“...it’s done well over 100,000 hours – and most of that working hard.”
the structural timbers were in good shape.
Nevertheless, Dick decided to sheath the hull in diagonally-laid 16mm treated pine and fibreglass. “I know the purists will give us a hard time for it,” he laughs, “but then they’ll go and get on their smart phones.”
The old Kelvin engine was next and underwent a full strip-down and clean. No wear was detected in the crankshaft journals so they were simply polished but Kelvin Diesels, which still exists as a division of British Polar, supplied a new set of exhaust valves and gaskets.
“It’s in remarkably good shape – by all accounts it’s done well over 100,000 hours – and most of that working hard.” Finally, the big Kelvin was blasted with fine sand at low pressure and painted with epoxy to an ‘as new’ factory finish.
Melodeon’s stocky wooden mast has been removed for refurbishment and will be replaced to use with a ‘jillson’ lifting tackle or carry a small steadying sail.
“To date most of the work has been carried out by me and Richard. The engineering side of the restoration we can manage ourselves. We now realise we need a skilled boatbuilder to assist us with the woodworking,” says Dick. “We don’t want to alter the overall design, although the wheelhouse needs to be a little bigger.”
Melodeon’s restoration team knows enough about big projects not to put a timeline on her relaunch but “I think she’ll be a great fun boat for someone. She’ll cruise at nine knots, be relatively cheap to run and need fairly minimal maintenance.”
He shakes his head ruefully: “I really don’t know why we’ve got all these boats, but you can’t just let them go to the scrap heap. In the right hands, she’ll be good for the next 100 years.”
It’s all coming together very nicely – but there’s heaps to do yet, says Fisher.