November / December 2014
It feels like a long time ago that
the stairs went in. Fedoa's interior has
come on leaps and bounds as the panelling through the saloon and entrance area
has been completed. We have now got all
the cabin doors made and hung, and they have been taken out again for
varnishing. The varnishing on the
mahogany started in December, and has brought the interior to life.
Many many hours of prep work have ensured
that a great finish will be achieved. Some
details of the interior are still to complete.
Cupboards in the sleeping cabins and saloon, as well as the owner's
cabin still need to be done. However,
the galley and heads are almost complete, and getting some oil onto the sole
boards has tied all the cabins together beautifully.
Having tried the engine box in the
middle of the saloon, we decided that it dominated too much, so this has been
cut back and redone to make this area cosy with a "gentleman's club"
feel, but spacious enough to be practical.
The introduction of bunk fronts and the chart table gives a good idea of
the final layout. The table over the
engine is a stunning piece of mahogany which forms a great centrepiece for the
room.
Fitting the stainless fridge and
freezer means that the joinery in the galley could be finished off and this
looks great. Dovetailed drawers and
fiddly door catches have kept us busy.
The
teak gratings in the two showers have been made to perfection which finishes
off the traditional look in the heads, with just the sink and toilet plumbing
to finish these cabins.
The hull sides
are being finished with painted cedar slats to line out lockers and visible
areas throughout. This is a great job
for our young shipwrights to fine tune their accuracy and fitting skills.
The New Year brings plenty of new
challenges. The arrival of the air conditioning
units and watermaker means that we now have all mechanical systems in
place. Some of us will continue below
decks with the installation of these systems and the finishing off of the
joinery, while others will turn their attention to the deck. We are now ready to lay the covering boards
and king plank in teak, before laying the cedar swept deck.
The original hatches are currently being used
to keep the interior warm for varnishing, and these will be refurbished and
reused over the new deck as they are in good condition despite being nearly 90
years old.
It has been a fantastic year of
boatbuilding for all of us, and the team at Moreton Marine have met all the
challenges thrown at them with initiative and enthusiasm. It is a great privilege to be able to restore
a boat with Fedoa's heritage so completely, and we are making sure we honour Alfred
Mylne by doing the job as well as we can.
History Update
It has been a great few months for
learning more about Fedoa's varied history.
I was contacted by the children of someone who sailed across the
Atlantic in Fedoa in the 1950's. This led
to another member of the crew getting in touch, who came to see Fedoa last week. The conversation with someone who sailed
Fedoa reliving their memories from 60 years ago was fascinating, and hopefully
more pictures and press cuttings from their fateful crossing are on their
way. The following is an excerpt from an
email I was sent regarding this passage, which involved a hurricane, an injured
and hungry crew, and a memorial service for them before they arrived safely in
Antigua:
"Nat
used every fibre in his body to climb the mast in the atrocious and treacherous
conditions in order to free the halyard which was stuck, preventing them from
lowering the mainsail. Unfortunately his shoelace became stuck at the top in
the main halyard pulley, but after struggling for some time he managed to break
free. (For several years after this he refused to wear shoes with laces). Without any clear idea of where they were having
been blown off course by the hurricane, and without a navigator, they decided
to steer a westerly course..... By a remarkable coincidence, the course they had chosen exactly
bisected the entrance to English Harbour in Antigua, and two months after their
departure from England they finally arrived."
We
were also contacted by another relative of a former crew of Fedoa who had
sailed her in the Fastnet in the 50's.
They apparently finished 35th out of 36!
October 2014
October was all about the interior. Steve and Ade have been concentrating on the
mahogany panelling, which is completely transforming the interior. The saloon and stairwell areas are now pretty
much complete. Simon has been fitting
the door frames, which is tying together all the walls and bulkheads really
nicely. Paul has been concentrating on
the heads and the galley, making and fitting cupboards. With a painter working away in the background
everything is coming together well. We
expect to finish all the cabins except for the Owner's by the end of November.
The stove, fridge and freezer are
now ready to be fitted, so the galley will be ready to go, and all the plumbing
is now ready for a final fit. Once the
dust settles from the whirlwind of joinery we will get to work on the
varnishing and final fit of the fuel systems and main electrics.
Other jobs tackled this month
include fairing the hull, which after hardening up and refastening the whole
boat is no small task (A new apprentice starting in November should speed this
along). We have also made the large
mahogany table top to fit the engine cover, as well as starting all the
mahogany joinery throughout the saloon, side tables and the chart table and
mahogany worktops in the galley and heads.
The staircase has also been made
and assembled, and is being fitted today.