Boating New Zealand — February 2018

104 Boating New Zealand

Sail handling systems received a major upgrade with a Profurl

headsail furler, new Lewmar winches, headsail and mainsail

travellers, cars, turning blocks and jammers. There are new

opening hatches throughout, along with dorade vents. A Maxwell

anchor windlass has a remote control switch in the cockpit for

hassle-free anchoring and the anchor locker was rebuilt.

One of many neat touches are the hardwood blocks beneath

each stanchion base raising them off the deck. This will prevent

freshwater leaks around the stanchion bolts into the yacht’s

structure, an all too common occurrence with timber yachts.

A number of GRP fittings were custom made including

winch handle holders, a pod over the companionway to house a

chartplotter and a recessed housing for the engine throttle/gear

lever in the starboard cockpit side.

After glassing, the entire boat was repainted in International

two-pack paints, but apart from the name there’s no graphics,

giving a refreshingly clean look. Below decks, the original interior

layout was largely retained apart from removing part of a bulkhead

aft of the galley/chart table area to open the area visually.

The heads compartment was completely rebuilt, then epoxy

coved, glassed and painted in two-pack, so it can be used as a

shower without the risk of rot. The remainder of the interior

was stripped back, before being painted in single pot paints and

varnishes. The saloon, with its crimson squabs, is very traditional.

The galley stove is now LPG fired and the LPG bottle has

been located in a dedicated cockpit locker. Any escaping

LPG drains into the cockpit and then overboard through the

transom opening.

The engine was replaced with a new, four-cylinder 38hp

Nanni diesel in the original position under the galley bench.

There’s also a new propeller shaft and dripless coupling and, on

the business end, a three-blade Kiwi propeller.

All the electrics are new including twin, higher amp-

hour batteries, tinned wiring, LED lighting, smart charging

system, comprehensive switch panel, stereo and full sailing

instrumentation, including twin chartplotters. One of these is

mounted in a custom GRP pod over the companionway – the

other is mounted downstairs at the chart table.

Typically for these restoration projects, both time and

financial budgets went out the window, but as Stephen Harland-

Smith points out, this project was never about money. Rather

it’s been about the couple restoring and protecting a family