So we've seen thhe picture progress - but how long did it actually take and was it as easy as it may seem to the novices like me?

And I thought it was going to be another of those risque topics :(

W.

Hi Roxy, it wasn't as easy and took a lot longer that I thought it was going to.

To get the bow thruster tube in, I had to completely remove the front bunks. I had to break up the old floor as someone had screwed it down with steel screws, they were the hardened type and I could neither undo them nor drill them out. I also had to remove the galley and old carpet to be able to get to the all of the through bolts for the new spray rails and glass them over.

Once everything was gutted and the tube and spray rails installed, I decided to install an additional beam across inside the bows to help support the bow thruster motor. I also glassed in some additional support for the bunks. After that I had to clean off 30 years of grime from the insides of the hull before bilge painting it. I also wanted to reuse as much of the original woodwork as possible so that had to be cleaned and restored. Another thing is that the tube necessitated that the centre joint between the bunks had to be moved back about 5 inches to provide clearance.

The weather was also against me for a lot of the external work as I needed temperatures above 5 deg C for the epoxy coatings etc. It eventually took about 4 months and I was expecting it to take about 2. At the end of the day, I wanted to do it to a quality rather than a time. I always say that "near enough isn't good enough but exactly right will just about do.

I think that is a good saying and all your hard work has really paid off. Did you manage to salvage most of the wood - or was it less than you would have liked?

Thanks Roxy sorry for the delay in replying but I've been up to my neck in it (work that is)

I managed to save virtually everything apart from the plywood bunk sides. The old bunk sides had been cut for various heater outlets and switches over the years so they had to go.

It saved a lot of time by reassembling the original components and helped maintain the originality of the boat. Used new stainless steel screws though not the original brass ones.

That's understandable. I am all for restoration but also for modernising where necessary and I don’t think many people would class stainless steel screw as a downfall of a project – more a wisely made decision.

Thanks Roxy, mind you, if I was restoring a seventeenth centurary piece of furniture, I wouldnt use stainless steel, I'd want old rusty iron nails. That might even involve making them up then burying them in someting unmentionable in the garden for a few months

Unless it was a sea going chair I would have to agree with you, and that may be extended to one of those chairs they use at jewish weddings to lift u[p the bride and groom. Went to a friends wedding and I bet they wished they had had steel screws then as the chairs kind of disintergrated while they were in mid air! Ah well... Made it more of a memorable day I suppose!

Like the hull Roxy, What yacht do you sail? I was gutted last weekend my first race git cancelled because of the weather hopefully she might of calmed down by tomorrow!

Shame to hear about your first race being cancelled. I currently don't have my own sailing boat though do use my father's narrow boat a fair bit. I am thinking about purchasing a swift 18 (as I have mentioned to you in another post), but sail mainly of friends boats and racing yachts. I plan to do quite a lot on a mustang this year, but was on a Sigma 36 last year. I have sailed quite a few sigma in my time and would certainly purchase one if I had the money.