An opportunity for a couple of hours work

In between the garden and a few tasks around the house we were able to squeeze in a couple of hours of sanding.  It is quite a job.
Paul worked  on the keel and I am still working on the front . . .
  

It is difficult to see the grain on the middle plank, however it is absolutely beautiful.

Photos of our work today

As you can see, the

wood is really holding

onto the paint.

We are about halfway along the right side of the boat.

Back to The Runner

It's hard to believe that 8 months have gone by since I posted the last blog!  This mean it's been 8 months since we have actively worked on The Runner.  We had a few issues to sort through.  The major issue was to design a means of tilting the boat a further 20 degrees so we could have easier access to the underside of the hull.  Success.  Paul's idea worked so we were able to start work again. 

By the end of June 2013 we had stripped the paint from the right side of the boat and had experimented with sanding to see the condition of the wood.  It couldn't have been a better outcome.  The wood is just beautiful.

Step 1. Stripping the paint



Step 2. First attempt at sanding







Step 3.  How it looks now



Looking good

The target today was to finish stripping the paint from the right side of the boat.  Yesterday saw us complete the front and back sections, so today we worked on the middle section.

Before we started

 

Half way through

 

Really getting stuck into it!

 

Final go at scraping off the paint

 

Now the first go at sanding

 

Wow doesn't it look good.  What beautiful timber.

Day 2 and we have hit timber! After putting a couple of different paint strippers to the test we were ready to make a day of it.  By the end of the day we had  more timber than paint on each end of the boat.  

 

 

 

When we saw the effect of putting on the paint stripper we were really impressed.  Little did we know it only took off the first coat of paint.  It looks as if there are at least 2 other coats of paint under this one.

 

Tomorrow we will start stripping paint off the middle section of the boat

 
 


The back and front of the boat.  Looking good.
 

 





All systems go!

Well it's all happening. We are finally starting to remove the paint from the hull.  After the first attempt at sanding back we decided that paint stripper was the way to go. We are concentrating on the front of the boat and deciding the best technique.  It is all trial and error. Today we hope to really see a difference!

Preparing the boat

We are fortunate to be able to work on the boat at our home.  The double garage has proved a great asset!

 We have very little experience in restoring a wooden boat, so Paul has been researching and talking to many people who have undertaken a similar project.  The response has been wonderful.  Everyone has been very helpful  and only to happy to share their knowledge or direct us to further information.

The first thing to be done is to sand back the hull.  Paul has designed a method for us to be able to tilt the boat so we have good access to the hull.

We are planning to start sanding after Easter.