James Silver Western Isles Chance Restoration

Having made a start the last time as was up at Chance. I have made inroads into reducing the weight within the boat by removing the paneling from both ends of the boat which was stopping air circulating around the inside of the hull.  This dismantling job as high lighted the position of the original aft cabin berths and also in the fore cabin the position of the forward heads in the fore cabin with its single berth.  It would appear that the fore cabin was laid out as a single crew cabin with its own fore hatch and ladder.  After removing the modern berth arrangement in the aft cabin it appears that this cabin had to single berths and a small chest of drawers or a double berth to starboard and a small settee to port. When I am able to get hold of a set of plans for Chance I will be able to be sure of her lay out and put her back the way she was originally build.  The largest job to come is the removal of the engines out of the boat. At present there is no visible way of getting the eng

These next two phots show the area of the interior which will be carefully dismantled to gain access to the hull so that the hull fixings will be exposed and will be able to be re=fixed in the same way they were when Chance was built in 1948  The major change in this area is to remove the diesel cooker and re-instate the cabinet work that was here when she was build and put the cooker back in the galley area on the port side where it was originally positioned  The port side of the main cabin is where there was a heater to heat the main cabin, There will be a heater placed there, however it will not be the only form of heating in the boat when she is restored as the there will be blown warm air heating to the whole boat. This whole area will be re-build to look has close to its original layout and any changes that were done over the years removed and the interior design reconstructed  The foredeck hatches will have to be rebuild as the forward one is falling to pieces and is nailed down

  As I said last night I would post the before and aft photos of the fore cabin  Firstly the before phot The pile of rotten and damaged panelling  The after photo with the panelling gone and the gull able to air circulating round the inside of the hull for the first in over 20 years   The next area to get the wood work removed to get air to the hull  The aft cabin has had the berth removed to find the old position of the original berth design behind the more modern athwartships berth which is not the one Chance was built with in 1948   The original framework and paint work showing how it was originally made up  Major rebuilding needed in the aft end with a completely mew transom to be made and deck repairs needed for the davits can be placed on their original position   

  The aft cabin berths now half removed yo expose the original berth design underneath the berth design put in by a later owner part of the original framework which is going to be re-instated later in the restoration one of the original davit sockets still bolted in the boat the steering cable tubes for the steering wires to run through a good clean up in the aft cabin once the remaining wood is removed and a temporary floor is laid in place of th original floor boards which be cleaned and repaired as necessary the fore cabin has it was this morning will be posting a photo tomorrow to show what it is like now  

  This coming week is going to be a busy week on Chance, as I am going to be there for five days on the boat. The first job will be to make a start on removing the forecabin hull paneling which is not original and is not making not easy for the inside of the hull to keep air circulating around the inside of the hull and making it a damp trap. Which is bad news for any wooden boat and good ventilation is a must have to keep air circulating below decks. Then turn my attention to the aft cabin berth which as a non original and is stopping me from accessing the hull sides and bottom. The present berth is set out athwartships and not fore and aft as it was originally set out. and the whole area is going to be redesigned to go back as it was originally made with two single berths and a chest of drawers between the two berths. Then the aft heads compartment is going to come to bits as this is another damp trap. The more that I can remove to get air to the inside of the hull the better. It wil