My winter projects for this winter.

[Canoe]

Hi Simon,

I`m glad to see you`ve got plenty of paid work but I hope you`ve been able to take a break and get out on the water yourself!, did you get to go sailing in your Enterprise?


Thanks for keeping us up to date.

Greetings from Germany,

Alan.

[jstarboats]

Hi Alan,

Not this year as have had a lot going on in my family life with my son leaving school, Moving in to a premise and trying to get that sorted out. A large amount of work to get through, which I am not complianing about. It is good to be busy, however, a couple of days off would be good to recharge the old batteries. However, I do have my own yacht Mai-Star II at my yard out side my workshop, so at least I can work on her in the evening after work. I will try to go out on the enterprise in the spring, but for now it is under its cover for thev winter while I get on with other projects and Mai-Star II.

Hope you are keeping well.

Regards

Simon

[jstarboats]

Getting the other side window in the Family Four finished



Then it was the turn of the new fender eyes to go on, two on the starboard side and one on the port side to replace the broken fender eyes




Now it will be the turn of the inside to get its lining finished off and the lockers refitted and the instruments rewired up and a new fusepanel fitted.






The workshop half filled with dinghies, new Wooden dinghies as well as old GRP dinghies





The seat mouldings with thier plywood strengthening panels ready cut and ready to glass in position



The plywood transom pad fixed in position, now ready to be glassed in and flowcoated.

[jstarboats]

Marking out and cutting across the plank to make it easier to remove



The aft bolt still in postion and the copper nails still inposition as these have been nailed and roved in position so they can not be removed without cutting them out.

a close up of same area







Grinding back the area for the front seat to be glassed into position







The transom sanded down to make it flat and smooth.

[jstarboats]

Removing matting from the where the bow seat was to make the moulding flex enough to move out of the mould



Doing the same to the aft seat area and taking out wood in the keel area







Leveling up the dinghy in the cradle to ensure the seats get glassed in level







Glassing in the reinforcement plywood for aft seat







Trimming the bow seat moulding to fit the inside of the hull







Glassing in the transom pad to strengthen up the transom of the dinghy to take a reasonable size outboard motor should one be fitted by its new ownebr />

[jstarboats]

Getting the deadwood out of the yacht and now see why it was leaking.



All but one had rusted away to nothing and the onlt thing holding in position was the sterntube and it connection to the gearbox.







The hull that was in the mould refused to come out in one piece so it was decided cut it out so we can make a new dinghy to our own spec.







Mean while fitting the new seats to the old dinghy in for a general restoration/rebuild







The edges are all sanded back to take the matting and seal the seat/ buoyancy tanks in position







The 8ft dinghy mould all cleaned out and ready to be release waxed and then be able to start moulding a new dinghy.

[jstarboats]

Just been given a rudder to repair. It has turned out to be a be more than just a small repair when the top of the rudder fell to pieces






The top of the rudder blade is rotten as well to will have to fit a new piece into the rudder blade before rebuilding the rudder.




Tell tail signs of poor quality fixings being used in the past.







One rudder cheek down one more to go

The extent of the rot in the top section of the rudder blade, Cut out the rot and set a new piece in and epoxy the whole of the blade to seal the area.

[jstarboats]

The bow and stern seats now glassed in position

Steam box all set up ready to steam the rubbing strakes and gunwales in position







All clamped in position and just leaving to cool off so in the morning can be fixed in position with copper nails and roves and the in will be the turn of making and fixing the breasthook and quarter knees.

[jstarboats]

The gunwales and rubbing strakes bending round the curve of the dinghy well, now I just have to let therm cool off and then nail them in position

The 8ft dinghy mould all waxed up and ready to start moulding a new dinghy







The Jaguar 25 repair getting underway

Making a pattern to reshape the top of the rudder after removing the rotten wood and making the and gluing the new piece in place.

[jstarboats]

After cutting slots for biscuits, then glued together with two types of clamps to ensure the new piece was held square and level



This morning after clearing off all the glue and ready to sort out the angles for the tiller positions when it is set up for sailing and when it is in harboubr />






All finished now just got to wait for the fittings to return form the engineers after they have made new rudder bearing

[jstarboats]

One of the first jobs was to compound the hull and get rid of the dirt and dull finish the gelcoat had got from years of lack of maintenance of the hull.



The next job was to sort out the wiring and the swtich panel and the general electrics which are in a bit of a mess after years of adding euipment year after year and not up rating the electrical system to cope with the added drain on the battery.







1980's electricial system a litte basic at best.







Deck fitting for the masthead light trapped under the mast base







Mast light wires that were never wired up









The VHF cable visble but not te deck socket wire

[jstarboats]

A bit of added on electrics, not the way ahead, if you need to add systems make the wiring as neat as possible and as short a run to sop voltage drop.

A mass of earth wires back to the battery when one heavy duty cable will do the job and be neaer and safer.







More added electrics







Engine in good order just needs a good general look over and any problems sorted out when it is recomissioned

[jstarboats]

One of the lease favour jobs re-pumping the toilet pipewor and change the seacooks for new skin fittings







Not a lot of room to get at the skin fittings to remove them from this area

A cooker that as seen better days and is in need of upgrading to a modern cooker and grill and an overhaul of the whole of the gas system m bottle to cooker.

[jstarboats]

The dinghy now as been painted on the inside and so have the rubbing strakes and gunwales have been given their first coat of varnish


The varnish work is now starting to look good after all the hard work on the dinghy so fabr />


Just the breasthook amd the stern knees to fit to finish off the woodwork on the inside of the dinghy



The centre thwart is now getting its buildup coat of varnish and will soon be fitted into the dinghy and then the dinghy can be turned over to paint the hull.

[Puttputt]

You certainly have a full schedule Simon. In the UK, is the preferred fuel for cookers propane or alcohol?

paul

[jstarboats]

Hi Paul,

It depends on what you are doing and people's choice as we use both for cookers. I am very busy at the moment getting a number of boats ready for people to enjoy some winter sailing and cruising in the local area. At the same time will be doing work on my own boats over the winter to get them ready for the spring.

Look forward to following your blogs over the coming months.

Regards

Simon
J-Star Boat Services

[jstarboats]

The rebirth of the old tired 8ft dinghy

The gunwales and rubbing strakes getting their last coats of thinned varnish and knees and the breasthook now fitt
ed.
The centre thwart now fitted and varnished

The breasthook now fitted just the front capping piece to finish off the front and then just got to fit the rowlock blocks just behind the centre thwart

A whole lot different than a few weeks ago.

[jstarboats]

The cheek pieces being glued together then a good sanding down and then refitted to the rudder blade.



The rudder blade repair done, just got to fix the rudder cheeks and then the rudder fitting then put it back on the yacht.







The rudder bearing now re-brushed and so yacht the will without a rattling rudder blade

[jstarboats]

The inside all done apart from fitting the rowlock blocks and cleats fore and aft



The varnish work shining well in the sun light







The interior set off well with the varnish and gery

Just got the outside paint work to do and then off to its new home







The gunwales and rubbing strakes fixed in the traditional method of copper nails and roves making a strong bond between the gunwales and rubbing strakes

[jstarboats]

The rudder is now completely rebuild and is just waiting to be varnished




Now getting its first of many coats of varnish before it gets refitted

The 8ft dinghy getting its second coat of grey marine primer







The quick rub down then its first coat of white marine undercoat







Looking a lot better and soon be getting its new coat of white gloss.

[jstarboats]

Having removed the stern tube out of the yacht this is what was found.


A radiual fracture around the whole of the tube

A possible cause is the rusted away bolts holding down the deadwood



This dinghy refused to come out of its mould so now its going to be cut up.



The mould is now washed and polished ready to be release mould waxed and a new dinghy is going to be laid up.

[jstarboats]

Getting ready to re-launch Midas Touch after its refit



Back in the water just got a few small jobs to do over the next few days to get her ready to be re-commissioned and ready for her voyage to her new home on the river Thames

Getting the engine re-commissioned and give it a quick service so it is ready for the voyage down the coast.

[jstarboats]

The dinghy is now finished with its last coat of varnish and the oars being leathered where they go through the rowlocks



A far cry from the dinghy that came into the workshop in a less the float able condition



We are always on the look out for old dinghies that owners wish to breath new life into and give them many years of service.

[jstarboats]

The dinghy with a set of oars and beauifully varnish hardwood gunwales and rubbing strakes and a shiny hull


A good size tender for any owner to have behind their motorboat or yacht




Build with heavy duty hardwood trim to take treatment many tenders get in their working lifes



Heavy duty breasthook and knees






A good size pad for an outboard to sit on and a full size pad on the inside to spread the load across the whole of the transom

[jstarboats]

The 8ft dinghy now finished and ready for its new owner to collect and then on to the next 8ft dinghy or getting the Mai-Star Class dinghy back in the workshop to finish off fitting out and getting it out on the water.



The Jaguar 25 refit almost completed apart from a few samll jobs so she can be re-comissioned and taken back to its new home on the River Thames







A sterntube failure from old age, after 70 plus years it as done well







Now time to get back on with the Shetland Family Four and get her finished off and get her up for sale.

[jstarboats]

This last week as been a rollcoaster ride with delivery trip down from my yard to the Thames on Sunday into Monday. Then back to the workshop to do a number of jobs round the yard including boat movements to get the best use of the space in the workshop and around the yard.


One job on the list is to sort out the brakes on my large flat bed trailer and and maintenace on the other trailers around the yard, so they are already for the winter. As there is going to be a lot of jobs that are going to need one or other of the trailers at some time during the winter.


One of my major jobs is going to make a good sized wood store to put all the plywood and timber in a place where it is out of the workshop, but at the same time under cover.


One of my less fun jobs to do is put my yacht's mast in the roof of workshop out of the weather until it is ready to go back on the yacht in the spring. Also another job is to make a over winter cover over the yacht so I can work on it.


So over next few weeks it going to be mixture of workshop and yard maintenace and boat repairs so that the yard is going into the end of the year in good shape and ready for the new year.

[jstarboats]

The hull now lined and it looks a lot bettebr />

A lot lighter inside cabin and update with lighter linings

The cabin now good better now the linings are finished

[jstarboats]

The berth fronts are now being looked at and found to be in a poor condition, so it is decided to renew the berth fronts with new plywood and carpets,



The galley locker is now back in position and is ready to have its edge trim renewed







The sink locker back in position and the bulkhead panel is now back in position







One of the angle brackets holding the berth fronts in position, in need of cleaning and reusing







The condition of the berth fronts is poor and in need of replacing

[jstarboats]

The cabin and hull sides now re-lined and looking a lot better .

Now the cockpit is now re-lined the last jobs in the cockpit can be finished off

The cabin bunk fronts now fixed in position and ready to have the bunk cushions fitted







The old bunk cushions put in position to check the size and position of the cushions before making new bunk cushions.

[jstarboats]

Marked out the piece of green oak and the chainsawed the piece off the log, now comes the fun bit planning down the piece to the correct size.



Fitting a new shaft log to a small cruising yacht and then renew the two planks

The piece I got for the job comes from the centre of the tree so the grain pattern is good and tight.

Marking out the faces of the new log then getting ready to saw the surplus off







The surplus now removed and the new shaft log turned over ready to mark off rib positions and the curve the bottom to fit the hog.

[shines]

Thanks for posting! It's always interesting to see what others are up to and how they go about things.
Looks like you have lots to do!

Bernie

[jstarboats]

Hi Bertie,
This last post I posted, the owner as put the job on hold for a while, so there will be no more for while. But do have other projects on the go.

Regards
Simon

[Canoe]

Hi Simon,

that`s fantastic work you`re doing, I wish my boat (Neptun 27) was closer to you, I`d be happy to entrust her in your hands for a professional refit. In this part of Germany we don`t have much choice but to struggle along on our own.

Thanx for sharing your work.

Greetings from moist, mild Germany,

Alan.

[jstarboats]

Hi Alan,
Thank you for your comment, Where about in Germany are you as I do travel about doing work for clients as far as southern Spain in the past. So Geremany is not that far, as long as I have some place to stay, then anything is possible.

Regards

Simon

[Canoe]

Hi Alan,
Thank you for your comment, Where about in Germany are you as I do travel about doing work for clients as far as southern Spain in the past. So Geremany is not that far, as long as I have some place to stay, then anything is possible.

Regards

Simon

Wow Simon!

Thanks, I`ll have to see what`s practical.

The boat is on the river Neckar.

Alan.