James Silver Western Isles Chance Restoration

At times it feels like you just can not get ahead with your projects and as much as you try to battle through you still can not gain any headway. So it has been just lately. First the mighty truck (Ford Ranger 3.2 ltr) decided to have a major expensive mechanical problem (£1000.00 +) Namely the oil pump in the sump of the engine seized for no known reason until the garage dismantled the bottom of the engine and find the oil pump was or the original part but a non- standard part and that it had seized and in doing so destroyed the Turbo at the same time.   So, while the mighty truck is off the road getting the correct parts fitted and the mighty truck gets its heart back again and we can get work underway again using the little truck(Ford Kuga) in the meantime. So we can get on with some of the smaller jobs which we can put in the small box trailer and bring back to the workshop to be worked on in the workshop or in the yard. While we are at Chance we will try to remove the last of the

 It is at this time of the year, we think about moving into the workshop to do jobs that were put to one side while working on Chance. Although not a lot was done on Chance one way or another there were some jobs done on her this year. We did get the rudder out of the boat although in three parts otherwise, it would have meant digging a six foot hole under the back of Chance to get the rudder out of Chance in one piece. We are now in the early stages of making a new design to make it possible to make it possible to remove the rudder blade as a separate part from the rest or the steering gear So making it possible the rudder without messing about with the major part of the steering in the future. This will also help with replacing the hog / keel at the back of the boat where a lot of damage and rot as happened in one way or another. One job we are going to be doing shortly in the workshop is to make some new deck beams for the aft deck of Chance once we can get the old deck beams out o

The wheelhouse roof needs to be put back in place so that when the cover is put back over the boat it will not be area where the rainwater pools and will run off the cover.  Another job we have to do is to sand down the wheelhouse sides and see how much repairs have to be done to the sides before any of the windows can have some of the off cuts of Perspex we have laying around the yard can be put into the window openings and the other openings around the boat.  This hatch is rotten and will need careful removing and measuring so we can make a new hatch. We have to do the same to the same hatch on the aft cabin roof.  At last got the airplane steps beside the hull so it will make getting on and off the boat easier from now on. Just got to get a short ladder for the inside of cockpit to get down into the cockpit and into the cabins   

Tuesday morning walk around Chance and letting you know what we will be doing over the next few weeks and Chance. The first job today was to take the airplane steps round to Chance to make it easier to get on and off the boat and make working on the deck and other jobs on the top of the boat safer and easier to do. Hopefully now we can get some real work done on the decks and get jobs underway and done before the worse of the winter weather sets in. We will try to put the big white cover over Chance again and fix it in place with a number of battens screwed in place around the top of the hull. One job we wish to do soon is to get the hatches sorted out and also get the floorboards back down inside the boat so that we can walk around safely. So now it is a matter of loading up the box trailer with all the floorboards out of Chance and putting them back in place and the ones that need repairing get them done so that we can walk around the inside. We are going to put the wheelhouse

.In this video, you will see what we get up to when we are not work on Chance and the other work we do to fund the restoration of Chance and Mai Star II. It will give you an insight into the work we do behind the scenes at our workshop where we make the parts for Chance and also Mai Star II our other restoration project. Mai Star II is our 1939 east coast Gaff Cutter we are currently restoring at our home boatyard a mile away from the boatyard Chance is being restored at which is also in Walton on the Naze. In the video you will see the dinghies we have in the workshop at present and also the jig we have made up to make our new deck beams for both Chance and Mai Star II. The deck beam jig is made so that we can change the camber for which ever camber the deck beam is and so the deck beams can be made according to its position on the deck and so the deck camber is correct for its position along the deck. This especially true of Mai Star II deck beams which change as the deck beams are

This video shows the fun I had removing the rudder parts from the boat. Cutting the top part off above the rudder tube and then I was able to lower the top section down on to the inside of the boat and then I cut through the rudder shaft just below the rudder tube. When I cut through the shaft I was able to remove the rudder blade out of the rudder shoe and found the fitting wa well worn and will need to be machined up to have a new lower rudder bearing fitted. Once I have got all the parts back to the workshop I will have chance to make a different way of fitting the rudder together so it can be removed in fewer parts and without taking a grinder/cutter to the rudder to remove the rudder from the boat.  

Today I when down to Chance to see if I could remove the rudder without doing any cutting or digging to remove the rudder out of the boat. I first undid the bolt which I thought was holding the upper part of the rudder shaft in place. The only thing that happened was the rudder and shaft moved up and down inside the rudder shaft and did not come apart as I would have hoped. So I have left the pressure on the quadrant over night to see if it will come apart without using heat on the joint at the base of the quadrant. If this does not work then it will have to be cut out in section and a new rudder assembly made up at a later date. However, the new rudder assembly will be made up in a different way so that the whole assembly can be dismantled in sections and not have to be taken out in one piece. Also the rudder tube will have bearing made up to fit at the top and bottom sections and also a bearing in the rudder shoe so that the rudder can turn easily under pressure from sailing or un

This video is a follow up to the last video to detail the work we are going to have to do to replace the hog/keel on Chance. How much of the aft end of the boat we are going to have to dismantle to be able to remove the hog/keel. The job is going to involve shoring up the aft cabin with props off the hog/keel. Then we will remove the all the aft teak deck planking, all the aft deck beams, and then remove the steering gear and turning blocks on either side of the boat. then remove the rudder tube and shaft and rudder so that we can then remove the lower part of the rudder tube out of the hog/keel and replace the hog. While we are doing this the sternpost/knee and other frame work will be removed and new parts made up out of the oak stock we have back at J-Star Marine Services yard. WE will also pattern up and made new parts of frame which are missing on the starboard side and temporary fit new frames to the starboard side to get that side back to its correct shape.  

Just a quick update from the Chance Restoration project team. We have all had a quick break from Chance and have been up in the Whitby area of North Yorkshire. Now we are back with recharged minds and bodies it is time to crack on with work on Chance and our other restoration project the rebuilding of Mai Star II which is in J-Star Marine Services outside shed being work on during the week while we work on Chance at the weekends and any spare time in between. Before we had our break, we found that the hog was damaged and was in need of replacing. This is going to involve a lot of dismantling of more of the aft end of the boat and a major part of the aft end of the boat being removed in order to get to the parts that need replacing. The biggest job is going to be removing the aft teak deck and the three aft deck beams. While at the same time supporting the aft cabin and shoring up the hull in the correct position while we remove the rudder its rudder shaft and the rest of the steer