Zephon our Harrison Butler Z4 ton yacht was launched in May

Zephon Motoring into her berth last week.

Zephon was craned back into the water on Monday 27th May. All went well and my nervousness about her taking in lots of water was unfounded, she hardly leaked a drop! Since she was craned in I have been working hard and after a few niggling delays (there have been some minor engine issues to do with the new engine mounts, the prop and the morse control cables) she is ready to start sailing.

I hope you agree that she is looking pretty and doing well for a 63 year old. Zephon's cruising grounds are going to be changing very soon as we are moving to Shetland in September this year. We were hoping to sail her to Shetland next Spring but I think the reality will be that we will have her low loaded  there instead.

Just a reminder: this is how Zephon looked when we bought her back in November 2011. Please see old posts to view the extensive work carried out since then.

Zephon is nearly ready for launch

Hatches are on and the new toe rails are fastened.

Zephon is progressing well and she is due back in the water the weekend of 25th May, yikes!! I think the photos are fairly self-explanatory. Suffice to say the jobs list is shrinking, although those jobs I think are going to be quick often take a lot longer than anticipated. This is normal for boats in general and especially old wooden ones.  The important thing is to get her sailing and I am excited to think she will back in the water shortly and just over a year since she was lifted out.

Fastening the fore hatch fastening. The hat at the bottom of the photo belongs to my young son Matt who was helping me.

Eldest son Tom preparing to fasten the rubbing strake.

Winch pads and winches are now fastened.

Rolling and tipping-off the top coat which is ivory white

Roller action!

Rubbing strake fitted around a chain plate.

Matt hard at work sanding.

Toe rail detail with plugs ready for trimming.

Bilges have been painted.

Work on the hull is nearly complete.

This is the long board I was talking about in my last post. These professional longboards are expensive. It is easy to make your own. A bit of ply the required length and width, add a couple of handles and stick the sandpaper on with contact adhesive and off you go.

Starboard side ready for priming and then paying the seams with red lead putty.

The seams are all payed.

Charmian on a wet and windy February day in the flooded dry dock. I spent last Monday helping to get her ready to leave the dock.  I believe Tommy Neilson is possibly going to be completing the work in Gloucester.

Hull primed and ready for fine filling.

I think the photos are all pretty self-explanatory so not a lot else to add. There is a bit more work to do to the keel. I am in the process of renewing the sacrificial dead wood aft of the ballast keel (the worm shoe, see my next post for full info on this). There are also a couple of graving pieces to do on the keel and then this can be primed. 

Once these jobs are done I shall be moving inside the boat to paint a second coat of primer in the engine bay and cockpit area and then scrape, sand and prime the bilges. I shall then modify the engine bearers in readiness for installing the reconditioned Yanmar 1GM 10. So all is still looking good for an April launch!

Working on the hull: raking, hardening the caulking and re-caulking where necessary; sanding, priming and paying-up the seams with red lead putty.

The seams after raking and the caulking has been hardened-up. The caulking is in good condition generally, there were a few spots that needed new caulking such as the garboard.

Port side is being worked on.

Progress with Zephon is good.  The target of getting her in the water for the end of April is looking achievable and the boat is starting to look great.  I am very pleasantly surprised with the overall condition of the hull which is very good. The seams are fine and most of the caulking is in very good condition. Zephon is caulked with cotton and even after some 60 odd years it still looks like it was put in yesterday!

I have re-caulked the stem and a small section of the garboard plank. I hardened-up all the seams and then primed them with Jotun pink primer. Once the seams had been primed I then used a long board (a 4 ft flexible board with handles that enables the hull to be sanded fair. Sorry I forgot to take a photo).  

With 60 grit attached to the long board I sanded the hull. It is important to sand at 45 degrees across the hull in both directions. This ensures that no unfairness is put into the shape of the hull. The angle of sanding will need to become shallower towards the stern of the boat as the compound curve of the hull increases. 

A graving piece on the stem.

Me paying-up the seams with red lead putty. It has been a bit chilly.

Once the hull had been fully sanded I then painted the hull with pink primer and then payed the seams with red lead putty. Needless to say red lead is highly toxic. I mix my own red lead into glazing putty. The ratio is simple; I continue mixing red lead into the putty until it is the same colour as the red lead in the tin. When mixing red lead always handle carefully. Place the red lead powder into a small amount of linseed oil and stir into a thick paste before kneading this paste into the putty. Mixing the powder with oil stops any red lead dust becoming airborne (wear a dust mask to protect yourself from inhaling red lead dust when mixing with linseed oil and wear gloves when handling as lead is easily absorbed through the skin).

Red lead is a traditional boat building product and in my view the best way to stop the seams as it keeps the putty flexible and so prevents the putty from cracking. If done correctly the payed-up seams should be good for years and years.

Port side seams all payed-up. Now to start on the starboard side!