Work on Cynara did not slow down at year-end, unlike the rest of Japan.

On Monday, Graham was working on attaching the copper sheathing to sections of the rudder. He carefully made thick paper templates of each piece then cut these shapes out of copper sheets. A heater was used to melt the pitch into which the copper is bedded.

In the old days, copper was used to sheath the underwater hulls of ships to protect them from corrosion, worms and barnacles. The practice started with the Royal Navy and spread to the wealthier merchants’ ships. Today, copper sheathing has almost disappeared from use, being replaced by antifouling paints that contain copper or other additives to repel worms and shellfish.

In wooden boats, areas around the rudder, its bearings, and the rudder post and cove ahead of the rudder all provide hiding places for teredo navalis, the naval shipworm, and other marine organisms. It’s also difficult to paint in these areas. So, for maximum protection, we chose to revert to the centuries old, tried and trusted method of copper sheathing.

During the week, Wada was stripping the years of paint off the engraving that will be prominently visible at the bow and stern, at the start and finish of Cynara’s cove line. This same design will be traced and re-engraved on the newly restored knights head chocks on the top part of stem.

John was working on the fore-deck. Here, the base of the anchor windlass (which weighs 300 kilograms) must be incredibly strong. The windlass will have to haul in an anchor weighing close to 200 kilos, along with some 50 meters of heavy chain and hundreds of meters of wet rope. When an anchor bites on a hard bottom, the load on the windlass can be even more immense. Obviously, strength calculations are critical here.

Mattis and Richard were measuring lengths and re-cutting screw threads for fitting other small bronze parts to the deck. To match the depth of each hole perfectly, he needed to shorten the length of many of the bolts. These carpenters rely heavily on the feeling through their fingertips of each detailed part and angle. The skin of their fingertips becomes callused and crisscrossed with scar tissue, evidence the owner is a skilled artisan.

Friday, Ben was carefully checking the position and angle of a ventilator pipe before drilling a hole in the teak deck planking. Mistakes cannot be rectified once drilling has begun, so he was being very cautious. Of course, that’s true of all the steps being done now, as it’s mostly finishing work.

Thanks to all our readers for supporting us, and Cynara, over the year 2019. We look forward to sharing the events of 2020 with you as well!

Wada strips paint from the floral design at the bow to reveal lost detail.

The gloss varnish of the stern section is looking particularly beautiful.

Preparation for another coat of varnish.

The view from this porthole will dramatically change once Cynara is back sailing again.

Jonathan, a new member of the team arrived from Europe. He left his native NZ in his teens, and has since spent most of is working life working on classic yachts in various locations across Europe.

From early Monday morning, five crew members were working on the interior mahogany furniture. There are still many original pieces to be assembled, and members divided up the remaining tasks. French polish (flakes of Shellac dissolved in denatured alcohol) is applied on the restored parts, which takes time and skill to match the colours and textures of the new timber with the original parts.

Brass breather pipes with mushroom shaped hoods, which allow the underfloor tanks to “breathe,” have been installed on deck just inside the bulwarks.

Today, Paul and Nico were fairing the stern cheeks. At the bow, Mattis and Richard have been finishing up the washboard and capping rails. Japanese members of the crew were varnishing the masts again. This is the eighth time they have been varnished, and still more coats are needed.

Paul, Richard and Mattis are checking the fairing of the capping rails and discussing the line.

Kawashima is reassembling some of furniture.

Hashimoto works on restoring the original desk in the saloon.

The wood is steamed for a few hours to make it bend to the correct shape. The rule of thumb is to steam for 1 hour for every 25mm of wood thickness, then bend it, clamp it and leave it overnight to dry into its new shape.

Monday saw a full day of wiring installation by the engineers.

Work continued on the interior, with the first of the mahogany bulkhead panels installed between the saloon and main cabins, and master shipwrights Paul and Ben carefully checked the original location of the saloon’s sofa to make sure the Air Handler units for the new air conditioner would fit under the sofa without problems.

Mattis has been focusing on reproducing all the teak bulwalk planks under the capping rails. He and Richard have been in charge of these sections of the sidedeck work.

On Wednesday, the base of the bowsprit was set in place. It is original but needed some repairs and is beautifully varnished.

The rudder, being rebuilt by Graham, is almost finished.

Today, the focus was mostly on varnishing. Paul and Ben were carefully sanding parts of the deck that are to be shown to the Chairman tomorrow, while the interior crews spent all day working on the paneling. It’s hard to believe how much progress has been made recently.

Graham carefully measuring a new section of the rudder.

Mattis making up the bulwark planks.

The rudder that was in place dates from 20-plus years ago. While much of it was useable, the leading edge of the blade was worn and worm-damaged and had to be replaced. According to the original plans, the first rudder blade was made of English elm.

The freshly varnished base of the bowsprit, almost completely original.

Work on the Cynara’s wiring continues. In most parts of the world, the crews working on boat maintenance—the shipwrights, carpenters, engineers, painters, varnishers, and electricians—usually try to work at staggered times, so that they’re not in each other’s way. However, shipyard trades tend to overlap, especially on old ships. Also, this restoration is an extreme case because the work is being done not in a fully fitted shipyard, but at a marina with no onsite trades and services at hand. With deadlines looming, the crews on Cynara often have to share time and space, which means working together to avoid clashes. It’s like a well-choreographed dance at times.

On Monday, Lewis and Hashimoto spent time discussing the right color adjustments on the interior to match the tone and texture of the original mahogany. Lewis has been repeatedly retouching and testing colors in a time consuming, but smoothly running operation.

On the deck, Murata and Shibano have been carefully varnishing all the woodwork on the hatches. The deck has yet to be sanded down, so the caulking is still very visible. It’s interesting to imagine what it’s going to look like when that’s been done.

Also on Monday, Mattis and Richard were installing the capping rails, which still had square corners. On Tuesday, they began forming them into their finished state. By Friday morning, they all had been sanded down and transformed into their gorgeous, silky smooth C shape.

After discussions between the electrical engineers and Paul and Ben, it was decided to remove the pre-installed walls, to speed the wiring process in the long run. Since then, things have been progressing more quickly.

The amount of varnishing work has increased, but there is still work being done on the masts.

Japanese crew varnishing the details on the deck.

Lewis runs many tests to ensure that the color of the repaired interiors match with the original mahogany paneling.

The breath-taking results of the work on the capping rails by Mattis and Richard.

The beautiful curve of the capping rails.