Sheila has been worrying her lovers lately.
It all started with two weeks with wind over 40 knots everyday and two months of rain.
That is when she decided she wanted to go to the beach at night. Unfortunately, I must take the blame for letting her. The stainless steel swivel on which the two mooring lines were set lost its shackle pin – the plastic strap proved insufficient under the circumstances.
Fortunately I realised it in the morning and with the next tide she was towed back for examination. A big thank-you to Loïc and Yves for making themselves available at short notice on a Saturday and being so professional and caring.
During the week-end spent on a mooring she was water-tight. We lifted her out on the next Tuesday and we were relieved of such a minimal outcome after a near catastrophy. Sheila scratched her hull and that is fixed. She damaged the bottom of her rudder – Loïc is working on it.
Still we did our review and extracted the wooden rudder stock (as good as in 1987) and decided to seize the opportunity for a professional review and tightening of the helm. In the meantime I was planning to sand and protect the deck with new coats of wood stain.
Our remaining challenge is that in the process we found crumbling steel bolts in the stern post, a broken stainless steel brace on the keel and a stem knee in dire straits. This area of the boat was last restored in 1979 and is under the cockpit so more exposed to rain water. And 1979 is a third of century past. The shipwrights have a challenge to meet without prior notice before she is back to sailing and I must confess I had other plans as well.
More news to come !
16th April update
Sheila should be back on the water on the 3rd of May. The deck is protected with two coats of stain and we found the time to paint the hull so that she can be pretty for the Summer.
30th April update
Loïc and the team have been doing wonders.
He uncovered the mystery of the original Albert Strange pintle bearing. The device was broken ages ago and replaced by a crude stainless steel brace more recently. To restore the original system we would need to remove the keel so this could only be undertaken at a later stage. The device deserves an article in its own right. In the meantime we have a restored stern post and a much safer system for the rudder.
