For a few weeks now we didn’t really get very far….I have been sanding bits of rigging, Gill and Shawnel have been removing the caulking from the deck seams, Zaka has been removing things…..

Of course on every project this is perfectly normal, you plod along for ages and then suddenly everything happens!

Well our big moment today was that we removed the cockpit!  The main deck beam across the front of the cockpit was rotting, of course we discovered other horrors while dismantling it.  Things like, the metal straps that support the pit are held in with screws, they have rusted away so much that they look like pins!  

The cockpit itself looks salvageable, some work required but not too much, but several of the beams actually need replacing.  We will also take the opportunity once it is out to fit a new engine bed and engine.

I tried to upload a video but failed….it is available on Facebook 

We have a new recruit, this lovely little ginger kitten seems to have made Guiding Light his home. He is not at all concerned about all the noise and activity! 

Progress has been good.  The girls are making good progress with removing the paint below decks, they will need a few job soon!  Zaka and I have been stripping the furniture off the deck, everything is going to reset.  I also finished servicing the winches.

Now I need to decide how much effort to put into cleaning and polishing the bronze.

We were delighted to see Karl and Kara, with us in our profile picture on Facebook. Jerry also paid us a visit to see progress.

More later….

Back to work

Well, when I wrote my last post we expected to be in the U.K. for two weeks.  As many of you know, we were gone almost two months!  The main purpose of the trip was to see my mother and let my sister take a weeks holiday.  Sadly mother deteriorated rapidly and died on the 20th January.  I am really pleased we were there at the end.

Unfortunately my 1930 born mother never saw our 1930s boat, so the photograph is her in my 1930 MG

We are now back and have just started work on Guiding Light.  So far I have been focusing on winches!

More to follow

Alasdair and Gill

Christmas and a years work

 Well, so much for regular posts, sorry!

We are now back in the UK for a couple of weeks, visiting family.  It's cold here..... The lead up to the journey was a little fraught, you have to load about a million apps and complete hundreds of online forms.  Once that is all done, the actual journey was very smooth and stress free.

Life on Guiding Light has improved enormously since we moved into the shed.  It is much cooler, although it is of course winter too.  No real progress has been made.  As I mentioned last time, one spends weeks apparently achieving nothing...then all of a sudden things happen!

Zaka is moving down the boat repairing ribs, and tightening fastenings.  Gill now has help, Shawnel, Zaka's cousin.  The girls are getting on well scraping the paint off the inside of the hull and cabin.  I have finished preparing the mast and have put two thinned coats of varnish on.  Hopefully that will protect the wood until I am ready to finish the mast just before we put it back up.  I have also started looking at the deck....

Happy Christmas, and my New Year resolution is to get better at writing blogs!

Alasdair and Gill

Sorry it has been so long!

I kid my self that I write a blog every week or so. Well, it's been seven weeks since we came back to Guiding Light....and this is the first blog.

I think that life just became so complicated that I was caught like a rabbit in the headlights. When we left the UK at the beginning of October our lives seemed to be fairly sorted.  We had a plan to return to the UK next year and move into a beautiful house that we were in the process of buying on the Isle of Wight.

However upon out return to St Lucia we discovered that the main deck beam has started to rot.  I suspect it has been that way for awhile, just reached a critical point and decided to show!  So that led to a rethink on timing, obviously only going one way.  So now we have extended our stay here till October, notwithstanding flying home for Christmas and the summer!  We also pulled out of buying the house, too many old things that need fixing!  Even so, there are times when I feel close to just giving up.  Maybe the project is just too big.  But the words of one of the old boys in the yard keep me sane.... "...don't look at the whole job, just one square foot at a time!"

So what have we achieved?  We are now in the shed, same shed, same position as Roy was!  It makes a huge difference not being exposed to the elements.  I think it is also kinder to the poor boat.  The Caribbean sun is merciless even in the winter and the rain comes down two or three times a day. 

Also, we have removed the rudder and started work on that.  The stern tube is out, and the new engine ordered...just need to make a new engine bed, to fit a new stern tube, and fit the new engine....oh and new tanks and electrics

Gill is getting on sanding the interior.  Much easier now everything is down on the ground beside us in the shed.  Zaka has tied all the planks in around the stern and is working up the boat.

I have been sanding the mast.....

We have a project plan!  I am however keeping that secret until much nearer the end!

Hopefully another blog will be published this year and then we will be full steam ahead next year

Fair winds

                                             Guiding Light in the shed

                                             Gill in the bilge.....

                                             The mast

That’s all for now…

We have been working on Guiding Light, Monday to Friday since before Christmas!  We have achieved a huge amount, but we still have a mountain to climb.

All the paint is stripped off the hull, inside and out.  All the lower half of the ribs have been checked, sistered, or replaced.  The planks have all been tightened, many of the fixings replaced.  The whole of the interior has been stripped out, including the engine, prop shaft, and engine bed.  All the seacocks and skin fittings removed…. The sails are with the sailmaker, who also very generously gave us a Baby Blake toilet!  The mast is down and stripped, the bowsprit and bumpkin removed.  All standing and running rigging removed and catalogued.  Over 100 shackles cleaned, polished and checked! 

I have taken over 1,000 photographs, and dozens on videos.  I have documented everything I can think of!  Now we have wrapped her up in old sails to protect her for the next four months.  

Obviously, I am worried about leaving her, and that we didn’t get as far on as I had hoped!  However we have done a great deal and so Antigua Classics 2022 is still the goal!

Fair winds and keep everything crossed that all will be well and we can return in October 

Fair winds

Alasdair 

Well, it has been a few weeks since I last wrote anything...thanks Trevor for chasing me up!

So, what have we achieved since my last post?  We have stripped out pretty much all of the interior, including the engine.  So now we can see and assess all the hull.  So far nothing too nasty but we have found that most of the ribs require work, and the engine bed needs replacing.

Work is slow, it takes almost a day to refit one rib.  First you have to remove the old rob, or part rib, assuming you are replacing.  If just sistering, then just any bolts etc that might be in the way have to be removed.  Then the new rib section has to be prepared and fitted.  First it has to be bent to shape, (a great advantage of working in the tropics...the sun does all the heating!) clamped to a former. Then cut and bevelled if needed.  Finally bolted into place and each plank screwed up tight to fit.  

We are using HDPE, a plastic, because we can’t source appropriate wood here in St Lucia.  I did consider using stainless steel, but it is very expensive and much harder to secure the planks onto.  I am concerned about different flex and expansion properties, but the research I have done suggests it will be okay, time will tell.

I will try and post more regular reports....

Fair winds.