Plans for next trip to Chance

So far, we have removed much of the interior furniture to gain access to the inside of the hull to inspect the condition of the planking and to inspect the condition of ribs throughout the boat. What we found was that the forward part of the boat, that is from the stem to as far back as the galley the ribs were in good condition and will only need washing down to come clean and then get a few coats of primer and then undercoat and finally either white or cream gloss to finish off the paint work in that part of the boat. However, that is where the good part ends because from then on it is a different story as many of the ribs in the main cabin are broken along the line of the turn of the bilge. Not all the ribs are broken, in this area there are 12 ribs aside, all but one on the starboard are broken, however, on the port side 8 out of 12 ribs are broken. So, there are going to be a lot of work that needs doing in this area alone to give back this part of the boat its original strength.

The frames as far as we can see are in good order and just need cleaning and painting when the time comes.

We have yet to find out what is hiding behind the fuel and water tanks in the cockpit as we have not had time so far to remove these tanks as they are heavy steel tanks and will need the help of the yard owner with his crane to lift them out next time we are at Chance. Then we can inspect the hull and ribs and frames and see what condition they are in.

Go aft from the cockpit it is a different story. this end of the boats hull is a complete mess of broken doubled and sistered ribs on the starboard side and only the port side aft of the cockpit is in the condition, the ribs and frames are as the boat was build, 2 x single ribs between the frames and none of them doubled up.  There are a couple that need replacing that is due to repairs done in the past where the repairers split the ribs due to drilling undersize holes for fixings.

 

I know, it will appear to some people why clean the bilge out now, my boat builder who did my apprenticeship 45 years ago said to me if the bilges are clean, you will not lose anything, and the boat will smell clean and the will make it easier to work in. So, while some of us will be working on other parts of the restoration, a couple of people can be cleaning out the bilges and removing the last of the ballast and then wash out and clean the bilge and then lay down some new temporary floorboards.

 

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