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Website started 24th February 2000

Fixing in place the covering boards. Search for alternative home for the Boat . April/May 1994.

2/4/94

Lance off colour Friday evening, so came down this morning. Just avoided the Easter traffic. This other boat wrapped up totally now which is how it should have been done in the first place. We left the gates shut all day today. About half past 3 though strange bloke fumbling at the gate padlock. He did not persist and walked back down the lane. Was he the beekeeper, that caravan chap or what ?. Mild day, sunny, showers of hailstone and complemented with thunder and lightning!. Pondering where to start. Decided to try one of the long covering board pieces on deck. Once up there decided to cut the angle up the forward end. Done that and decided to fetch the other (portside) covering board. This needed two people - one to sit at the forward peak – holding portside covering board in place – whilst the other holding aft end of the starboard piece. Both pieces about 17’ long, and need to be bent to the curvature of the Hull. Portside forward angle cut, whilst on deck, Lance perched like a bird right on the edge, then the ends planed and then why not screw it down. The two forward most screws in. Steaming will need to be concentrated amidships end of timber. Wondered if boiling water would do the job. The book talked about boiling kettle and using steam for small jobs or boil the piece in question. 17’ to long to put in the pan therefore why not put the boiling water on the timber in situ. Kettle in workshop and kettle in the van put on to work one after the other, providing constant boiling water to pour onto the timber. Approx. 14 + 14 kettle loads. The timber slowly became more pliable. It was 16:30pm when we had done the initial screwing, up forward one screw snapped off .! It was 20:00pm by the time we put the kettle on yet again, this time for a cup of tea. All was going well until we got to the amidships end of the starboard covering board. Needed to wedge it in place. In the end had plank across two shed uprights, then a piece of softwood jammed between the plank and the covering boardl – tapping it in further – as the timber gave under boiling water. Need to leave it there for some time to enable the timber to cool and settle in its new shape.

Used boiling water to steam bend the covering boards on starboard		Joint amidships. Needed shed supports, timber and wedge to help pressure on screws, and will leave as long as possible like this until the timber retains it shape

Covering board portside being fitted. This photo shows just how much the board needed to bend.	Again boiling water used to steam it	Again used the shed support, timber and wedge to help pressure on the screws especially amidships.

3/4/94

Damp start. Assessed work done yesterday. Timber taken to it very well. Although there is still a lot of pressure on the aft end. Put in the 2^nd screws along the inner edge, along with more hot water. Cut the scarf edge aft most of the starboard covering board. 45degree angle cut at 45 degree chamfer. Awkward doing it whilst timber on deck, but it was managed with the tenon saw, big saw, then chisel, and hammer to tidy it. Wedge and plank still in place to help the pressure on the screws. Now to tackle the portside. Fitted the inner 2 screws to the two foremost ones, then removed them all, moved the covering board to the other(inner) side of the shed post, then with minimum pressure, put in the first 5/6 screws forward. Now to start with boiling water. Awkward this time in getting a plank in position from which to apply pressure to the aft end of the covering board. Hull at this point is flush with the level of the posts. Ended up with a plank crossways – jammed above and below on the shed structure, then with more boiling water and a couple of wedges, plus a bit of yoga etc, we was able to jam the covering board in place. Rest of the outer row of screws put in place.. More boiling water poured on. Then whilst had a cup of tea 16:30pm, let the covering board surface dry out and then put second layer of screws in . Needed more water now from the neighbour, who was was only too pleased to see us and assist. She very kindly gave us some eggs for Easter – chicken eggs – free range. They are beautiful. In passing we told her we only had six months now to get out because of John H and his caravans. She commented she does not want caravans down here anyway. It was in her deeds that she has access via the lane to her upper end of the garden etc, so has the farmer whose lands adjoins on the other side of the lane. It is a communial lane. Today so far used 22 kettles loads and made 2 cups of tea. After tea pulled the big sheet up – keep the heat in – and about another 6 kettles of boiling water 3 port and 3 starboard. So far so good. It has worked well routering the edge like we did. 18:00pm now, staying tonight, bank holiday tomorrow. The field is very boggy now. Cleared tools and set fire on to warm up. No sign of anyone this weekend – bliss.

4/4/94

Bank Holiday. No higher than 10degrees this weekend. Cut the scarf on the portside covering board. Sanded down the deck ply joints and areas where epoxy standing proud on deck. This is not finished but at least started. Removed the screws from the forward cabin coachroof. 18 of them, which had , as a result of needing to use 1 Ό" to hold down the ply, these had protruded below deck. Luckily all these came out, with a little patience. Not sure yet whether these , or shorter ones will go back – see what we are doing below deck first. Sorted out two pieces of timber for the forward and aft king planks. These are to be 90mm wide. Real windy today – tree branches on the shed roof make an awful racket. Planed, sawed and more planing of the king planks edges to level 90mm wide. Lots of mahogany dust later, the forward and aft king planks planed down from 21mm to 13 ½,mm thick. Sun shining now is giving our batteries that final boost to make the most of today. Hoping to use the rest of the water, and boil it and pour onto the port and starboard covering boards. Never did in the end – too tired.

One timber prepared to be the forward King Plank

9/4/94 and10/4/94

Would be silly to go to the boat this weekend. Big freeze up – 4" of snow at Home Saturday morning. Arctic weather it really was – anyway did some jobs at home and reassessed financial situation and how best to go forward from here - given that we have to move the boat.

16/4/94

Still looking around for an alternative site for the boat whilst we are out and about.  Someone had been up during the week/last weekend. Funny how John H insists on padlocking the gate with the chain wrapped round and round and round, as tight as possible. Our sheet top eyelets – one more is split. Could someone below have stood on it/pulled on it, whilst working on this other boat !. Decided in the end to try fitting star board aft covering board strip. During the week had even had serious thoughts of chopping up the boat, but looking at it now it is too far advanced and taking good shape. We must keep going. The star board aft covering board went on easier than expected. Had to cut a 45degree joint on the forward end. Held the timber straight to marry up this joint with the starboard forward covering board piece, then once two screws positioned and screwed into place, these were removed, and the timber brought around the inner side of the shed post, and had to be shock treated with boiling water from kettles to bend it, to get it into position initially. The shed posts were handy for such a job as this, for wedging the covering boards to knock them into position. No way could this job have been accomplished outside in a Boatyard. It was about 20:30pm before the final screws in place, and two more kettles of boiling water poured over. Definitely time for eats, beers and sleep. Next we will need to make up a similar piece for the port side. If the original one had not broken that time when routering, we would have had sufficient. 66 x1 Ό" x 10 screws portside and 66 x 1 Ό" x 10 screws starboard edge = 132 screws.

17/4/94

Prepared last length of timber we had got of any width and depth. It is not the same shade, but should be ok once stained. Cut a straight plank out of this timber then routered it and planed it. The Ό" router bit snapped, but this time the shank broke therefore could just manage to use it, adjusting the router base plate. We proceeded to try fitting the forward end of this covering board, marrying it up to the forward piece. What a job. The shed post was smack bang in the way. To fit the board it had to be bent , and the bend was quite tight for dry timber. With careful leverage though and tapping the aft end- we got the double mitred joint into place. The joint needed further finer planing – but could we get it out. We pulled and tugged but it was well and truly locked into place. Our fear was in getting it out we would split it. Only thing we could do was lift it slightly and try prise it out of the curved groove in the deck ply, and pull at the same time. We did it, but not without a crack. The mitred joint end had split. Fortunately we had enough in the length to redo the mitred joint. Kettles were put onto boil again – approx. 16, the timber wet and slowly it was bent into shape. Problem was the aft end. There was no post to wedge it by and we could not sustain pulling into place, or pushing into place, the covering board for long. There was a tremendous pressure in the timber. Eventually used a very long (12’) old timber leant it at an angle from the floor to the ceiling, but at the stern of the boat, and it was just positioned right to be able to knock a wedge between it and the covering board, to hold it in place, whilst it was screwed down. More water poured on and by the time we had finished it was 20:00pm. We were both worn out.

23/4/94

Slow start today. Sun out. Wanted to tackle the aft most covering board. This was going to be a problem. The concave curvature could not be done at all without steaming/boiling water. Further more the board needed to be curved to fit / makeup the joints into the port and starboard covering boards. Decided the board too wide to bend as it was, so with the circular saw cut off approx. 1/3^rd , at a 45 degree angle. Then with hot water and patience, perseverance and balanced on a tressle , the outer piece of the board was cut, shaped, planed, chiselled, scribed, bent and pressed into place. The shed roof was used to wedge plank of softwood to put pressure on the covering board. We had so much faith in the shed. It would not take much to come down though once we had moved out. The winds will make mincemeat of it. This shortest length of covering board was taking longer than the 17’ pieces. The inner length of the aft covering board would not go in – in line. The chamfered edge we had cut was causing this piece to lift on the inner edge, and raise on the out. Perhaps we should not have cut the chamfer. Anyway there was no way this piece was going to work without steaming and even then it was not guaranteed to work. Problem was not being able to apply pressure from the right angles to push the timber into place. Again we tried using the ceiling beams to wedge the softwood in place – but either the ceiling was lifting, or not enough pressure in the right place. Whilst having wedged the port and starboard covering boards – the cradle had reacted accordingly, and caused a few more timber splits on the lower cross members. Decided in the end to use a piece of timber cut to shape. We dug out the original piece we had cut for the inside main cabin – to cover the mast step bolt heads. It was long enough, and only of a slightly tighter angle. It was scribed and cut to shape. It was only a couple of mm thicker, which can be planed or belt-sanded down after. The end joints were given much thought, but then decided to cut them straight, up to side covering boards and later will router a groove and slot a piece of timber into it. This piece was drilled and fitted into place, with 1 Ό" x 10 stainless steel screws. This piece of timber is of a different shade, but should stain ok. In the end this after piece had taken up all weekend.

Aft covering board being made as a single shaped piece		Aft covering board shaped at the ends and screwed in to place

30/4/94

Very good weather, both yesterday and today – looks set for a wonderful bank holiday weather wise. Arrived at the boat to discover John H, Gary H and his brother, wives and all their kids camping right next to the workshop. Car’s parked right in front of the workshop – plus a friends car. The other boat was unwrapped – timber and tools around. Workshop door open. What on earth are we supposed to do – and they are wanting us to finish and be out, and we had asked not to be disturbed. Both of us felt sickened. We went into the workshop room, then onto the boat. They were plugging their kettle in the workshop. They had lights on everywhere. We could just not settle. Gary H acknowledged us and said something about his boat being worse than he thought, and he may have to scrap it!. We had said that to John H weeks ago. Anyway we could not get into gear to work. Not with the family and kids there as well. Must have been half hour or so and we thought the best thing was to leave, with no real word and use this weekend to suss out some marinas, plus some more places back home with a view to moving the boat. What a wasted journey otherwise. John H managed a wave and mouthed '‘Are you going ?.!". We waved and took off. Took off to a marina. There had been some changes there since we had last visited it, and we eventually found the chap dealing with moorings/hard standings. It would be at cheapest £96 for 4 weeks on the quayside. £96 a month for a spot on concrete!. Electric would be on top. Would be good in summer though, right next to and overlooking the river. Toilets and Bar close by plus a chandlery. Could be breezy in winter though. Plus it adds an extra 15 miles onto our journey. It would not be worth it at present. Traped back home, sick and fed up. Let us write an article we said – 'Ever had that sinking feeling'. Brought a smile to our faces anyway.

1/5/94

Set out for a drive to a Wharf on the canal local to home. Very friendly chaps there and although they could not assist in our hunt for a alternative home for our boat, they were able to give us some good leads, and farms to ask around at. Taking our photographs helped the situation. Set off to find one of the Farms. Here they had had to ask everyone to move out of the sheds of recent, because of change in government rules and regulations, and neighbours there were refusing to allow planning permission to go through. The lady there was sick and fed up of it, and would have been only to pleased to help us out. Next on to another farm. Weird set-up this was. It was a Bed and Breakfast, Caravan Site, Moorings, Sheds and all seemed higgley piggley. Asked two people who seemed to be sitting watching a boat repair itself, and they gave us a rather snappy response as to where to find the owner of the place. That really put us off, but we went to ask anyway. Two boarders playing ball on the front lawn – said just walk in – they are making tea – and so we did and found ourselves in a large hallway. Who, what , where – we were just about to leave and see if there was a doorbell when we spotted a tinker bell on the table. Ring for attention – and so we did. A chap popped his head out of the door. We explained why our visit, and whilst he had no vacant areas, he suggested another Farm, where he knew the farmer was looking for someone to fill an area. Could we find the farm. It was no-where to be seen. Anyway we had the phone number – we would call later. On the way home decided to suss out the derelict barn place near home. Parked up – all the nearby cows thought we were the farmer with their feeds – how disappointed they were. We discovered anyway this building did use to be a slaughter house. Tried the nearest farmhouse to it, this building was not theirs, but they said a chap who lives not far away used to own the land, which the builders have bought near there. Could be worth asking him and whilst he, himself,  had nowhere for us on his farm, hw did suggest also we try National Farmers Union maybe. He also suggested another farmer who had a large galvanised barn, of which he knew a company had part of it. We sped of but could get no answer at the house. Will try and ring later. By now we were both tired. 

2/5/94

Rang up the Farm we could not find the other day. Farmer there suggested best if we saw the barns in question and then see if they are suited. Arranged to meet him 10:00am. Good job he gave us directions it was tucked away. It was a pig farm the air stenched. Barn inside was big enough, but access was very restricted – other option would be to park the boat adjacent on the old disused railway track – up on the embankment. Also the Farmer stated that whilst no rates are payable on the barns at the moment, if it was ever enforced he would have to charge us or we would have to get out. Could be a very uneasy set up. This was by now the general response from Farmers. We would not be able to settle being on a Farm. Also this farm surroundings looked dodgy with Artic Lorry’s parked nearby and scrap car dealers near.

9/5/94

Helping Dad move house this weekend. Too exhausted to do anything on the boat.

14/5/94

The other boat was off the trailer and wrapped up. All boards etc have been removed and shifted elsewhere. All our wedges have gone though and has our 'log' door prop.!. Just happened to buy a local paper and in it was an advert for a Silhouette 17’3" MKII all stripped ready for rebuild. Includes all accessories £200 ono. Gary H had paid £100 for it. We paid the rent to Les H and he mentioned that the other boat is being scrapped – too much work on it!. Les H did ask if we had seen John H today. We had not as yet. Wondered why he asked ?. Slow to console ourselves to start on the boat. Raining heavy – keeps the flies away. By mid afternoon started on the covering boards unscrewing them. The starboard forward had taken the curve very well. The aft board not quite so. They had not been fixed for as long. Anyway all covering boards removed, and all markings redone on the deck ply. Marking also where the beams were on the outer hull edge. Then sanded down all the screw holes. Brushed down the whole lot. Had to adjust the polythene on the shed roof aft, because heavy rain dripping down onto the deck. All is now ready to acetone and epoxy tomorrow.

15/5/94

John  H here pottering around with the mower and petrol saw. We needed to make up 132 plugs, already had enough for the aft covering boards. Weather mild and mixed. Up to 18/19 degrees on the boat, ideal to epoxy. About lunchtime, having a cup of tea when John  H pottered up, full of chat!. What does he want now?. Amidst chat he gave us a letter confirming his request to us to remove our boat. Reckons he has got his caravan site certificate, although much will not happen this year. No talk of us ok till next spring !, or to say pay rent to him. No room for discussion at all. He just wants us out and off the picture. He feels too intimidated. The letter itself was actually dated the weekend when the whole family turned out in force camping !. Suspicious. Anyway it is useless trying to confront pillocks – they are only interested in themselves. The letter read :-

Dear Ruth and Lance,

Further to our conversation on 20^th March 1994 when I the undersigned requested removal of your boat from my plot of land.

This letter is to confirm that this action is to be taken as soon as possible, but must be completed no later than 1^st September 1994.

Yours sincerely,

John H.

Ploughing on though we worked on through to 20:30pm, epoxying and screwing in place the covering boards. Considering the obstacles in the way we coped very well. Mixing 10 + 9 + 11 + 10 squirts for the port and starboard boards. We were struggling towards the end though putting the plugs in – the epoxy was going off too quick and we had only got Ύ of the way round the covering boards.

All covering boards now epoxied into place and all screw holes plugged

21/5/94

Lance unwell this weekend – gave it a miss.

28/5/94

MOT due and we ended demobilising the van – spark plug stuck in the block. Had to leave the boat until next weekend and get the van on the road again.

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