Everyone has been concentrating on their individual tasks. On Monday, Mattis was sanding the hull at the bow. Sanding a vertical surface can be extremely tiring, as anyone who has done it knows.

More and more of the staff are working on interior projects. Shipwrights Kawashima and Tatsumi have spent the last month measuring and installing the paneled bulkheads of the ships cabins, and Hashimoto finished a beautifully detailed section of one cupboard door frame.

Murata has been carefully (he says “nervously”) varnishing the starboard inboard wash-strake, which was made by Richard and Mattis. Paul and the other shipwrights continuously impress the younger workers with how important the varnishing process is.

Lewis has been focusing on sealing the mahogany with the first coats of shellac, to match the repairs on the mahogany furniture to the original color — of course, using as much of the original materials as possible. Color matching of old timber with new is very exacting and time consuming work.

Graham was still working on the teak rudder blade this week. It’s a large and extremely important project, yet he’s still trying to use as much as possible of the original timber while only replacing the damaged sections.

Richard has been working on a technique of clamping complex longitudinal joints together to create an elegant curved continuous capping rails. He was so pleased with the result that he wants to show Mr. Watanabe, the CEO of Riviera, and the owner of Cynara.

The elegant cupboard door frame made by Hashimoto.

The sweeping curve of the capping rail.

Gluing up Richard’s intricate longitudinal capping rail joint.

The storm passed without doing any damage to the tent, and Wednesday dawned calm and clear. Work on the rudder, the rudder shaft and the steering gear continued.

By Thursday, installation of the heavy timbers of the stern chock cheeks, where they take on a low and swooping curved shape to join the stern chock, was almost complete. All of this work was done by Paul and Nico. It was a complicated bit of work, given the complex curves, the weight of the individual pieces and the fact they had to be fitted leaving no gaps. It still needs a final hand-fairing and sanding before varnishing.

And the shipwrights working on the interior have taken huge strides forward. Lewis and Hashimoto have been working together on the bulkheads. Lewis has been building shelves for the cabin closets.

On Friday, it was cold and rainy again, but Cynara continues to look more beautiful every day. Varnishing of the mast is still underway, and hatches and other deck fittings are being given some final touches before varnishing.

The wheel trial fitted to the steering gear.

The beautiful knightheads made by Mattis.

Wada continues fine sanding between coats of varnish.

On Monday, forecasts of a storm that night had everyone preparing. But that didn’t stop Mattis and Richard from working on the bow, drilling holes for the hawsepipe and for the bowsprit. The steering gear pedestal was installed before the rudder stock was done, and is now ready to be connected to the rudder shaft.

Lewis was working on the mahogany interior paneling, using his professional skills to work out the complex shapes of the panels and other interior fixtures with Tatsumi.

Graham and Paul started to assemble the rudder shaft and steering gear today. It took some precision work to interconnect all the almost 100-year-old bronze parts of the original (which have been serviced with a new gear cut) to achieve silky smooth rotation with no binding. As with other parts of the boat, as much as possible of the original materials were being used. In this case, we almost achieved the magic 100 percent reuse figure.

The electrical engineers, Reece and Daniel, carried on 12 batteries and installed them below.

              And a government ships inspector came by to do a pre-test of the airtightness of Cynara’s brand new steel engine bulkhead. Some leaks were discovered and will be fixed by the time of the actual inspection.

Beautifully restored bowsprit chock.

Graham fitting the steering bevel gear onto its shaft.

The week began, as every week does, with Paul going over the schedule with everyone. He sees everything, and he gives advice to newcomers, even on how to sweep, telling them, “As you sweep, take a good look at what each person is doing.”

The hole for the rudder tube leading up to the deck was completed, and Monday saw Graham and Richard trial fit the rudder tube in the hole to check the clearances. The tube was placed in the hole again and again until the fit was perfect.

By Wednesday, the rudder stock was in place, the next step before installation of the quadrant, the steering gear and finally the ships wheel which will steer the ship of almost 100 tons with no power assistance whatsoever, quite a remarkable feat.

Mattis and Richard continued work preparing the caprails for installation atop the stanchions. The teak planks which will be used as the wash-strake (the lowest plank in the bulwalk) are steamed in order to bend them to a graceful curve as they attach to the stanchions.

Feargus, the project manager, arrived on Wednesday evening. He was here through the rest of the week, and a lot of time was spent confirming the schedule, the arrival of parts and the situation of the restoration with Paul and Ben. On Thursday, there were meetings regarding the ship inspection and also how to move Cynara from her tent to the water’s edge.

Today, two holes for the anchor chain or hawsepipes were drilled through the knightheads chocks (the heavy bulwark timbers either side of the bow). Once again, the boring bar came in handy.

The same day, two UK electrical engineers arrived to check the wiring diagrams and discuss how to proceed.

And, varnishing the masts continues.

Checking the fit of the rudder shaft tube in the hole.

Graham carefully boring out the rudder shaft tube hole.

Mattis cutting a rebate in the knighthead chock.