Floors continued...

   Got a good days work in today, it felt pretty good having thought about it all week.  Have come to one dead end after another trying to find decent kauri in useful sizes, so have decided to press on with substitutes and use the real thing  - when I can find it - for the bright finished joinery only.  I used some nice kauri for a couple of cross floors, and regret it now as they'll be painted and hidden under the floorboards ultimately.  Bought some mahogany from BBS which will do the trick, actually it still seems a shame to paint over this, but at least it's readily available.
   First job was to give the rest of the aft floors (one new, one existing) two coats of CPES, and three coats for all the aft ribs as they are a bit average in places.  Next I chiseled and planed away a raised lip at the base of the aft bulkhead.  Any lingering doubts that this was an original feature were erased when I found it was fastened with two stainless screws, one bronze screw, and one copper nail.

Glueing kauri plugs into the midships floor, the engine beds
didn't come this far back.

Two new floors rough-sawn.

   Had an epiphany this week mulling over the engine beds.  The plan is to relocate them to their original position, which was slightly closer together than the later ones.  This was apparent looking at the plugged holes in the planks, and the modifications to the floor timbers.  What was not so apparent is why the aft-most floor was notched for the wider engine beds but didn't seem to have been altered at any point.  The answer finally dawned on me - the original engine beds didn't extend back that far, they stopped one floor further forward.  They would have been lengthened when the Cortina motor went in during the 70's to cope with the extra power.  So, today I plugged the notches in the floor in question.  Also removed the prop shaft and cut out two new mahogany floors to replace the ones that Peter had removed.  These will need final fitting and new bronze bolts.

Owners Past

April 9th.  Took advantage of having a conference in Rotorua and arranged to call on Jado's last owner (in a functioning state, at least), John "JD" Donald of Lake Tarawera.  John has a spectacular spot on the northern side of the lake, a property purchased 70 years ago by his grandfather, with a jetty and mooring where Jado was once kept.  He was very generous with his time, leafing through piles of photos and giving me a tour of the dozens more on the walls - along with the mounted stag heads!  He thought he may have the tiller - this will be the second one made for Euan in the 80's - but couldn't find it at the time.  It was good to hear first-hand his stories of "Fishing Machine" (as he called her) and her eventual loss.

  From there I had a quick feed in Rotorua then on to Whakatane to see Bill Carter, an expert wooden boatbuilder and custodian of Jado after the storm damage.  Bill had casually hinted that he might have the original  bollard somewhere, and this he duly produced!  He also dug out some photos taken both on Tarawera and after the damage, all very interesting to see how JD had her set up.  Also interesting to hear from JD how little he may have changed her after buying her from Euan.  Stern seat and copper tanks were a complete surprise to him, although he did convert her from tiller steer to a stainless lever mounted in the centre thwart.  Bill also kindly gave me a copy of an older picture of Jado's predecessor - another very similar Vos-built launch with JD's father on board.  All in all a very worthwhile journey.

The original fairlead has been located.  I had always suspected it was with Peter Murton and now have proof - it's on another boat he is advertising for sale!  I have sent the one he included with the boat back down to him (on the 3rd) and am waiting to hear back.  The only other missing deck hardware - now long gone - will be the pair of stern cleats.