Deck down

Today, the two halves of the mould were reunited again. That is, the deck got bonded to the hull. Quite a moment. Not many 32s have laid decks, and of course this is the first to have a Kebony laid deck, and it looks beautiful. It was quite surreal to see the deck suspended a foot above the hull with Jeremy and John Osey busy down below fixing things. I was so glad it wasn't my job to make sure the two halves fitted - because once you've committed there really is no going back. How amazing to be witnessing the evolution of the boat like this. There is still a lot to be done before the Southampton Boat Show, 10th September, but Jeremy seems relatively calm so either he's a good actor, or it's all under control!

The nose knows

The latest job on the list in the building of Calypso is the laying of the cabin sole which Jeremy has been working on and the laying of the deck by one of the team, David Wreyford. Both are very skilled jobs and it's very rare nowadays for a deck to be laid like this. The guys are using two new products in this job, the teak replacement, Kebony and a new, solvent-free sealant called Saba which also doesn't "go off" in the tube, dramatically cutting down on waste. I was curious to know how David was finding using the Kebony; "fine", he said, "much like teak - but it's got a funny smell"! I have to say, I really like it. Now, when you open the door to the yard a strong smell of mollases fills the air (it comes from the sugar industry bi-product used in the process of making Kebony). I think it will settle down once it's not being sanded and it's varnished with the linseed based Le Tonkinois varnish. To the untrained nose, it all makes a welcome change from the normal boat yard smells.