Seamaster 8 metre refurb

Please feel free to offer any comments, positive or negative, as they are all welcome and i will endeavour to reply to them all ASAP.

SeaMaster 8 Metre

The devil makes work for Idle hands is how the saying goes, and on an Autumn weekend in 2012 he fulfilled his promise in the WillieNelson household.

Sat in the cockpit of our beautiful Freeman 26 I had the strange notion that all the work planned for our cruiser had been done and all that was left was to keep on top of the previous work with cleaning and polishing etc.
The idea of a canal boat is to relax and let the world whizz by at whatever speed it wishes whilst we sit and enjoy the peaceful surroundings, but that is rarely the case.
For most boaters, either a cleaning cloth or paint/varnish brush is never far away, and the smell of canopy cleaner or boat wax fills the air on most weekends.

Having stated that I was in danger of getting bored and I was in need of a 'project', some friends of ours, (we'll call them Candy Cane and Rusty Nail), saw a boat for sale in the next marina to ours that looked like the term 'project' was designed for.
While she was obviously loved by the previous owners for 11 years, a growing family had forced the owners into (I think reluctantly) selling her on.
We had a look and while the structure appeared sound and the engine in good order, the whole thing simply needed a lot of TLC and some elbow grease.
Two weeks later and Cavalier, (a SeaMaster 8 metre), was ours and the work could begin in earnest.

This blog is to chart the 'improvements' as we go.

Here is our previous Freeman 26 in all her glory. 

And her is our 'new SeaMaster 8m feeling very sorry for herself.

Cavalier, as we bought her

After three weeks and many bottles of Dilunet and many sheets of wet & dry, the nasty blue deck paint was finally removed, along with Mrs Nelsons finger tips.

A number of leaks in the cabin were found and repaired, a gentle dip in the blue bow line was added but the hull was badly letting her down.

On our maiden voyage it became apparent that she had an aversion to turning left, having three left turns into her berth, mooring her was a feat in itself but we persevered and success followed, (without hitting anything), it was obvious the rudder needed checking.

There was nothing else for it but to have her out to check the rudder for damage and the hull for structural integrity.

Out she comes

The rudder and steering needed no more than adjustment, presumably due to a previous whack on the rear end but as for the exterior, cleaning, buffing and polishing was in order.

Father in Law kindly added the exterior wood for us to my own design based on the SeaMaster 27, corner fenders added, hull repainted with antifoul, blue lines repainted to the darker 'Brittania blue' and the name added to the stern.

Slightly altered bow line drop as per Mrs Nelson's instructions