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Alishoni -- New life for a Cape George 31 Brentwood Bay, Vancouver Island BC, May 2018 Blog: Saving Alishoni -- a ha'porth of new tar for a nice old boat |
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Alishoni is a Cape George 31 cutter, built
in 1978 by Cecil Lange at Port Townsend, Washington State US. She has a
full-keeled fibreglass hull with wood deck structure. Displacement is
just short of 16,000lbs, half of which is lead in the keel. The
traditional design comes from American William Atkin and before him the
classic working boats of Norwegian Colin Archer. Alishoni -- Cape George 31 hull # 1 -- is currently being refurbished by Ian Laval and Kitty Lloyd on Vancouver Island BC. She is the split-cabin version of the 31, giving excellent working space on deck. Ian Laval has made two Atlantic crossings, the latest in his previous Baba 30 Lydia B. Cape Georges are still being built at the same Port Townsend boatyard -- now the Cape George Marine Works. Ian Laval is an English furnituremaker with a workshop on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The images below show the most recent work on Alishoni, followed by earlier work. |
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February 13, 2018 Fitting of a new bowsprit of laminated Douglas fir, with a teak anchor platform, is is progress. The cockpit winches have been repositioned on new mounts. The rudder has been stripped, refinished with new Garry oak cheeks and refitted with new bronze pins. There's a new tiller laminated from Douglas fir, eastern maple and wenge. Most of the interior woodwork is finished. Teak has been used throughout, plus yellow cedar for framing -- all surface-coated with epoxy before assembly. A new stainless water tank is ready for installation below the cabin sole (1/2-inch teak is ready for the final surface) and a new 30hp Beta diesel has arrived from the UK. New engine beds of 3/8 steel rebated and epoxied into oak are ready for installation. A pair of louvred teak doors are currently being made in the workshop to replace the companionway's current Lexan. (The odd design on the forepeak door, incidentally, isn't necessarily a religious symbol -- though I'm quite happy if it's seen as such! It began as a decorative doodle in inlaid maple, starting on the bench as Tintin, Herge's cartoon little boy with the wispy hair, but seemed to need more graphic support. If it's seen as a religious symbol I've no particular objection! After all, boats used always to go to sea with a priest's blessing!. August 25, 2016 Taking shape....... Alishoni's head, formerly opposite the galley, has been removed and replaced with a sit-down nav-desk. A new head has been built forward of the mast. There's a new chain locker and much insulation, topped by strip fir planking, has been added throughout the boat. The galley has been rebuilt and the stove space is currently being lined with stainless steel; the rebuilt fridge has a new keel-cooled system. Latest work is shown in the images below. (Look for Tin-Tin's hair on the bulkhead door inlay!). May 1, 2015: Work on Alishoni is back in full swing after a chequered 2014 -- the result of severe reaction over many months to exposure to Western red cedar on non-boat work in the workshop. Much above-deck work is finished; the cockpit has been completely rebuilt while below-deck there's a new starboard quarter-berth with house battery boxes and good stowage under. The engine space is ready for a new motor, which will likely be a Beta 30hp. It's sad to lose the beautifully-engineered Sabb controllable-pitch prop system; it's hard to see a viable way to mate it to a much faster-revving modern motor. All the new stern-end thru-hulls are now accessible. The refrigerator box has been re-built, generously insulated and is ready for a keel-cooled system to be installed. Next comes the galley area and a brand new sit-down nav desk (the heart of any long-distance boat!) at the expense of the existing head, which will be re-sited. We haven't quite worked out where! 31 July, 2013: Alishoni is now completely stripped out above and below deck. The Sabb 18hp engine is ashore; all wiring, plumbing and cabinetry has been removed and the deck is stripped of all fittings. A monstrous 8ft -- one-piece -- galvanised steel water tank (though only 30-gal) has been dug out from beneath the cabin sole. All the teak brightwork has been stripped to bare wood ready for re-coating; hatches etc lifted for re-bedding. All the teak deck caulk is currently being removed; after months of warm weather under cover the deck is thoroughly dry and it's the ideal time to re-caulk before moist weather returns and the wood expands again. We've cut out a two-square-foot area of budding decay in the main house roof -- thanks to some Heath Robinson patching round a wood-stove chimney in Alishoni's previous life. (What did we do in the pre-multi-tool era?). We've stripped out and rebuilt the above-deck transom; the 5/8" solid fibreglass of the upper hull, ineffectually supported by a few skins of decayed plywood, had evidently been unequal to past backstay loads. We've beefed it up with four epoxied layers of glass mat and roving alternating with five layers of ply, all individually sealed in epoxy. It's good, after months of tearing stuff out, to be at last in positive territory. If nothing else, these months of intimacy with Alishoni have revealed a classic boat that despite indifferent care is in sound shape. It's a pleasure working in company with impressive traditional craftsmanship. There's a daunting amount of work still to do. |
Above R: New upholstery. Old skipper.
L: New dining table -- eastern and garry oak, English walnut inlay.
-   New teak turtle hatch added ....and the hatch under construction in the workshop |
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 New stainless freshwater tank installed. The hold-down straps are glassed-in. |
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 New galley, companionway & engine hatch. New nav desk panel & quarter-berth |
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 New tiller, laminated from Vancouver Island Douglas fir, eastern maple and wenge |
 Re-furbished cabin stern-end |
 New engine beds |
 .....and two more cockpit drains added |
 New quarter-berth, engine beds, instrument locker etc |
 The new fridge under construction. |
 Alishoni's cockpit -- in a sad state from rot caused by poor drainage. |
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 The mess after the old Sabb was removed. |
 .....and as it looks now. |
 At work on the ruddder |
 The rudder spruced up with new bronze pins, new quarter-sawn oak cheeks and abrasion damage repaired on the heel. |
 Alishoni above-deck. We're getting there. |
 Only a shed-full of gear to get back on board! |
 What to do with fresh-water storage? We took out the old galvanised steel full-length tank -- with a capacityof only 30gal. The lead brick in the middle will have to be removed if we want to increase it. |
 Old thru-hulls filled in. The left-hand one, on the water-line, was for the engine exhaust. It's being raised out of danger. |
 A six-inch hole was cut in the integral fibreglass diesel tank so that it could be pressure-washed and fitted with an inspection plate. |
 The diesel tank after pressure-washing. |
 Removal of the rudder for overhaul. The upper pin was firmly seized in the cast bronze gudgeon and was finally cut out. |
 A bench in the cockpit reduces the number of trips up and down the ladder to the shop. |
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The drain for the new lazarette, built in teak.
The inner frame for the new lazarette. Two beams were cut and bridged to adjacent ones.
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Under the cockpit in Alishoni's stern. Before access
via the new lazarette it's difficult to see how the two cockpit drain
thru-hulls could have been accessed in an emergency. Next step is to
remove all this, including the muffler, for renewal. |
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 Bow taped for caulking |
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 The new bowsprit -- laminated from three pieces of quarter -sawn old-growth Douglas fir & glued with resorcinol |
 New bowsprit shoe -- fabricated from 1/4 inch 316 stainless steel |
 Alishoni is hauled out at Canoe Cove, Sidney, Vancouver Island. |
 En route from San Juan Island to Vancouver Island. |
 Unloading the new arrival at Ian Laval's Brentwood Bay workshop. |
 Alishoni at her former Friday Harbour Berth. |
 Alishoni's 18hp Sabb diesel |
 The engine beds |
 Alishoni's saloon -- and the cramped passageway between galley and head. Changes are afoot. |
 Galley (left and head (right) are now dismantled. The head is being moved forward to give better working space. |
 Alishoni's hefty stainless steel cranse iron and Douglas fir spreaders. |
 The chainplates -- mounted on the bulwarks to avoid penetration of the deck. |
 Saloon house corner-post -- common place for leakages. |
 Teak-faced cabin sole ready to lift before removingthe water tanks. Boards are numbered for eventual replacement. |
 The old bowsprit -- bolted to the deck, trapping moisture which led to decay. |
 Alishoni's tall aluminium mast with single spreaders. Changes are being considered. |
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January 2014. New starboard
cockpit lazarette in place. Work is ongoing to deal with rot in the
port-side after end of the cockpit -- caused by water leaking from the
deck between 3/4-inch ply walls of the well and glass covering. A manual
bilge pump in the floor of the well has been permanently removed. The
diesel fill, in the forward end of the cockpit floor, is also being
moved on deck. The new lazarette gives access to the after end below
deck, including cockpit through-hulls.
