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My ship, - "Kit Yu"

- a classic Nordic Folk boat -

- activities during 3rd. year continuing upgrading -

This is a little bit embarrassing - - -
I have now over three years worked on an extensive examination and upgrading of "Kit Yu", - and I really expected to do it all in just one season, - but now after 3 years I am still not finished! (But almost!!!)
See here what was done in 2011 - - - -

2010-11-16.007
"Kit Yu" in the middle of november 2010, - recently taken out of the water for winter storage.
The frame for her winter cover is in place - - -
(Photography © Karsten Petersen)

2010-12-06.003
- here "Kit Yu" photographed in snow in December 2010, - well protected in her winter house.
(Photography © Karsten Petersen)

2011-04-19.01
Finally!!! Spring time again, - April 2011, - and "Kit Yu" can be freed from her winter protection cover.
Now work can start, - and painting rusty spots on the iron keel is already in progress.
(Photography © Karsten Petersen)

2011-04-25.03
Here some unscheduled work came up!

All four bull eyes have so far been absolutely watertight with not a drop of water coming in, - neither from rain nor sea spray -, but when tightening the screws for the frames around the bull eyes, some screws just turned, and turned, and turned - - -
Obviously the grip in the underlying wood had been lost, and therefore I decided that I'd better have a look, so that future disasters with eventual water penetration could be avoided . (Photography © Karsten Petersen)

2011-04-25.02

Here is what the bull eyes looked like when stripped from its frame! And indeed, - there really was some extra work coming up if I wanted to make a proper job, instead of repairing it with some sealing compound. (Photography © Karsten Petersen)

2011-04-25.09

Here is what it looked like after scraping and cleaning, and in addition all the old screw holes have been drilled out and plugged with teak wood plugs. Then comes some varnish, - and after that glass and frame will be refitted with new screws that hopefully will get a good grip! (Photography © Karsten Petersen)

2011-04-28.03

Late April, - and "Kit Yu" has got her first coat of bottom paint. The openings for the bull eyes have now all been cleaned and varnished, and are now waiting for being refitted with glasses and frames. (Photography © Karsten Petersen)

2011-05-10.02

Now we are in early May 2011, - and the reconditioned bull eyes are all back in place and in good shape, - the bottom painted and the upper hull and superstructure have been varnished. From the outside "Kit Yu" starts to look quite good now - - - (Photography © Karsten Petersen)

2011-05-03.01

- - - but now my attention was drawn to the inner hull, - forward and mid ship section. These sections I did not manage to properly inspect and paint during last years activities, but now was the time to finish the job - - - -
The woodwork proved to be in excellent condition with no signs of rot, - and as you can see -, the original coating with red lead is still almost intact.
Red lead has for long time been prohibited in Denmark because of it's detrimental effect on marine life, and therefore I could not just clean and scrape the inner hull, - and then apply a new coat of red lead. I had to find some other type of coating to use instead of the red lead. (Photography © Karsten Petersen)

2011-05-08.04

Here is one of the forward bottom sections after cleaning and scraping off all loose red lead, - and then coated with Hempel's Platin Primer. Platin Primer should be well suited for old wooden boats. We will see! What Platin Primer is made from I do not know, but it smells like if it contains tar, so who knows? Could be good stuff if it is partly based on tar, - a traditional and proven coating for wooden boats.
I use the same coating for priming the outer bottom, - and so far so good. (Photography © Karsten Petersen)

2011-05-08.06
Here an even more forward section of the inner hull after scraping, cleaning and coating.
(Photography © Karsten Petersen)

2011-05-08.07
And here the forward section just before the main cabin section.
(Photography © Karsten Petersen)

2011-05-08.10

A final look into the cleaned, scraped and coated bottom of forward hull section.
Take note of the aft plywood bulkhead and battery box to the starboard. I removed this non original bulkhead and battery box, - and placed the battery in a lower position, - mid ships -, in the center line of the boat. See following picture - - - - (Photography © Karsten Petersen)

2011-07-10.003

Here the new battery in it's new compartment. It is a gel type battery, - completely sealed -, and well suited for a sail boat, that never sits straight in the water when under sail. As you can tell, - this compartment has not yet been cleaned, scraped and painted with Platin Primer.
Well, - next year? Maybe - - - - (Photography © Karsten Petersen)

2011-05-08.01
But here is the first section in the bottom of the main cabin! FINISHED!!!!! :-)
(Photography © Karsten Petersen)

2011-07-01.016

Now to something completely different! Since I installed a new battery in a new battery compartment, i decided to rewire the whole boat! I were not so happy abut the original wires that looked quite thin, - something like 1 or 1 1/2 mm square -, and in order to be sure that I did not loose too much power in the system , I decided to go for 2,5 mm square. This was because I also decided to mount permanently installed navigation lights! I had only one stern light, but no starboard and port navigation lights, - and it has happened more than once, that I barely made it into port before the sun set. And that is no good, - and illegal -, to navigate in the dark without approved navigation lights.
Therefore, - out with the old cables, - and in with better ones! And then I used this opportunity also to change the switchboard with a proper pre made panel that suited the boats requirements.
Above picture shows the back side of this new switchboard before I mounted it.
Unfortunately I forgot to photograph the old one, - but it was a rather non-professional run-down thing with some rusty on-off switches drilled into a plywood plate. (Photography © Karsten Petersen)

2011-07-10.005

And here is the nice, new main switchboard with a sturdy on/off switch to connect it with the battery. There are 3 switches: The top one is for a 12V power outlet that goes to the cockpit. Then I can sit in the cockpit and connect a navigator, a searchlight, a radio, - or whatever 12 V appliances I would like to use with the boats battery.
The next switch is for the navigation lights.
And the lower switch is for the cabin light! And this is all I need! Great! (Photography © Karsten Petersen)

2011-05-11.01

Now, - I mentioned above, that I already had a stern light. However, - although in working order, it was not in a too good condition, and since I also wanted to install permanent starboard and port navigation lights, I decided to change it and get a new one in the same style as the starboard and port lantern.
But that gave certain problems!
There are "thousands" of approved lantern types for at boat of this size, - but I could NOT find a set of lanterns that suited a classic old lady like "Kit Yu"!
Plastic is of course banned on my boat, and lanterns made of chromed steel plate do also not suit such a classic beauty.
BIG problems! But apparently nothing suitable was available in Denmark, which is sort of embarrassing taking the Danish maritime history and culture into consideration. But the rescue came from good old England, where a shop had a set of lanterns that suited perfectly, - and was approved for a boat of "Kit Yu's" size - - - -
The lanterns were originally manufactured in Italy, - and made from solid gun metal! Fantastic! Perfect! Beautiful!
And here on above picture is the stern light after mounting - - - - (Photography © Karsten Petersen)

2011-05-11.04
Here a close up view of the Italian gun metal starboard lantern, - bought in England!
Exactly the kind of light that "Kit Yu" needs, - and makes an old sailor happy!
(Photography © Karsten Petersen)

2011-07-25.002

Here's another "new" thing for 2012! A real solid brass barometer that suits "Kit Yu", since plastic is banned!
I write "new" in quotation marks because the brass barometer is in fact not new. I have had it for some time, but it has just been lying around, but now it has finally been permanently mounted at a place easy to see.
Take note of the "fish".
It is a shark, - with real shark's teeth -, made from some exotic wood from Henderson Island, and it is carved for me by a descendant from the "Bounty" mutiners in Pitcairn Island, which I have had the good fortune to visit a couple of times. (Photography © Karsten Petersen)

2011-05-15.05
Mid May 2011! "Kit Yu" with motor mounted, - newly painted, - and ready to get launched!
(Photography © Karsten Petersen)

2011-05-16.09
And here we go! "Kit Yu" hanging in the straps, - fenders out, - and me guiding her with a rope attached to the stern!
Now rigging and new adventures are waiting!
(Photography © Kit Yu Tao)

Now, - before continuing to the next page, I HAVE to show you this traditional, solid oak bucket, which I use for storing my anchor rope and chain.
This bucket is of course not a part of "Kit Yu", and have nothing to do with her upgrading, - but it is a part of her equipment, and it replaces the previously used plastic bucket, which gave me sore eyes, because I HATE plastic.
With this traditional marine style oak bucket, - hand made by Kristian Pedersen -, I am a happy sailor again, and do NOT get sore eyes anymore because of ugly plastic. Now it is a JOY to prepare for anchoring, when this beautiful bucket is in use, - and every time I see it I think of Kristian, - the master craftsman who made it for me, - and made "Kit Yu" even more beautiful.

To be Continued on page 6

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Page initiated: Feb.02.2012