Practical Boat Owner - July 2018

the hull the next stage was to begin work
on the starboard side. By hammering out
the old roves the planking sections were
removed in as few pieces as possible so
they could be used as templates to shape
the replacement timbers. This exposed
the state of the timber frames beneath
with their joggled recesses to locate each
layer of planking.
Replacement timbers were fitted working
from the bow downwards, a job made all
the more difficult because most of the
frames were rotten and many of the
stringers had long since fallen out.
Abbey’s greatest nightmare was cutting
and shaping the new planks, often having
to guess that she had the outlines and
angles correct. She was planning and
carving geralds, lands and difficult reverse
gerald joins by guesswork dimensions in
the hope that each timber section would
locate correctly in the complex jigsaw of
the hull planking.
In hindsight Abbey says now that using
the original planks as templates was
probably unnecessary: Peggotty had been
repaired so many times in the past that
the shapes of the old timbers were far
from original. Taking some five weeks to
complete the planking from garboard to the
top of her stern, running the full length of

the boat, her starboard side was re-skinned.

Abbey then moved on to the port side

which proved to be in even worse

condition than starboard: with the

exception of a few of the top bow planks

she had to replace everything including

the frames and stringers.

Once she’d planked to a point halfway

up the hull steam, bending each

replacement piece and locating it in

position was the next major undertaking.

At this point the search went out for

suitably ‘wet’ timber and several deliveries

of wood were returned to the supplier

as being too dry. Finally, a section of

freshly cut and sawn oak was deemed

suitable. Even so, the timber was still

given a week’s soaking in the Thames

before it was considered ready to meet

the steam bending tunnel. With the new

frames in place Abbey could then

complete the work of planking up the hull,

creating reverse geralds and using her

rebate plane to create the perfect landing

for adjoining planks. This in turn ensured

that the lines of Peggotty’s hull swept

round in a perfect convex curve from bow

to transom as it did in 1937.

The final section proved to be the most

difficult to shape and fit sitting right

underneath Peggotty’s rubbing strake. At

13ft long and located at the most crucial

curve of Peggotty’s hull form it tapered

from 3.5in at the bow end to 7in deep at

ABOVE Boatbuilder Abbey Molyneux rebuilt

Pegotty at Dunkirk Little Ship specialist

Michael Dennett’s yard in Chertsey

LEFT Art nouveau patterned upholstery

adds to a bright feeling below decks

BELOW Bunks and beautiful varnishwork in

the aft stateroom

Peggotty’s restored wheelhouse

CLASSIC RESTORATION

‘I cannot fail to be impressed by the quality

of the craftsmanship originally used’