Work in progress

Telephone us on 078 3135 7606 or E-mail Derek@woodenboatrepairs.com

Fioana Jane

This one is interesting. It was originally an open boat with a little shelter forward used by Trinity House to service lighthouses. She is 28ft long with a beam of 10ft. The hull is pretty sound but the ring deck and cuddy are missing and in need of new being constructed. There are a few original bits with the boat but it could do with a total rebuild from the hull up.
This is not a renovation project but we intend to complete it soon enough to get into the water by the end of the summer.

Cap Horn

Cap Horn is a 53 foot fishing boat which has needed major works to her hull and framework. So far we have replaced over 1500 feet of planking and are about to do a lot more along with associated bulwark staunchions and all the seem caulking and paying. It is interesting to note that to date we have used 30 kgs of red lead putty and over 8 kgs of galvanised spikes.

Seven Kings

Photo courtesy of Seven Kings Sea Scouts

The Original Story The yacht Seven Kings is pretty much unique in that it was built by a troop of Sea Scouts to Lloyds 100 A1 standards starting in the Autumn of 1961. The 4th Seven Kings Sea Scout Troop of Illford, East London built the 16 ton yacht from plans over a period of 7 years under the supervision of their Scoutmaster Derek Williams. It was built as wooden boats had been built for hundreds of years, in the open, through all weathers and by hand. The remarkable thing is that this was all done by boys of school age, Sea Scouts. The loft floor, upon which the drawings were created life-size, the building stocks, the laying of the keel and main timbers were all done without any protection at all from rain, snow, hail and mist. Not until the stem and stern post were erected could a strongback be rigged with a tarpaulin stretched over it to afford the lads some protection. The work of framing, planking, caulking, fairing, sanding and painting continued over what must have seemed an age to the young scouts. Finally the big items such as the engine, sails and steering wheel were delivered to the site, fitted and checked by the man from Lloyds. Then the day came seven and a half years after the project started when "Seven Kings" was launched and floated spot on her marks. Originally she was built as a bermudan ketch and 500 hundred people attended her launching as she slipped gracefully into the Blackwater prior to making her way to her moorings in Lawling Creek.

Over the period of Sea Scout ownership she covered thousands of miles teaching the young men of East London the rudiments of seamanship and navigation. Not a bad start in life by any standards. Whilst in the hands of the sea scouts she was maintained in excellent condition however needing some remedial work in the 90's as some rot was noticed in the areas of fresh water ingress on deck. She remained in the ownership of the Seven Kings Trust until after Derek Williams death in 1997 when she was passed to the Meridian Trust in Portsmouth for the purpose of continuing youth sail training.
Remedial work here culminated in another moving recommissioning ceremony in June 1999 which also served as a memorial service for those that had been involved in the construction and sailing of Seven Kings but sadly were no longer in a position to attend.

Unfortunately after a short period with Meridian she was sold as being not exactly suited for the tasks in hand so in 2000/1 she passed into private hands.

The following poem written by Hazel Foster, Derek's sister, was presented at the recommissioning ceremony.

THE SEVEN KINGS

The Seven Kings has been reborn
A boat that’s built to last
She’ll sail the open seas again
With memories of the past
The Seven Kings a work of art
Hand crafted with such skill
Year in –year out – hands worked so hard
It seemed that time stood still

Then came the day she was complete
Her deck gleamed in the sun
The time had come to launch her
Her life had just begun
Her beauty captured everyone
She slipped into the sea,
Her Master proudly took the helm
At last she sailed free

Her Master sadly passed away
No longer on this earth
He treasured his creation
The history of her birth
She was left to slowly die
She sat there all alone
A boat so haunted by the past
The happiness she’d known

The hands that came and rescued her
Watched closely through those years
To see the plight that she was in
Brought some of them to tears
Her beauty new restored again
A life in front of her
She’ll sail on for years to come
A legend to remember

A Re-design and Refit

Proposed sail plan and keel profile

Now this classic yacht is back in private hands and is with us for an extensive rebuild and redesign of the sail plan.
The old lines drawings have been located and modifications made to recalculate the stability curves for the new arrangement with a new solid keel in place of the old drop keel. The keel box was rotting in parts so needed replacing so the opportunity was taken to have a major refit.
The rig would be changed for a gaff ketch with topsails on both masts. It would give it a bit more sail area but that would adversly affect the stability so new stability curves would be needed and a new lead keel cast to counterbalance the extra heeling moment.

Below decks stripped out ready for rebuild

In preparation for a complete refit below decks all furniture and the rotting center case have been removed. At this stage the quality of the original build is obvious showing all the planking below the waterline and the frames in sound condition, a real credit to the boys of the 4th Seven Kings Sea Scout Troop. Some damage has been done by later modifications after the yacht passed out of the scouts ownership. A couple of the steamed frames have been cut to allow fitting of pipes, this will be repaired to regain the original strength of construction.

Replacing rotten decks

As you can see from this and following pictures, after inspection we had to strip out most of the cockpit furniture to expose the rotten parts. It seems that it is always worse than it first appears and in this instance most of the support structure was rotten. After cutting back to solid wood the framework was replaced with new Mahogany and the carcase was rebuilt.

We select our own timber from the supplier

Here we are selecting only the very best quality Teak logs from our suppliers on the continent. As with all the timber we use we endeavour to source from properly managed and sustainable sources wherever it is possible. This is true for Mahogany and Oak as well.

Inspection and Survey

We are able to undertake inspections of accident damage or just natural wear and tear anywhere in the country. Please have a look at our terms and conditions page for hourly rates and travel expenses.