Well it’s been a busy month. I’ve been preparing to go back to the real world the last couple of weeks so progress on Perdita has slowed down a little, we’ve still done a tonne of stuff and this post is a montage of our best bits!
The starboard freeboard is now just about there, it’s far from perfect but should be miles better than it was before. It even has portholes with the restored brass trims fitted. The window glass is made of acrylic that I jigsaw cut into some oval-like shapes and sealed in.
The rubbing strakes top and middle will trim out the rough bits that are visible and should add some much needed wooden contrast. The underside will be painted when she’s back outside (blue is getting replaced with grey).
The port side is also now complete (above right) bar a couple of brass trims that need to be replaced. I’m actually missing one that we never got with the boat, so that’ll need to be made by a fabricator, hopefully won’t be too expensive.
The cabin top is very much next on the list of things to sand and strip of varnish. There are also some leaky bits which need to be sealed. Mainly minor stuff. For now I’ve cut a tarpaulin to shape and fixed it to the stanchions to provide a bit of a rain cover. I found wrapping the boat in tarp last time increased the damp and prevented it from escaping, so this time it’s just a basic cover to trial. I’ll also be painting the deck with massive amount of left over poly floor paint I have.
I’ve been working on the wooden cabin doors (pictured above), they’re now shiny and bright. All the old varnish has been stripped and sanded off. Took a while.
Lorraine’s been painting and getting down with some nasty stuff in the bilges.
I’ve also begun to start insulating the cabin, not sure this stuff is going to have an effect but we’ll see I suppose. Shouldn’t create damp as I’ve left the gunwales open at the top for air and moisture to pass by into the bilges.
There’s been some epoxy repairs to a couple of ribs and some other more minor pieces, I’m using West System 404 high strength and fibre-glass mat for the bits that need it. It’s tough stuff and way stronger than the wood was ever.
This is me looking amazing walking on the skeleton of our super tiny little steps. They should give us enough room to swing open some cabin doors. The old steps were lovely but a bit bigger than we needed. I may still reuse them later. The new ones obviously need finishing and stepping.
The other job on the go is the canvas wheelhouse sides that we’re making. We’ve had some quotes of over £1000 to make 3 curtains for the rear which seemed a bit steep to me. So being a tight northerner I bought £60 of waterproof canvas and some clear pvc for the windows. We’ve now made all 3 curtains which just need placing on the boat with press studs. Measuring up was a bit tricky and I’m sure we could do a neater job, but for now these will be perfect.
Credit to Lorraine for doing all the ultra neat stitching, there’s no way with my bodge job hands I could have done it.
Some serious sewing machine work for our £80 Brother
It’s also been nice to start seeing the brass go back into the boat, it’s taken a shit load of work to make it this shiny and will no doubt be a bugger to keep clean, but for now it’s nice.
That’s it for now – long post, but wanted to try and pack it all in.
Big thanks due to Tim and Chris at Wraysbury Boat House for letting me work the last few months in their workshop. If you need a specialist, expert, wooden boat builder Tim is your man.
Thanks for looking!
What Perdita was like a couple of months ago:
