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.

Brazilian Mahogany for the Indian Summer

August / September 2014

August saw us continue on the interior of Fedoa.  We fixed the engine in position and installed all the tanks enabling to start connecting up all the pipework .  This had to be done while everything was accessible, putting in the majority of the plumbing, exhaust system, bilge pumps and pipes, fresh water system and a large amount of the electrical wiring.   

The new generator was also fitted in the lazarette, and the necessary systems introduced for this.

Woodwork in the interior included ply panels where structural strength is needed, and tongue and groove panelling in the service areas such as the galley, focastle and heads to finish off the bulkheads, as well as the douglas fir carcassing.

In September we continued with installing pipework, with the sanitation systems introduced, and fuel system all designed ready for installation. 

Joinery has stepped up a level now, with all the structure now in place.  We have sourced a beautiful batch of Brazilian Mahogany from Stone's Timber in Devon, which I went to inspect in August.  This has arrived and we have tried to get everything else completed (where possible) before introducing the final joinery.  All the iroko sole boards are now fitted, so we have started fitting door frames and some panelling made from the mahogany.  This is, as expected, making really stunning woodwork that is going to look absolutely right for the period of the boat.  

Other areas that have been built include the galley and the three heads, which now just need finishing with the mahogany, and most of the sleeping cabins.  Painters are currently coming in as we stop for the day and working through the evening, so we don't interfere with each other's work, and things can keep progressing at a good rate. 

We are hoping to get all the mahogany interior done over the next month or so, meaning that we can move back out of the boat and get the deck laid while the electrician, mechanic, painters and varnishers get things finished off down below

We have also spent some time finishing the outside of the hull to the final shape with all the planking now faired so the skin fittings can all be fitted through the hull where necessary.  The hull can now be primed and caulked which will greatly improve the "finished" look of the boat.

Everyone has got through a huge amount of work, and the joinery feels like a reward after some of the tougher jobs that have been tackled over the last few months.  The team are doing a great job of staying focussed, and are producing an interior of a very high standard.

Full Steam Ahead

June / July 2014

In June most of our hours went into the deck, with the cedar and ply down, and the whole thing faired and sheathed with epoxy / fibreglass by the end of June.  This is now ready for the cedar and teak laid deck which we have decided to do after the interior fit out to minimise the risk of it getting damaged.  The other time consuming job that was finished in June was splining the topsides, which is now finished so the hull is ready for fairing.

July has been back to full speed with almost twice the hours going into the boat as in June.  We started the month with the exciting event of the new engine going into the boat.  This was achieved with the help of South Boats and their crane, with which we managed to fit the engine through the side of the tent, and drop it down through the main hatch with a block and tackle.  600 kgs of Perkins is now in position in the centre of the saloon.   We also fitted the thrust bearing to thrust plate, and prop shaft through the stern tube so we can order the aquadrive to complete the drive gear.

We have got most of the cabin sole fitted this month, using solid iroko boards to give us a base to build the furniture off.  With basic wiring in and tanks in position we now have the basic cabin layout installed.  A traditional finish throughout the boat in keeping with the original is going to include tongue and groove panelling, fielded panels, and raised and fielded panels, some being painted and some varnished depending on the use of the cabin / area.

Other jobs have included preparing the area under the cockpit for the generator, which will be fitted in August, and making the cockpit itself.  Also, starting to fit the plumbing and galley systems below floor level before too much is built in over the top.  We are making great progress and are still on target to get the majority of the interior joinery finished, the electrical and mechanical systems installed and be finishing off the deck by the end of the year.

Feeling like a New Boat.....

May 2014

We have now completed painting the inside of the hull, and having sanded back the 2 coats applied by hand we have sprayed on the final coat(s).  Fedoa is now feeling like a new boat being fitted out rather than an old one being patched up.

With all the floors fully fastened in we have been able to slide the keel back in under the boat.  It was offered up and was a good fit on the new wood keel, with all - both original and new - holes lining up with the holes in the lead.  The gallery bolts are all in and fastened, and the main keel bolts all in place with just the nuts to go onto them to have the keel fitted.  This has been bedded on a lead / linseed putty to form a watertight seal. 

Having drilled for the stern tube earlier in the year it was a fairly quick job to get this installed, and from there we were able to fabricate a steel thrust plate and fit our rear coupling for the shaft. 

We have also made and fitted steel engine bearers, so everything is in place for the engine to be dropped in when this arrives.  Other steel work fitted includes hanging knees, either refurbished or remade, and a steel breastplate across the front of the focastle to reinforce under the inner forestay attachment.

More work has been done on the interior bulkheads and floor bearers so all the cabins are now demarcated, and we have worked out the best layout for the companionway staircase, with a mock-up installed last week which we can use for access into the boat.  We are very happy with the layout, with generous cabins throughout.

Looking ahead, we will be fitting the first 2 layers of the deck on this month; a layer of tongue and groove cedar, followed by a layer of ply sheathed with glass cloth and epoxy. We are also aiming to get the engine fully installed so we can get the shaft / aquadrive fitted and all the fuel tanks templated / made up ready to be plumbed in next month so the interior fitout can begin in earnest.

Out of the Frying Pan

March 2014

It's been an interesting month with a number of very different jobs going on.  We have now treated the whole of inside of the boat with wood preservative, and an impreg primer which soaks in and protects the timber. 

We have then been hand painting the whole of the inside with a number of coats, while also doing any snagging to get everything up to A1 standard.  A final coat will be sprayed next week to give the required level of finish inside.

The bronze floors have all been going in and fastened to the planking, which looks very impressive down the length of the keel. 

We are very fortunate to have a skilled blacksmith on the team, so we have forged our own keel bolts from high grade aluminium bronze rod.  

There are approximately 60 keel bolts ranging from 3/4" to 1 1/4", which are now all made up and were threaded last week by a local machinist.  

We will start to fit these next week, which means we will able to get the keel fastened back in during April

We can then look at installing the engine and running gear, finishing the bulkheads and starting the interior fitout, and laying the deck which has been machined up and is ready to be laid.

All Planked Up.

With all the planking now done the boat is looking fantastic.  We have tackled the challenging task of removing the lead keel this month, and in the process we have also altered and rebuilt the cradle which has given more space under Fedoa to see the beautiful lines of the hull.

We built a trolley to enable us to move the 8 ton lump of lead, without having to lift the boat.  This went smoothly and enabled us to remove all the old keel bolts.  New bronze keel bolts are now going to be fabricated so we can refit the lead and tie it into the new bronze floors which are all now cast and ready to be fitted.

Now the hull is fully planked up we are treating everything inside with wood preservative , before painting out the interior.   We have fitted the floor bearers in to give us a working level, and have fitted a number of the main bulkheads .  

Before going further we have a week of "snagging", finishing off all the remaining fastenings, butt blocks, etc. to ensure everything is 100% finished before continuing with the engine installation and interior fit-out.

At deck level all the deck beams are now finished and looking great. 

These were faired through last week, and the cedar is cut ready to start laying the subdeck as soon as the bulkheads are in.

We can really feel things moving forward quickly, and expect to see more big changes by the Easter Holidays.

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.