4th September - What Happened Next

Well its finally here, the last chapter “what did we do with her after all that work”. As promised we left her for a good few weeks for the topcoat to fully cure and whilst we scratched our chins a lot, working out how we might get her out of the shed!

Putting her in was an easy task, as nobody was overly concerned by the odd knock or scrape. But taking her out and away was a different matter all together, especially as the memory of countless hours of painting by all those people was still fresh in our minds.

Following a lot of phone calls and organisation at both ends, the pick up and transport across to the Lake District had been arranged for Monday the 5th September. But given that she would be leaving site on the back of a wagon we had the unenviable task of getting her down a steep bank and into the bottom yard of our manufacturing facility first.

The advantage of working on such a large site is the ability to commandeer forklift trucks and experienced people to help with the task, the disadvantage is that you have to do all this on a Sunday so you don’t get in the way of running a manufacturing facility. So at 6am on a lovely Sunday morning we set about moving her, with an intricate display or fork lift truck driving and some very worried expressions from all concerned. But several hours later she was safe in the bottom yard without a scratch on her.

5th September

Moving day had arrived and again it was a crack of dawn start to make sure we were well out of the way before the factory started. Having made two shorter braces the day before both hulls could now be picked up at once, and with the haulage company’s huge crane it was as simple as picking her up and placing her down very gently on the back of the flat bed wagon. With the mast and other ancillaries all loaded it was off to Derwent Water and Nichol End Marine in the Lake District.

Navigating the lane to Nichol end took pin point precision but soon it was time to lift her back off and whilst we were all sure she would be fine, there were a few nervous glances as she pitched at the bow before being lowered to the ground.

However all in all the transport had been a success and sat on the ground at Nichol End we were agonisingly close to having her back in the water.

9th September

With work getting in the way of all the fun we were having, it wasn’t until the end of the week that we could start to complete the final assembly and rigging. The day started nice and early with the last push to get her in the water, and I mean literally push!. Suspended on two mobile frames we manhandled her down to the waters edge and after donning a couple of dry suits walked her into the water and then slipped her off the slings. No matter how much planning and logic tell you its all going to be fine, the sense of relief when she actually floated and was tied to the jetty was immense.

Following a cup of tea and the now infamous (but lovely) Nichol End scone, it was on with the rest of the rigging. This is where some past experience really helped so Nick Ball from the Calvert Trust was on hand to try and remember where everything was before we had taken her away. All I can say is that it took a lot longer than expected. As we methodically worked our way through re-fitting the braces, trampolines and various ropes, each job just seemed to take that little bit longer and so it was with very weary arms, that as the sun began to set we finally hoisted the mast into position. She looked great but it would be the best part of another days work before she would be ready to sail

23rd September

With other work commitments for all involved and some rather serious storms in Cumbria, it was another two weeks before we could get everyone back together for the final rigging. Fresh from a couple of weeks off we set about completing the final jobs, and with another glorious Lake District day to work in, it was just after lunch before she was deemed ready for the test sail.

Having dug out the newly cleaned sails and started our re-mounted outboard we set off in search of some wind so that we could get the sails up, see if all the work tuning the mast had resulted in it being straight and that the hundreds of bolts we had taken out cleaned and refitted would actually hold her all together.

With the Main sheet up and the Gib out we gently sailed off towards the North end of the lake. It felt great, nothing was missing, everything looked immaculate and with all the new or recently cleaned components it was hard to believe that she was over 20 years old.

It was then that we spotted some lovely white horses at the far end of the lake and what turned out to be a nice strong force 5 blowing. It was also at this point that I realised I was somewhat under dressed for getting wet. To say she is fast would be an understatement, and with only limited sailing experience under my belt the pick up of speed in a Catamaran was somewhat surprising, so 10mins later utterly soaked and with the widest grin possible we deemed the test sail a success and headed in to shore.

So the time had come to officially hand her back to the Calvert Trust and for the third time in a row the Cumbrian Weather played nice as we pulled together all the parties involved for a small photo shoot and another opportunity to take her for a sail.

The wind wasn’t quite the same as our test day and even with the Gennaker up we couldn’t muster much speed, but sat back on the trampolines the smiles from everyone said it all.

From now on she will be based on Derwent Water and being just down the road from the Calvert Trust’s base in Keswick will enable them to run half day sailing as part of their activities,

It will also be a real boost to their outreach programme as she will be available for hire through Nichol End Marine offering sailing opportunities to able and disabled sailors alike.

From all the people involved at International Yacht Paint it has been great to make a genuine contribution to the work of the Calvert Trust and the lives of the people it works with, and hopefully the new lease of life we have given the boat can be enjoyed by all who sail her for years to come.

19th & 20th August - Final Instalment

For those people waiting anxiously for Fridays final instalment I can only apologise. The truth is we didn’t finish in time, it turns out that putting all those bits back on takes a lot longer when you want to protect your shiny new paintwork. About 12hrs longer to be exact as Monday was a long day as well.

But she is now finished and ready for the next hurdle, which is to get her out of the shed and somehow transported back across to the Lake District to her new home on Derwent Water.

As far as the final stages there isn’t really much to say, we had a simple system of matching parts to photos and then putting them back on the boat. Any areas prone to water ingress were sealed with some clear silicone first before the parts were mounted and anything that looked a little worn was replaced. It just took a lot longer than I had accounted for in the plan!

Most of the old fixings cleaned up fine, so with some new nuts and washers they went straight back on. The old white rubbing strip was replaced a new black one which ties in with the colour scheme much better and balances off the Black Antifouling. We replaced the windows and all of the woodwork for the hatches as well as installing a new compass and some other stainless steel fixings that were beyond repair.

We replaced the Bow and Stern aluminium supports, which was significantly easier than trying to clean or repair the old ones and we also had the rudders replaced and the old rudder arms sandblasted and powder coated.

After a lot of effort though from a lot of people we were done and I think I can speak on behalf of all those involved that the sense of satisfaction when you stand back and take it all in is worth every minute.

But the blog doesn’t end here, we are going to leave her a week or so for her to fully cure in order to reduce the risk of damaging the paint when we lift her for shipping.

As soon as we have transported her over to the lakes we will be back to let you know how we got on and hopefully how she sails.

18th August - Cleaning, Cleaning and Cleaning

Well today’s blog is pretty short because we mainly did one thing for the whole day, cleaning!!.

Whilst the painting has been taking place for the last week or so, a small group of us have been sorting and sourcing parts for tomorrows rebuild. Today was the final day for shopping and after several stops at various local manufacturing firms, we have finally collected every nut, bolt, washer and replacement piece of equipment so that she can be finished tomorrow.

The rest of the team spent the day washing and polishing the parts on the boat that were still serviceable, and we matched these back to the photos that we took before we took her apart just to make sure we have everything for tomorrow.

The main work on the boat today has been graphics and branding, whilst the designs and artwork are all done in house, we entrusted the complicated job of actually getting them on straight, to an outside company. But what a difference they make!

From a painting perspective we had a little touch up work to do, so armed with a brush and a lot of nearly empty tins the team went round and filled in any of the areas we had missed or caught over the last week.

By the end of the day we had even started to put some of the fixings back onto the aft platform. We have a lot to do tomorrow, but everyone who has worked on the boat from the three separate teams will be putting the finishing touches to her, so hopefully we can get everything done.

17th August - Final Day Of Painting?

Well we have reached day eight of our ten day project and according to the schedule today is the last day for painting.

The morning thankfully started with some masking rather than the compulsory sanding. The team carefully masked all the deck areas to mark the areas that we would coat with our non-slip deck coating, Interdeck.

We have chosen Interdeck white to go over our snow white Toplac. We will still have some contrast as there is a slight colour difference with the Interdeck being a slightly warmer white and the fact that Interdeck is a low sheen finish. But this allows you to see where the non-slip areas are and prevents sunlight dazzle from the deck, although thinking about it this is probably not a problem in the Lake District.

After masking up it was a simple job of rolling on the Interdeck and then once it had started to tack over removing the tape to reveal a crisp clean edge between the coats.

Second job of the day was to apply our second coat of Interspeed Ultra. Like yesterday we simply masked the waterline and then rollered over the top. Applying black onto black can sometimes be difficult to see where you are up to but our light was good in the shed so with the right angle it was easy to see the areas that were still wet (if the light is bad, a workshop light pointing down the length of the boat is always useful).

With lunch over and a quick photo call for the internal employees magazine, we applied another coat of Schooner Varnish to our wooden components. Yesterday’s coat had flowed out and dried really well so hopefully if we get the same coverage today we might not need any further coats.

Last job of the day was the final coat of Perfection Topcoat. Having looked at the end results yesterday we were all happy, but given that we are on schedule we decided that one more coat would make her look even better (and we also had some paint left!).

So with the final coat on we tip toed out of the shed so as not to disturb an ounce of dust and locked up for the night. There will be a little touching up to do tomorrow but in essence the painting stage is complete.

Now all we have to do is try and remember where all those components we took off, fit back on!!

16th August - Antifouling Time

Well the morning started much like every other with you guessed it a little more sanding. However now we are so close to the final coat we used nothing more than a scouring pad just to de-nib the surface before we could apply today’s coats of paint.

The first job was to apply the second coat of Toplac as the sooner we can get this to dry the sooner we can finish the non slip areas of the deck with a coat of Interdeck. But as much as we willed the temperature to rise so that we could get the Interdeck on by the end of day it wouldn’t play and the Toplac will now have time to dry overnight so that we can mask up in the morning.

Having completed the Toplac we flipped the aft platform over and applied a coat of Interprotect. This isn’t really needed as the underside of the platform has survived the last 15 years uncoated, but having painted everything else it seemed a shame to leave the rather dirty GRP bare, as they say if your going to do a job....

With that done the team split into smaller groups to work on some of our separate components. The dagger boards and rudder blades received a second coat of Toplac and the wooden pieces were all lightly sanded with some 600grit ready for the first coat of varnish.

Back from lunch it was straight on with the varnishing. We are using Schooner for no other reason than we had some. All of our premium varnishes would have been suitable but Schooner offers us good levelling and flow out, as well as being a little more novice friendly. On top of the Clear Wood Sealer Fast Dry the first coat went on really well and with a couple more coats it should look fantastic.

The next job on the list was antifouling, here we had an extensive choice but after much deliberation have chosen to go with Interspeed Ultra. This hard antifouling will easily stand up to the fresh water challenges of the English Lakes and offer the maximum performance in terms of speed and protection for the boat. The first coat went on and for the first time since we started we could all stand back and see her with the final colour scheme on.

With little time for admiration of a job well done we quickly moved on to the second coat of Perfection topcoat on the Hull, the depth of colour really stands out now and we will take a decision in the morning if we need another coat or not, when this has had chance to flow out.

Last job of the day was to start to sort some of the he fixings out. We have a lot of fixings that have either corroded away or just seen better days so we started the task of sorting, cleaning and re-ordering anything that has seen better days. Hopefully these can all be sourced and delivered back to site before assembly starts on Friday.

15th August - Week Two Begins

Fresh from the weekend the team were back to continue with our restoration project. Because we are operating three teams of eight people, the differences to the boat are quite significant for each team as a lot happens in a couple of days.

So following the morning’s product presentation and Health and Safety briefing it was down to the schedule and another coat of pretty much everything

As with every day the first job was the obligatory quick rub down with some sandpaper before a rinse, dry and final tack rag.

We needed to get two coats of Gelshield 200 on within the day so with a 5 hour minimum over coating time we needed to get a coat on first thing. Gelshield 200 comes in two colours Grey and Green, which allows you to easily see where you have been before as you build the coats up.

We also wanted to get ahead on the varnish work, so after a very light sanding with some 320grit to knock the high spots off, some of the team applied another coat of the Clear Wood Sealer Fast Dry. Again this has a quick over coating time of 6hrs so with any luck we could get two coats of this on within the day as well.

We seemed to be making good progress and with lunch time fast approaching there was just time to apply the first coat of Toplac. This is a one part enamel paint with excellent gloss and colour retention and in “Snow White” will provide the perfect contrast to our Royal Blue hull. Some of the areas on the deck will also have Interdeck applied, but given the wear that this area will be taking we decided to apply the Toplac to all areas first. We used a combination of bush and roller application to achieve the best results on the complex curves of the topsides.

With lunch done it was back to the Gelshield 200. Switching back to the Grey product so we could follow where we had been the team rollered another coat on the undersides before everyone set to work on cleaning the hull with tack rags one last time.

Today was the first coat of Perfection. We have of course been using it mixed with our undercoat already, but for me the first real coat is always a slightly nervous one, as you hope that it all comes together and you have picked the right colour. Using the same technique as we had with the Perfection Undercoat, we rollered and then tipped off with a brush at 45 degrees. Although we still have a little show through from the undercoat, the results look great and for the first time you can really start to get a clear picture of how she will look when we have finished.

Whilst some of the team started to clean up for the day, a couple of us applied another coat of Clear Wood Sealer Fast Dry to our wooden components and a quick coat of Toplac to our newly repaired dagger boards and rudders which had already been primed at the workshop.

So with the day finished the team left and we prepared to do it all again tomorrow!!!

12th August - Application Time

The day started with two product presentations from the Global Product Management team. They discussed the types of products we would be using and why these products in the scheme had been chosen specifically. It was useful to understand why certain products are used and the importance of all the preparation that we had done to get the best results out of them.

Fully informed of why we were using them it was time to get on with the actual application. In what is becoming a daily mantra it was back out with the sandpaper and a little more sanding to start the morning. We used a 400grit paper to lightly de-nibb the topsides and hull and then washed, rinsed and dried the whole boat.

Using a roller and brush the team then set about applying the second coat of Pre-Kote to the deck and topsides before breaking for lunch

Straight back after lunch and the pressure was now on to get a full coat of paint on her before the weekend.

Having masked for the waterline it was time to apply the first coat of Gelshield 200. This epoxy primer will provide us with some added protection against osmosis and provide a good base for our Interspeed Ultra Antifouling.

Whilst that was tacking off it was time for the second coat of Clear Wood Sealer Fast Dry on all of our wooden components. As all our wood is new the first few coats of this really soaked into the surface, but the build is definitely there and the clear nature of the product is having the desired effect on our logos that we have routed into the splashboards.

The weekend was fast approaching so it was straight back onto the final job of the day which was the second coat of Perfection Undercoat. Like yesterday, we have mixed our white undercoat with the Perfection topcoat but today we used 75/25 ratio to get a darker coat. We needed to really take our time here as this will be the last coat of Undercoat before we apply the topcoat on Monday, so any runs or blemishes here will really show though in the final topcoat.

After a final clean up it was time to shut up shop for the weekend, The boat will have plenty of time to cure over the weekend ready for the final push next week.

11th August - Finally Some Painting

Day four and with the promise of finally getting some painting done team 1 from Monday were back. However before they could get too ahead of themselves we had a little more sanding to do!

We finished sanding the topsides and the deck before de-nibbing the Interprotect on the hull to provide a good key for our Perfection Undercoat.

After a good wash down with a little more Super Cleaner and warm water, we rinsed and dried the deck and hull before leaving for a well-earned lunch break.

Following lunch we wiped down the whole boat and started to apply our first coat of Pre-Kote to the topsides and deck, this will provide an excellent undercoat for our one part Toplac finish next week, it also helps to show up anywhere we may have missed from a filling and fairing perspective. Unfortunately this worked perfectly and we now have a little more filling to do as well.

Once the Pre-Kote had been applied it was on to the Perfection Undercoat. We are using White Perfection Undercoat but mixing it 50/50 with our Perfection topcoat, as our final hull will be Perfection Royal Blue. By applying a 50/50 mix we will ensure a good solid undercoat with no show through for the darker topcoat, although contrary to most of the team I quite like it in the colour it is!

Final job of the day was to start on our new wood work. There isn’t much wood on a Strider but the Hatches and Runners are all going to be varnished. Due to the tight timescales on this project we are using Clear Wood Sealer Fast Dry. This clear primer and surface sealer will fill and seal the woodgrain leaving us a clear and smooth finish to apply our varnish over. This allows us to overcoat in 6 hours so we can apply a coat a day and still achieve a nice deep final finish for next week

As it’s the last day of week one tomorrow the pressure is really on to get the next coats on before the weekend, but standing back at the end of the day you can really start to see some progress

10th August - Sanding

Day three saw our final team of volunteers arrive bright and early, having already had two days of work on her the boat was looking much better, but following the mornings briefing it was clear that we would still have a lot to do before we could get the 1st coat of paint on her by the end of the day.

Armed with a very large pack of sanding paper we set about giving the hull a good going over with some 120Grit using a combination of hand sanding and some power tools. You would think that the DA sander was the easy option but after several hours of holding it against a hull your forearms will disagree.

After a welcome break for lunch there was only another hour of sanding before we could finally wash the hull down and clean the area to remove the dust.

Using some warm water and a drop of Super Cleaner we washed the hull down with a sponge before rinsing the surface with another bucket of water. Once the hull was dry we wiped down the hull with a tack rag and then applied our first coat of Interprotect, which will seal the old gelcoat ready for the Perfection Undercoat tomorrow

First thing in the morning we will finish sanding the deck and below water areas before moving on to the best part of the project.....Painting!

9th August - Cleaning

With a fresh team of people we started day two and the theme for the day was cleaning.

Armed with a scouring pad, some International Super Cleaner and water the team set about scrubbing the whole hull so that we could finally see what lay underneath the grime. This revealed a reasonable amount of hairline cracks and the inevitable patches of Osmosis from a boat that has been in the water for so long.

Once we had a better idea of what we would need to fill and repair the next job was to tackle the adhesive. Having removed the windows and fixtures yesterday we were left with a lot of sealant to remove as well as all of the stickers, waterline and boot top stripes. 15 years of UV degradation made this a very laborious job with people getting very excited if more than a couple of centimetres came off in one pull.

Our new splashboards and runners were also delivered to site late in the day, so after a quick check to make sure they are all going to fit they have been added to the list of varnish work that we will tackle later in the week

After lunch the team set about routing out all of the hairline cracks and damaged areas on the hull so that we could apply some filler before the end of the day. For internal training purposes we have used International Watertite epoxy filler and some Interfill 830, but for DIY applications Watertite would be more than sufficient for the job.

With the filler drying, the team have left for the day ready for tomorrow’s team to start with the sanding efforts in the morning.

8th August - Stripping, Rubbing & Scraping

Today we started to strip the boat of all the components so that we can have her ready for the first clean tomorrow. The day started well but it quickly become apparent that after so long on the water, a lot of the nuts and bolts weren’t leaving their respective brackets without a fight. So as the day wore on the pile of “things to be replaced” got increasingly larger.

The windows have been removed and sent away to have replacement clear versions made, as have all the runners and splashboards for the hatches as the existing ones were beyond repair. The white rubbing strip will also be replaced with a black one once the final topcoat has been applied.

Once we had stripped the components and carefully labelled them all up into tubs, so that we stand a chance of putting them all back where they came from, it was on to the job of clearing some of the grime to get a better look at the condition of the laminate. This was done with heavy-duty scrapers and slowly revealed the amount of repair work that we will need to tackle next.

So at the end of the day we look in a good position to start with the cleaning and scraping of the hull and routing out of the damage tomorrow.

Tuesday will hopefully bring our first use of some products its always nicer to put things back on than take them off

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30th July - Hauled Out

So on the 30th July the boat was hauled out of Lake Windermere for the first time in nearly 15 years and transported to International Yacht Paint manufacturing facility in Felling Gateshead, where it is now on site ready for its overhaul!

Overall she is in remarkable condition for her age, the antifouling has long since gone and the boat is still sporting the original gelcoat. But having been left to dry out for a few weeks the overall condition isn’t too bad. Several components have been stripped and sent away for replacement or repair and everything is on schedule for us to start stripping the boat on Monday morning

The project will take place over 10 days and will be worked on by 24 International Yacht Paint employees split into three teams of 8. These employees are from various business functions across site and most are complete novice painters. The project will allow them to gain experience in using products from across our range whilst getting a better understanding of the preparation and painting techniques required to achieve that perfect end result.

We will be posting a daily blog of the progress of Project ‘Perfection’ so be sure to follow our story here. Alternatively you can keep up with the story in pictures and join the debate on our facebook page.

Project ‘Perfection’ Blog

Welcome to our first blog post for Project ‘Perfection’ our restore-a-boat project for 2011. Starting on Monday the 8th August follow our progress every day as we restore a modified 24ft Wood Strider Catamaran on behalf of the Calvert Trust. Over a period of 10 days we will repair, repaint her and return her fully restored to the trust.

Last year the project saw a group of employees from our factory floor, marketing and R&D departments restoring a boat belonging to the West Lancashire Scouts Water Activity Centre at Moor Crag on Lake Windermere. The group had little or no experience of painting or renovating boats but the outcome was superb and the boat was handed back to the scouts in time for them to enjoy sailing her throughout the summer months.

This year Project “Perfection’ will see us restoring a Woods Strider 24 catamaran on behalf of The Calvert Trust. The Calvert Trust enables people with disabilities, together with their families and friends, to achieve their potential through the challenge of outdoor adventure in the countryside. Founded in 1978, the trust was created because of the lack of accessible features in National Parks which restricted people with disabilities from truly enjoying the countryside and benefitting from outdoor activity. Since the organisation was founded it has continued to attain the moving goal of equal opportunities and now has 3 centres in the UK; the Lake District, Kielder and Exmoor.

The Woods Strider has been modified to enable people with disabilities, including those in wheelchairs, to get on the water and experience the joy of sailing. “Nooit Volmaakt” was originally built and owned by Richard Woods himself. Launched in 1986 it won the European and UK Micromultihull championships in 1987 before being sold to Richard Stilgoe who later donated it to the trust.