Refit – Part three

I have always, since I was a kid, loved to be in a boat yard. There is something magical of walking around boats standing on hard ground out of the environment they are designed for. It is special feeling to be “below the water line” and the shape of the underwater body is revealed. The lovely smell of paint and other chemicals, the mess of tools and materials showing ongoing projects and maintenance work.

This post will be a collection of pictures showing the development of the refit.  So it is most for people who are interested in the more technical details of boats.

I decided to change all seacocks back the original Blakes seacocks as per Nautor Swan specification at the time. These seacocks were the only Lloyd’s approved as they are fire-proof with no plastic parts but all made from high quality cast bronze. If maintained they last for decades.

Seacocks arrived

Old seacocks removed. Here showing how thick the hull is made. Probably about double the thickness as a modern boat. That is one of the reasons it is so comfortable to sail with even in bad weather – there are almost no noise from outside.

Thickness of the hull skin

The teak deck is built piece by piece. A template is made for each piece in plywood in order insure perfect fit for each detail before cutting the teak pieces. The raw teak deck is about 17 mm thick. It will be about 16 mm when finished.

The next step is to lay the sikaflex or caulk the deck as it is called.

The caulk has to cure for one month before it can be cut off.

The old stemhead plate has come off.

The caulk has been cut off and the sanding has started. Also deck equipment is starting to get back on.

Please ask any questions if there is anything you would like to know more about regarding the refit!