New project for the next few months.

A new restoration project for the next few months, in need of a bit more than just a bit of TLC. Major plank removal and a new section of chine to put in the port side aft and a fair few planks on the topsides and the bottom

Previous patch jobs done by a former owner  

Most of the hull above the waterline is in good condition apart from the couple of areas where weather and boxed in areas have done

 Half of the planking that needs to come from the port side aft area of the boat. the forward part is in good condition.

 Photo showing some of the bottom planks being removed as this is where the major part of the rot was in the bottom in the area of the boat that was closed in and was damp.

A large section of planking coming out of the port side, but thankfully not a lot is wrong with the starboard side.

All in a days' work at the boatyard

Shoring up the planking to get it back and keep it in place while refitting the new ribs in the port side where the ribs were all broken on the turn of the bilge.

Burned the paint off  the transom to find there is a lot of work to be carried out at the edges of the transom and along the top.

Finally got the second plank steamed on to the boat after the first one was found to be faulty and having to wait for a new piece of wood and the time to steam in on the boat. 

The cabin sides are finally in place and glued and screwed in place and putting a few homely pieces on the cabin sides.

The front of the boat is now the tool store while doing the work on the boat.

The steam box in position  ready to steam both the plank in place and also the new ribs as well.

A producive day with major steps forward.

Yesterday was a productive day in that it got the new cabin sides in place and finally glued and sealed in place. Also the hull on the starboard side was finally had all the paint removed and the hull sanded back to bare wood and one of the original scribed waterlines was find two and half inched below what was the one that was found before.

Having found this waterline the paint was stripped down to this mark, The one I was using appears to be one the was marked into the boats' hull when the engine was fitted and seeing as this is no longer going to be there the waterline is now being lowered to its original position.

The new cabin sides are this time fixed in a way that the original one should have been fitted. That is to say fixed to the carlins and not sitting on the side decks and then screwed to a covering board which itself was fixed to the carlin. The problem with the first way was when people moved down the side deck the joint between the side deck and the cabin side would move and the whole joint would leak. At least time the chances are it will not happen.

The next job on the list of boat jobs is to put back the ribs that are missing and put the final plank in the bottom on the port side. Then fit the deck beams on to the cabin sides and then fit the cabin roof so it to will appear as a old fashion roof from the inside , however from the outside it will be a modern roof made from a sheet of marine plywood which will be sheaved in epoxy matting and epoxy making a very strong roof.

So all in all it as been a good weeks' work on the boat and now there is a light at the end of the tunnel and a finishing line that appears to be sight.

The new cabinsides are now back in place and ready to start work on the deck beams.

This photo show the last part of the cabinsides now in place and ready to be fixed in place.

This photo shows the starboard side jointed into the cabin front.

 and the port side too. Now it is a matter of getting the corner pieces cut to length and fitted to try the whole lot together.

This is a major step forward to getting the new cabin roof / deck back in place. Now that the cabin sides are back in place. It will be a matter of cutting down the cabin sides to the level of the cabin front and then fitting the deck beams back into the top of the cabin sides as they were before. But before this is done the four corner pieces have to be made up and fitted and then the whole lot will have to come out and be given a thin coat of varnish and then the corners glued together and the cabin sides will be set on sealant where it is fixed to the carlins.

Another busy day ahead.

Another busy day ahead with work to be done on the planking, namely the refastening of a number of nails on a few old ribs and a few fixing on a few of the grown frames where the planks have moved off the frames. These have made steps in the planking so it looks more like a clinker than a carvel planked hull. So with a bit of careful jacking up back into place and re-fastening it should be a lot better.

With the help from my wife, she will be doing some burning off of the old paint on the starboard side and then some sanding on the inside. The list of jobs will soon be got through.

Another job to be done today will be moving the filler cap for the water tank and the making of some locker bases for the cabin lockers so that more of them can be used for storage, as on any small boat this is of a short supply at the best of times and Mai-Star II is no different to any other boat.