SB3335

Hardstand information

The site, the tools, the trades on hand, and what is already on the shelf.

The boat has been the hard part. Two years of it. Grinding a neglected hull back to sound glass, fairing it by hand, rebuilding a drive train component by component. The propellers were shipped from the United States. Cutless bearings came from England, invoiced in sterling. One V-drive case split while it was being cleaned, so a complete replacement unit was tracked down on a farm in rural California and bought for its casing alone. The original 1.56 gearset went back into it, because both drives have to match. There is no version of this where the boat was the easy part.

But the shed is what made it possible, and it is not a small thing either. Undercover, on hardstand, with power and water and room to swing a grinder. In Sydney that is scarce and it is not cheap, and plenty of good projects die on a trailer in a driveway waiting for it.

So she stays in it until she is finished. Doug and I do the fitout, the hardtop and the topcoat here, with the same tools on the same benches and the materials already on the shelf. Two shipwright firms, a marine mechanic and a metal fabricator work out of this marina, all of them familiar with this boat, and they take on whatever we would rather not. When she is done she goes in the water, the shed goes back to the marina, and the syndicate owns a finished boat on a mooring.

The site

  • Shed on hardstand at Shell Point Marina, Sydney
  • Power and water connected
  • Undercover, lockable, room to work all round the hull
  • Cradle in place
  • Held until she is finished, then released

Tools and plant

  • Engine crane, block and tackle, prop pullers
  • Air compressors and spray guns
  • Festool 150 mm orbital and bulk abrasives, wet and dry vac
  • Band saw, table saw, drop saw, grinders
  • Tool chests, clamps, work lights, hoses and leads
  • Benches, trestles and the moulds

Trades on site

  • Two shipwright firms based at the marina
  • A marine mechanic
  • A metal fabricator
  • All of them know this boat and the work already done to her
  • On hand for the parts of the finish we would rather not do ourselves

Materials on the shelf

  • Epoxy resin, hardener and biaxial cloth
  • Q-Cel, talc, fillers and fairing compound
  • Jotun primer, topcoat and thinners, antifoul
  • Marine ply and sheet stock
  • Teak grates and teak decking
  • Stainless fastenings, fittings and bronze ware

Photographs

The shed, with her sitting at the far end of it.
The shed, with her sitting at the far end of it.
Main bench and tool chest. The teak wheel on the wall goes with the boat.
Main bench and tool chest. The teak wheel on the wall goes with the boat.
Consumables, fittings and bronze ware, sorted and on the shelf.
Consumables, fittings and bronze ware, sorted and on the shelf.
The glassing bench: resin, Q-Cel, talc, sanding gear.
The glassing bench: resin, Q-Cel, talc, sanding gear.
Marine ply and sheet stock, with the moulds.
Marine ply and sheet stock, with the moulds.
Timber store, drop saw and folding bench.
Timber store, drop saw and folding bench.
Paint store. Jotun primer and topcoat, pressure washer, the lot.
Paint store. Jotun primer and topcoat, pressure washer, the lot.
Work lights, air lines, and the stainless risers hanging ready.
Work lights, air lines, and the stainless risers hanging ready.