Tuesday, September 24

Progress is going smoothly on the deck.

Nico makes patterns for the framework which will create a linen cupboard and hanging locker in the aft guest cabins. The hot and cold water pipes run through and into the engine room.

Carlo uses original furniture and panels to check cabin dimensions.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Dust and dirt are fatal to laying down a perfect deck so a lot of effort goes into keeping things clean—sweeping and vacuuming are constant tasks.

Michael is setting out the bulkhead for the crew shower and heads, fixing points on the deck beams which will give him positions for the patterns.

Thursday, September 26

Mattis is fitting the washstrake at the prow.

Tatsumi is working on the engine room companionway. Hashimoto is removing the old shellac to prepare for bulkhead panel restoration.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Things are really moving fast on deck, and the deck team is planning to spend the weekend sightseeing in Tokyo.

Daniel is fitting hardware to the main boom (above), while Japanese team members continue with the varnishing (below).

Monday, September 30, 2019

Matisse is working at the bow.

And Lewis is fitting a piece of wood to finish the lead keel. A sharp point made of lead would be weak, so the lead is finished with a squared end and a timber filler is fitted and faired to the hull.

Paul has been directing a test fit of the original stairs. They need fitting to confirm the heights for the main house floor and benches. Plus, they’re one of the first major parts in, as bulkheads and partitions are built against them. With the stairs in, access to the interior is much improved and work on the interior is picking up.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Full-scale restoration of interior fittings has begun. Currently, we have completed some of the procurement of the needed wood material, but we’ll need to make further wood purchases as we discover what is usable and what is necessary.

The king plank that makes up the center line is finished. Once this is done, the rest of the planks will be set working from the outside toward the center. The team consists of six members: a teak processing team and a deck surface team.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Teak planks are laid out, graded and checked for faults.

To avoid too many butt joints on deck some of the teak was joined using scarf joints.

Now that the finish is in sight, things on deck are moving quickly. The planks are carefully marked with whether they are for the port or starboard side and the length. This is the eighth day since the deck laying team has started work, and they want to finish in order to catch flights out of Japan on October 26.

Monday, September 23

The heat has returned along with a strong humid wind thanks to Typhoon Hagibis, and work on the deck planking is starting to pick up.

Hutchets or oversized washers are used to pull the planks down into the glue. We use 5mm aluminium bar to make the hutchets which is also conveniently the same size as the plank seams. This means we can also use the hutchets as spacers between planks. The planks already had the 5mm seam machined on one side but sometimes a spacer is needed.

Our “Italian team” of Niko and Carlo is focused on the interior partitions. We have CAD drawings, but as this is a wooden ship the dimensions in the drawings and those in reality still need to be checked against each other. This also allows us to make changes, if necessary, if the drawings do not have some of the detail we need included, such as pipe runs and wiring. The galley mock up above was measured and the real galley is being made by Masa (and the team) onsite.

Sunday, September 8, 2019

As Typhoon Faxai is approaching, most of the Japanese members of the team were intent on making sure everything was tied down or protected. The tents were lashed down (above) . . .

And vulnerable parts on the deck were covered. The whole joinery tent was emptied and put into storage and all of the machinery was moved out to safety. Paul said that it couldn’t be helped if the roof is blown off by a natural disaster. But he wanted to make sure that all the electrical parts were protected from water damage.

Monday, September 9, 2019

The winds of Typhoon Faxai tore off part of the roof and the horizontal curtain, but the damage was kept to a minimum by the harbor staff who were on duty. But lots of work had to be done drying and rebuilding the work area, checking for damage etc.

This all had to be put back as well as rebuild one of the joinery tents which had collapsed under the weight of water. Paul and other team members (above)checked the condition of the deck, which dried by the afternoon, and there was no serious damage. There was an electricity blackout today.

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

With the onset of fine weather, Dan and Wada have begun work again on the masts.

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Richard and Nico are fairing the backs of the stanchions so that the washstrake will fit nicely.

Daniel is focused on attaching mast hardware, fitting the spider band to the main mast.

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Ben, Richard, and Ian are still working on the plumbing.

The production of the anchor chain locker continues at the prow.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Nico and Paul are discussing the details of the installation of the large teak chocks that connect the last stanchion to the stern chock.

The deck craftsman who came to Japan yesterday started setting out the plank runs and checking for fairness.

Monday, September 16, 2019

The sub-deck has been laid and is now being faired, which takes out any low or high spots where the plywood is joined. The fairing compound is a water-based epoxy that is very easy to sand and fair.

The sub-deck will help to ‘stiffen’ the boat as well as saving on expensive and rare teak.

This Oregon pine bulkhead creates the fore-peak where the forestay is anchored to the stem. This will be used for storage. The lower portion (in oak) is the beginnings of a chain locker.

Ian is working on one of the stainless steel tanks below the sole bearers.

Hot and cold water piping is installed under the sole, or floor. The black piping is Copex, flexible electrical pipe to carry wiring. You can also see the numerous fuel lines, black and grey water pipes, breather pipes—which are basically the veins and arteries of the ship.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Mike Moody, the boss of Centerline Marine in Southampton UK, who was brought in to lay the teak so that we could focus on other things. The teak deck is laid plank by plank, with each plank is bent to follow the curve of the hull.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Original bulkhead framing is checked for fit. This piece will separate the main saloon from the galley. The hole for the mast can be seen at top.