Engineering and lathe spaces in the workshop and the continuing work on the dinghy we have into be restored.

Engineering space where all the marine engineering jobs are done when they come into the workshop by our trained technicians. 

If there are lathe jobs we have a wood turning lathe to make parts that need a lathe to make them up much as winch bases or other items that need to be made up at a custom size not available off the shelf .

Having cut the next section of the old aft seat it is time to make up and fit a ne inner outboard pad to the transom

To keep the hull from flexing while the hull is being worked on a cross brace is fitted with support legs are fitted in place to keep the hull level while we work on putting the strength back into the hull and refit the seats and gunwales.

 

The next restoration dinghy in the workshop to get a fresh lease of life

This 10ft dinghy was picked up by a client to have me restore it to a tender for their larger boat.

It is very much a blank canvas with no fixture of fittings so it can be made to be exactly what te owner wishes to have in this dinghy/tender.

There is a fair bit of sanding and grinding to be done before I can start the restoration process.

It is a challenge however, it is a  dinghy worth doing to get a boat back on the water without spending a lot of money on a new dinghy when a old dinghy can and should be restored.  

 

The picnic boat now filled and faired up ready for Hi Build primer and a change from the yellow rowing skiff

The topsides now have been filled and faired, so it is now ready for the first coat of High Build epoxy primer.

The hull now is in a position where it can be worked on at a reasonable height and the work on the inside can continue as well.

Just got to get the owner to supply the paint and I can continue to get the topsides to a position to get it ready to give it its final coat.

The owner as decided to have a small rudder under the boat and do away with the transom hung rudder it had before. Just got to get the owner to supply the rudder gear to install the new rudder.

So for the moment work has stopped on this boat while the owner get the paint and rudder gear down to the workshop so the work can continue. 

 

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.

 

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