Restoration

Less than 24 hours after discovering the leak and the damage to Clara, the repair has been completed and she sailed across to Frikes Bay. The daytime heat meant that the glassing had to wait until nearer to sunset, but the job was soon done.

So at 6.30am on Friday she was back on the water ready for the journey across to the island of Ithica and Frikes Bay. But first a stop at the bakery in Vliho bay for essential provisions!

The journey across to Ithica went smoothly with a little assistance from the wind. Stephen and Georgina, our transit crew, enjoyed a well earned swim break on the east side of Orkide island before sailing on to the destination of Frikes Bay. With Clara tied up at her mooring, ready for the Wilson family to begin their holiday, it was time for a late lunch at the Bay Taverna. Their Squid, Dorado fish and Tuna Salad is first rate, a fabulous way to end a day’s sailing!

To all DIY Drascombers, avoid using automotive body filler on your ‘Pride and Joy’, especially below the water line, it could be disastrous!

You will have ready my review of the rebuild of Clara by my cabinetry making company, Dragon Design in Wales. Despite a thorough check of the underside when we cleaned all the old anti-foul off back to the gel coat, we missed totally what now appears to be a cosmetic finish of a nasty cavity rip that had been packed with car body filler. It looked good but it let in vast quantities of water on Clara’s first launch.

We started just fine yesterday morning, up at 6 to miss the heat of the day and down at the slipway to pop Clara in the water. I moored her and resumed with launching Warrior Spirit, our Atlantic 21 ex RNLI B-Class Inshore Rescue boat. Two hours later I got back to the mooring to find the floor boards afloat in Clara. Did I put the bung in correctly, I asked myself? I bailed with a bucket, then with the hand bailer and finally a sponge, but I could see a constant stream coming from the back of the floor of the aft locker. No time for pics, it was a mad rush to get her to the beach at the slipway and get the camper hitched up with the trailer and retrieve her from the sea.

With so much water still in her when I got back to the boatyard it was quite obvious where the water was entering, because by now the process had reversed itself and the water was pouring out. With very little effort or force from my Stanley knife I exposed the offending material and the extent of the cavity. The water now gushed out from the boat and she was dry in a short time. This could have been a lot worse – that packet of body filler was just waiting to explode and fall out.

Looking at the long and wide cavity I still cannot see what sort of damage would have caused this 10 mm wide and 30 mm deep gash. The wooden keel band is not damaged and this is directly under the damaged area, so it looks like a de-lamination of the moulding. Has anyone got any thoughts on this or past experience of this happening?

So to work! I have only today, Friday 22 August to get this cleaned, prepped and glassed before Saturday when I will be delivering her to Frikes on the island of Ithica. The Wilson Family from Glasgow are picking her up on Sunday in the harbour for their 6th visit to Dragon Drascombe, this for 2 weeks of ‘Luggering about in the sun’.

It’s all cleaned and prepped (note the exposure of the gel coat) and I will be wrapping the chopped strand mat over this edge as well as plugging the cavity with thoroughly wetted mat. The wetting agent is a polyester resin, but with a temperature this morning of 35 and in the sun, I will wait until this evening to do this glassing. She has to be launched in the morning!

On a cold and grey Wednesday, 12th December 2018 at the home of Dragon Design, Cabinetmakers, Clara was wheeled out for the first time after undergoing a full and extensive refit. It has taken 6 weeks, not all full time work, and 280 man hours to complete.

As a Mk 1 Lugger, with a hull number of 937, built by Honnor Marine at their yard at Totnes in 1973, she inherited many of the issues boat builders were experiencing with glass fibre and resin lay up procedures. These materials and methods were in their infancy; the laying up of a mould was done manually, and consequently the gel coat was often penetrated and breached by this application of chopped strand matting, hence what I find when preparing the surface ready for spray finishing. The mat is so close to the surface, this requires a lot preparation before one can start the spraying process.

The woodwork, albeit only the Gunwhales and 3 sections inside the cockpit which were included in the boat, were all in Burmese Teak. When the Teak became very expensive after controls on its export out of the country by its ruling military junta were enforced, the industry turned to Iroko, an Asian hardwood which was primarily used for the floors and beds of trucks. Being very dense and fibrous it is very hard wearing. At that stage the Gunwhale section was made of 2 pieces with a scarfing joint connecting both pieces, and there is a significant difference in the colour of these two different materials. You will note from Clara’s existing Gunwhale, which is dark and rich in colour to the light and mellow colour of the new Iroko of the cockpit woodwork. As I have expanded on, early on in her rebuild all the woodwork had been treated in Rustin’s Danish Oil. Yes it burns out, especially in the Mediterranean sun, but will recover easily with a once-over with an oiled pad. So much easier than varnish which bakes hard and brittle. This surface cover then cracks, moisture gets under it and starts the rotting and discolouration process. For those who have sailed my Luggers out in the Ionian, despite the usage they get the woodwork always looks good.

For the overland drive to Greece via Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro and Albania, dropping into Northern Greece close to the provincial capital city of Ioannina, this being around 2100 miles, I have made a supporting cradle. I have found that the conventional beam rollers which are great for rolling the boat on and off are not good to support the side hull sections. The rollers have just 2 points of contact to the hull, so all the side movement is taken onto these 2 areas, thus causing damage. The full cradle which has total contact with the full surface of the hull is soft sprung fabric lined and this fully protects the anti-foul primer.

If you would like to sail this magnificent Lugger in June 2019, I still have sea-facing apartments at Geni Garden from 12 to 26th June 2019. Why not give it a go, have a look at the Reviews and see what they say out about the experience of ‘Luggering about in the sun’

She is not quite completed as I had anticipated, and it’s the small and time consuming work on the boat in readiness for her launching in May 2019 that has taken the time.

The fittings have now arrived from Jimmy Green Marine Company to enable its last stage of fit out. The hull graphics have been done, making and paint finish to the aft Lazerette floor is now completed, the main bow anchor Iroko fittings are in progress and finally the important work to the trailer and its road wheel hub bearings.

When I collected Clara 6 weeks ago I was focused on the larger aspects of work to be done. It was only this week when I came to fit the tiller stock on the one piece rudder that I realised that the 25mm dia stainless steel stock was not straight, and further examination shows there has been a weld repair done, quite badly, leaving the stock out of line with the rudder. This is now with a fabricator to make a new stock and fit it to the rudder. I am constantly amazed at what repairs/ refurbishments have been carried out to boats.

How many times have we all seen trailers and caravans with wheel problems on the road side, the majority related to axle issues, especially trailers for boats that have been used as launching trollies? Yes numerous. Clara will undertake a road journey of 2100 miles in early May 2019, via Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, dropping into Albania briefly before entering northern Greece. Quite a journey, so from experience I want to have the peace of mind of knowing that the trailer is 110 % road worthy.

The Bramber trailer is original, some 45 years old, and from assessment of the bearings they are also original from the manufacturer name, so used for short road trips but with many dunkings into sea water on launching, and this is the problem. In the pictures you can see the scoring marks on the tapered ring and the damaged and missing roller bearings, not a bearing set that would withstand this long journey safely.

We have checked the rubber suspension modules and their fixing bolts, cleaned and replaced washers where necessary. Next is to remove the hub assembly from the stub axle, to reveal the 2 tapered roller bearings and the press fit tapered hub ring. It’s the latter that is difficult to remove, as it’s a tight press fit for obvious reasons and care has to be taken in its removal – a workshop environment is in preference for this task. Once removed the hub assembly can be cleaned, grease nipple cleared of hard material before re-making with new components. It is not worth cutting corners in this process. Having your lovely Lugger severely damaged by a wheel and hub shearing off on a highway is not an option.

Check back next week for her final appearance outside with all her spars and rigging fitted, ready to go for May 2019 – you will not believe how stunning she looks. Why not take a look at booking her for your Sailing In The Sun, Lugger Style 2019. If you need further inspiration just take a look at the 2018 client testimonials.

So here we are at the end of week 3. All the spray finishing has been completed to the cockpit in Manilla with the hull lower section in white and the top plank in a grey, and she’s looking good.

The next stage was the fitting of the Iroko hatches and centre board casing cheeks. These are not a standard fitting of Drascombe Luggers – my company Dragon Design has manufactured these and finished them in Rustins Danish Oil. This product is a soft durable oil which does not harden like varnish and just needs a once over a few times during the summer, given that these boats are exposed to the Mediterranean sun constantly for 5 months.

For Dragon Drascombe it is important for me to have them looking traditional, functional hatches for Mediterranean chartering and very smart looking. Charter groups want to see their Lugger, which is an intrinsic part of their holiday, looking great moored on the pontoon at the Taverna, a boat for all to admire. My charter crews in their testimonials have commented how yachts will stop and take photographs of the boat sailing – note what Cheri and Richard Crosley encountered this June when a yacht videoed then under sail.

The Lugger when I bought here just 5 weeks ago did not have a Lazerette hatch cover, so I set about making one and spray finishing it in the same grey as the top hull plank. These get a lot of hard use during the season so they can be re sprayed easily over the winter maintenance period. There will be a blue canvas deck bag fitted next week for the bow anchor’s chain and warp. The bag keeps the chain and warp neatly stowed and easily deployed. The cockpit bag that I fitted this week is ideal for keeping the Ionian Pilot manual and local chart – easy access and keeps them safe. I will have shorty a small bag fitted on the port side for sail bunnies and other useful lines.

From my initial photograph you will have noted the poor state that the Spars were in, many layers of varnish which had discoloured, staining from water that had got through cracks in the varnish and generally looking quite poor. The process of refurbishing the Spars is laborious and time consuming, starting with using a very powerful chemical stripper to degrade the varnish slowly and removing with a hand scraper and wire wool. After over a week of careful work I spray primed them with a thin oil based Yacht Varnish, prepping between coats and then the final clear finish sprayed on coat after coat. It’s called ‘wet on wet’, each successive thin coat adhering to the tacky coat below, and this process has 10 applications. Look at them now, really head turning.

Next week on the fourth week of work we will be stripping down the trailer hubs, cleaning the stub axle and replacing the bearings, all in preparation for its 1500 mile journey to the Greek Ionian in April 2019. In the way of her sails, she had a new foresail when I bought her, fortunately a sail made by Dick at R&J Sails Bristol, so this goes back on. The Mainsail Gaff was a short Mk1 version, so next week I will make a new Gaff out of Canadian Cedar and Dick will supply a new Mizen and a Baton Roached Mainsail in early 2019. Take a look at Jon Paton’s write up and the pics of Heulwen under sail with the brilliant stripped top sail, it adds significantly to the performance of the Lugger.

Keep up with the restoration of ‘Clara’ and her readiness to be delivered to the Greek Ionian. Would you like to sail this iconic rebuilt Lugger in 2019? For 2 persons in June based at the Gialos Apartments, including transfers and Lugger charter, from just £1195 as a great package. Call Phil now to reserve your 1 week of sailing in the sun!

The hard work on preparing the hull is over, with all the masking up done, and by Tuesday the upper plank was in grey and the lower part in white, all left to cure for 48 hours. Next was to prep the underwater area up to the white hull before roller-painting with a Seajet primer. This was given 3 coats, and the final Seajet anti-foul will be done in May out in Vliho Bay. We have now painted all hatch interiors with White Danboline glass fibre paint – they look clean and are very durable.

Clara is over 45 years old and you will note that in that era the Gunwale top rail and the small amount of woodwork was all in Teak, and the rails were made in one piece. Later on there was a limit to the amount of Teak being allowed out of Burma, and to cut cost Asian Iroko was introduced and the rails were scarf-jointed. The rails were scrapped back to reveal a near perfect finish which is enhanced with Rustins Danish Oil. This I use on all my hatches etc, not varnish and throughout the summer charter period I keep this finish topped up.

So, we have now started to fit the boat out, starting with the original stern plate by Honnor Marine. There is something very satisfying to take a boat of this age and refit it will present day materials and to add modifications to it. Week 3 will see her having all the spars fully varnished and the interior completed.

Who will be the first lucky group to have Clara in early June 2019 to enjoy at our base apartments at Geni Garden? I now have some really great packages for the June period, so why not give it a go and call me to secure your 2019 ‘Luggering about in the Sun’.