Working in the Workshop in my Yard on putting parts from Chance on the shelves.

 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 out as some are the original Teak floorboards some have gone missing and have been replaced with marine plywood. So I will be on the hunt for some teak to replace the plywood floorboards and the put the floorboards back has they should be. Also, another item we will have to replace is the missing is the second cockpit steel floor bearer which appears to have gone missing sometime in the past.

That is where w stand now in the restoration project, We have spent the last year dismantling Chance back to where we have it now. That is to say we have the hull exposed on the inside and we can now get to all the parts of the inside that we need to work on to replace the planking and the ribs and in some cases the frames. So now starts the long job of replacing ribs and planks and a few frames and the odd bit of beam shelf and in some places a part of the teak decking.  

So it is now time to make plans to go back up to Woodplumpton after we have sourced some oak to start sorting the transom rebuild out and also to make up some new ribs to replace the ribs which have already removed. However, the work on the ribs will have to wait until we have put the transom back in its correct position has the starboard side as dropped down amount which can be scene when you look at the transom and see that the framework which makes up the transom edge as clearly dropped on the starboard side. It can be seen on the sheer strake plank from the cockpit to the transom on the starboard side. 

So that we be our first job when we get back to Chance, that is to level Chance up with more props and chocks and once this is done unfix the framework and the planks on the transom framework and correct this part of the hull before getting grips with any other part of the boats hull. 

So next time at Chance it is going to be an interesting time.

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