James Silver Western Isles Chance Restoration

 It is now two weeks since we were at Chance in Woodplumpton and after some of the hottest weather we have had since 1976. It has been too hot to work at our normal rate until now that the temperature as got a little lower, we are now able this weekend to start to put many of the parts we brought down from Chance on to the shelves in my workshop until it is time to make a start on restoring these parts where it is possible to do so. Where that is not possible to do then there will have to be new parts made to match the original as much as possible.  This could a challenge, as the mahogany Chance was build from in 1948 was Honduras Mahogany which is almost impossible to get hold of  in this present time. So I am going to have to source a close African mahogany that is the best to use to keep the interior cabinet work as close to the original as it is possible to do so, Many of the parts brought back were the cockpit floorboards which will have to have some work done on them to sort them

  Last Week in Woodplumpton working on Chance Hi fellow boat restorers and watchers of my videos, my name is Simon Papendick, and I am the owner of J-Star Marine Services. My family and I and along help from my brother john are on a mission to restore Chance our1948 James Silver “Western Isle’s “motor sailor She is the only one of her type and is worth restoring back to her former glory and one more sailing the high seas. Last Week on Chance in Woodplumpton This last week in Woodplumpton was the fore cabin bilges cleaned out by my brother John so that they are clean of all the old bilge dirt, and mixture of dust, old oil and wood from pervious repairs and God knows what else. However, they are clean now and anything that is dropped in the bilge from now on can be seen and picked up without getting your hands covered in God knows what. John did say that it could do with another cleaning as we move forward with the restoration as like any wood that as been pickled for as long as that it

  Hi fellow boat restorers and watchers of my videos Please like and subscribe to my channel on my family and I’s progress as we restore our James Silver “Western Isles” Motor Sailer back to her former glory and once again sailing the high seas that she once was her home.   Over this past year since we started our mission to restore Chance to her former glory and get her back on the high seas where she belongs. There as been some up and downs along the way. First, we had Covid 19 which stopped us going to Chance after the first few weeks because of travel restrictions. Then other family commination’s so progress was close to say the least.   However, that is behind us now and we can get on and get some real work done on her. The hard work of dismantling the interior is behind us now, as we can now get to the hull and are able to see the ribs and frames clearly and replace all the ribs which are broken or rotten of both in some cases. Replace any rotten or damaged frames which nee

The way I first saw Chance a year ago and a job I was not looking forward to doing  First job was to cut out the sections of the transom between the beams running athwartships and then remove the bit fixed to the beams  The first of the many odd repairs done to the transom. The transom covered up the end grain of the planks with a thin layer of plywood  The frames are well rotten and need replacing first before any work can start on any part of the boat The upper part of the transom was made up of diagonal plywood, however, the bottom part was made up of athwartships layers of plywood    One bit if you can see it, is that the starboard side as dropped and the the sheer line shows that it as happened, so the starboard side is going to have to be propped up back into position until the sheer line back in the correct position   With the ribs out of the starboard side in the aft cabin and with careful propping the shape should come back in the starboard side and the transom will be the cor

Like any true Yorkshire man, where there is muck there's brass. the first wash was done with soap that was a by product of bio diesel  A short while later and what a difference the bilges looks. It has not looked like that in 74 years  He is now making a start on the main cabin and then the fore cabin and then turn his attention to the aft cabin after my son Michael have finished doing the rib removal  

These are all the ribs from the aft cabin area,some are just short ribs, others are dry laminated ribs, that is to say they were steamed into position and not glued together before they were nailed in position. They were different widths and thickness as well. I will take measurements off the original size and steam new ribs into position using the original specification.  The starboard side of the aft cabin with the ribs removed, now the cleaning up of the hull planking and hole filling of the holes that will not be reused The hull planking looks like a pin cushion with all the nails removed A lot of the planking in this part of the hull is going to have to be replaced as it is rotten and made up of short lengths   

The port side of the side deck and aft deck is original as the position of the deck fittings are still in place  The positions of the side davits and the aft davits and the aft cleats are clearly seen in the deck There is a large hole in the deck as a repair was started and never finished  The starboard side deck was repaired but never mirror to look like the port side deck which will be done this time  The aft end of the  side deck and on to the aft deck is a lodging deck which is in place but not fixed to the beam shelf  In the past the beam shelf was replaced but never fixed in place correctly and someone had done a  poor repair to the deck and did not take the time to make sure to mirror the teak deck planking to be the same as the port side. The beam shelf is rotten in a number of places and will have to be replaced along it full length and so is the top plank. Also the short deck beams will have to be replaced as these have been hacked about with in the previous repair So it is g

Now that tanks are out it is possible to remove all the old tank support bracket and clean the years of dirt that had collected in the engine bay  The first time oin over 70 years the bottom of the bilge in the engine bay as seen the light of day and it is good order after all the neglect it as had over the 20 plus years until we came to Chance rescue   All that is needed now is the old bilge ump and water pipes to be removed and then the cleaning can start  

The first job was to drill out the old putty over the the nails so that when the nails are driven out it will not split the wood round the nail holes. The planks on the starboard quarter are some of the worse on the whole boat, there are more rotten planks in one area of the boats hull. The planks  just the waterline and down to the keel so there is going to be a lot of work needed in this part of the hull. Most of the damage in this area was caused by fresh water ingress from the leaky deck and years of neglect and lack of fresh air ventilation  Having marked off the rib and frame position it was time to drill out the old putty to expose the nails before punching them out.  

It has been a fortnight since we have been up at Woodplumpton and it is now time to go up to Woodplumpton again for a weeks work on Chance.  Now that all but the masts and booms are now back at my workshop it is time to make a start on the repairs and restoration of the hull planking and ribs in the boat.  We have investigated the boat from stem to stern and have found that Chance is in need of a lot of ribs to be removed and replaced along her length. Surprising the ribs forward on the main cabin appear to be in good order apart from a few where bulkheads have crossed over  them and made them rotten through fresh water rotting the bullhead and in turn rotting the rib.   The most damage to the ribs is amidships down both port and starboard side. The starboard side being the worse affected with the breaks in the ribs going all the way to the transom. On the starboard side they were doubled and in some cases sistered  rather than replace the whole rib and not make the planking look like