Bit of a break

Well I've been a bit laid up with the last few days with a sore shoulder and a cold so I didn't 

get anything done besides reading Teals entire trip to the Baltic . I'm finally off on bit of a holiday 

to the UK for a few days to catch up with relatives and give the kids bit of an adventure so work will 

have to wait a little while.

The last time I went to the UK was buy Teal and that was a one night stay. As luck would have it the

guy I bought Teal from lived just down the road from my cousin in London, so my hotel was cancelled

and I was treated to a free meal and a brief visit with my cous and the opportunity to meet her newborn

daughter. Now theres another to meet and our own to introduce so its time to pay another visit. 

This time I won't come back with any ancient wrecks of boats though.

These are some of the pictures from the day I went to see Teal in Iron Wharf in Faversham.

My first view of Teal

Some of the more obvious issues

Few more bits

Spent a very wet evening down the yard this evening helping lift out the Boy Scott for the Winter,
Its a horribly wet evening. Anyway while I was waiting I took pics of the bits I did the last day. I opened
up the compass as well because it was gone pretty murky inside, I'll have to look at Andy Rankins
recipe to refill it as it had lasted well.

Fitted a weather board over the lazerette and battened it out with douglas fir off cuts from the mast.

Engine mounts are in and all bolted down. The shaft is having a bit of machining done on it but should be back soon

Metalwork

I'm always slow to get on with metalwork, I don't mind it once I've started but it doesn't
appeal to me so I have to get a few things done at once.

Teal had pinrails fitted either side of the mast bolted to the foredeck which I believe were fitted before going to the Baltic. That was fine because she had a compression post and a big steel plate in place of the mast partner . But as the mast is now keel stepped I was told it is best the halyards are run to the mast. There are a lot of halyards so cleats would be pretty messy. The solution was to mount the belay pins on the gooseneck fitting so thats what I've done,  I've repainted it for now but I may get it hot dipped if I have other stuff to do as well.

These are to bolt the engine down, The mounts on the engine have a pressed in rubber mount and could be bolted straight down but these will give some adjustability as I have drilled the retaining bolt holes oversize. 

Varnish

I plugged all the fixing holes in the cockpit trim and fitted the beads around the companionway
hatch coamings. Yesterday evening I managed to get the plugs and any excess sealant cleaned
off and gave it the first coat of varnish. I got down today to give it a second coat. I was anxious
to get the first few coats on so the timber stays clean and the tarp on the tent is starting to give up
and has quite a few leaks now and I wanted to keep the timber dry. I must say the tarp held up
really well, it was only a 100 euro on ebay for 25' x 30'  and last Winter was a pretty windy one.
I didn't think it would last so long. The cockpit is the final piece in closing the boat up so once the
varnishing is finished the cover only needs to keep me dry. I'll probably remove the tent around
February so I can finish off the stem and stern.

That dark piece of teak in the corner might annoy me but its definitely not going to come out again

I still need to make outer guides for the washboards

I put a bead along the back of the cabin top to guide water out. I'm sure the cabin slopes back when shes afloat.

Sailing in 2011

I was just looking at a photo album of the sailing trip Ken and I went on in Ken's Mirror offshore
the summer before buying Teal.
We moved the boat to Baltimore a few days previously. We then headed out
around the Fastnet rock, then failing to point close enough to make Crookhaven we went on
a lovely run into North Harbour in Cape Clear. The next day was windless and foggy so we
motored and drifted our way to Carty sound for a swim and up to Ballydehob. We anchored
in Audley Cove for the second night ( first time anchoring overnight). Next day we visited
Horseshoe harbour in Sherkin Island before heading back east to Barloige for the final night.
The next morning we headed for home and were back in Union Hall by lunch time.
It was the first time we had gone on a trip like that and was huge inspiration to buy a boat like
Teal.

Our dodgy ass dinghy

North Harbour Cape Clear

The Mirror afloat in about 2ft of water

Heading for Calf Islands

Horseshoe Harbour

Inspiration

More inspiration

Not so inspiring but a nice all round little boat. The size of the rig is pretty dam funny looking back at it. Dylan Winter is sailing one of these round the UK on the longest trip ever, Look it up :) 

Cockpit

Well the bulk of the work on the cockpit is done now, I just need to plug everything and start
varnishing. The cockpit is going to be semi self draining, By that I mean it will sealed but will
have drains leading to the bilge or perhaps a well in the bilge which will contain a separate pump.
I just don't like the idea of water dripping down everywhere and all over the gearbox, fuel tank etc
and the cockpit sole is too low to be properly self draining. The center four boards will form a hatch
in the cockpit sole which I will have to make weather tight but I have a plan for that. I am going to
fit louvres in the side panels which will primarily be for ventilation but will act as scuppers to free
water to the bilge should she ship water or have the drains block up when unattended.
I spent ages drawing and planning how to make all the trim and spent a day at home doing all the
machining. The end result was that it didn't require many fastenings and hopefully it is quite water tight
without requiring too much sealant.

This will need a small weather board over the top 

Will be moving on to the interior in the not too distant future

Interesting

I stumbled on to this article recently and thought the second paragraph summed things up nicely.
Some of the pricing is pessimistic while some seems very optimistic but a lot of good points
are made. http://www.classicboat.co.uk/practical-advice/restore-your-first-wooden-yacht-an-overview/

Sneak peek

First coat of varnish on the mast

Finally the weather dried up again so I got the last few bits done on the mast and got the first
coat of varnish on. I've been keeping it covered over in the shed so I'm happy to finally start
getting the timber sealed up.
I had to make and fit the hounds, cut the tenon in the base and mortice through for the pulley
at the top and then finally got the first coat on, now just a minimum of six coats to go including
sanding between each coat. Certainly a labour intensive type of varnish. The first coat is thinned
50% then 75% for the second so it should soak well in.
I also got the bulk of the iroko for the cockpit prepared and glued what needed to be glued.

These small blocks are high up on the mast, I think they are something to do with the peak halyard, I'll soon figure it out when I start rigging

Engine In

This is not a recommendation, Just how I managed to get the engine in, It would probably have been
safe enough if I had another one or two people to help but I just pressed on and it worked out.
Now I need a rest.

I started with the board on the ground and by pushing the engine up the first half, Then I winched it to the other end and I was able to lift this end up onto the ladder

Nothing to hang it from and the steambox its on was pretty narrow

Then I slid it across onto boards on the aft deck

Then winched it into the cockpit

Then up out of the cockpit and down through the hatch

Shaft & tube again

I spent another whole day working on the shaft and tube. I made a block to mount the gland
on between the frames. Its a real pain because the front of it has to be housed out for the
gland to sit flat against but because of the length of the tube it has to be mounted on the back
of the frames, which means I can't just twist of the gland and shape it. I have to twist the tube
to unscrew the gland then take out the timber and shape it.
The cutlass has a white metal bearing and there is a bearing on the gland end as well, so if the
face of the board isn't perfectly inline with the tube, when the bolts that hold the gland to the
board are tightened it locks up the shaft. I was pretty happy with it by the end of the day so
I sealed in the tube, put the coach bolts in the cutlass housing and cut the shaft to length.
Next is get the engine in I think.

Engine beds

I got hold of some teak the other day and managed to get the bridge deck top and transverse
piece of the engine beds glued up.
Today I lined up the engine beds and fastened them in place, the bearers just need coach bolting
down. and the engine can be dropped in. Dropped in sounds a bit easy as I have absolutely no
idea how I'm going to get it into the boat, but where theres a will theres a way.
I marked out a few pieces of the cockpit, I have the teak for the cockpit sole boards and I have a
few other bits to get ready before I get hold of the sheeting. I'd like to get the engine in before the
cockpit is done now so I don't have to lower it through the hatch.
I also got a good part of the bilge coated in Danboline.