Blog — Friday, 13 December, 2019

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.