The day our latest lockdown in Victoria was announced we also completed steaming in the last ribs. We had a good run during the week, with minimal breakages, with Christian considering that the new stock we machined on Friday/Monday was greener, and consequently less prone to breaking. In any case, it made for an easier time of it and the work remains pleasingly physical. This left me feeling genuinely (and pleasantly) exhausted by Wednesday, with some new aches appearing each day. Immensely enjoyable.
It is difficult to capture this well visually, given we still have the framing and scaffold boards etc on Wyruna, which will remain a feature for the next few months until we finish with the deck beams etc.
An interesting question posed by Ferdi as to whether we include some additional ribs around the mizzen mast, notwithstanding this is not intended to go back in at this point. It may make Wyruna more saleable by providing an easier option to convert back to the ketch rig it carried for a number of years, either for ourselves or a potential new owner when the time comes. Something to consider before we go too much further.
Otherwise, it is a fantastic feeling to be adding new timber to Wyruna, and to be through this phase.
Next major task is to remove each plank, for cleaning/repairing where required, and to permanently refasten as they go back on. If lockdown permits.
Standing in the companionway looking forward.
Similar position from the first image, looking aft however.
Not directly Wyruna based, but our shed companion for the past 18 months has been the 1930’s Blunt built couta boat Hettie. We have both enjoyed our interactions with the owner Chris, who has done a great job with Ferdi’s team on renewing the deck and other general maintenance/improvements. Chris renewed the deck with a teak laid composite arrangement, which should see Hettie for another 80 years.
Hettie arrived at Ferdi’s in October 2019, expecting to be back in the water by Easter 2020 (or thereabouts). COVID soon amended that outcome, with the very affable owner Chris doing some great work over the subsequent year. Nice looking boat, with an interesting and long history on Pt Philip Bay.
Hettie alongside Wyruna on the morning of the move out.
Hettie being towed out by the forklift. The gentleman wielding the pinch bar is Christian, who has been (is) the lead shipwright on Wyruna. A fantastic resource for this project, with remarkable patience in the face of my general incompetence. We’ll get some more of Christian over time.
The 70t Liebherr making the 2.5t Hettie look easy to drop in. Estimated 20 meter reach required to get over the barge inboard here.
Hettie’s new teak deck, ready to move out, looking very tidy.
Brief updates Some detail photos that I liked from low in the bilge. We also “lost” our shed companion today, with the 1930’s Blunt built couta boat Hettie heading back to its preferred environment after 18 months receiving a nice deck update and other maintenance. Covered in the next post, but providing a bit of space down the starboard side for the moment.
Generally, we are nearly complete for the port side ribs, with five remaining to be replaced, and three of these already having one lamination in place – so seven individual pieces to steam in all. Happily, only one or two of these are difficult, although even the short ones right aft can be challenging, partly as they require the blunt force expert (me) to reach well outside the handrail at 8 feet above the concrete floor below. Not for long, however. Some images below, to show where we are at. I did manage to give it a good vacuum/clean, and this has helped to lower the general level of dust for a day at least, and revealing the timber nicely. The last of the apple cores, rotten timber and other detritus from 35+ years of backyard living has finally been removed.
Bilge from directly above.
This was shortly after the good clean out. It contrasts nicely the new steam bent ribs, the original kauri planking, original hardwood keel and floors and keel bolt heads. The keel in particular is remarkable, given it was deeply buried in various damp wood and leaf matter for many years. I understand the keel bolts may have been replaced during the 1940’s, so while they may not be original, they are nevertheless > 75 years old at least. We haven’t tried to move them as yet. This is clearly the area where the engine will be refitted.
It can be seen in this image above that the floors are fastened with roved nails, which is not a feature of many (any) of the original fastenings that we can identify. They may have been refastened at some point. Ignore the toe of my boot.
Bilge detail looking aft 19 May 2021
View of the bilge from midships, looking aft. Again, showing floors, new ribs, internal planking surfaces in reasonable shape. Iphone camera showing its capability in these shots, given the light in this location isn’t great.
Starboard bow looking aft.
Given the shed arrangement, it has been a bit difficult to take a starboard view. Unsurprisingly, not much different from the port view, but does have better light! Particularly at 8.00am, with the sun still coming in the front door. Clearly evident here are the new ribs for the front third of Wyruna, with the first 15 (of 53) done on this side. They are temporarily fastened. New stem in good display here also, adding some nice stiffness and weight to the bow.
After a break from December 2020, with a focus on work for myself and Linda, and Ferdi and his team keeping other projects moving, we got back into Wyruna in early May. I have taken six weeks off my day job, to help the professionals progress a task well beyond my knowledge and skills. It has been fantastic so far, two weeks in.
We are devoting time towards the actual work as much as possible, so I’ll likely come back to this later, but for now include a few images of activity for the two weeks from 3 May to 14 May 2021. But first, the outlook on arrival at Williamstown on several mornings.
Williamstown morning 12 May 2021Wiiliamstown morning 8 May 2021Close up of planks, new nail hole plugs and holes still to be refilled. Port Bow, looking aft.
Really only to show current state. Only movement since early December has been to strip most of the paint off, which had naturally suffered. Did reveal the strong preservation characteristics of the underlying kauri pine, without which this project would not be viable (or would be less viable!). While some hood ends are clearly damaged, most of the length of these planks remain intact for reuse in entirety. I am deliberately not showing the starboard side, which has some damage from where the props for backyard storage have punched some sizeable holes in the planking.
Nail plugs – now removed.
I think it is noted elsewhere, but Wyruna was originally constructed with a copper sheath, for rot and marine growth protection/prevention. This is a little unusual for a South Australian location, and it was speculated in a later article that this was because it was intended to spend some time in the somewhat brackish water of American River, on Kangaroo Island. Not sure if this is true. Regardless, the sheath was removed, leaving a legacy of thousands of small nail holes. These were originally filled, and now need refilling! The image above shows just a small number of the thousands of plugs that were once in the hull. Many have fallen out, but many more remain in the hull and require removal. A large number have partially squeezed out, as the timber has dried and contracted around them. I am into the process of cutting appropriate size sticks, for dipping into epoxy and breaking off once inserted. We also need to deal with the additional fastening holes, that were added later, for the planks above the waterline (top 10 or so planks). These additional fastening holes can be seen in the image directly above this one (Port Bow – looking aft) – from the third rib back and carried through to the stern.
View forward 12 May 2021
An update view showing the ribs for the forward section of Wyruna largely completed during the week ending 14 May 2021. This has cleaned up the look of the interior (aesthetically), but also stiffened the structure considerably. More to go!
Having the garboard out has allowed the accumulated dirt, dust and rotted timber out of the bilge. Which was a ‘feature’ of previous internal photos.
Lying under the spare rib timber towards the bow, is the back of the newly laminated apron, replaced with a thicker/deeper version to allow for new fastening points at the hood ends. Difficult to see here, and I’ll try to get a new photo.
Original floors and keelson showing here. Ferdi has commented that the keelson is an unusual feature for a smaller timber boat such as Wyruna, being more of a large vessel feature.
As for image above. Steaming set up – 12 May 2021.
Early start on 12 May, to get going on some tricky ribs, being the longer double curved frames in the centre and aft quarter of Wyruna. The steamer is mounted on a pallet, using the forklift to raise the height so that the steamed timber can be drawn directly onto the work height – which is effectively the deck of the vessel, although consisting mainly of scaffold boards and temporary timber framing. Takes some nimbleness once working, as the timber cools in a minute or so.
One of the wallpaper steamers used (of two) that are doing a great job. Timber comes out hot, and quite flexible after 30 to 40 minutes. This particular steamer was leaking a bit (as the image shows), and once it was maintained, performance improved.
This image posted previously, and showing the spotted gum being used for the new ribs. As delivered on the right, machined and dressed on the left. I’ll check the dimensions later (can’t recall), but they are slightly wider than the originals, which do add a bit of weight to the look, in addition to some additional strength and durability. They were delivered unseasoned, which Ferdi has learnt provides for easier bending. Although they have now had a summer and autumn to dry, it does not seem to be overly effecting performance – we are cracking about 1 in every 8 for now.
The next stage of the restoration is to replace all the ribs, as the existing frames are in poor shape, both from being over 100 years old, and nearly 40 years in an Altona backyard.
The originals were hardwood, with a guess being spotted gum or similar. They are laminated in pairs, with about 50 on each side. Replacement will involve 200 ribs to be steamed, and bent into shape. Some will be simple, with some short relatively straight sections that will present limited issues. Others have compound bends, with some tight bends into the lower bilge.
This part of the program will be done in three phases, with every third rib taken out, replaced and temporarily fastened. Then the next third, and so on. Once all the ribs are replaced, we will work on taking the planks off one at a time, for cleaning and repairing where required. Hopefully I can start to make more of a personal contribution at this point.
Showing old and new ribs together. New timber is similar thickness, but slightly wider, which should aid alternate placing of fasteners, and minimise splitting down the grain over time. Stringer can be seen at the bottom, which remains in sound condition. Splitting can be seen in the planking here, and these will be carefully checked when removed in the next major phase.
New rib in centre of photo. Also shows a keelson, which I learnt recently is not a common feature on smaller timber boats – more of a larger boat feature. Can also see several of the timber floors, which are in okay condition for the most part.
Keel bolts visible here also appear to be in good condition, and are likely the ones believed to have replaced the originals, during the 1950’s. This part of Wyruna was nearly six inches deep in leaf litter, rotten timber etc, and we are lucky not further damage was done to some of these timbers.
The visible chain is part of the tensioning system to put the shape back into the vessel, and is connected to the framing, to fix it in place.
View forward, showing several new ribs, original floors, keelson, and apron in the distance. Some of the lower planks are not kauri, and can be seen in the bottom of the picture here. Note the garboard plank is out to enable rib replacement, and cleaning. Condition of the stringers also clear here, which once cleaned up will be good for reuse.
Strap in this shot is fastened to the new stem.
Again, accumulated debris in this area of the boat was quite deep – and it is lucky that some of these timbers were not more badly damaged.
External view of new and old ribs, near the bow. Multiple small holes seen here are likely nail holes for the original copper sheathing, long since removed. I recently discovered these will all need to be wood/dowel filled prior to finishing the hull, which will provide a distraction from life for some time. There are many hundreds, down each side of Wyruna!
Planking does clean up quite well, but does show its age in some of these pictures.
On the right, green spotted gum as delivered. On the left, after machining to size, ready for steaming. Once to this point, it is sorted for grain direction etc, depending on where on Wyruna it might work best. The timber is reportedly going in quite well, with limited breakage at tight bends and is wonderfully strong once fastened. Hopefully we can get another 100 years out of this set!
This year has seemed to slip by, with Victoria in various forms of lockdown for most of the middle of the year. This has also made work distracting, and time limited.
Happily, Ferdi and his team were deemed essential to the ongoing maintenance of Pt Phillips’ maritime sector, and in particular to its fishing vessels, and so was able to continue on.
So we have some good progress to report.
With the stem and apron replaced with a sturdy new laminated items, there is some additional good progress on the transom, and what Ferdi is calling two ‘fashion pieces’. These connect to the transom with some large knees, and serve to fasten several planks. Like the transom, they are large solid pieces of kauri pine, that have retained most of their structural integrity. There has been a need to repair some areas of damage, as this area of the boat was grown over with a large apple tree, with a large accumulation of leaves (and apples!) over what looks like a decade or more. The knees were completely rotted away, while the kauri survived better. Most of the kauri planking remains sound also, with some damage. The transom will be deepened to provide options for plank fastening, and hopefully less plank restoration.
Repaired transom can be seen above lying upside down on scaffold boards, on the aft of Wyruna. Quite a large piece of kauri, that would have been difficult to source I suspect, if full replacement was required. The repair timber was luckily left from the restoration of Ferdi’s own boat, Ruthean.
This photo is a little blurry (screen shot from a video) but shows several points. Transom is out, along with the side pieces (fashion pieces), but also shows better the frame constructed around Wyruna. This provides a work platform, but is primarily for keeping the hull shape, through a series of internal braces, with an horizon to work to. Probably the subject to a longer post.
Starboard fashion piece, showing the nibs for the plank ends. Some repair to this one, but otherwise in good shape. Less apple tree over this side of Wyruna.
Port fashion piece, again showing nibs for the planks. This side had more apple tree ‘cover’, and had some resultant rot, seen as a repair of new timber to the top side.
View of the port side looking forward, showing where the plank ends are staggered to fit into the fashion piece. Also shows the rear of the bracing system, against the stringer here at the stern. At this point, few of the ribs removed, although that is the next step and is well underway at the time of posting.
Some fantastic progress by Ferdi Darley and his team in Williamstown, with a start made to the work requiring some deep professional knowledge and oversight commenced during September.
Melbourne’s COVID Lockdown has meant we can’t be there in person, but Ferdi is providing some great videos and I’ll look to post some details up as soon as we can.
Short summary is that the stem and transom are out for replacement and refurbishment respectively. A start on the ribs, and the exciting news that the first timber has been ordered – spotted gum for the replacement ribs.
Bow opened up with the removal of the old stem.
Some good progress on getting the boat straightened, and back into shape. Image above shows the hood ends in okay shape for most, but some obviously large holes for the fastenings, that were large 3/8 dumps. These had the effect of also damaging the stem, with some cracks large enough to warrant replacement. Given the task the stem does, it was not a surprise to see it replaced, and provides an opportunity to deepen it. This will enable new fastenings further from the hood ends, and maximise plank reuse/minimise repair. While some repair will be required, it won’t be as crucial. Wyruna also had an apron, that was also replaced with a new and deeper lamination, that will also assist.
Clamps!
New laminated stem installed, at this stage still to be completed, and the apron still under construction.
Timber for the ribs is delivered (first week of November 2020), and is being resized and dressed for steaming. This should start the week beginning 9 November.
Timber is green spotted gum, delivered from NSW and we think being NSW grown. Ferdi considers this a better, harder timber (as opposed to Vic/Tas), and is a darker colour. Each rib will be two 17mm frames, steam bent in. 50 each side, so 200 ribs in all.
In the photo above, you can also see the pine frame, used as an horizon the stabilise the boat, restore the shape while the new frames are installed. it also usefully serves to hold scaffold boards and a railing, for a safer environment.
A quick update to show the early stages of the clean up to allow restoration to start.
Mess. The view from the rear of the coachhouse looking forward, after a gap of a few months while we waited for a global pandemic to rise and fall. Mid May 2020. The picture tells the story with the elements clearly doing their work well during its time on land, with little hope of much usable timber out of the interior, or topsides. As an aside, two very nice Tumlarens under restoration towards the front of Ferdi’s shed, the one on the left rescued from a paddock near Goolwa SA and apparently quite a well known and very successful racing yacht. They provide a welcome and hopeful backdrop to this series of pictures, and for the time spent clearing out rotten timber. Standing in the cockpit looking forward.
The bones of the interior can be seen, for the portion not hidden by the white painted coachhouse roof. There has been some clean out at this point, with the masts and other obstructions removed. Barely recognisable as blackwood are the raised panels at the rear.
Progress being made. Slightly different view from above. Steering gear – worm drive. A wheel replaced the tiller when the rig was changed, with this very nice piece of engineering. Intention at this point is to revert to a tiller, which will mean this does not go back on. It will have the positive benefit of restoring the cleaner and more elegant look of the aft deck, evident in some of the original Dutton photos. A second view with the housing and apple leaf debris removed. View forward, with the deck off and lining out. Apologies for the mess below decks. View to the rear. Still a bit to go removing toe rail/bulwarks etc, which are hard to see in this view. I’ll need some more patience for these, so as to not unnecessarily damage the kauri top plank. The toe rail is jarrah, rock hard, and fastened by long screws into the kauri. It is clear what will give way first. While some of this planking will need replacing anyway, I am keen not to ruin it by being impatient.
What is clear from several of these photos is the damage done when Wyruna was blown over during the early 1980’s, when a very local and high intensity storm hit Altona. Aside from the damage done by punching several props through the planking, several deck beams were broken/damaged, with one of the key hanging knees showing a clean break, likely from this time. Pictures later, hopefully.
Bronze hand pump, missing the internal gear unfortunately, but otherwise reusable. Some very heavy lead piping providing access to the bilge. Looking forward to restoring this.
Overall, for this quick update, we have made a start towards the end of the beginning. Filled a large box trailer with rotten timber, and made some nice progress. Confirmed that the majority of the internal timber will be replaced, with decking, lining, frames/ribs, and all internal fitout beyond repair. Planking remains sound, and continued inspection of the keel timbers and deadwood etc showing that these large and vital timbers remain in good shape for re-use. Stringers appear reusable, as are many of the floors.
There were four copper water tanks uncovered in Wyruna. Two right in the bow, that may not go back in given the location. Two in a more traditional location under the coach house floor. Depending on the level of lead we wish to ingest via the solder holding them together, we may look to re-use these latter two.
Very early days in this process, but restoring some of the original lines and features, that were much cleaner/lighter and less cluttered is becoming more appealing.
It is also clear that the heavy white paint used in the interior (lining, bulkheads, cabinets etc) looks to have been added later. Something we are not keen to reproduce.
Once the clean up and measuring is complete, hopefully during June/July 2020, we will be ready to bring it back to shape for the professionals to start looking at restoring the structural timbers. More later!
So after many months with some debate, some hesitation (although not much on my part), we arrived at the point where we would lift Wyruna and lodge it safely in Ferdi’s shed. It sounded easy – the owner had cleared the path down the side of the house, Ferdi had the space. Add lifting power, and some transport and off it goes. We thought maybe five hours would see it done – from loading a cradle at Williamstown, lifting on, short drive, lift off and push into shed. Some complexity given the site had a narrow side access, and some low power lines across the front yard which impacted the size of the crane that could be brought in.
Wyruna on the morning of the lift.
18 December 2019 was chosen, with a challenging weather forecast of 43C – one of the warmer days in Melbourne for a while. 20 tonne crane arrived at Williamstown by 7.30am, and after cradle loading, we were at Altona by 8.30am, pondering next steps.
Taking out the last fence post – easy.Successfully off the ground (difficult to see), but what also can’t be seen is the rear wheels of the crane also lifting. Some rethinking required!
The first lift was successful, but it was clear the 20t crane was too small for the reach required. The load was finely balanced on the front wheels of the crane, with the rear wheels also off the ground (well, only just). Gaining a few feet forward reduced the load on the front wheels, but it was clear that the 20t was not going to do it. Happily, the company had a 25t crane just around the corner, and it soon arrived.
Successfully off the ground, only just red lights on the 25 tonner.
Probably worth stating that the plan at this point was to lift to the side of the house, rest Wyruna, place the cradle in front, then lift onto the cradle. The cradle would then be lifted (or dragged) to the footpath, lifted to the road and placed on the low-loader. Easy!
Progress – shows the gap to work through. The apple tree was stuck fast in some fittings. Wyruna’s new home for the next little while – the cradle at least, not the geographical location. Extent of timber damage to the stern quite evident here – as is some of the damage to the internal frame. Port side has some broken ribs and some unfastened planking – leading to the asymmetrical lines quite evident here.
At this point, it was about 12.00pm, which was a little late to schedule, but all good. Temperature was still climbing – there was a slightly cooling breeze off the bay out the front of the house, but it was getting quite warm. One of the things I had forgotten about lifting stuff (which to be fair was only a small amount of information, but it still managed to go) was that everything associated (chains, spreader bars etc) is heavy, but needs to be quite precise in some respects. It takes time and effort, that on a warm day quickly becomes tiring.
Showing the power lines from the front yard, causing some restrictions here. 8.5 tonnes leaves quite an imprint on sandy soil. Replace your divots. More success – just some surgery to the bits that will catch the power lines in the street, and Wyruna can retrace its steps back to Williamstown. After 30+ years in Altona.
I imagine this seemed like quite an achievement at the time for the lifting team – the temperature felt like it was still climbing, and the breeze had died off, but they had done the hard part. It was a great sight for me, but while I wasn’t a casual spectator, the hard work was done by others. It was 2.30pm, which was about the time I thought I’d be back at work, so a little behind it.
A short drive to Williamstown , and Wyruna was in the yard and ready to be lifted off. Nearly there. New home – 5.00pm 19 Dec 2019
With that, we finished the first day with a quick beer before I head home.
Many decisions to make over the next little while – but the first task (of many) will be taking apart the interior, retrieving the fittings, and mapping what we can. There are some details in Recent Images for the task here. I’ll need some strong guidance along the way!
For anyone reading – the key question, that we have some time to answer, is whether we go for the original gaff rig or with the more cruising friendly ketch rig that it currently has. Thoughts please!
Every journey starts somewhere, and for me at least I suspect this one commenced before I even knew it. My father had a love of sailing, and used to often talk of his own dad’s boat Wyruna (my grandfather). There were stories of the yacht squadron, day trips and longer trips to Kangaroo Island – and it all sounded pretty exciting. When I was young, he took the most of his limited opportunities to go sailing, which was a challenge as a young dad of four kids. We had a Mirror to race and play about at the beach in, and a friend’s yacht to borrow from time to time. I remember quite vividly dad returning home one night from probably his last Goolwa to Milang race sometime in the 1970’s (at least I think it was this race) – I remember he was wearing a huge smile from a challenging race, although it was outdone by my mum’s temper at his late arrival. I heard a few stories of bouncing across Lake Alexandrina when the wind was up, and the water low, and that sounded like fun also. For my partner in this venture, Linda, her journey started much later, but she enjoys a challenge, and takes joy from the happiness of others – she saw the excitement in my dad, and that was enough!
Our houses always had several artefacts from the boat – being some wonderfully heavy old brass navigation lights, and the bronze letters for the name. One letter has been missing for as long as I can remember, but I always knew the name. These items were carried from house to house for over 40 years, and always seemed to be present somewhere. He also carried a set of photos (slides) of Wyruna, that always held some fascination for me. Some of these will feature on this site.
Dad often wondered aloud where Wyruna had gone, and it seemed likely that it had either gone interstate or suffered a mishap not unknown to occur to wooden boats, or boats in general.
As it turns out, both things were true.
During 2018, a chance internet search revealed a recent article in the CYAA newsletter advising of Wyruna’s current circumstances, which then carried to discussions with the owner. Wyruna had moved from South Australia, and had subsequently spent more than 30 years in a backyard in Altona (Victoria) specifically purchased for it. Dad was keen for one last look, and made some arrangements. Good news!
I got over there to Altona in late 2018, and the first look revealed there had been a few challenging years while on land – a combination of weather, time and circumstances had created quite a restoration project. Not too dismayed and more than a little curious, a tentative look at restoration possibilities, and for an appropriate boatbuilder started. In the meantime, my dad came over to look, which brought out a few stories and a sparkle in his eye not seen for a while. This provided some nice additional motivation.
In the meantime, it was clear that the vessel had some history outside my own family that was worth preserving. The designer, builder and original owners are all well known in their own right, as are several subsequent owners. It seemed to be a vessel that carried a strong feeling with it. The designer, Walter Reeks, has a limited number of vessels still in use but was prolific during the earlier part of the last century (I understand). The original owner was from a pioneering South Australian family, and there are connections to other owners from the family. Some of this will require additional research, and hopefully we can put this together over time.
Under advice of the owner, we engaged with Ferdi Darley, a shipwright with the formidable skills required to bring Wyruna back to life. The move to his shed was planned for December 2019, and the journey started.
I am still puzzling over my own motivation. While I haven’t been an active sailor for many years, I have always enjoyed it. As a young boy just out of school, I had a dream of living on a yacht, and purchased magazines for several years looking for something that might be suitable. This was back when things were sold in things like the Trading Post and if I recall, sailing yachts had their own flashier versions full of glossy pictures. Given I couldn’t afford a car at the time, this was always a bit of a dream. But here we are.
