No, not a dubious firm of solicitors, nor the latest colours from Farrow and Ball. My kids would call them Resistant Materials, apparently they don’t do Woodwork and Metalwork any more, and I’ve not worked out what would constitute non resistant materials… surely everything resists to some degree?

STEEL

So, steel. I picked up the floors from the blacksmith (MichaelHart) last weekend, not galvanised in case I need to make any adjustments. Hopefully the welding process hasn’t distorted the shape too much. Each floor was laid on the work table, drawn around and then the new flat steel pieces were welded on before cutting the old corroded parts away.  I think this method should  limit any movement… £170 seems quite a lot for a bit of welding but each piece had to be individually cut to size and angled to suit. Sand blasting and galvanising will be a further £130 if I can piggy back on a larger order. Its not cheap this boat business! Though maybe in the middle of an ocean, with a strong wind and a big swell, £300 to hold the boat together will seem like money well spent!

Templating frames is as tedious as ever but if I needed persuading how necessary it is, this ‘repair’ had to be removed to access the original frame and revealed just what a poor state some of the woodwork is in.

TUFNOL AND BRONZE

So seeking inspiration I decided to dismantle the winches (well why not?) and see if I could get them to run more smoothly. The shiny chromed, two speed winches on Moonshine Blues are a far cry from these tufnol and bronze relics and I think the smooth clickety clicking of those modern Lewmar ratchets might be a bit of a tall order. However once I had dismantled them (one screw!) cleaned the accumulated gunk of years of neglect, and despite one spring somersaulting gaily though the sunshine into the long grass, I got them back together and was pleasantly surprised to find they work slightly more smoothly! I quickly stepped away lest I was tempted to meddle some more and undo all the good work!

A bit of brasso and a glob of grease and they’ll be like new!

SISAL

So on to Sisal… nothing to do with the boat, just a spot of Outdoor Darts with the extended family. Apparently compressed sisal is what dart boards are made of. Who knew?

I wonder if this is what mum had in mind when she planted the walnut trees all those years ago?