What's going on with the boat?

After ten years living on Tarquilla we have moved to land. I'm often asked if we love the house or miss the boat and the real answer is - both. We still have Tarquilla and we are open to all options at the moment as far as her future is concerned. We will carry on working on her, it would be great to be able to sail her again. The Scilly Isles, Portishead marina, Bristol harbour and Falmouth are all places we have talked about as well as many others further afield. But, on the other hand, if a family was looking for a boat, ready to do the preparation she needs and wanted to take her on then we would sell her. She is not ready to sail off into the sunset but has a lot of life left in her. If you or someone you know would be interested then please contact us. She is 3 ply cold moulded, 42 foot long, one off design built in the 1960's. She has 2 double cabins and 2 single berths, a good size saloon, a decent size galley, head and a covered cockpit. She has two engines and a full suit of sails. We have lots more photos and can provide more details or answer questions. In the meantime, this blog has come to a natural pause for now as we take on new adventures.

The refit (part seven)



So, how is the boat work going? Well, for many reasons work had to slow right down over the winter but now things are definitely moving again.



The galley (kitchen) is one of the biggest projects on the go at the moment. The units are growing. Mark is building them from scratch using two layers of 10mm exterior ply with 4mm oak veneered ply on top which has been well oiled with Danish oil. They include big cupboards spaces, plate and wine racks, drawers and the new hob is built into the work surface. As well as being bigger which means that we can fit more than a couple of pans on at a time, it has been moved to allow for better ventilation. There is 20mm Celotex insulation on the wall covered with more plywood which has been painted a lovely blue.


Bags of sand weighing down the drying layers
Plans for shelves



















 We did experiment previously with bathroom/kitchen paint as it is designed for high humidity areas and is much cheaper than specific marine paint. It was worth trying but didn’t last and ended up coming off in peels. The new shelving and edges are white oak which looks lovely finished with (even more!) Danish oil. There is a shaped fiddle (raised edge) all along to allow for rough weather in harbour and movement whilst travelling.


The walls are bluer in real life!

The main table in the saloon (living room) was a bit of an experiment for us last year. Having always had a fold down table that meant we could completely clear the floor, we found ourselves leaving it up more and more often as the children grew and their needs changed. They were more likely to be drawing or doing something on the table than spreading train tracks over the floor. Mark created a solid table with a sliding, opening leafed top. After using it for a while we found that it was not as stable as we had hoped and was taking up too much room beside the chairs making it difficult to get in and out. Taking off the leaves, moving them off centre and shaping the ends made it much better.

Spring cleaning has been well under way, pulling things out of dark corners and wiping everything down as the winter damp dries out. We have had very little rain so far this year which has given us a chance to dry out many things. Other random bits have been done too in different areas of the boat.

One of our old folding chairs - now resprayed

Working on an old wooden boat is far from glamorous and certainly not easy. It can be frustrating at times and often feel like 'one step forwards, two steps back'. It is our home though and the Skipper is certainly working on it.



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