List, Lists, & more Lists

When doing any restoration projects who can get bogged down with list making and then more list making. So in order to make life for yourself easier. What I do is departmentalize the project in to different areas and work through each of the lists for that area until it is finished. 

This for the most time works until the different areas overlap each other. However, by the time this happens first area is well underway and it needs to include the next area to complete the first area you are working on.  

This is the case with the chain locker bullhead which needed to get removed because  it is rotten around the edges and in places making the places it is touching the hull got rotten as well.

The bulkhead now removed and the condition of the hull investigated for areas of rotten hull planking, it appears to be just one area on the starboard  side just below the stringer at the lower part of the photo where the chain locker boards had gone rotten and spread to the hull in this area. 

The other area of concern is the ends of the deck beams in the same area, one end appears to be in a poor condition and will need renew later on when the boat is back in Essex.

The next job on my list for the forecabin was to clean out the bilge area of the forecabin and get rid of all the dirty water and rubbish that had collected in the forward bilge over the years. items such as screws, cut off copper nails, bits of old planking and other wood from panelling which had found their way in there and had ever been removed until now

So started the removal of the rubbish until we could again see the bottom of the stem and the forward end of the keel once more after a lot of years covered in god know what.

 The other problem with leaving this rubbish in the bilges was that the lumber holes to let the water drain down to the lowest part for the bilge was no able to happens and when any water got to the bilge pump it cogged the pump and then you would not be able to empty the bilge if the boat was taking on water.

This is the photo of the bilge under the galley area which is our get section to work on once the bilge in the forecabin is finally clean and any last bits have been removed from the forecabin before the next section can be worked on

So now we have got the majority of the rubbish out it is time to get under the floorboards and wash the hull down and clean out the lumber holes and so the water which collects in the bilges now, can be  pumped out without blocking up the bilge pump again.

So when we get back to Chance after Christmas one of the first jobs is to turn into a bilge scrubber and get covered in dirt from head to foot. Once it is done it will be clean and anything that is dropped in the bilge will be seen from now.