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

[jstarmarine]

These last couple of years have been a roller coaster ride for the team at the Chance Restoration project. Having to keep going through the Covid 19 pandemic and the fall out from that which put pay to much of the work we wish to do on Chance.
Also, the fact that Chance was put in Woodplumpton in Lancashire and we live in North Essex and not being in a position to move Chance South until last November when we had raised the funds to bring her south to Titchmarsh marina in Walton on the Naze so that Chance was going to be close to our home and my workshop.
So between June 2021 and last November we traveled north to Woodplumpton as many times as possible to do as much work on every visit to remove as much of the inside furniture and fittings to make Chance as light as possible to be able to move Chance south without damaging Chance any more than Chance had already had done to her structure.
A lot of the larger heavier items such as fuel and water tanks, both engines which weighted 1.3 tons, 1 ton of interior ballast and a lot of loose items in the boat.
Once all the items that were going to make Chance lighter were removed then we felt happy that it was time for Chance to move south. This happened on the 1st of November last year.

Now that Chance is now at Titchmarsh marina we could make a start on some major work on Chance, however,, life gets in the way as is often the case. a older family members passing away, my wife's retirement and other family upheavals made it difficult to get any work done on Chance apart from a few smaller jobs and not the major jobs planned to be done during the summer of 2023.

So at the moment we are continuing to do some of the smaller jobs off Chance and when the weather gets better and the spring gets here then we will try again to get on with the major jobs we had planned to do last year this year.

These setbacks have made us more determination to push on with the restoration and like lives says we all need a second Chance and we are going to give Chance a second chance.

 

[jstarmarine]

 

[jstarmarine]

Sorting out the workshop shelves into different parts of the interior of Chance, this shelf as all the doors and butterfly hatch lids and a few of the smaller galley locker doors on this shelf



This shelf has the main part of the cabinetry parts and the cockpit lifting roof hatch which needs dismantling and rebuilding there are also a number of small items which were taken out which need replacing with new bits such as work tops for the galley and the main cabin starboard side cabinet which was cut about by one of the previous owners to fit a diesel cooker in the main cabin which will now be fitted in the galley where it should have been all along.



The bottoms of the main cabin floorboards given their first coat of grey bilge paint to seal the undersides of these floorboards to stop any more bilge water and oily water and dirt soaking into them once they are put back in the boat.



The drawers in a poor condition having been in the boat when the interior had water in the cabins and the drawers got wet and were not removed from the water and so they got damp and fungi grew because the they were not removed from the water and let air get to them.



All the drawers that were fitted low down in the boat are in the same condition. The drawers that were fitted higher up in the boat faired better and are okay.











The three sets of steps needs and dusting off and wood staining and varnishing to being back their rich mahogany colour once more and they can go back in once the cockpit floor bearers are remade and the cockpit floor relaid in position.



The forecabin floorboard which need a good sanding and a couple of minor repairs and the floor bearers refixing in position and they can go back in place.



These engine bay floorboards are not able to go back in because they are soaked with engine oil and diesel and can not be painted. so there will have to be a new set of floorboards made to go in the engine bay between the centre pair of engine bearers.

 

[jstarmarine]

The story start back in the early part of the 2000's when Simon was asked to do some work on Token as Chance was called at that time.. This name had been hers for many years, since she was sold by her first owner who had her commissioned by the renowned boat builders James A Silver of Rosneath in Scotland. Chance as she was originally called at the time of her launching in 1948. My wife Tricia would visit me while I worked on Token (Chance) and would ask if we would be in a position to ever be able to have a vessel like Token. To which I answered not every likely as we were not in a position to own such a vessel of her size or perigee. I continued to work on Token until the owner moved her to another place. At which time I lost contact with her. Fast forward to 2021 and while looking on the YBW forum I cam across Token (Chance) once more and a person had taken her on as a project to restore her.

However,, this owner had not told his wife about the boat or how much work it was going to take to restore her back to a seaworthy vessel once more. So this owner asked if I would take the boat on as a restore project for him. Over the course of a few days may be a week, It became clear that he was not going to go ahead with the restoration himself and he offered me the boat for free, there is no such thing as a free boat.

Having said to the owner, I was willing to take the boat on and he transferred the ownership to me. At this point my wife came home from a long night shift at the local hospital. When I drop the bombshell. You are going to kill me, To which she replied what have you done now, thinking I had done something wrong and it was going to be problem.

I calmly said that I had been given Token ( Chance) to which she asked how much did this cost you. I said it was free the man just needed to get rid of her as the his wife had hit the roof when she found out what he had done.

I thought my goose was cooked, I did not expect the answer I got, my wife was over the moon as she had always wish we could own a vessel like Token (Chance).

So when got the chance to go to see Token (Chance) in Woodplumpton in Lancashire. We got in our car and drove to see her. At this time my wife felt in love with Token (Chance) again and we started to make plans to start the restoration of her there, then when it was possible to move her south to Essex to be nearer to our home we did. Unfortunately, the Covid 19 pandemic stopped these early plans and we had to put much of the work on hold until it was possible to work on her again.

Last year we were hoping to make a major start on the project but a family bereavement and other family matters stopped Us from doing any major work on Chance as she is now called again and back to her original name once more.

So this year we are hoping to make a fresh start and get some major work done of Chance

 

[jstarmarine]

 

[jstarmarine]

 

[jstarmarine]

 

[jstarmarine]

Hopefully this Easter weekend (Sunday & Monday) The Chance Restoration team should be working on Chance down at Titchmarsh marina is Walton on the Naze. My wife Tricia does craft fairs to help raise funds for the Chance restoration project. As well organising the behind the scenes work to keep the project going. While Simon gets on with the physical part of the restoration with the help of friends when they are able to help out. This weekend the team are going to try and put the cover back over Chance and try and make it stay in place and keep the rain and weather off Chance as best as it can until we can raise enough funds to get a permanent shelter build over Chance that will stay over her for the rest of the restoration project.

Over the winter Simon has been busy trying to source wood and other materials to get on with the major structural jobs such as the starboard side of the aft cabin area and the transom. His main job at the moment is to strip off the aft deck of all the teak decking to expose the aft deck beams which all need replacing with new deck beams as the starboard side was cut off so that they did not connect with the beam shelf. So that over the years that side of the hull as moved out of shape which is going to need putting back in position before any work can take place on rebuilding that part of the hull.

Therefore, Simon is going to have to support the aft cabin roof off the deck and give the hull a chance to be able to be lifted back into position with the aid of props and straps across the hull to bring the hull shape back to where it should be and then refit new frames into the hull. At the same time fit some new ribs in the aft cabin area to help maintain the shape of the hull. One of the main jobs will be to put a new correct shape and size beam shelf in the hull and bolt it is place to get back the shape and strength the hull needs to before the team can rebuild the hull once more.

So there is going to a lot going on #Chance over the coming months as we get to grips with the restoration after a very wet and windy winter.

 

[jstarmarine]

This update is to let our followers know that we have had a set back with our restoration of Chance and Mai Star II,Tricia had to go to Hospital the another evening having having an angina attack and so it has made it so Tricia can not do any work on Chance or Mai Star II for the foreseeable future in way of any physical work on the projects. This being the case, I am having to do a lot more work by myself, unless we can find people to help with some of the physical work that need two or more people to do on the projects. So if there are any of our followers out there who can help please contact Simon and let him know you can help if only for a few hours.

 

[jstarmarine]

This past week, a great grand daugther of the third owner of Chance/Token contacted Us to ask if the boat that our family is restorating in the same Chance/Token that her family owned between 1970 and 1991. To which I replied it was one and the same boat, Kristy said that she remember spending happy times on Token as Chance was called at the time during this time when Great Grand father owned Token and when her Grand Father then became Token's owner and sailed around the Solent area during her time in that area of the UK. It was good to hear from a former owner's family that they enjoyed the boat in better times before Chance/Token started her slow and painful decline to the condition we found her in after a number of failed restoration project be owners in-between Boxall family owning her and now when we as starting to restoration Chance/Token back to a sailing/motoring condition and back on the high seas once more and hope to sail her back to her builder's yard in Scotland.

So now we are now starting to fill in the gaps in her past by being contacted by the family of former owners to get a better understanding of Token/Chance's life from her launching to the present day.