Chance: the reborn of a classic James Silver Motor Sailer

[jstarboats]

This going to be the blog about restoration of our James Silver "Western Isles" motor sailer which has had a long time until it was left in a derelict condition by her last two owners, who run out of money and the time to put her back in a sea worthy condition and get her back afloat once more.

[jstarboats]

Its cold outside, so it is time to go indoors and get a number of smaller projects underway and ones that can be done in the workshop.
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Two projects that spring to mind are the diesel cooker, the Baby Blake Toilet which both need a lot of work done to them to get them both back into working order.
Then they will be able to put back into Chance later on in the restoration project. The diesel cooker is a Dickinson Bristol cooker which as been neglected and the electrical parts have not survived the years of neglect and water damage. The parts will have to be removed from the cooker and recycled at my local recycling business. So not in land fill. Inside the firebox there is a small area of missing fire cement which can be easily sorted by making up some more fire cement and replacing the missing area and letting dry off. the other item that is missing in the firebox is the part that makes the diesel cooker work. I have been informed by Dickinson's the cooker manufacturers that as long as I fit the new parts the cooker will be back in working order and give many more years of service.

The Baby Blake Toilet is going to need stripping down to its individual items which will need to be cleaned and any of the parts which are worn out or otherwise not working will be replaced so that the toilet is back in working order and be able to be used once more.

Other jobs that can be done in the workshop are to get down off the shelves all the drawers which were removed from Chance while we removed all the interior furniture before Chance was transported back to Walton on the Naze from Woodplumpton. Some of the drawers are in a bad condition with only the drawer front being able to be used as the rest is either missing or rotten from being laid around in the boat and getting water damaged and not being stored so them could be kept dry. So over the next few months it is a matter of getting out the dovetail cutter and router and making up new drawers of different sizes and shapes to fit in different parts of the interior from which they were originally fitted.

[jstarboats]

An overview of what we achieved in 2022 and what we hope to achieve in 2023.

Over the past year, we have achieved a great deal of work on Chance while working with the restrictions of the Covid pandemic and working as a full time traditional boat builder work on my clients boats and their projects.
Now it is time to take stock of what we have achieved in the way of dismantling Chances' interior and doing some of the smaller jobs on Chance, such as dismantle the Blakes sea toilet which is in need of a full restoration as it as not been restored for a long time. So many of the moving parts are either corroded (bolts and nuts holding the parts of the toilet together) or harden up due to not being used and lubricated and so the rubber parts will have to be replaced as part of the toilet restoration. Another smaller project is the diesel cooker restoration ( the fire brick will need refixing and cracks filling and the burner parts which have corroded from use and age will have to be ordered from Canada after Christmas.
After the Christmas break and when the dust as settled after the New Year. Then it will be time to make a start on sorting out the Transom and starboard aft cabin beam shelf and deck repairs and the planking and rib replacements and the frames in the aft cabin that need renewing.
While all this is going on we will try and sort out covering Chance over with some good covers to keep the worse of the weather and start to get Chance dried out and be able to work on her at anytime.
So it is time to chill out and have a peaceful Christmas and look forward to the New Year with recharged bodies and minds.

[jstarboats]

[COLOR=var(--primary-text)]Plans for the New Year and beyond,

This last year as been a busy year in lots of ways, Especially with regards to Chance and her moving down from Woodplumpton in Lancashire to Walton on the Naze. This was a logistical merry-go-round to say the least. Getting the timing correct so that the jobs that were needed to be done to Chance before she was transported down from Lancashire to Essex. Picking the right time and having the funds available to move her when we did.

Over the course of the spring and summer, when we both had some spare time together between my work as a boat builder and my wife Tricia as a Nurse we spent the time driving up to Woodplumpton and worked on Chance. Removing as much of the interior furniture and other items such as her old engines, fuel tanks,water tanks, black water tank, ballast and many other items in order to make her as light as possible to give her a chance to make it possible to move her without stressing her already weakened hull a chance to survive the transport from Lancashire to Essex.

Thankfully the lifting and transporting by road, when well and Chance arrived in Walton on the Naze in good shape and was able to be lifted off her transport and laid up in Titchmarsh marina, her new home for the duration of her restoration.

Since Chance as been back in Essex, Simon and his family have continued to get on with the restoration of Chance. One of the jobs, Simon and his Son Michael have been doing is to get the deck hatches off the deck. So far Simon and Michael have been able to remove the tops off two butterfly hatches and the top off the aft hatch and have made a start on removing the bases of these hatches and when they have done these hatches will tackle the foredeck hatch which is in a every poor condition and may well just fall apart when trying to dismantling the hatch. Time will tell when we start to work on this hatch. Either way Simon and Michael will be spending time restoring these hatches so they can go back on later on in the restoration of the deck.

Once these hatches are done, Simon & Michael will start on sorting out the transom and aft end planking and starboard deck and beam shelf repair work to get done before moving on to the rest of the hull and rib repairs. So over the coming spring and summer Simon, Michael & Tricia will get on with as much of the hull and deck work to get Chance in a better shape than she has been for many a year.















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[jstarboats]

Having stripped down the parts of the sea toilet it was then time to vape blast the painted parts and remove all the old toxic paint from 70 years ago and apply a fresh coat of non toxic paint to the surfaces of these parts





The same goes for the "A" brackets for the propeller shafts, these will need to have the cutlass bearing removed and have new cutlass bearing inserted at a later date.




They have come up well and it is a pity they are going to be underwater and out of sight. However, any toxic paint as now been removed.




THe parts will just need a good cleaning to get rid of any blast material left on the parts before they are dried and repainted again.

[jstarboats]

The old and new parts of the doors with the mortises cut on the new door





Marking off the new tenon half of the door frame




The new longer of the two parts that having to be replaced




Fitting well with just a little bit of adjustment on the centre panel to let the longer frame piece fit




Well fitting joint, just needs a bit of glue to make sure it stays in place




The shaped tenon part of the joint now just needs a pair of wedges made to fit down both sides of the joint against the walls of the mortise to lock the joint in position with a little bit of glue to help the joint stay in position

[jstarboats]

Unfortunately, had a little slip up cutting the slot in this part, now I have to make a new piece, However, I need the practice, ha,ha

[jstarboats]

Now the bronze parts have been cleaned of all the old paint and are now washed with clean water and dried, We have to make up a list of the parts we need to restore the Toilet back into work order.





The toilet seat is in need of a bit of attention, some of the old screws are rotten away and need to be drilled out and replace with new screws




The seat and lid will need to have the old varnish removed and the brass hinge will need polishing and lacquering and there are a few bits which will need lacquering as well.

[jstarboats]

The inside of the hatch in need of sanding back to bare wood and to get rid of the greying of the bare teak. When the hatch is repaired it will all varnished all over to stop this happening again.





One piece of damage which will need careful cutting out and grading in a new piece of teak to make this good again




The top will a good sanding and then sealing the area where the glass sits in the rebate




A old method of keeping the hatch open for ventilation



The cover panels to keep the glass in position. the only item which is missing from this hatch like the hatch on the above the crew cabin in the forward end of the boat. Is the stainless rods to go over the glass so it will help stop someone putting their foot through the glass
These panels will like the rest of the hatch be sanded back to get rid of the greying and the panel will be varnished to match the the rest of the varnished woodwork on the other hatches and the aft cabin sides and wheelhouse which should be varnished.

[jstarboats]

This is the only original end fitting on the main boom that as not been removed when the boat was dismantled over the years before we took over ownership of Chance





The outboard ends of the booms are missing their end fittings, so we can on the lookout for replacement fittings to replace the original fittings




The end of the main appears to missing any sign of an end fittings ever been fitted to this boom?




It appears that who ever fitted the gooseneck fitting to the mizzen boom did not measure where the centre of the boom was




The metal band which is needed on the forward end of the main boom is missing, something we have to source from some where





The first delivery of Green Oak for Chance's restoration, a lot of this will go into her transom framework and her ribs and frames and been shelf which need replacing on the starboard side.

[jstarboats]

Having got the booms back from Chance a while ago, they have dried out in the workshop for a few weeks it is time to begin to sand off the old varnish





Making a start on the mizzen boom first as it is a bit shorter and lighter than the main boom. I am now on the lookout for some original boom fittings to replace the missing fittings that have been lost over the years.




One of the original gooseneck fittings that is still in place, it must have been hard to remove so it was left in position.

[johnw]

I would love to see some pictures of what the boat looks like as a whole.

[jstarboats]

With the aid of my former apprentice boat builder who is now finished his boat building course and is now spreading his wings. He was able to spare a few hours helping me get on with making a start on the transom repairs.
We made a rough pattern of the port side which is in the correct shape, as this side of the boat as never had any major work done to it over the years.




However, the same can be said of the starboard side which as been messed about a lot over the years and as lost a lot of shape, so much so that it is a completely different shape to the port side, as can be seen from placing the pattern in the same position as it was on the port side.







The starboard side deck falls away towards the transom








The port side is curving up at the transom end, showing that the starboard side as dropped over the years.







In the photo there are measurements of the port side plank widths and the ones measured on the starboard side, There are marked differences between the measurements on some of them 11mm on another 16mm and a couple more planks 2 or 3 mm differences, Some in order to sort out the transom misshape these planks will have to be removed in order to being back the shape back to the originalk shape and size.




One job we have started to do is to prop the hull up to stop it from dropping anymore while will remove the planks and frames which are holding the hull out of shape.

[jstarboats]

A pile of freshly milled green oak for the major repairs for the transom work, the frames and ribs and the beam shelf and deck beams, a lot of the oak will be made into steamed parts as this will make for stronger parts and with modern glues and fixings will make the new parts better and last longer.



The aft hatch upper part being glued back together before a few minor repairs are done to other parts of the hatch and then rebuild and refitted to the boat after it as been varnished and new glass is fitted and new step rails are fitted over the glass.




Some of the old electrical items out of the Engineering room which controlled the power coming for the engine dynamos. These are now not more than museum pieces of an old way of controlling engine dynamos.






A few old amp meters and control boxes.

[jstarboats]

A view down the starboard side of Chance looking aft towards the transom, it is in a poor condition however this is not just a small problem, but a major problem which has been years in the making.





The more of the deck planking that is removed the larger the problem comes to light




The first major problem being the tie rods that should be in place between the beam shelf and the carlin have been cut through and never replaced when the beam shelf was renewed at sometime in the past. This is a major problem in the making, as without these tie rods in place there is nothing to keep the boat deck from spreading open and the hull moving out of shape and the sheerline falling off as this as happier in this case.




It was not just one tie rod but all the tie rods from the cockpit to the transom that had been cut through, so the whole of the starboard side between the cockpit and the transom could move without any support between the cabin side and the hull, so as in the case of the starboard side deck it could open and close and fall in on itself as this has happen in the case of this deck




it is not known why these tie rods were not removed and replaced at the time the beam shelf was renew. The only reason was who ever cut the tie rods through had know understanding of the reason they were there in the first place.




So now we have to remove the whole of the deck remove the tie rods and the rotten beam shelf also renew the carlin which is very likely and prop up the hull back into position with the aid of a number of props and wedges and also pulling the hull back into shape using a Spanish windlass or other methods to bring back the starboard side back into its correct position to mirror the correct shaped portside and once that is done put back the carlin beam shelf and the tie rods so that this does not happen again

[leaotis]

I'm watching

[jstarboats]

As part of Chances' restoration there are a number parts that are missing from her which have been removed off over the years.
One of the items are the bronze rings that go round the fixed windows like this window in the aft cabin. These window rings were custom made for the James Silver vessels and are not available off the shelf.
So if anyone out there know where I could source these rings, I need four of them. Or put me in contact with someone who can make a new set of rings for this restoration project.





I am also on the look out for four 7" opening portholes with outer rings and additional two 7" outer rings for the portholes still in the hull without the outer rings.




Last item which I am on the look out for are two 6" either fixed or opening portholes for the back of the aft cabin.




These are just a few of the items I will need over the course of the restoration of Chance. So I will on the look out for a number of years ahead and will be going to many boat jumbles looking for bits to replace the missing bits as we go along with the restoration .

[jstarboats]

This is a 36ft. silverlette currently at his boatyard.itii 4 feet shortly than Chance. It,however, has many of same features on deck as Chance. A raised foredeck and a lower aft side and aft deck.

Chance is in many ways similar to this James Silver. The largest difference being that Chance as a full size sailing rig not just steadying sails. The deck layout between the two boats is very similar in that they have both got the same number of deck hatches on both fore and aft decks in much the same position.

The major other difference is that Chance has two sets of davits, one on the transom and the other set of davits on the port side along the aft cabin. From my research is was an option for the owner to have a tender for the crew and one for himself. The smaller tender to hang off the transom and the longer tender along the side.
The other difference being that Chance has a bow davit for lifting the anchor onboard.
All these features will be refitted to Chance when the deck is relaid later in the restoration. In the meantime the work on the transom will continue as we sort out the starboard side deck and the beam shelf and transom and rebuild these parts back they were build.

[jstarboats]

A day in the lake district and visiting the Windermere Jetty Museum
Yesterday my wife Tricia and I when to the Lake District to talk to the staff at the Windermere Jetty Museum about their work on the restoration projects they have underway at the present time and the methods they use to restore and converse the craft they have at the museum.


They have to make many difficult decisions about which craft to restore, which to conserve and which to just hold until a decision as been made to go in either direction.


Having talk to the manager of the restoration team about the work they are doing on the vessels in their workshop, we both are using very similar methods gained over many years of doing traditional boat building methods to restore and converse the vessels we both work on in different parts of the UK.


One point, we agreed on was, that we need to train the younger generation in the skills they will need to restore and maintain the historic vessels we have around the UK and beyond. Some areas of the UK appear to be able to engage with the younger generation and other areas it is not so easy to engage with the younger generation. So it is up to people like myself to show that it's a pathway to pursue and that there is sense of reward that you have saved an historic vessel that would otherwise be lost to the historic fleet of vessels and the methods of construction that was used in their build.


The main driving force behind us restoring Chance, is that she is a unique "Western Isles" motorsailer which was a vessel that John Bain designed for her first owner, Lovett Crossley who wish to explore the western isles of Scotland during his and his wife's retirement.


John Bain was during this time the owner of the James Silver boatyard and was the James Silver boatyard chief designer during the time when Chance was build at the boatyard in1948.


While we were at the Windermere Jetty Museum we saw a couple of boats which fired my lifelong love of boats and in turn my career into boat building when I was 16 years old and which made me move from West Yorkshire to Norfolk. The two boats were the Swallow and the Amazon was were the names of the boats from novel by Arthur Ransome of the same name. These two boats which as a child fired my imagination about sailing small boats and having adventures were still in existence. They may not be original boats, however, the fact they are reproduction boats to a design of the original boats does not matter.the fact that the boats are still around for people to enjoy them and remember their own childhood is still good.


We are at the moment editing a video of our trip to the Windermere Jetty Museum and hope to have it release on Friday next week for our patreon to view before releasing it to the Public on the following Tuesday.

[jstarboats]

A day in the lake district and visiting the Windermere Jetty Museum
Yesterday my wife Tricia and I when to the Lake District to talk to the staff at the Windermere Jetty Museum about their work on the restoration projects they have underway at the present time and the methods they use to restore and converse the craft they have at the museum.


They have to make many difficult decisions about which craft to restore, which to conserve and which to just hold until a decision as been made to go in either direction.


Having talk to the manager of the restoration team about the work they are doing on the vessels in their workshop, we both are using very similar methods gained over many years of doing traditional boat building methods to restore and converse the vessels we both work on in different parts of the UK.


One point, we agreed on was, that we need to train the younger generation in the skills they will need to restore and maintain the historic vessels we have around the UK and beyond. Some areas of the UK appear to be able to engage with the younger generation and other areas it is not so easy to engage with the younger generation. So it is up to people like myself to show that it's a pathway to pursue and that there is sense of reward that you have saved an historic vessel that would otherwise be lost to the historic fleet of vessels and the methods of construction that was used in their build.


The main driving force behind us restoring Chance, is that she is a unique "Western Isles" motorsailer which was a vessel that John Bain designed for her first owner, Lovett Crossley who wish to explore the western isles of Scotland during his and his wife's retirement.


John Bain was during this time the owner of the James Silver boatyard and was the James Silver boatyard chief designer during the time when Chance was build at the boatyard in1948.


While we were at the Windermere Jetty Museum we saw a couple of boats which fired my lifelong love of boats and in turn my career into boat building when I was 16 years old and which made me move from West Yorkshire to Norfolk. The two boats were the Swallow and the Amazon was were the names of the boats from novel by Arthur Ransome of the same name. These two boats which as a child fired my imagination about sailing small boats and having adventures were still in existence. They may not be original boats, however, the fact they are reproduction boats to a design of the original boats does not matter.the fact that the boats are still around for people to enjoy them and remember their own childhood is still good.


We are at the moment editing a video of our trip to the Windermere Jetty Museum and hope to have it release on Friday next week for our patreon to view before releasing it to the Public on the following Tuesday.

[jstarboats]

Having weathered the winter in good condition it is now time to get into sorting out the list of jobs we need to do to get the hull sorted out over the spring and summer.





While Simon gets on with the transom and the other major jobs to sort out the back of the boat, Tricia and friends will be able to make a start on removing the rotten planks and make patterns to spoilt




This is the photo of the forward port side davit base with the casted bronze plate removed for use as a pattern for the other four deck plates needed to be replaced as they are missing, because they have been removed by previous owners. The other deck plates are for the aft port side davit the two needed for the transom davits for the small dinghy and the starboard bow davit to recover the bow anchor.




The port side side deck which has not been messed about with over the years unlike the starboard side deck which has been chopped about a lot.



Main mast tabernacle position which need patterning up to have a new tabernacle made




The size of the foredeck is massive and will need a lot of sanding and re-caulking in the future




The wheel house which is in need a lot of work and sanding back to bare wood so it can be varnished like it was originally done.

[jstarboats]

These are the three different sets of steps for different parts of the boat.
The left set of steps are the ones from the cockpit into the main cabin, the middle set of steps are the steps from the cockpit to the aft cabin and finally the right hand set are the cockpit entrance to deck steps.





The first job was to remove all the fittings off the steps and place them in individual pots so the fitting can go back on when the steps are re-varnished and ready to refitted to the boat.




The aft passage way steps which are blanked off at the back as this part of the steps leads into the aft end of the engine bay.




A tall set of steps to go from the cockpit down into the main cabin




An interesting way of locking the steps threads to the raisers by a square peg and a wedge hammered into position to lock the two parts together.





The rest of the steps were just screwed or pin together.

[jstarboats]

This is the original galley worktop before it was sanded down to see the condition of the top and see if it could be used again.





After a good sanding down with course to fine sandpaper it came back up to a reasonable condition and it can be salvaged.




The trim around the edges will have to be removed and a trim which should be on the worktop will be made and re-fixed in position to be like it was when the galley top was originally fitted.




There is a small area of rot along the back edge, however, with a bit of cutting and letting in it will okay to be refitted when the locker is rebuild that this worktop sits on.




A bit of screw sickness from the builders using steel screws to fix down the worktop.




This is a worktop that was removed from the galley area which covered the original worktop and was longer than the original worktop which was fitted a some stage in the past to make a longer worktop. The original worktop when be going back in and the galley area rebuild as it was originally build.

[snow(Alan H)]

Ok - I'm going to be the one to ask the big question - here we go.......... is this thread about pulling a boat apart or is it a restoration story............ I'm confused. Just putting it out there :-)

[jstarboats]

The journey so far this year.

1 April 2023
Since the beginning of the year we have done a far amount of work on the stern of the hull. Now the transom skin is now removed to expose the framework the skin was fixed too. At the same time part of the starboard side deck was removed to expose a can of worms in the shape of poorly done repairs at some time in the past which as lead to a lot of extra work to put right.
The first thing to get expose was the fact that the beam shelf was not replaced correctly as it was just bolted to the frames and nothing else. The tie rods that connect the beam shelf to the rest of the deck structure were cut through and not replaced as they should have been to keep the deck in position and stop the hull from moving apart, This is exactly what as happened and is the job we have to do first before any of work can be done to the hull and deck.
The major problem we have to overcome is to bring the hull back into the correct shape after it has been out of shape for so long. We made a pattern of the port side of the transom and the starboard side is one and half inches out of shape in the fair curve of the tumble home and the planks on the starboard side are different widths to the planks on the port side in the same position. This being the case the planks on the starboard side of the hull aft have been fitted after the repair to the starboard beam shelf and when the hull had started to move.
As the teak deck planking of the starboard side deck was being removed the extent of the poorly done repair highlight a bigger problem nothing was tiring anything together anymore. main deck beams had been cut through and were floating in fresh air as were the side deck short beams.
What we have done in the meantime is to fit props under the starboard side hull where the hull has dropped to stop it going any further and are carefully pushing the hull back up to its correct position and when we have achieved that replace the poorly fitted beam shelf to then let the hull re-gain it correct shape.
Then we will remove the beam shelf once the rest of the deck planking is removed so that all the deck beams are exposed and the work can be started to refit the beam shelf and the rest of other deck beams and once that is done re-skin the transom after the transom framework is all rebuild in the correct shape.
While this is being done Simon and his son Michael have been going through some of the bits that are being stored in Simon;s Workshop, one of the jobs Michael has been doing is sanding down the Main Cabin Butterfly hatch lids which have been removed before Christmas and have now dried out so it is now possible to sand them down and inspect them for any damage and see how best to repair and restore any damaged parts.
Simon has been cleaning down the three sets of steps out of Chance, one short set to get out of the cockpit to the side deck. another set to go from the cockpit to the main cabin and the last set of steps to go down into the aft end of the boat to the aft heads and finally into the aft cabin. These steps are all made differently and need cleaning in different ways to get rid of the old varnish and do any repairs to them before they can be varnished and refitted to the boat.
We are hoping for a change in the weather so that we can get back to Chance and get on with her repairs over the spring and summer so that we can get her hull and deck in a better condition from the one we have at the moment.

[jstarboats]

This is a restoration story, however, before you can start to restore a boat such as Chance you have to do a lot of pulling apart to get to the parts that need replacing because someone in the past did not do the job correctly and have made the problem bigger than it needed to be in the first place .So in order to restore Chance using the best methods to put her back corectly you have to level the playing field and have a datum to work to, which is what we are doing at the moment. Once we have got to the point when the starboard beam shelf can be removed and the hull shape is back where it should be after years of being out of shape then the restoration can and will start.

[jstarboats]

This is the forward end of the original beam shelf and is in a less than excellent condition as the window above the beam shelf as been missing for some time and fresh water has been aloud to stand on the beam shelf when there was a shelf nailed on to the top of the beam shelf.




This is the area of the beam shelf is where the new aft section of the beam shelf was butted together with a packing block and just screwed together with steel screws and or even bolted together to maintain the strength in the beam shelf.







The original beam shelf bolted in place, however, as you look down the new section of the beam shelf no bolts to be seen.









As before as you saw in early blogs the tie rods which should be in place to hold the decks together have been cut through and so the deck moves apart from the itself with nothing to keep it in position.


Also, what can be seen is the large area of rot in the beam shelf where the fresh water was able to get through the deck planking and into the softwood beam shelf and because this area was not able to be ventilated to keep a good air flow in this area.







The whole of the beam shelf is in a very bad condition and also in this photo it can be seen, there are no bolts fixing this lodging knee to the beam shelf.

This photo shows how bad the condition of the aft end of the starboard side and aft decks are, there is no stern knee between the transom and the beam shelf the aft deck beam ends have been cut off and not fixed to the beam shelf in any way. also, the aft lodging knee as not fixings to the beam shelf and so the whole area is unsupported.


Another view of the same area from deck level showing the extent of the poor workmanship that was used to fit the beam shelf and the way that the aft deck beams were cut short and the whole area is going to be removed to reinstate the deck in the correct manner.

[jstarboats]

Simon having spent the day removing the teak planking on the starboard side deck as exposed a catalog of poorly done repairs of the past which have ended up with the starboard side being in the condition it is now.





The lodging knees that are there to connect the beam shelf to the deck beams were in position but not bolted to the beam shelf, just connected to the deck beam so the boat just lost its shape because nothing was holding the two parts together once the beam shelf was replaced at sometime in the past.




The beam shelf was made out of softwood and as rotted away in places and is just bolted to the hull frames and nothing else.




The inboard end of the short beams still fixed correctly where as the outboard end was cut off with the inboard side of the new beam shelf and just fixed with a couple of screws which have rusted away over time and so the beams are floating in fresh air.




One area where the short beam was missing completely

[jstarboats]

The aft lodging knee as the forward lodging knee not fixed to the beam shelf just the deck beam at the end of the cabin.




At least it is all teak deck planking is now removed and the beam shelf is exposed so that the next stage can be got on with. that is to remove the ols beam shelf once the aft cabin is supported by props under the aft cabin deck beams, the props will be placed on top of the keel and wedged into position to keep the aft cabin supported while we replace the beam shelf and carlin and the deck beams both long and short beams.




It was easier to remove the whole section of deck planking, so it will be easier to sort out the beam shelf where it needs replacing going through this area without any deck beams or planking in the way




Simon is going to be making a lot of patterns over the next few weeks as he make new lodging knees and short beams and a few longer beams for the aft deck and a new carlin for the aft cabin.

[jstarboats]

This link show what Simon has been doing while the weather has wet and he as been unable to work outside on Chance.
https://youtu.be/1ayeJmN9_4U
This Easter weekend Simon was not able to get on with all the jobs he had planned to do on Chance herself, So when the weather turned wet and windy he decided to go to his workshop and get on with a few of the jobs he could get on with while the weather was so he could not work outside on Chance. Simon continued to clean off the old varnish off the three sets of steps that Chance has for people to move around the inside of Chance and out on to her decks. In the video the short set of steps are the steps to gain access to the deck from the wheelhouse. this set of steps were to be placed in front of the starboard sliding door out on to the side deck. Although, over the years somebody had made an extra set of steps for the port side behind the steering position they were not original and will not be going back in as although there is a sliding doorway here there is no lift section of the wheelhouse roof. As there wheelhouse roof is original there is no reason to think there was any set of steps for the port side. The second set of steps which are a lot higher than the set of steps to let people access the deck from the cockpit they are the steps to go down into the main cabin from the cockpit. these set of steps have got some oil damage to the lower 6 or so inches of the uprights which will have to be dealt with before any varnish can be re-applied to the steps.Finally, the third set of steps are the set of steps to go down towards the aft cabin, which in the day of the original owners of Chance was their state room. Which is the part of the boats' interior which has been messed about with the most over the years and which is going to take the most to put back the way it was originally build back in 1948. The main problem we have is that without a set of plans for the boats' interior we are taking measurements and ideas from what is left to gauge what the aft stateroom should look like and hope we get it correct. These third set of steps is also one of the ways to access the engine bay as well as lifting the floorboards in the wheelhouse and accessing the engines from above. So now that the sets of steps are cleaned up and ready for re-varnishing in is time if the weather is not able to let us work on Chance it is time to work on some of the other interior parts Simon has in his workshop and on his workshop shelves

[jstarboats]

The chart table and the drawer unit from Chance is in a bit of a rough condition and is in need of a bit of TLC and a few parts need replacing.





Most of the unit is in good condition, conceding it was open to the elements for quiet a long while.




It is a little bit out of shape, however, with a little bit of adjustment it will go back in shape and when the drawers are repaired they will go back into the unit.




The inside will need a bit of paint and sealing as it as had very little in the way of protection in some while.





The top is in need of TLC in the way of gluing the two part together before it is sanded down and re-varnishing





The same with the large end panel which needs bracing from behind and the gap clamping up and gluing together and sanding down and re-varnishing.

[jstarboats]

The chart table top as dried out over the years and as split along the grain and in order to keep the chart table, it was decided to clean out the split and fill the split with epoxy glue with mahogany sawdust to make up any gaps in the split so it will look as much as possible the original mahogany.





The top as been clamped together in order to keep its shape and also clamped flat as much as possible to flatten it out so that when the glue as cured a reinforcement panel will be screwed and glued to the under side to keep the top from splitting again.




The same treatment was used on the side panel of the chart table, clamping the split together with sash clamps and the two halves leveled up so they are as flat as possible. Once again when the glue is cured there will be reinforcement panels fitted to the inside face of the side panel to stop the panel from splitting again.




The gap was clamped together as much as possible to give the glue a good bond between the two halves to help stop the to halves splitting again.




Once the work as been done to stop the panel splitting again the old varnish will be sanded back and the panels will be re-varnished ready for it to be refitted once the cockpit is rebuild.

[jstarboats]

The chart table framework having some much needed repair work done to stabilize the framework so it can be refitted to the cockpit once the cockpit as been rebuild.





The upright rail in the photo was just one of the parts needed to stabilize the framework .




The other part needed was the corner brace to square up the framework back into its correct shape




The framework now able to stand up by itself for the first time in a long time since it was removed out of the cockpit. Once the glue as cured the other work to stabilize the unit will be done. reinforcing the side and top panels from splitting and the the whole unit will be sanded down and re-varnished ready to be refitted into the cockpit once the cockpit floor is refitted.




A good clean down and paint and varnish it will look as good as new and ready for another 70+ years.

[jstarboats]

Having sanded back the drawer fronts and the side runners of the Chart table drawers it looks a lot better and ready for a fresh coat of varnish and the lower part a coat of fresh white paint to brighten up the lower locker in the chart table unit





A much improved chart table unit now that it has had a good sanding back to get rid of the old varnish




The side panel now repaired and sanded back to a original colour ready for a fresh coat of varnish




The chart table top which has been sanded back, although not all the age staining as been removed it is a lot better than it was before we started. Just have a small split being glued together before the whole of the top gets a final sanding back before it is varnished once more.




A gluing repair being done to the lower locker door, This will need a lower rail making to attach the door to the rest of the chart table unit as it was broken when this unit was removed from the cockpit last year.

[jstarboats]

The first coat of thinned varnish to help protect the surface. We can now see what the colour of the wood was when Chance was originally build. The only thing we have not done is go overboard with the sanding. We have just got rid of the greyed colour back to the rich mahogany colour below the weathered surface.





The colour of the panels are beautiful rich mahogany colour you do not see much these days.




The chart table top will be good once there are a lot more coats of varnish and there are charts being used on the chart table again.





The lower locker door which is going to have a lot more coat of varnish, If this is a window into what the rest of the mahogany that was used on Chance when she was build, Chance is going to look beautiful when she is revarnished over the course of the restoration.