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.

Arriving safely

 

 With a sigh of relief we arrived at our home, without incident, after a 800kms journey towing "The Runner".

                                 

 

                                   A view of the propeller shaft driven by a
                                   Yanmar diesel of unknown age

 The length of the boat is 6 metres and the width is 2.1 metres

 As you can see the keel needs quite a bit of work

The runner

The Runner is a work in progress.  We purchased this boat on the 19th December with a view to restore the boat to its original condition.  The boat has a wonderful history.

 

 

It was built in 1946 by the Ryan Brothers of Taree.  It is 6 metres long and built of white beech which apparently was from the forests around Harrington.