Well… funny you should ask, as I’ve finally got an update. It’s been a year (A WHOLE YEAR!) and another baby since the last post and the whole boat strategy has changed. Gone is the DIY option and I have put the boat in the capable hands of Woodbridge Boatyard. Phase one and deck one is now complete.

They’ve come up trumps in working out how best to sort out the deck. To spin through the strategy… the original deck was all lifted, the beams replaced with ones that have the original camber so water flows off more freely, ply subdeck added and thinner layers glued down. The underlying theme to this approach is simplicity and, in deck terms, simplicity also means “less likely to leak”. We don’t have bolts and caps every foot along every plant, the deck furniture has been rationalised, and all the weird patchy bits are gone. It’s neater – and crucially- less likely to leak.

Doesn’t it look smart? The finish is oiled and it just looks so good. Now for the other two…. Next year. Work starts in spring. 2026 is the boat’s 100th birthday… effectively two years to get her shipshape (we will close over the fact it’s been almost 10 years since this whole thing started)… the challenge is on!