06 May A long and rewarding job on Loch Long, Puffin
Every now and then, we get asked to do a job that stands out from the crowd and this was one such occasion.
This is a wooden Loch Long, built in the 1930’s. The one-design, classic 21-foot keelboat class was commissioned in 1936-37 by the Loch Long Sailing Club to create an affordable, uniform class. At that time, a new one could be purchased for £66! Now of course, worth much, much more, they are still raced on Loch Lomond and in Aldeburgh.
This boat, Puffin has been maintained by West Country Boat Repairs 5 times over the last 8 years, and came in this time for a major overhaul, including replacement of large wooden parts and a repaint of the whole inside.
Before
Here you can see that one of the 4 main cross beams that the keel is bolted to was completely rotten. The 3rd photo shows the old beam in several rotten pieces.
The king post and wooden mast step were also perished
Stage 1
After 3 months in the workshop to gently dry out (luckily we ahve a lot of space and other work to be getting on with) the wood was dry enough, just in time for the Spring weather.
We made a new solid oak crossbeam. It’s shown here, being tested for fit. The bolt sticking up in the middle is from the keel.
Stage 2
Once we were satisfied that the beam fit perfectly, we painted the inside, first with epoxy primer, and then the paint.
Stage 3
Next step was to epoxy coat the coach house roof, gunwale and then the new king post, locating pad and mast step, ahead of fitting them.
Final Steps
We launched her onto the old Bowmoor Sailing Club lake, where the mast was set and raised
Job done!
Mast safely up and Puffin fully ready to set sail!
Huge thanks to the owner for trusting us with this precious boat – whilst newer materials make up the majority of our work, we love taking care of our customers’ precious wooden boats, from Optimist to Mirrors and larger classes.
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