A busy week ahead on the James Silver Chance

 This coming week is going to be a busy week on Chance, as I am going to be there for five days on the boat. The first job will be to make a start on removing the forecabin hull panelling which is not original and is not making not easy for the inside of the hull to keep air circulating around the inside of the hull and making it a damp trap. Which is bad news for any wooden boat and good ventilation is a must have to keep air circulating below decks. Then turn my attention to the aft cabin berth which as a non original and is stopping me from accessing the hull sides and bottom. The present berth is set out athwartships and not fore and aft as it was originally set out. and the whole area is going to be redesigned to go back as it was originally made with two single berths and a chest of drawers between the two berths. Then the aft heads compartment is going to come to bits as this is another damp trap. The more that I can remove to get air to the inside of the hull the better. It will also make it easier to refit the planks the way they were fitted originally with copper nails and roves and not the way some restorers and boat builders do which is to just re-fix the planks with bronze of stainless steel screws. As my master boatbuilder told me when I started my apprenticeship 44 years ago. Nail where you can and screw where you can not nail. Not nail a plank because it is easier to just screw a plank on, I have more faith in a well nailed copper nail and rove than any screw which these days are not made to last anytime at all. Once the three majors jobs are done then turn my attention to the clearing the bilge and make a start on the engine bay sorting out the wiring and the engines and the tankage which is in the engine bay outside the engines then tanks are under the sides decks between engines and the hull. Pictures to follow during the course of the week.

Damaged dinghy hull repairs

Having fixed Formica to the outside of the hull it was time to mark out the areas that needed grinding back to  grind to a make a key for the CSM to adhered to once the cracks have been filled with a number of layers of gelcoat 

One of the areas marked out ready to grind back 

The forward area marked out

 

Glassing in the last of the floor bearers in the Picnic Boat

 

The last three floor bearers getting glassed in position.

Once they all have the correct layers of fibreglass then the lockers will be made up to run down both sides

After the floor bearers are done the aft locker /seat will have the beams made up and the new lids will be made

Sorting out fuel tank position and bedding the last of the floor bearers in the hull and patterning up for side benches in aft end of the boat

Sorting out the fuel tank position in the bow. The locker was the original bow seat which will now be the base for the fuel tank. There should be enough fall to the injector pump on the engine for the engine to be gravity fed. 

Once it is braced in position, then a deck beam will be made and a small foredeck will be fitted to cover the fuel tank and for the filler to be fitted.

The last of the floor bearers to be bedded on to the hull and then fibreglassed into position. The floor bearer behind this floor bearer will be fixed to the aft bulkhead

The spline curved into position to pattern up the shape of the top of the locker / seat and give an impression of the size and shape it needs to be 

A photo of the shape looking aft showing it is going to be a good size for a seat and a locker for storing fenders and warps

The old floor boards cut to a size which will be large enough to fit the engine in its final position when it is bolted in position 

 

A non travelling week back at home base for a change

 It has been a busy couple of weeks visiting other marinas and boatyards around England in four different counties as far from each other as can be Somerset, Kent, Yorkshire and finally Lancashire. Each of the visits was to a different type of boat and different types of repairs. Thankfully this coming week it is back to my own yard and workshop to get on with the boats in the workshop and in the yard that need working on to get them back to their owners. The work in the workshop is varied from painting decks on a GRP yacht to converting an old rowing boat into a motor launch to go bird watching to removing varnish off a dinghy to building a new 8ft. GRP Dinghy to repairing the holes in another 8 ft. GRP dinghy. So you could say I have my hands full of boat repairs for a while to come.