Work Has Come to a Halt

We received news that Roger who was working on Crocus had very sadly passed away while undergoing treatment for throat cancer.  We hoped that she could still be finished here in Cornwall but there was no-one qualified to do the work amongst his staff and so we made the decision that she would have to be done elsewhere.  Friends in Norfolk recommended someone and Jamie made contact with him.  These are just a few of the photos he was sent when asked if he would take over the restoration …

His response was very positive and so while we were on our Broads holiday we went to his work sheds to meet him.  If figures could be agreed then we were really happy for Crocus to be finished here.  Hopefully all systems go again fairly soon!

Ribs and Decking

We’ve been up a couple of times to see Crocus.  She is now in a shed which is great as we don’t have to worry about keeping her covered during winter weather …

Work has been done to remove rotten ribs and decking. 

We’re off to the Broads for a holiday at the beginning of October so it’ll be interesting to see how much more has been done when we get home.

Work Re-Commences

Nothing has been happening to Crocus for ages as Mike has suffered with severe sight problems.  He has finally accepted that he’s unable to complete the work and so she has made her way to a local boat-builder for restoration.  The Cornish Wooden Boat Company are local to us and they have agreed to finish her.   G T Stone & Son transport arrived this morning to move her to her new home …

She has been on the harbour hard standing for a long time and it was very strange to see her being taken away.  At least she is close by and we can pop up to see her and see how work is progressing.

Fixing and Releasing

It was now time to screw the extra wide rib to the hull. The normal way to fix a rib is to use copper nails and roves which we will be using for all the other ribs but as this one was extra thick it was necessary to screw it in place. Stainless steel screws held it in place inside the cabin ...

and also from outside the hull ...

They are countersunk and will be filled before painting.

The next job was to take out the bottlescrew and wire which had slowly brought the hull back to its correct shape ...



Hopefully we will not have this problem again!

Knees

Considering her age Crocus has very little rotten wood but the two knees in the cockpit needed to be replaced. The internal layout of her cabin was originally set out as a full berth ...

and with the new plans being for two single berths it means we have some spare mahogany from under the central cushions which can be used to make things! After much measuring and getting angles correct the new knees were made from the spare wood which had been glued together to make a block and then cut to shape ...

Test fit and yes they will be just right ...

Ribs

The most important work which has been happening over the last few weeks is the cutting and fitting of extra ribs. Not wanting to take out any of the current ribs, Mike decided to add new ones next to the existing ones and once they are fixed in place they will also be attached by tape and epoxy resin to give added strength. The circular saw was used at first to cut them ...

but the coarseness of the blade was too severe and as a finer one was mega expensive Mike has cut them all by hand ...

The cabin is now complete and as the rove set has now arrived it will be full steam ahead with the copper nails and roves.



We had a problem with the sides of Crocus moving outwards and the doors not meeting so an extra wide rib has been fitted just inside the cabin ...



Once completely secured then the bottlescrew and wire can be removed and hopefully this problem will not occur again.

Stem

When the bowsprit was taken off Crocus and the gammon iron removed we were left with over-size holes that needed to be filled so that when her new bowsprit and gammon iron are fitted the screws will have something to bite on. The old holes were plugged ...


and then the excess was removed and made tidy ...