Restoration of the classic 1930's yacht Gadfly II/Mai Star II

Now we have returned from Woodplumpton it is the turn of Mai Star II to get some of the work done to her. One of the jobs that needs doing is to remove all the old copper nails from the beam shelf where the new ribs have to go in from above and behind the beam shelf and down to where the ribs fit on to the hog.  So far we have to renew five ribs and one frame before we can move on along the port side and replace further ribs and frames on that side of the hull, then we can turn our attention to the starboard side and do the same to that side of the hull. Once all the ribs and frames are either renewed or parts repaired, then we will turn our attention to the sheer strakes and the deck beams .

This is a link to my YouTube channel on how I am getting the old putty and caulking cotton out of the hull seams    https://youtu.be/uDZGs5_h_KE

Starting tomorrow, it is hoped that the pattern can be made to the make the new frame which was removed because it  was rotten and had signs  of land borne wood worm from when it was made and fitted to the boat. There is no signs of any of the wood worm now, however, it must have been there a one point looking at the amount of holes in the old frame when it was removed.  The other jobs that we can to tackle are making the area where the old ribs were better by drilling and plugging up the holes from the old copper nails and re-drilling the holes a fresh when the ribs and frames are steamed and fitted in position.  However, before any of that can be done the plank seams will have to cleaned out and the planks pushed back into position and the gaps in the planks closed up so that a small amount of caulking cotton and putty is put in the seams once more.  So a lot of drilling and plugging and racking out seams to be done over the next few days on Mai Star II. ...

  Tomorrow, while many people will be taking advantage of a four day holiday, I will be working on Mai Star II, As my workshop and yard is closed to clients for the holiday it gives me time to get on with work on Mai Star II. The first job will be to clear the area around the front of Mai Star II so that I can get to the lower part of the hull to clear the plank seams of the old caulking cotton and putty so that when the ribs are steamed in position the plank seam will close up.Another job to get started will be to make up a pattern for the frame which is missing on the port hand side. Once that is made then I will be able to transfer the pattern to the plank of oak to make up the section that will become the frame.Other jobs. I hope to get started are the drilling out the holes from the old copper nails and drill out the holes with a tapered plug cutter to take the tapered plugs which I will be making once the tapered plug cutter is delivered to my workshop. So happy days making t...

In order to make the cabin sides safe to work on there has been a board fitted under the cabin sides while it is made safe to remove the cabin sides in one piece A few of the loose parts from the boat which my son Michael has removed to help doing the work on the deck beams easier for both of us to do once we have removed the cabin sides  My son Michael removed the to aft cabin bulkheads which were the last bits holding the cabin sides in place and once we have the beside Mai Star II we can lower the cabin sides off the boat and get them in the workshop to be worked on  Some of the roof was rotten so it was removed to help make the cabin sides and roof a little lighter when it comes to lifting it off.  

Starting to make a start on removing the last bits of the sheer strake on the starboard side, once this is removed then can tackle the beam shelf and the lodging and hanging knees  The top of the stem is in need of a bit of rebuilding as a bit of rot was found after the sheer strake was removed  The small bits of sheer strake that were left behind when the rest was removed is now getting removed to expose the tops of the frames and ribs  The port side is in need of the ribs refitting before much more of the shape is lost The planks have moved more as the boat as been sitting out of the water, however, the planks will be moved back into position with props to realign the planks after the seams are cleared of old caulking and putty. The port side is clear of all the sheer strake plank The cabin is back up near to its correct position so that the new beams will have to be set with this caber when refitting the sheer strake and the carlins and side deck beams  Major work...

  Over the years of Mai Star II / Gadfly II life there have been many changes to the way she was decked and how the deck was fixed to the deck beams and the top plank. In the third phot you can see there is what remains of a iron nail which the old deck was nailed to the top plank with, although the  heads of the nails have rusted away, the nails were a good quality as seeing as the boat is now 83 years old they have not done too bad in all that time. However, the deck beams are not so good as the ends rotted away over time and the only thing holding the deck in in place was the in the top plank and the nails in the good part of the deck beams.  So along with the ribs and frames that have to be renewed there are going to be at least three new deck beams ahead of the cabin, Starting with the deck beam attached to front of the cabin.  The first job will be to remove the old deck beam and make a camber pattern to put the correct camber back in the deck and also the two ...