I found this post from Spring lurking in my drafts… so here it is.

A beautiful sunny day and no school run = lots achieved on Flamingo. The mast step is finally finished and I scale the ladder with some trepidation partly due to the massive lump of English Oak on my shoulder and the wobbliness of the ladder but mainly because I have spent a considerable amount of time and effort to get to this stage and this will be the first time I see whether it fits. It doesn’t. The mismatched bolts it has to slide over, project from the keel at jaunty angles – mocking me. Undeterred, a bit of work with mallet and chisel and a bit of sweat and grazed knuckles… and it’s on! I have to admit to being slightly surprised. My woodworking skills are ok but copying the crumbling original with no square or flat surfaces to use as a datum there was always going to be a hefty dollop of crossed fingers and guesswork in the process.

Reversing my wobbly progress back down the ladder I applied a generous coat of linseed oil to the Oak. It was a little green when I bought it and sitting out in the sun, wind and rain is drying it a bit too quickly. Hopefully a good soaking of oil will help slow the seasoning down a little.

Having mixed up far too much thinned down linseed oil I cast my eye around for anything else that might also be suffering  from Mother Nature’s affections. The rudder, a huge laminated slab of teak was looking a little dry… its not now. 🙂

I spent some time last weekend making some trestles to store the spars. They were languishing under the boat exposed to the elements that the flash coat of varnish was fast losing the battle with. They are now more convenient to access and better supported to limit any unwanted bend in the mast. Lots of sanding and a large jar of thinned down oil later and the Mast, Boom, and Gaff are looking very nice and all tucked up under a roll of DPM to give them some protection. Whilst cursing nature’s effect on my wood, I am of course aware, that I’m working whilst standing in an orchard surrounded by apple blossom and primroses, bumble bees lumbering through the periwinkles, a ubiquitous robin chirping nearby and the rat tat tat tat of a woodpecker down by the stream. So I guess, given the entertainment she’s laid on, I’ll forgive her the depredations.

Thursday dawned warm and sunny and my bonus four day weekend (one day all weekends will be made this way)  looked like being a fruitful one. Still putting off the making of frames, (my current excuse being I need more workshop space to lay out the laminates) I carried on stripping varnish and sanding the sides of the coachroof. I’ve invested in velcro backed rolls of sandpaper and what a difference! Gone the frustration of trying to clamp reluctant 80 grit into poorly designed clips that ping open at the slightest provocation. Substitute instead, a stack of pre cut sheets ready to be popped on in seconds. Of course the extra time sanding has had a negative effect on my back muscles but every silver lining has a cloud.

The thought occurs, as I curse the orbital sander marking a clattering trail of little dents into the deck, that some sort of rubber edged sander would be a good invention. Yes yes I know, It’s a poor craftsman who blames his tools but it is really hard to get right up to the edge without bashing the adjacent wood…. must try harder.

The pulpit was getting in the way, so off it came. Does she look cleaner without it….?

Maybe a bit, but I wonder whether someone wrestling with the anchor or hanking on a foresail would be glad of its steely galvanised (and galvanising?) embrace, and more than happy to compromise Flamingo’s traditional lines for a bit of safety….. Well, we’re a long way off that point so I’ll not worry too much about it now. It’s many a mickle makes a muckle,  as like as not as makes no nevermind….

The whole site is getting a bit untidy so I spent some time clearing up, sorting out, and stacking the various bits of the interior and then covering them with a tarp.

Lots of strangely shaped pieces are carefully stashed. These two bits are a puzzle.

I’ve labelled them and obviously while doing so fondly imagined I would remember more about their function….. I’m thinking PA (Port Aft) PM (Port Middle) but of what? I can’t for the life of me think where they’re from.

The leaky workshop continues its frustration, Father’s canvas Ditty Bag has to be dried out and its contents find a new home in a Whiskey tin (thanks Sarah)

Meanwhile, Tilly discovered a Fairy shoemaker’s last, proof if it were needed that the little people are all around us…..

Turas math dhuibh.

There has been very little work over the last few weeks. Life has just got in the way. This weekend will be no different as #1 Son has flown the coop to University so we’re “popping up” to see him. Driving to Manchester with a post birthday party hangover will be stretching the phrase popping up but it will be good to see him in his new digs.

There are, of course, lots of little jobs that could be done in the few moments I have had, but I’m a master of procrastination so the workshop has remained untidied, the storage shed likewise, the grass and brambles grow unchecked while I –  make lists…

Lots of people ask me; “How’s the boat coming along?” and “Nearly finished?” or, “Is there much to do on it” It’s a bit like asking “How are you?”, no one really expects an answer, certainly not a seemingly never ending list of what needs doing…. gabbled out excitedly in some sort of nautical code language. As I talk I see their eyes glazing over and flick from side to side (is there any rescue from this boat bore?)

So for all those who feign interest, for the list makers and procrastinators, here is the ‘To Do’ list. It’s by no means exhaustive, though it will be exhausting.

I’ve found the trick is, to look at the list, and then add a new item, that way I can feel I’ve achieved something. 🙂 Otherwise I could feel overwhelmed, and lets face it no one likes too much whelm in their life do they?

A week at home should have allowed for more progress on Flamingo but the weather was so awful it dampened my enthusiasm for outside work and even when I did grit my teeth and get out there it was difficult to see in the dim light below decks. Still there were a few bright moments and wonder of wonders, some helping hands!

With some difficulty we removed the portholes so we could better sand and seal the cabin sides. I think at some point in her history the portholes were replaced with these rather too large ones with the result that the coach roof trim overlaps them.

It wasn’t a problem for the stern most ones but towards the bow where the coach roof tapers, the top screw was completely hidden. I decided to simply chisel out a small half round to access the screw, it was still a real struggle to get them off so the permanent solution will probably be to use the porthole as a template and reshape the trim around it. This will make it much easier to remove them in the future.

You can still buy these at www.davey.co.uk for £379.81 which means the portholes would cost more than I paid for the whole boat! No wonder the previous owner was worried someone would buy her to break up and sell as parts.

As usual there were many distractions;

an afternoon rock climbing at www.evolutionclimbing.co.uk

a day spent clearing brambles nettles and sycamore from the old chicken run.

and an afternoon making a new, smaller axe handle…

Note to self, don’t use a wooden mallet to drive an axe head on to the handle.

So now I’m back at work on a very quiet Bank Holiday Monday (hence having time to write this) and though we didn’t really achieve a huge amount, I feel progress is being made, the toe rail looks lovely all sanded back to its natural warm teak colour and now the portholes are out the cabin sides shouldn’t take too long to strip back. At least then it will look like things are changing, unlike my adding one or two more frame templates to the ever increasing pile…

The summer is sliding past as if it were greased. Weekends are packed with things to do but not many of them are that productive as far as Flamingo is concerned.

If you want a small prison for chickens though…

Or maybe a giant flying slug?

Or trees climbed…

Or a picnic trampled…

Or an Island sailed around…

Then it has been a very productive Summer!

TEMPLATES, TEMPLATES, AND YET MORE TEMPLATES.

There has of course been some work on the ‘shipwreck’ as my daughter still insists on calling it.

I’ve made a template for the companionway and commissioned a local craftsman (my father) to make me some lovely washboards. She had doors on when I got her, well, one door, the other was hanging on by one rusty hinge, but was originally fitted with washboards. There is some discussion between us as to whether doors, or washboards, or a combination of both would be best….

I’ve also been making templates of the frames that need replacing. It’s fiddly but quite satisfying.

Every now and then I break off from the tricky work of template making and do something that requires very little cerebral activity, like removing old varnish. It helps me think things through, plan the next steps. Though if I let myself think to far ahead I find I am staring, motionless out of a porthole imagining how it will be in a few summers time, anchored in a quite bay, the sun setting on a nice cold beer, my comfy bunk calling, the days sailing fresh in my mind…

“but oh those summer nights”

Despite having a week off work, and despite that week being largely sunny and dry, and even though the injections in my knuckles are finally starting to take effect, events have conspired to keep me distracted from my boat building. An Easter weekend invasion, a welcome one, but an invasion nonetheless, kept us busy with campfires and singalongs.

So it was an action packed sunny break and back at work I’m wondering when I am going to be able to squeeze in some boat work. The mast step is very slowly progressing and I’ve been scavenging plywood offcuts to make templates for replacement frames. General consensus seems to be, that sistering frames (bolting a new frame or section of frame next to an existing one) is a bit of a bodge, resulting in weak spots and extra weight. It looks likes there are around half a dozen frames that could really do with replacing so the next job will be to make templates with a hot glue gun and skinny ply then make a former and laminate some up in oak. Squeezing them in in one piece may be impossible so I might need to look at making them in two bits.

I also tried my hand at converting some of the felled larch into beams….. and despite my little hairy helpers.

The result was less than satisfactory.

I’ve invested in a chainsaw planking guide from http://www.fisher-direct.co.uk/ (arborist supplies and equipment). It is reasonably priced and I’ll let you know how I get on. An article in Classic Boat about a builder who bought a plot of woodland and felled enough larch and oak to build a 26 foot yacht has inspired me to think about planking and seasoning the larch rather than make it into beams for the deck of the cabin in the woods. After all Flamingo will need a tender, 🙂 and larch might be a good substitute for Pitch Pine when it comes to her own planking repairs.

Can’t resist this very quick comment. In a conversation today with my youngest (8)
Me, flicking through Classic Boat magazine: “Oh look, heres a yacht a bit like mine.
Tilly: “You don’t have a yacht daddy, it’s a shipwreck.”

Exit crushed old man stage left…

With so much to do in the new half of the house, and there’s a whole saga behind that phrase, there has been little time to do much on the boat. Reading other people’s restoration blogs or articles leaves me feeling inspired and depressed in pretty much equal measure. Two young guys restoring a ferro cement gaff cutter seem to get as much done in a day as I do in a week! What I have done is extended the budget planner spreadsheet I started when going through the heart-in-mouth purchase process. It’s a scary document. Obviously I went into this project with my eyes wide open, but ignorant eyes don’t see that much no matter how far apart you prise the eyelids. Who knew that paint for the hull would be the best part of £300. Or that a built in fridge would set you back 700 quid! Mattresses, made to measure £600! The saving grace is, there is no rush, the orchard is a free and convenient storage space, and I’m only 49 (sobs quietly into glass of Fursty Ferret) so plenty of time before she’s a hundred….

Hopefully more exciting content next blog. 😀