A new arrival
We are always having interesting and unusual projects turn up that need a bit of our own particular magic.
Recently we were asked to save a 1954-designed Yachting Monthly Junior, drawn by Kenneth Gibbs.
The boat was delivered to us on its trailer, but the whole lot had been loaded onto a larger trailer to bring it to us. Thank goodness they did — otherwise we'd have been having the bonfire there and then, as the original trailer collapsed as we tried to unload it. However, a forklift and a sack barrow got the boat safely onto our drive.
The Junior was one of many designs sponsored by Yachting Monthly to encourage people into sailing. I wouldn't call her fast by today's standards, but she's stable, robust, and fairly cheap to build — great for learning to sail, and for a bit of camping too.
What “restoration” means to me
Initial findings were that this boat had originally been well built, and built properly to the plans. However, there were considerable amounts of rot and delamination in the ply, along with areas that had gone soft or, in my view, just needed a bit of strengthening.
I was asked if the boat could be restored. I had to think about this — “restored” to me usually means bringing a boat back to like-new condition, which often means replacing a lot of the original timber. I didn't want to do that. I was hoping instead to revive the boat, to make her safe to use and looking good, while preserving as much of the life the original builder had given her.
One thing I noticed straight away was the lack of a name — but we'll come to that later.
The original sail plan and lines drawing, kindly supplied by the Eventide Owners Association, where these and other plans can be downloaded free of charge.
First steps: stabilising the hull
My first task was to clean off the dirt she'd picked up over the years. A quick look then showed I needed to stabilise the skin to stop it coming away from the frames, as the copper and brass fittings had all but perished.
Much has changed since this boat was built, and one of the best changes is the arrival of epoxy and modern plastics. So I started by stitching the panels back together using plastic nylon nails.
These nails go in with an air gun and can be glued, painted, sanded, and cut — they're brilliant for this sort of work.
