James Silver Western Isles Chance Restoration

These are the three different sets of steps for different parts of the boat.  The left set of steps are the ones from the cockpit into the main cabin, the middle set of steps are the steps from the cockpit to the aft cabin and finally the right hand set are the cockpit entrance to deck steps. The first job was to remove all the fittings off the steps and place them in individual pots so the fitting can go back on when the steps are re-varnished and ready to refitted to the boat.  The aft passage way steps which are blanked off at the back as this part of the steps leads into the aft end of the engine bay. A tall set of steps to go from the cockpit down into the main cabin An interesting way of locking the steps threads to the raisers by a square peg and a wedge hammered into position to lock the two parts together. The rest of the steps were just screwed or pin together. The first set of steps sanded down ready for a coat of varnish over the coming weeks.  

This is the original galley worktop before it was sanded down to see the condition of the top and see if it could be used again. After a good sanding down with course to fine sandpaper it came back up to a reasonable condition and it can be salvaged. The trim around the edges will have to be removed and a trim which should be on the worktop will be made and re-fixed in position to be like it was when the galley top was originally fitted.  There is a small area of rot along the back edge, however, with a bit of cutting and letting in it will okay to be refitted when the locker is rebuild that this worktop sits on. A bit of screw sickness from the builders using steel screws to fix down the worktop. This is a worktop that was removed from the galley area which covered the original worktop and was longer than the original worktop which was fitted a some stage in the past to make a longer worktop. The original worktop when be going back in and the galley area rebuild as it was originally b

Today, our son Michael has been sanding down the first of four butterfly hatch lids which have been removed from Chance before Christmas and now that they have had a chance to dry out Michael is sanding down the hatch lids and has been highlighting any damage that they have, so between us we can make any repairs necessary to restore them to their former original condition. Together, we both have to still have to remove the base parts of the hatch from the foredeck of Chance which have been proving to be a bit of a job to remove to say the least. Although, we have already started, they are proving to be not coming out even after all the fixings have been removed holding them down to the deck beams. However, it is on the job list to get done shortly. given that we need to get the hatch bases removed as part of the bigger jobs on the hatches and the fore deck. Simon has been making a replacement hatch rail holder for the one that is missing off the hatch lids. Simon is also going to meas

Having weathered the winter in good condition it is now time to get into sorting out the list of jobs we need to do to get the hull sorted out over the spring and summer. While Simon gets on with the transom and the other major jobs to sort out the back of the boat, Tricia and friends will be able to make a start on removing the rotten planks and make patterns to spoilt This is the photo of the forward port side davit base with the casted bronze plate removed for use as a pattern for the other four deck plates needed to be replaced as they are missing, because they have been removed by previous owners. The other deck plates are for the aft port side davit the two needed for the transom davits for the small dinghy and the starboard bow davit to recover the bow anchor.  The port side side deck which has not been messed about with over the years unlike the starboard side deck which has been chopped about a lot. Main mast tabernacle position which need patterning up to have a new tabernacl

Yesterday my wife Tricia and I when to the Lake District to talk to the staff at the Windermere Jetty Museum about their work on the restoration projects they have underway at the present time and the methods they use to restore and converse the craft they have at the museum. They have to make many difficult decisions about which craft to restore, which to conserve and which to just hold until a decision as been made to go in either direction. Having talk to the manager of the restoration team about the work they are doing on the vessels in their workshop, we both are using very similar methods gained over many years of doing traditional boat building methods to restore and converse the vessels we both work on in different parts of the UK. One point, we agreed on was, that we need to train the younger generation in the skills they will need to restore and maintain the historic vessels we have around the UK and beyond. Some areas of the UK appear to be able to engage with the younger ge

  This is a 36ft. silverlette currently at his boat   yard.it   ii 4 feet shortly than Chance. It,however, has many of same features on deck as Chance. A raised foredeck and a lower aft side and aft deck. Chance is in many ways similar to this James Silver. The largest difference being that Chance as a full size sailing rig not just steadying sails. The deck layout between the two boats is very similar in that they have both got the same number of deck hatches on both fore and aft decks in much the same position. The major other difference is that Chance has two sets of davits, one on the transom and the other set of davits on the port side along the aft cabin. From my research is was an option for the owner to have a tender for the crew and one for himself. The smaller tender to hang off the transom and the longer tender along the side. The other difference being that Chance has a bow davit for lifting the anchor onboard. All these features will be refitted to Chance when the deck is