New Engine for Christmas

New Year 2014

Everyone has had a very well earned break over Christmas, and we are now at the end of January and the team is firing on all cylinders.  We have now completed planking on the port side, as you can see from the photos below.  Adrian and Paul have done a fantastic job is getting the hull closed up, with beautiful tight seams on all the boards.  

Meanwhile Simon and Steve are also enjoying themselves at deck level.  With the old deck removed up to the centre of the boat they have been systematically working forward removing, cleaning up and refastening the deck beams where they are good, and replacing them with new douglas fir where necessary.  Meticulous joinery has produced lovely tight dovetails.

You can also see in these photos the extensive burning off and cleaning up of the inside of the hull that has been done, mainly with a blow torch and scraper - not a job for the faint-hearted.

At the aft end we have been working out the position for the new engine and running gear.  The original engine was just behind the main mast, with a prop shaft over 25 ft long.  We want to keep the balance as close to the original design as possible, so are keeping the engine as far forward as is practical - now only a 14 ft shaft!

Having worked out the run of the shaft and stern gear we could drill for the stern tube.  This involved two 5 ft drill bits and a boring bar.  The jig that was set up got the first hole drilled within half an inch through a 3 ft section of stern post.  This was soon corrected to be a perfect run down the centreline of the boat as the diameter of the hole was increased.

We can now finish the last few planks on the starboard side, with the next big challenge being the dropping off of the lead keel so we can renew the keel bolts.  This and the replacement of the deck should keep us all entertained for a while....

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We also have the exciting additions of local photographer Nick Edwards who is documenting the work going on with some fantastic images, as well as Shellby Collins, who is helping out as an apprentice one day a week while studying at UKSA.