Whimbrel Diary 2001
January –New Years day- painting ,painting and more
painting of cabin. Most enjoyable New Year concert to brighten up dull day. 7th
Nanni diesel lifted into boat by JCB crane –thanks to Derek.-and it fits under
cockpit floor. 13th- engine dropped on to my right (best) hand- no
broken bones but very sore. Prop shaft realigned at second attempt. Chain
locker bulkhead completed.20th- snow,cold,-no Dave (snowed up) but visit from Peter most welcome and
helpful on dismal day. Heads bulkhead started. 28th-new face
today-John D who likes to paint –excellent-there is plenty to keep him busy.
Dave made templates for steel engine mounting brackets. Good days work-nice
weather as well.
February-work on engine mountings continues-slow. Last bulkhead in place-lots of tidying up. Engine mounting frames fabricated and painted –good tight fit. Gaps between stern planking and aft deadwood filled by expanding polystyrene foam then surface painted. Sound insulation material fitted in engine compartment. Construction on fore- hatch started –steep learning curve-slow progress. Fore peak painted-quite civilised! Heads compartment tidied up. More snow –no Dave-rather depressing. Engine alignment slow & tedious but getting very close. Engine compartment quite snug with insulation in place.
March-4th: Dave back again –excellent day with final installation of engine and start of cockpit frames. Time for new pics.11th:Excellent day’s work –cockpit coming on fine. Diesel tank nearly in place- deck filler remaining problem.18th-dreadful working conditions for 3 days- engine box sides,wooden gas bottle container constructed-all slow & difficult. Mini heads purchased –ideal for little “bots” –unfortunately bilge stringer in way of best mounting position-what to do?25th- Dave in good form again-cockpit seats frames in position. Fuel lines completed. Cockpit becoming congested
April-2nd-port side cockpit seat nearly completed.Engine/gearbox access panels constructed. progress slow. Cockpit must be built in correct sequence –not forgetting space for all control lines but it is coming together. More grief from the gas locker box-will it ever pass the Corgi test? 22nd-excellent Saturday with Dave (engaged!!) Lots of hard work on Vitalba as well –Pam a veritable powerhouse. General practice unusually busy but still relaxation in comparison to working on wooden boats. Belated visit to Beaulieu boat jumble with Pam- £500 spent on various goodies- see photo- enough to fill both rucksacks –useful visit but prices needed careful checking! Cockpit coming on fine –control lines/exhaust last to be fitted then port cockpit locker to be sealed for keeps? Gas locker will have to relocated to heads compartment in order to get the necessary height for above water line drainage. I guess the gas locker box will just have to used as a rubbish bin after all after all (that hard work)!
May-6th : transverse cockpit seat installed very nicely by Dave whilst I tackled the stern cockpit locker lid in two halves with integral Morse engine control incorporated in lower section . Slow & difficult- it will turn out OK! 13th- final struggles with cockpit fittings- starboard cockpit locker hatch fitted. 18th: visit to Pin Mill (Ipswich) to old friends –Geoff King & Gus (last met in 1994 with Faraway)and a valuable lesson in seam caulking -excellent value- nice to meet up with real wooden boat enthusiasts again. I can see Pin Mill as a second home for Whimbrel in future. 20th:Dave started on caulking port side garboard seams with me payeing with potty putty (so named by Pam as red lead oxide powder is poisonous and causes madness) –new (and steep) learning curve for both of us. Cockpit- finally sanded and given first of linseed oil- beautiful! More photos taken.
May26th-
Unsuccessful caulking on lowest old planks due to wide & parallel seams
–disappointing . Will these require splining- Geoff King’s opinion to be sought
and actioned. This could be a long job. Above waterline seams tackled instead
–much more successful- very pretty with pink putty line. 50ft managed in one
day –arms very tired –glad to return to work. Another disaster- cockpit seats
& sides uniformly stained dark
mahogany – now rather too red in colour- looks like a tart’s boudoir! What am I
going to do now?
June-2/3rd-hot dry weather. Caulking and more caulking –slow but satisfactory progress. Cockpit nearly sanded down again –alternative teak stain looks promising- nice shade of brown (no red).Looking forward to escaping to Vitalba next week – I am rather fed up. 15th back home again -excellent and much needed trip from Eastbourne to Weymouth on Vitalba –refreshed. Port side nearly 2/3 completed but what about the mega-seams? Quick trip to Pin Mill –to see Geoff King & Gus –200 miles for a cup of tea with lots of encouraging information (very nice guys) - a few internal seam patches will suffice for the largest open seams –external splining not needed after all. 23/24th- more caulking but more optimistic now.
July1st: Dave on form again. Superb week sailing week from Weymouth to Falmouth with Pam and Graham in Vitalba then back to the graft again. Port side recaulking finally completed –half way mark! Now for sanding down with the belt sander –25grit –hot dusty hard work but good for fast removal of stock. Next lots and lots of filling –International 400 below waterline and 200 above. And endless sanding.
Gradually all surface blemishes made good along with plank edging. Heroic effort with Dave on final Sunday in heat wave. Things are looking up again.
August- new faces- Tom (16yr old school leaver) + Mark – most impressive start- 4hrs sanding non stop- but seemed tired afterwards –(perhaps human after all) Encouraging W/E + Dave as welcome bonus. Now we are really taking off. 11/12th- starboard side sanded & filled by Mark & Dave.Excellent progress. Starboard pilot berth opened up- looks more like a “coffin berth”. Final cruise on Vitalba with Pam (and Jim Boucher for long W/E) then sale to Graham Powell for £8750 @ Falmouth. Lovely week spoilt by a very painful neck- middle age is not much fun! Three good days caulking on return –encouraging progress. Good weather- new full size tarpaulin in case of future rain –
September-fast & furious caulking (& seam payeing with potty pink putty) ) by Mark & myself –starboard side coming on fine. Dave off on much needed rest- hope to see him in October-his skills are greatly valued. Trying to buy more Brazilian mahogany (for rubbing strip/toe rail) from Goldbergs-why is always such an uphill struggle? Are their prices are worth the hazzle? Mahogany eventually arrived- cut up and processed into correct size –then machined with router (with much help from Graham) into final shapes –hours of work but should have saved worthwhile money. Caulking completed mid month- now for two fill& sand down coats of primer.
October- port side undercoated by (big) John –a very willing worker. Mahogany toe rail fitted –glued & screwed –looking smart and then white undercoating completed on S/B. Waterline mark successfully scribed using “string method” and dark grey U/C below waterline –nice two tone contrast. Rushed but successful final sand down then application of Rotul epoxy paint to deck & coach roof–faded white. Two coats and hope it does not rain. Next day –the heavens opened but the paint was dry! Dave signing off –except for special jobs after Xmas- sad but I would never have got this far without him. I owe him a great deal. Mark hard at work on keel and I attempt the port side coving line-not quite right which of course means unacceptable! Smashing day on Sunday –lots of small jobs all going right for a change!
November-Mark very busy grinding down and filling the cast iron keel- a long and dirty job, meanwhile I am joining up the toe rail round the stern deck –all difficult curves and slopes –eventually completed. Port side coving line blemishes made good by filling and rerouted using extended batten 3” x 1” –much improved method – but the gold leaf paint will not adhere to the oil based u/c –what next! Transfers applied to transom –very pretty. Electrics connected to engine which fired up on trial turning over –good omen –indeed! Coving line repainted with different “gold” paint –looks reasonable. Nice pics taken. Excellent day trip to Kent to see Cindy (Wilkinson Sails) and Alan Staley –spar maker. Highly informative –loads of questions answered.
December:forehatch installed at long last –reasonable fit but poor grain match on two halves –how did I overlook that! Partly disguised by high gloss finish –it will have to make do. Serious misunderstanding at farm- fortunately resolved within 7 days! I am greatly relieved. Plans to move cancelled- Westwick Farm, mobile crane and articulated trailer. I feel at home at Great Revel End Farm (Paul –please note!). Back to work once more. After four Saturdays of grinding, filling and painting Mark has completed the work on the ballast keel- -looks good- pity it has to be kept immersed. Time to move him on to the heads compartment and completion of the double skin (1.25”) bulkhead. The heads are now fitted and should be really quite comfortable! Finally the two pairs of hanging knees for the saloon- made from American Oak (bought from Dave Clout-the welder) –quite different from English Oak –not as hard to work but should be durable.
End of Year- work is progressing well - looking good for launching in 2002 – probably late Summer- watch this space – Happy New Year to all my readers!