I haven’t been down to the boat for a couple of weeks. Lots of day job work, a hatred of driving through south east London, and the knowledge that it was all in the safe hands of the welders has all meant that I haven’t been around that much. The upside to this is that when I visited today, a lot had changed and it really seems that the boat has come along way.

The bow is all fixed, the striker rails repaired, the rivets on the bottom fixed, the patches welded, the stern plates completed. So today four chaps were on site to attach the bottom plates. Not quite the final piece of the puzzle but without a bottom it look far from sea worthy.

Some action shots of the bottom plates being fixed into place…

Now that it is more like 80% complete, it is possible to see the lines of the hull and get a good idea of how sleek it will look when it is all finished.

First, a motivational reminder of how it looked when it was hoiked out the water…

And when there were massive gaping holes in the side…

And now look at it. Okay it still needs a final blast and a lot of paint but the transformation is definitely moving forwards.