A refit for Sea Miste
Sea Miste becomes ours in 1993
When Sea Miste came into our ownership in late 1993 we knew that she had enjoyed ten years of very caring ownership. Her mahogany coachroof coamings and teak and mahogany cockpit were well painted and varnished and her smooth bottom had recently been stripped and treated with a VC epoxy finish and Teflon antifouling.
In our first season we spent a month in the Channel Islands and Brittany identifying a number of things we wanted to do before putting her into refit at Darthaven, where some of Sue and Jack Holman’s men from the Twister building period at Uphams still worked. Sea Miste came home from Dartmouth with several improvements and her topsides restored. They remain today in the original gelcoat.
Time takes its toll
Over the intervening years time had taken its toll of her varnish work and in 1999 we stripped and refinished the cockpit varnish but found some softness in the painted external coaming which was clearly allowing damp to penetrate through to the varnished inner coamings.
We had felt a big refit coming on for some time and the trigger for this was that last year we realised that the varnish on the coachroof coamings had reached the end of its life and should be stripped. We decided to have the coachroof comings varnished professionally over the winter in a heated shed and to use the opportunity to have a thorough look at the cockpit corners.
Time for a refit
So last September saw Sea Miste going into the shed at her home yard of Yarmouth Marine Service on the Isle of Wight. We had some further jobs on our work list which we thought better to leave to the yard. So initially YMS quoted for removing the windows and re-varnishing the coachroof, re-chroming the stanchion bases and fitting new teak feet and new lifelines. Below decks the grab rails in the forecabin and the associated fascia were to be refixed, the gas system overhauled, a new bilge pump fitted and twin 1 ½ inch cockpit drains with new Blake’s sea cocks installed (something we should have done long ago!).
In the shed work the painter started work on the coachroof which was stripped and best efforts made to remove any stains after which it was allowed to become thoroughly dry. When sanded the mahogany had a beautiful pale pink colour and apart from one earlier repair the structure was found to be sound, with not too much staining for its thirty two years.
Checking the cockpit
Meanwhile the shipwright checked over the cockpit. The situation was much as we had thought. Each corner of the cockpit coaming had a small soft area drawing damp into the varnish. One corner was bad enough to have caused a small leak into the galley. Otherwise the structure was in good condition.
Time to make some decisions. We didn’t linger because doing nothing was not an option and localised repairs, though perhaps effective, would have been unacceptably unsightly. The decision was taken to replace the coamings but as this would involve removing the seats we had a further choice as to whether or not to reinstall the original seats or fit new material.
When Sea Miste was built the cockpit was constructed of a mix of high quality teak faced ply, solid teak and mahogany. After thirty two years it was the mahogany external coaming that had got wet under its white paint and had begun to rot. The teak faced ply internal coaming had begun to stain because of the penetrating damp and there were soft spots. The ply seats showed slight damp penetration and were in any case partly covered with old Trackmark which had become rather scruffy.
The coamings and seats were removed revealing the framework of the cockpit which was found to be perfectly sound. These areas were treated with preservative and painted. We decided to replace the seats and the bridge deck so that apart from the port and starboard teak cappings, which we re-used, the cockpit was all new above the level of the well.
Materials and costs are discusssed
Discussion with the yard as to material options and costs were helpful on both. The cockpit was to be rebuilt in varnished solid teak. The seats and bridge deck would be bare laid teak over a wood epoxy substrate. The longitudinal beams under the deck, which support the comings, were to be replaced in iroko for longevity. We also agreed to the yard’s suggestion that mushroom ventilators were fitted on the after deck to ensure a good air flow through the lockers.
Work gets going
Work got underway and we were immediately impressed
by the craftsmanship of the shipwright and the high standards
set by the yard manager. Our visits to the yard were a pleasure
as
we watched our boat being given such care. There were many detailed
decisions to be made as the job progressed and this involved
us in the work to a surprising degree. We also spent a week at
the
yard painting and polishing while another boat was dealt with
and were made very welcome.
Sea Miste was in the shed for over five months so that the varnishing could be done in as dust free an atmosphere as a traditional yard can achieve before the rebuilding work on the cockpit was started. The yard’s painter managed to produce a high standard of finish, which should, with normal maintenance, keep its appearance for many years to come.
Sea Miste revitalised
Sea Miste is now afloat and looks beautiful. The new woodwork
is to a higher specification than the original and seems to give
her a more solid appearance. Perhaps because we know it has been
built with particular regard to longevity and durability and because
we have also strengthened and improved so much elsewhere, the boat
feels stronger and more modern. We view her still as our dear old
Sea Miste but with so much unweathered bare teak, glossy varnish
and new shiny metal about she looks what she is, a much loved classic.
The season beckons…
Philip and Cathie Collcutt
Sea Miste of Hamble