shaped up tomorrow

The new keel for the motor launch is almost made up with just one piece left to shape up and glue and fix into place. Then start to shape the sides and the final 8 inches of the keel to give the propeller good flow over its blades.


Then once the keel is shaped up to the correct profile then an epoxy coating will be applied and the surface will get the same epoxy treatment as the hull.. 

Once this is done then the hull will be sanded and filled and faired up to get it ready for a fresh coat of paint. However, before the hull is painted the hull will turned over and put back on its trailer, so that the interior refit can be finished off and the engine fitted.


 

Monday, 14 September 2026

I have made available all 496 videos of Chance's restoration available to anyone who wishes to see how far we have come with her restoration over the past 5 years


                                 


I have made available all 496 videos of Chance's restoration available to anyone who wishes to see how far we have come with her restoration over the past 5 years just follow this link to go to my pateron page https://www.patreon.com/cw/Chance_1948 Where you can all see the work we have put into her over the years and how far we have to go to get her back on the water