The National Library of Australia

The National Library of Australia's web archive PANDORA has chosen to add Australian Boat Restoration to their archive of carefully selected publications they consider are of significance and to have long-term research value.

Cool.

http://pandora.nla.gov.au

October Progress

Some photo's of work in progress and work that's been completed, the former being in the greatest abundance.

Some more glossy top coat on the hull.

Old wallpaper was used for masking off the blue waterline.

Side decks repaired and caulked.

Aft cabin windows double glazed.

Interior huon pine oiled.

Drawings

During the restoration I have been using drawings to help design, plan every detail of the boat, Up un-till now they have been messy, digital doodles to make decisions / calculations with but I've polished them in to something presentable to give an idea as the the looks and feel of the completed interior layout and design.

And yes I still haven't drawn a propeller. More details to come:)

White

I applied the first coat of International Toplac Mediterranean White to the rear section to get an idea of coverage. Results = Good :)

Now to do the rest...

Boatfit Europe

Some exciting woodwork is being brought to the metaphorical table from the brains behind Boatfit Europe, or Paul as he's more commonly known. 

As mentioned previously the wheelhouse added by unfortunate high altitude balloonist Alan Ritche was never completed and still required doors, rear windows, and even a new roof after being left open to the elements for so long.

Paul's quality of work and attention to detail is the only I've come across so far that both equals and does justice to the original construction by Halvorsen & Gowland.

The decision to fit hinged doors as apposed to sliding is purely aesthetically, and I'm really pleased with the results.

As well as the necessary we're also replacing the rear windows with double glazed units to match the new wheelhouse with additional matching detail around the frames.

More to come soon.

Painting - Hull

Preparation is always the key to a good paint job, (as well a being a bad pun). This is why many hours, days, weeks (some of which I spent in Russia) have been put in to sanding and priming the hull both above and below the water line.

Firstly below the water line with 6 coats of International Primocon brushed on and sanded smooth every other coat.

The next step, above the waterline, has been much more interesting, well interesting enough to take some pictures. 4 coats of International Yacht Primer we applied, two thinned and sprayed for a key then two brushed to build thickness. Next a long board was used to flat the surface over a large area, the high spots revealing themselves as bare wood.

This process was repeated with a further two coats with some pretty good results, I've been reluctant to use any fillers over large areas as I worry any movement in the wood would risk cracks, where as a one part primer is more flexible and lends itself very well to being flatted out.

And to keep my painting guru (also known as Geoff) happy this is my dedicated primer gun, a suction fed DeVilbiss, because it holds more paint.

Next steps involve two coats of International Pre-Kote undercoat intertwined with more long boarding but this time with finer grade sand paper. Followed by 14 days ageing, (most of which I'll spend in Australia) before applying two coats of delicious Mediterranean White.

Engine In

With the bilges all lovely and white it was time to fit the lovely and white engine. Which all went rather well really.

Painting Continues

Painting the bilges continued thoughtout the rest of the bilges and the first two coats were brushed on using our favourite brush the Harris T-Class Contractor, which also happens to be the cheapest, cool.

However a brush is still a brush and taking three people 5 hours per coat became tiresome very quickly so after flatting down with 320 I sprayed the next coat of primer followed by two coats of white Danboline Bilge paint.

Painting Begins

With the exciting arrival of three different kinds of brushes, fully synthetic, semi synthetic and natural bristle, painting commenced today. Beginning with the bilges and a first coat of International's Yacht Primer.

Tune in soon to find out which is my favourite brush. I should also add that many weeks of sanding and preparation have come before this moment, but that's mostly boring.

Restoration

It has to be said that some restoration jobs are easier than others, and in this instance restoration of the decking comes in the form of a bottle, a bottle of teak restorer. Brush on and brush off, very satisfying. 

Inspiration

In order to inspire some inspiration in the interior design department we mocked up the beds and some bedding in order to see how white and blue will contrast with the huon pine and oak.

Power

Thanks to Beta Marine we have taken delivery, on time of a made to order Beta 50 diesel engine.

50 Hp 4 cylinder diesel, indirect injection for quieter running, a 3:1 hydraulic gearbox to turn our big slow running prop, twin 24V alternators to power a battery inverter system and all finished in brilliant white to create my dream, clean engine room.

Sand, Paper and Wood

Quite a good mix.

Granite

Thanks to my friends at TNC Granite we are able chose from a various different finishes of stone for the galley (kitchen to anyone who doesn't speak boat).

I don't know how common it is to use a solid stone worktop for marine use but for me it really compliments the exclusive use of natural, traditional materials such as wood, brass, bronze, copper, stainless steel and glass.

Granted it may seem a little premature fitting a kitchen sink to a boat that doesn't have a steering wheel yet, but it is important to know the fit and finish we're going for and the various options available right from the beginning.

Watercolour

Here we have a simple water colour depicting the proposed colour scheme for the boat. Any thoughts or ideas are welcome.

The finished article will have a propellor.

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

This is the tag line from HounPine.com and if it's online it must be true, right? Well with a growth rate of 1mm per year it could be said that the wood for this boat has been 12,000 years in the making. So yes waiting has certainly taken place, mostly by prehistoric man, Ancient Egyptians, Dodo's (bad luck) and many other cliche historic lifeforms.

The age becomes very apparent when you try and count the rings. Go on. Try it.

Ironic then that a wood which can tell the story of life on Earth over the past few millennia within it's beautifully concise rings can near extinction within a few decades of modern man finding out they can make lovely boats and occasional tables out of it.

A great place to keep your biscuit crumbs.

Luckily for Lagarostrobos Franklinii (or Huon Pine for those of us who can't speak tree), the Australian Forestry Commission declared it a protected species in 1981 and logging became severely restricted to mostly salvage from forest floor and river beds.

If you can't see the wood it's because you are looking at the trees.

Okay so you have to wait for it, we get it, now tell me what's good about it. Alright I will. Beginning with an interesting fact. The unique oil (methyl eugenol) that permeates the wood making it virtually rot proof has also been used for dressing wounds, treating toothache, as a paint preservative and insecticide. Sounds like an interesting day out. But it's the combination of being a lightweight, easy to carve, stable wood that isn't prone to shrinking that makes it really good.

This man found it easy to carve.

If all that doesn't excite you maybe another interesting fact will, namely that all trees are genetically identical males that reproduce vegetatively. So basically the tree we see now, let's call it Adam, is just a clone of itself.

Have you ever seen a more masculine looking tree. I haven't.  

Now personally I never knew trees had a gender, it's not something I think about all that often to be fair, but being the producer of the finest construction wood known to man and one of the most perfectly formed organisms on the planet it seems clear to me this is one tree that wasn't distracted by the apple.