A ministry of defence rigid raider in action.

This is what I hope my boat looks like in the end in terms of layout. I'm not sure about the colour yet, Might use her for a season then change it to yellow with a blue deck and blue under the waterline.

The previous owner has added some extra fibre glass to the lower lines of the hull to protect it.

Took ages with a pressure washer and scraper to remove the old red antifoul paint.

Lots of tiny scratches, stress cracks, gouges, holes and poor quality repairs to tend to.

Boy, sometimes I look at this hull and wonder if I should have walked away! I drove a fourteen hour round trip to get it!

the previous owner fitted this to aid with anchoring. If you anchor this boat from above gunnel height it tends to pull the bow down, so the simple answer was to glass in an eye nearer to the waterline at the bow and attatch the anchor line to that.

This "pitting" is found in many places on the hull.

Not the best repair you will ever see!

Will leave the transom for now..
I can't see the point in making it look nice till I determine whether or not i'm gonna replace it.

Boy, I bet this hull could tell some stories, lol!

If I find the foam is waterlogged I'll be glassing in a new deck. Due to such little freeboard, a stainless steel double handrail is to be fabricated as I plan to fish from this boat in the North Sea.

Here's where the satisfaction comes steaming along. Gonna get the first gloss coat on tomorrow.

Hard to believe thats the same boat. Gotta good feeling about this project now!

That leftover drainage pipe comes in handy to stand the boat on, lol.

Modern she aint, but she's mine and she's paid for!

Should give an "interesting" ride at 30 knots.

This is going to be the next big job. the hull is rated to 140hp. I bout a late 70's/early 80's Evinrude v4 140 to sit on here and as I'm pretty sure there's gotta be some rot in here, it's gotta have a new one. Steep learning curve, as a carpenter I'm told I'd make a great plumber, lol!!!

As you can see, the hull painting is finally completed inside and out. I am also part way into building a double centre console out of marine ply/orroco hardwood. This will house 2x12v batteries, obviously the steering helm, throttle controls, ignition including dead man, fishfinder, GPS, Compass, DSC VHS and temp gauge and rev counter. In addition it provides seating in front of the helm for two and a huge waterproof storage compartment. True, a carpenter I am not, but I am practicle, lol!!!

Just drilled to check for rot in the transom. Figured there would be, don't you just hate it when your right, lol. Gott replace it now before I can put the outboard on. (weighs about 200 kilos)

Gonna make some changes inside the deck to provide a little more walkaround space when the floor gets replaced.

Replacing this transom will really help to tidy up the overall appearance of the boat too!

Part-way through removing the old wet & rotten ply from the transom from the top. Have come to the conclusion that this is an impossible task with the tools I have access to. Decided to remove the outer skin which I was really hoping to avoid.

I made the seat from two old caravan cushions I had lying around. Simply cut a piece of ply slightly smaller than I wanted the cushion and took both pieces to a local car coachbuilder. All that remains to do is to screw them from inside the console, making sure the screws go through far enough to secure the ply, without sticking out of the cushion.

Just gotta connect the cables now and have started to cut holes in the dash for 12v plug in supplys and instrumentation. I've also fitted a waterproof storage compartment for mobile phones, flare etc.

(Insert New Description)

(Insert New Description)

(Insert New Description)