The first of the new toe rails is clamped into place after a session in the steamer

After weekends and evenings of working on the BB, and getting the feeling that we were not making progress, things seem to have moved forward. 90% of the work we have been doing has been either preparing for the next stage or repairing old wounds. Suddenly we can see some changes.

The first step forward was the arrival of the new timber. New mahogany toe rails, deck coamings, floors and the new decks themselves. The ply we ordered was expensive but it is Lloyds certificated and should see out 20 years of use before it needs replacing. 16mm marine ply for the new cockpit floors and 4mm marine ply for the decks. The spec' is for 6mm ply for the decks but it is in very short supply so 4mm was chosen as an alternative.

We spent a couple of days checking all the various measurements before we felt brave enough to start sawing up the new wood. At these prices it pays to 'measure twice, cut once.' The stuff is great to work with

As to the hull, the first two coats of Pink Metallic Primer have gone on and the BB is taking on the appearance of a sailing boat again. Another two coats of PMP will be applied before putting on the anti fouling. Sikaflex was used to caulk some the planking that had opened up, it seems that old BB's have a habit of 'relaxing' with time and after several years with 20 odd broken ribs a bit of movement must be expected. Sikaflex can be overpainted without any problems.

The old decks were used as templates and are now ready for the bonfire. In spite of being top grade marine ply a thourough dousing with Intertox has been applied. Intertox, from International Paints is an active antifungicide and the rest of the boat will get a good soaking before we start the rest of the varnishing and painting. Intertox is primarily to protect boat timbers when immersed in fresh water, sea water does not carry the same risks, waterborne fungi and other nasties are more likely to appear in fresh water.

The steamer has been brought out of retirement and used to steam the 1" toerails. We could have just battled away and forced them to the curve of the boat but it seemed sensible to pre-shape them first. We are becoming quite expert at steam bending timber, I keep looking around for more things to go into the steam! The toerails will be the last pieces to be fitted to the old girl and should really finish her off well.

The last fittings have been ordered from Classic Marine, new bronze mooring cleats, small tufnol cleats and bronze fairleads. Christmas is coming early!

One pleasant surprise was the arrival of a huge e-mail from a friend in the USA. Borge Bringsvaerd's son had sent him a full set of plans for the BB11 and he had forwarded them on to me. It is great to be able to confirm the correct dimensions and postitions of all the bits. The drawings will also be useful when we order new sails, Bruce Banks Sails have an incomplete set of drawings for BB sails so I will post a set of drawings off with the order.

The original floors were solid mahogany! I am trying to find a use for the old floors, they are badly warped but might make a nice wine rack!

Painting at last.

The most useful item in the toolbox, a Victorinox SwissTool. This is a top quality multitool and has saved lots of time jumping in and out of ther boat to rumage through the toolbox.