3 Tonner

Hi John

Have been trying to find some time to write and give you an update on our boat Celtic Lass but, like everyone else this time of year it has been difficult to prioritise.

It is likely that we will change her name for various reasons. Kenny is Scottish and gets frustrated by the religious innuendos of the word Celtic, it has already been frequently mispronounced. Also we are a family of 4K's - Kenny, Karen, Kerry and Kieran, so the letter K figures strongly in our household. For this reason we thought it might be appropriate to rename her 'Keltic Klass'. We keep the theme and some originality but we make it our own!

Have attached several photos for you which hopefully are self explanatory, but if you want to ask US anything please don't hesitate. There are a few from when we first took ownership in August and then motored her across to her new home (Kenny me and the children),

Once again, thank you so much for your welcome support and advice and we wish you and your family a very Happy Christmas and New Year.

Kindest Regards

Karen and Kenny Dec 05

The main news is that we sold our BMC engine, purchased the Yanmar 2GM that I think Kenny had notified to you and on a particularly unforgiving stormy weekend a few weeks back we hired a crane to lift one out and lower the other onto the boat. I have enclosed a few pictures for you of this operation as well as a few of our boat as she is at the moment.

It was quite a logistical feat as the previous owner had replaced the roof with a non hatch/ fixed option and Kenny actually had to cut this to allow crane access. Our Marina locals were really helpful. We motored over to the crane site (and she moved without any trouble at all), the next day our buyers travelled down from Lincolnshire to meet us on site and we achieved the lift without incident. We utilised the crane time to drop our new engine on board to save any awkward lifting later on. We then got a tow back. The weather was appalling but that's the next stage completed.

That's as far as we have got so far as we just haven't had any time to progress the fitting. I note you said in an earlier reply that many owners have changed engines. Although Kenny is extremely competent we would never refuse any invaluable advice on fitting the Yanmar, especially from those with experience of such a project. If you have any info you think would be worth looking at before we do this in the New Year, or any web sites/ articles you can recommend, we would really appreciate it. We have already located a full copy of the Yanmar engine manual which we have downloaded.

The space now cleared by the BMC is amazing and will now allow us to have a really good look at how best to refurbish inside.

Left, he old BMC in situ, being lifted out to make room for the new Yanmar.

I am having real problems getting insurance sorted out for Celtic Lass. I only wanted third party fire and theft at this stage but everyone is asking for a full survey before they will go ahead. Do you know of any appropriate Insurers we could perhaps use for basic cover until we have finished the work and can then get a survey done?

Look at the Advisors page or the gear that works pages, there is the contact details of Powells there. they arranged a restorers or builders insurance for me

The inside after we got our hands on it!,

She has lovely portholes and the covers look like they could be brass but are in quite a state. Any useful suggestions on how I might be able to restore them? I don't mind using elbow grease if that's what's needed but on the bits we tried I'm not making any impact. Would we need to get them dipped or something similar? They need to be removed anyway as the glass is crazed and needs replacing but they are such a lovely feature I really don't want to replace them with anything modern.

Any ideas anyone? I have taken then to metal finishers, the sort of people who polish golf clubs etc.. they make a good job of them, otherwise a buffer and some paste on an electric drill, thats how I polish my prop every year.... John

I have attached a pic of the varnished base plate that we have just got made out of Mahogany to replace the old one. See pics.

It looks really good and too good for the boat now! I glossed it with the proper stuff three times and rubbed down in-betweens.

On the final coat yesterday I got a small run on the edge but this will cut out once fully hard. (You can just see it in the picture). I was annoyed at this as I am quite a good painter when I put my mind to it? The varnish will continue to soak and shrink on and into the wood so I will give it a final coat in a few days or so.

I have just sourced a drive coupling for the new Yanmar engine and need to pick this up in Portsmouth. Then I need to get it turned out to about an inch and an eighth. All takes time and I can’t get enough of that at the mo. But things are moving in the right direction at least. I am reconditioning the mast heel at the moment and stripping paint off the boom ready for re-paint or other…?

I am also going to get steel support plates together/made for the final bolting of the mast plate, heel and under deck rigid support. Getting the mast up and refurbished and the engine running are our two vital tasks at the moment. After that I will be able to get stuck into the joinery and make her rain tight etc.

Anyway many thanks for your support and effort. Just a quick note to let you know what’s going on.

Kind regards

Kenny and Karen

What a nice looking bit of joinery and varnishing! If the standard is kept up you will have the rest of us looking seriously at our paintwork and varnish too!

	Hi John Have been trying to find some time to write and give you an update on our boat Celtic Lass but, like everyone else this time of year it has been difficult to prioritise. It is likely that we will change her name for various reasons. Kenny is Scottish and gets frustrated by the religious innuendos of the word Celtic, it has already been frequently mispronounced. Also we are a family of 4K's - Kenny, Karen, Kerry and Kieran, so the letter K figures strongly in our household. For this reason we thought it might be appropriate to rename her 'Keltic Klass'. We keep the theme and some originality but we make it our own! Have attached several photos for you which hopefully are self explanatory, but if you want to ask US anything please don't hesitate. There are a few from when we first took ownership in August and then motored her across to her new home (Kenny me and the children), Once again, thank you so much for your welcome support and advice and we wish you and your family a very Happy Christmas and New Year. Kindest Regards Karen and Kenny Dec 05

	The main news is that we sold our BMC engine, purchased the Yanmar 2GM that I think Kenny had notified to you and on a particularly unforgiving stormy weekend a few weeks back we hired a crane to lift one out and lower the other onto the boat. I have enclosed a few pictures for you of this operation as well as a few of our boat as she is at the moment. It was quite a logistical feat as the previous owner had replaced the roof with a non hatch/ fixed option and Kenny actually had to cut this to allow crane access. Our Marina locals were really helpful. We motored over to the crane site (and she moved without any trouble at all), the next day our buyers travelled down from Lincolnshire to meet us on site and we achieved the lift without incident. We utilised the crane time to drop our new engine on board to save any awkward lifting later on. We then got a tow back. The weather was appalling but that's the next stage completed. That's as far as we have got so far as we just haven't had any time to progress the fitting. I note you said in an earlier reply that many owners have changed engines. Although Kenny is extremely competent we would never refuse any invaluable advice on fitting the Yanmar, especially from those with experience of such a project. If you have any info you think would be worth looking at before we do this in the New Year, or any web sites/ articles you can recommend, we would really appreciate it. We have already located a full copy of the Yanmar engine manual which we have downloaded. The space now cleared by the BMC is amazing and will now allow us to have a really good look at how best to refurbish inside. Left, he old BMC in situ, being lifted out to make room for the new Yanmar.

	I am having real problems getting insurance sorted out for Celtic Lass. I only wanted third party fire and theft at this stage but everyone is asking for a full survey before they will go ahead. Do you know of any appropriate Insurers we could perhaps use for basic cover until we have finished the work and can then get a survey done? Look at the Advisors page or the gear that works pages, there is the contact details of Powells there. they arranged a restorers or builders insurance for me

	The inside after we got our hands on it!,

	She has lovely portholes and the covers look like they could be brass but are in quite a state. Any useful suggestions on how I might be able to restore them? I don't mind using elbow grease if that's what's needed but on the bits we tried I'm not making any impact. Would we need to get them dipped or something similar? They need to be removed anyway as the glass is crazed and needs replacing but they are such a lovely feature I really don't want to replace them with anything modern. Any ideas anyone? I have taken then to metal finishers, the sort of people who polish golf clubs etc.. they make a good job of them, otherwise a buffer and some paste on an electric drill, thats how I polish my prop every year.... John

	I have attached a pic of the varnished base plate that we have just got made out of Mahogany to replace the old one. See pics. It looks really good and too good for the boat now! I glossed it with the proper stuff three times and rubbed down in-betweens. On the final coat yesterday I got a small run on the edge but this will cut out once fully hard. (You can just see it in the picture). I was annoyed at this as I am quite a good painter when I put my mind to it? The varnish will continue to soak and shrink on and into the wood so I will give it a final coat in a few days or so. I have just sourced a drive coupling for the new Yanmar engine and need to pick this up in Portsmouth. Then I need to get it turned out to about an inch and an eighth. All takes time and I can’t get enough of that at the mo. But things are moving in the right direction at least. I am reconditioning the mast heel at the moment and stripping paint off the boom ready for re-paint or other…? I am also going to get steel support plates together/made for the final bolting of the mast plate, heel and under deck rigid support. Getting the mast up and refurbished and the engine running are our two vital tasks at the moment. After that I will be able to get stuck into the joinery and make her rain tight etc. Anyway many thanks for your support and effort. Just a quick note to let you know what’s going on. Kind regards Kenny and Karen What a nice looking bit of joinery and varnishing! If the standard is kept up you will have the rest of us looking seriously at our paintwork and varnish too!