Chinook is really starting to come together. Have a look at the photos and you will see what I mean.
The topsides have been faired, after a fashion (and apparently the in fashion at the moment is “lumpy”), and painted and it is strange to see the hull in white after looking at bare wood for so long. The waterline will go on next week and the final fairing to the under body before the antifouling paint. The new P bracket is in place and I just have to get the shaft shortened before being able to fit the prop and do the final engine alignment. We are also now ready to fit the rudder stock and the steering pedestal. So far it has been challenging to say the least but we are finding that our measurements concur with the original drawings which is nice. I am also very happy that we have got the sheer just right and the many hours of scrabbling in the boat in flip flops in the burning heat of the Tunisian summer finally paid off.
The mast had its final coat of varnish on Friday and is looking pretty nice and chocks and fittings are being rapidly placed not only on the mast but the other spars too. Guillaume has really got the bit between his teeth and has 80% of the plumbing finished and piles into the jobs like a man possessed. He has built a jig to drill the hole for the rudder stock that would put NASA to shame. I told him when he has finished with it we should send it up to Mars so the Mars Rover can drill some wonderfully funky holes in those red rocks of theirs!
The interior is taking shape too, but much detail remains to be finalised and these guys are not much good at finishing work. We will have a lot to do after the boat arrives in France.
It is all happening way too fast and we are all high on lack of pork (and all derivative products), alcohol, sleep, Provençale tiled roofs, days off, music while we work, a pub to go to and have a pint, friendly faces, bells ringing every half hour, et al and have been subjected to way too much Harissa, Mint tea, and fecking chicken to be of much use. Sometimes I wonder at the human body and how it is able to adapt to change and its unerring desire to return to what it started with!
I’ve probably left out a whole heap of interesting things that we have done this past week but I hope the photos will fill the gaps and if they don’t I promise to give the official restoration photographer good bollocking on your behalf!

Jono