Tag: Ben Wales

RLYC motor launch gets new timbers

 

Ben Wales has begun steaming in new oak timbers on his ex-Royal Lymington Yacht Club motor launch.

Ben, who is working outdoors on his restoration, says it looks as if all the timbers will have to be replaced, which will mean removing the engine beds… I trust the weather improves!

Putting in timbers is a two-man job. For steaming, Ben uses a lagged 4in x 12ft plastic pipe connected to a 2kW wallpaper stripper. It takes about 40mins to soften the timber; once that’s done, one man uses blocks to hold the steamed timber in the boat, while the other drills the holes and nails from the outside.

Ben’s researches reveal that the little launch has had an interesting history, including involvement in the Dunkirk evacuation.  This is what she looked like in her heyday:

Motor launch Mary in 1960, restoration Ben Wales

For more posts on this project, click here, here and here, and here and here.

Ben Wales makes more restoration progress on his ex-RLYC motor launch

 

Ben Wales has been in touch to let us know how he’s getting on with restoring his 18ft motor launch repair and restoration project.

See earlier posts about Ben’s project here, here and here.

Here’s what he has to say just as winter turns to spring:

Winter 2011/2012

We used up the final stock of khaya planks in October and had just two more planks to replace on the port side.

The weather turned against us, so we had to put the restoration on hold until early February and, after a re-stocking of timber and copper nails we started to remove the next few planks.

The top two planks were some of the worst to use as a paten as they were broken on the edges and very brittle – also most of the original oak timbers were broken on the top edge. Making the top plank a perfect fit proved a challenge!

On Sunday 11th March we manage to fit up the last remaining plank and that side will be completed very soon. The next stage is to re-timber the boat.

History research

A few weeks ago the local newspaper in Lymington published a letter I sent asking for information about my launch, and who had it owned it in the past.

Several letters had been received and one was from a relative whose great uncle had purchased the launch from the Admiralty in 1947 and named it after his wife Mary. Both were members of the Royal Lymington Yacht Club in the 1950s. They sold the launch in the 1970s.

I have also learnt that it was used in Operation Dynamo at Dunkirk – a plaque was known to be on the launch, but seems to have been stolen many years ago.

I will send you more progress reports in the near future.

Regards, Ben

Thanks Ben! What a great story! It would be great to know what part your boat played… Would she be the tiniest Little Ship, I wonder?

Working in the open air, Ben Wales makes progress in restoring the Royal Lymington Yacht Club motor launch Mary

 

Starboard bow 08a

Brave Ben Wales has written in with an update of his ambitious restoration of an 18ft motor launch named Mary. (See earlier posts about Ben’s project here and here.)

‘At the start of June we had began to replace the topside planking in khaya mahogany. I had found it difficult to locate any suitable boards of the width we required to cut out new 20ft planks and also they would need to be planed all round off-site, as there is no power available to us on site.

‘The old planks were carefully cut out using a hack saw, and to release them, the copper nails along the plank lands and  some nail heads were drilled out.

‘Most of the old planks were either fragile or just rotten, so did not make an ideal template to mark out the new planks. What’s more, due to the widths and lengths needed we decided to scarf in three new planks on each plank run. The scarf joint is glued and nailed.

‘Painting will hide the scarf joints – Mary was never finished in varnish – and the only clue will be the extra nails, so while scarfing isn’t usually employed on a new boat of this size, it has saved us a great deal of material and money, and left very little waste.

‘I have attached some recent pictures of the work we have done. The starboard side is nearly complete and soon we have some more timber arriving to complete the port side. After that, the next stage to re-timber the launch, more of that to follow later this year.

‘Regards, Ben’

Thanks Ben – and great good luck. I hope the weather’s good when you get your next batch of timber.