As I write this, the fleet of the Panerai Classic, which just left Cascais in Portugal a few hours ago, have begun their fantastic adventure and our thoughts are with our friends on “The Blue Peter” many of whom are regular "Rowdy crew". We wish them a safe and successful crossing and follow their progress with much envy.
Meanwhile, back at the Chinook restoration, more good advances have been made this past week. All the openings in the deck have been made, excepting the companionway, and the cockpit structure is now in place. All lateral bulkheads, new and old, have been fitted and the floor line has been located throughout the accommodation, with the galley floor now fitted in order to mark out the work tops. The new nav station has been designed. The original layout didn’t have one and I am happy that we have not strayed too far from th. The engine is in the process of being positioned and to my dismay it will most likely end up a little further forward than I would have liked. Good for the weight distribution in the boat but not so good for the internal layout. There may be a way to overcome this but it will require a bit more scratching of my ever increasing bald patch!
We are also building a very long ramp which will allow us to remove the ballast keel from under the boat without too much effort, I hope! The idea is to jack up the build cradle, boat and all, using the four 12 ton jacks that are fixed to the corners of it. At max height, we will then chock the hull independently of the cradle. Once the hull is secure, the keel bolts will be severed between deadwood and lead allowing us to jack down the 12 tons of lead and put it on special rollers for its trip down the ramp and out of the shed door. Once free of the lead, the cradle can then go back up to bring the hull back down to a suitable height for the continuation of the fit out. The manoeuvre is planned for the end of the coming week and I hope to refit the keel by the end of January with new aluminium bronze bolts which are in fabrication.
Next week’s post promises to have some interesting photos so stay tuned.

Jono