Bit of a sidetrip down some of the mornings during my six weeks at Ferdi’s shed in Williamstown. I’m generally getting there early to greet the sun and beat the traffic. Although the recent COVID lockdown did reduce that considerably!

Generally taken from the Seaworks carpark, that Ferdi and his team work out of.

Split this post, really just a follow on from the last one.

Quick grab of coming out of the thicknesser.

Completed, and underway for installation – Christian matching the natural curve of the timber with the sheer, where possible. Scarf yet to be cut. As noted, this timber is quite green, has a wonderful waxy feel to the hand, but is a little difficult to machine and wears hard on the saws/thicknesser. Very heavy at the 6.1m lengths we are using.

More to follow on this topic.

There had been some discussion in the shed amongst the experts (not me) around some additional strengthening around the mizzen mast for future flexbility of rig, and ultimately around the main mast. While the intention is to reinstall the original configuration (gaff cutter or sloop), it will provide an easier option to reinstate for others. We also have plenty of spotted gum rib stock remaining. So we added a double for five of the ribs aft of the cockpit.

A further decision was made to double three ribs around the main mast, with two of these already being 10mm wider (50mm as opposed to 40mm). Other benefits from this will be to provide a better landing for the rebuilt hanging knees, and add an additional hanging knee forward. This should add some strength overall, at this important point.

Christian also completed (mostly) reassembling the transom and stern, using some very large new kauri knees, of which I will have to provide a photo later.

We then moved quickly onto machining beam shelves, from the 6.1m raw spotted gum delivered the week prior. These are very heavy in full size, and machine down nicely to 130mmx30mm. Still heavy, but more manageable. The timber itself is quite green, retaining lots of moisture, which has made steaming them into place less of a drama. Each beam shelf will be from two pieces, with a 750mm scarf joining them around midships.

I may have noted this before, but Wyruna was constructed with a double beam shelf, and we have installed the lower one first. The upper one is quite damaged in places, and not doing a lot of work retaining the shape in the boat, with some sections completely rotted/missing. The introduction of this new timber will add some welcome strength to the sheer strake, and is a fantastic step in the reconstruction. We hope in the next week to finish the top beam shelf, and fasten them into place. This will be the last week of my break from work, but some great progress has been made.

Some images below, more to follow later.

Difficult to get a great picture. The green painted (primed) pieces are the refurbished kauri transom and fashion pieces (one each side) that give strength and landing sites for the rear planks. Very large pieces of kauri, that did suffer a bit over the 30+ years in the open, in particular given the apple tree encroachment. They have come together nicely. I’ll try harder with some pictures once it is 100% completed.

Again, not a great picture. Missing upper beam shelf particularly evident here.

This is midship looking aft, starboard side. Bit of a random photo, but shows the lower beam shelf here, with the upper mostly missing. New ribs. This lower beam shelf is now replaced, with the timbers below. I’ll post some photos once we have it fastened. State of the deck beams evident here.