The major restoration of Chance (Token) James Silver Western Isles Motor sailer

[jstarmarine]

A few spare minutes at the end of my working day, so it gave me time to do a bit of varnishing on the cockpit chart table

With a spare few minutes at the end of my working day, working on client's boats. It was time to get the varnish brushes out and do a spot of varnishing on Chance's cockpit chart table.
This is the drop down door on the lower part of the chart table below the chart drawers.



The first of the full strength coats of epifanes varnish, just another 8 to 10 coats to go before there will be enough to seal the surface and make it hard wareing.



The front looking better than it as been for sometime like the top a lot more coats of varnish to come



The rich original colour shining through as we build up the coats of varnish on the important item of furniture in the cockpit.



The drawers are in need of a few coats of paint on the side that are not seen, as these parts have not had any paint or varnish in a long time

 

[jstarmarine]

Now the dust as settled from the past two years, We can move forward once more.
Over past couple of years, life as been to say been very stressful with a lot going on in the family's personal life which impacted on our restoration project, which at time caused major changes in being able to go to Woodplumpton when Chance was there for the first 18 month's or so of the restoration project.
Covid did not help the situation, as we had to work round the travel restrictions, which caused a lot of problems with my own boat building business cutting back on working hours and the ability to get more jobs coming in to keep my business from closing down for good.
Some how we survived and were able to open up again for more work to come through the workshop and to get the business off its knees and working again.
So, after the period of the Covid pandemic was over, we were starting to rebuild our lives however, this was not going to last for long before another difficult period was going to begin, my wife Tricia mother became unwell after Covid pandemic was over.
This period of uncertainty about Tricia mother's health made it impossible to make any meaningful plans to work on Chance for any length of time and so a lot of jobs that were planned to be done were either delayed or shelved until Chance was brought down to Essex.
Tricia's mother passed away at the end of April this year. We will all miss her support for our project, However, Tricia's mother was always a woman who saw a problem as just another hurdle to overcome. So whatever, the problem it was not going to be insurmountable and just needed a clear head and at times looking outside the box for a way to get through the situation.
So now that the dust as settled on the past few years of hurdles and delays we all hope to see a clearer path ahead and so we can get on with the project a fresh and get some meaningful work underway again.

 

[jstarmarine]

The odd part of the cockpit which should not be made out of marine plywood. Especially as the rest of the wood in the cockpit is mahogany.​

This part of the cockpit furniture is out of place as it is made from marine plywood and not mahogany as the rest of the cockpit furniture is made from and is original.

When it comes time to refit the cockpit furniture this is going to be a part that is remade in the original design as the seat that should be where this seat front was originally made and fitted.



This piece of mahogany is the inboard side of the cockpit seat which the panel in the first photo is screwed too. It appears that the original panel may well have been broken at sometime in the past and a new panel was made from whatever they had to hand at the time.



The reserve side of the side panel shows the height of the seat and the size of the locker that was under the seat lid.



The two side panel to go either side of the aft companionway steps to blank off the engine bay from the aft companionway. Now a lot of varnishing to come over the next few months.

 

[jstarmarine]

Making a start on the large pile of floorboards from Chance's interior from the forecabin to the aft end of the aft cabin and every place in between.
The pile of floorboards are a mixture of teak floorboards and larch floorboards. It appears that the forward end of the boat's interior had teak floorboards as far back as the main cabin bulkhead and then they are again in the cockpit, the cockpit sole being teak.

The other areas of the interior are larch floorboards, which appear to be a little odd as the main cabin and the aft cabin were used mostly by the owner and his family and friends. These floorboards mush at sometime be covered with lino or some other hard wearing floor covering.

Many of the floorboards had to have a large number of steel nails and the other bronze screw to hold they in place.This job my wife Tricia took upon herself to do and give not give up on the job even when the going got tough and some of the fixings were difficult to remove.

Some of the floorboards had ring pull catches which had to be removed to get ready to sand the floorboards back to remove what is left of the old paint and varnish on these floorboards. The sanding for another day.

The plie of floorboards all ready to get sorted into which are going to be sanded and painted and which are goingt to be varnished in the same manner they were when Chance was originally commissioned in 1948.

 

[jstarmarine]

As the weeks go on, it is a week of varnishing the parts of the cockpit furniture, some with the first coats of full strength varnish as in the case of the chart table locker and drawer fronts



The bottom locker door



Then the chart table top now all getting their first full strength varnish coats.



This is the port side cockpit seat side bulkhead panel, it is amazing to see this is a single piece of mahogany and not made up of several panels glued together.



The two side panel which go either side of the aft companionway steps down into the aft companionway to the aft stateroom



The base of one of cockpit lockers, it is either the portside seat locker base or the base of the bottom locker of the chart table locker.

 

[jstarmarine]

If you look at the transom the port side is its correct position and the starboard side as fallen down, due to a poorly dne replacement of the beam shelf down the starboard which was not refixed to the rest of the deck structure.



When we laid the two sets of transom cover plates they are identical in shape and length.



This shows that they were not put back on as they would have showed up the change in shape that came about when the starboard shelf repair was done.
Using these as patterns it should be able to gauge when we get the starboard side back to the correct shape when when start removing more of the starboard framework and let the hull regain the correct shape once more.

 

[jstarmarine]

The three fore cabin floor boards which need a good sanding and sealing before they can go back in, however, before that can be done the floor bearers have to be repaired or replaced first so that the floor boards will lay correctly



Here are most of the cockpit floor boards, some may be missing, if so then we can make new floor boards to replace the old floor boards, the original floor boards were made out of Teak. So it is going to be a little on the expensive side to replace them with teak.



The forecabin floor boards standing up showing the shape of the missing furniture in the fore cabin which was missing when we got Chance, however, they bear witness to where the missing furniture should be and so we can make the correct furniture for the forecabin once more.



The galley area floor boards, again these are made from teak, we will see if any are missing and if so replace what is missing with teak again. These floorboards will need a good sanding and sealing before these go back in position again.



These are a few of the floor boards which were in the interior just laying about so it is just a matter of sorting out the jigsaw puzzle.



The remaining floor boards are from the main saloon and the toilet and engineering room and the aft cabin, which we know as floor boards as the aft cabin was messed about with over the years.

 

[burgundyben]

I'm looking forward to following the reconstruction.

 

[jstarmarine]

As part of Chance's restoration there are a number of planks being replaced as they are either rotten or incorrectly fitted because they are made up of short pieces



This plank is quiet a length, however, it will not be the only long plank to be replaced on the hull as there a number of long planks that have to be renewed as there a number of short planks that have been replaced in the past.



The forward end of the first plank that as now been removed showing it was screwed on to one half of the double grown frame which makes up the framework of the hull.



The hull as a number of double frames that make up the framework of the hull.



One of the many ribs that have to be renewed as part of the restoration and give back the strength in the hull.



The aft end of the first plank and fixing the plank back to the double frame as it was originally build.

 

[jstarmarine]

The next planks to be removed were the planks at the aft end of the port side hull. The planks above the waterline were rotten on the seam edges and had more rot than sound wood to work with to make a good repair too.



There are also a number of planks that need replacing under the waterline between the shaft log and the transom. Some will be short lengths as they are in good condition ahead of the shaft log. However, to get the correct spacing between plank joints there will be a number of longer planks going in to return the strength to the hull once more.



The steering turning blockwhich is bolted through the planking, originally with eight bolts, However, there are only five remaining in position. There will be eight fitted back when this block is replaced and when the hull is re-planked.


The massive steering turning block which is going to removed and replaced with a new seasoned oak block and then bolted back in position when the port side hull planking is finished.


A photo looking from the transom end looking forward showing the major framework which Chance was build with and has kept her together all these years. There are few frames that need replacing in full, however, there are a number which just need parts of the frames replacing such as on the starboard side where the beam shelf needs replacing.


The first of many dustbins full of old planking

 

[ianc1200]

Simon, saw you hacking that plank out as we were walking the dogs (didn't want to interrupt). But keep meaning to ask - what is the existing planking?

 

[burgundyben]

I imagine you'll be delighted to get some new timber into her, that feels like a turning point.

 

[jstarmarine]

Simon, saw you hacking that plank out as we were walking the dogs (didn't want to interrupt). But keep meaning to ask - what is the existing planking?

Chance is build of Honduras mahogany

 

[jstarmarine]

I imagine you'll be delighted to get some new timber into her, that feels like a turning point.

I am delighted that I am making headway, could do without comments that I should set light to her and weight in the scrap metal

 

[steadyeddy]

I am delighted that I am making headway, could do without comments that I should set light to her and weight in the scrap metal

II

 

[steadyeddy]

II

Hard work, at the end it will be worth its something to be proud of ,well done

 

[penfold]

I am delighted that I am making headway, could do without comments that I should set light to her and weight in the scrap metal

Objectively they might be right, but the same thought process leads to things like The Crooked House being set on fire or old buildings pulled down because modernising them and increasing insulation etc is not straightforward. I have utilitarian leanings but I'm not a philistine, some things should not be subject to analysis this way.

 

[jstarmarine]

Objectively they might be right, but the same thought process leads to things like The Crooked House being set on fire or old buildings pulled down because modernising them and increasing insulation etc is not straightforward. I have utilitarian leanings but I'm not a philistine, some things should not be subject to analysis this way.

We would never restore these fine vessels of a bygone age if we took the line of thinking of some small minded individuals. Who can not see the bigger picture and can not see the project through to the end result. When you have restore a fine well made vessel

 

[jstarmarine]

Chance Autumn update
As many of you will have seen from the lack of updates there as been little work done on Chance over the summer. This as been due a lack of time and more over a lack of funds to do major task done on Chance. especially the removal of the middle and aft section of the starboard beam shelf and reconstructing the transom and its framework which holds it in position.
However, all is not doom and gloom, has I have been able to take on an apprentice to help me during the working week on my clients boats and leave myself and wife time to get on with working on Chances repairs.
So hopefully over the coming week's we should be able to make a start on getting the beam shelf removed and replaced with a new correctly fitted beam shelf which will bring the hull back into position along with the ribs and frames which have to be replaced at the same time to get the hull back into its correct position once more.
There is going to be a lot of shoring up of the starboard side until it is seen that the hull is back into the correct position and a lot of head aches along the way as well.
So hopefully now we should see some much needed progress on the project.

 

[burgundyben]

I'm looking forward to watching the reconstruction.

I must start a thread on my little refit project.