The varied projects I have in the workshop at J-Star Marine Services at the present time

This 8 ft pram dinghy was on its way to landfill when I saved it from being broken up and destroyed with a few bits of wood and time I am breathing new life into this pram dinghy so it can be used once more and give its new owner years of faithful service 

I am starting to give its mahogany gunwales and inwales and seats a fresh coat of marine varnish while I source some more mahogany for its centre thwart . Also got to make a new set of oars and rowlock blocks.

The other dinghy in the workshop is a new 8ft GRP dinghy /tender which is having its woodwork varnished and having is bow and stern seats/ buoyancy tanks fibreglassed in position 

The woodwork is going to have ten coats of marine varnish before the hull is painted either cream or blue i have yet to decide on which colour. 

These two next photos are of the two back faces of the seats out of the Pearly Miss which I am restoring in the workshop and which will be coming out of the workshop in a couple of months time.

The first photo is of the drivers seat back, once it is finished it will be upholstered with foam and vinyl as it was originally made up.

This second photo is of the aft seat and will be done in the same manner as the forward seat.

The next two photos are of the inside gunwale trims on the Pearly Miss which set off the edges of the cockpit well and when the seats are refitted will make it look much like it did when she was first build back in the 1960's

 

Time to get a coat of varnish on the gunwales and inwales to seal the surface before carrying on with the other paint work on the inside and outside

It is always a sense of achievement when you get to the stage when you start to coat up the woodwork . 

We have to make up the two inside pieces for the transom and the pram bow section which have to be made out of plywood and glassed over. 

There are two more pieces to be made, one is the transom pad for the small outboard motor on the transom and the small pad for under the front gunwale piece where the bow eye ring goes through the pram bow.

 

The Pram dinghy getting its new mahogany gunwales and inwales, as normal at J-Star Marine Services the gunwales and inwales are fixed in position with copper nails and roves.

As best practice the gunwales and inwales are fixed in position with copper nails and roves and not just screw in position. 

Plenty of clamps in use to keep the gunwales and inwales in position while we clinch the nails over the roves.

The nailing completed and the inwale tight fitting up against the transom so to keep the tension through its length to stop the hull flexing 

The starboard finished, just the port side to finish off. the the end to have their trims made and fitted.

Just got to get the centre thwart made up.

 

Gunwales machined up and now steamed around the pram dinghy's gunwales.

Having routered the top and bottom edges of the gunwales it was time to get the steamer out and steam the new gunwales and inwales around the dinghy's gunwales

As always you need a lot of clamps on hand and speed to get the steamed wood round the gunwales before they go to cold to bend round the gunwales.

As always have the gunwales and inwales about face when steaming them round the gunwales so when it comes to fitting the gunwales and inwales the bend is already steamed into the pieces of wood making it easier to fit when they have cooled off overnight.

 

Work coming along on the Little Mai dinghy/Tender and the pram dinghy/Tender

Dry fitting the quarter knees in the back of the Little Mai dinghy after the transom trim has been fitted with copper nails and roves

Once both these knees are fixed in position the gunwales and inwales and other trim will be varnished.

The breasthook will be fitted and then a bow eyebolt will be fitted.

The Little Mai Dinghy centre thwart seat blocks being glued in position with thickened epoxy before being glassed in position.

The pram dinghy centre thwart pattern being made up and made to fit so it can be used to make the centre thwart to the finished size.

The gunwales and inwales machined up ready to steamed and nailed in position with copper nails and roves as are all our restoration dinghies.

 

Epoxying the inner transom pad and setting up the seat positions and the centre thwart seat blocks

Giving the back face of the inner transom pad a first coat of West System epoxy before setting it up for a coat on the forward face 

Getting the pram dinghy seat blocks and their positions in the boat set up ready to glue the mounting blocks in position with West System epoxy

Once all the blocks are in position then the hull will be stabile enough for the gunwales and inwales to be steamed round and then nailed in position with copper nails and roves  

Just got to do a few repairs on the edges of the seats before they go in, they will be varnished as will the gunwales and inwales. the whole boat will be repainted in either light blue or cream. It is not decide on which as present time.

 

Finish off dry fitting the inner transom pad and dry fitting the transom quarter knees and dry fitting a possible outboard on the transom

Finished dry fitting the inner transom pad so it can be take out and epoxy coated on the transom face before it is set of a bed of sealant on the transom.

The top edge getting planned down to the finished height to fit a standard length shaft outboard.

Fitting the quarter knees so that they fit the new transom pad.

Fitting both starboard and the port knees 

Now the knees can be sent off to be powder coated and fitted when the other work on the transom is finished off.

Fitting a possible engine for the boat, this is a standard shaft outboard and will move this along easily. However, we would like to have something about 30 hp to make it really come alive.

 

Fitting the cockpit inwale mahogany trims and final fitting the seat backs and dry fitting the transom inner pad

Finally fitting the mahogany inner cockpit mahogany trims and final fitting the seat backs into position.

Now that the inner mahogany trims are fitted the seat backs can be strengthen up along the top edge and the fitting shoot bolts can be fitted to the top of the seat back to stop it moving when laying against it when driving the boat. 

Dry fitting the transom inner pad to see where it will need trimming to make it fi against the hull plating

The centre area will need to be cut down to to the correct height for a short shaft outboard, 

 

Busy Tuesday on different boat jobs

Having made the patterns for the seat backs for the Pearly Miss it was time to make the final seat backs out of 12mm plywood, each of the tops of the seats are the camber of the deck in each of the positions they are in with the correct amount of angle laying aft in it of their positions the plywood will be coated with primer and then undercoat and finally white gloss marine paint after they are given a batten along the top and bottom edges to strengthen up the plywood and where the back will be covered with foam and vinyl   

Now that the bilge keels have been covered with fibreglass it i time to move on with doing the inside of the hull and make and fit the gunwales and inwales and fix the seat blocks in position and make a new centre thwart.

The mahogany trims for the Pearly miss getting their final thinned coat of varnish  before they are rubbed down and iven a final coat of full strength varnish before they are screwed to the inside face of the cockpit.

The new battery box for the Pearly Miss getting its first cot of grey bilge paint a few more coats of paint to go on before that is refitted under the aft deck.

 

Dismanlting the Wayfarer rudder and varnishing the parts of the tabernacle

Dismantling of of the Wayfarer rudder into the individual parts to inspect if there is any damage or rot and repair it as necessary.

The two rudder cheeks look in reasonable condition apart from the one on the right as a bit of rot in the top section which will need to be repaired 

The inside face of the rudder cheeks are very wet and will need drying out before they are worked on and repaired and rebuild with new parts as necessary.

The two wear panels to go inside the tabernacle when it is rebuild and refitted in the boat after the repair is finished in the bow.

The tabernacle pieces getting their first coat of varnish in manty years, they will look a lot better when they are refitted in the boat.

 

Remove Tabernacle and breakdown the parts to sand them and replace the worn out parts

In order to work on the repair on the hull in the bow section, we removed the tabernacle to gain better access to the bow section to continue with the repair to the hull.

Having removed the tabernacle it was time to dismantle the parts of the tabernacle and then get ready to sand back the individual parts.  

With a bit of sanding the faded surface gave way to the original colour 

After both sides getting a good sanding they are looking a lot better and are getting ready for their first coat of varnish in a lot of years.

All the surfaces sanded back and just the packing pieces to be made to put on the inside faces of the tabernacle to make it fit the mast.

Marking out the packing pieces for the inside faces of the tabernacle.