Aeron Class Lifeboat

September 2024

Oh no! After last month I thought I was home and dry with my rebuild.  But when I first set sail I found out that I was far from it! I discovered that the hull was leaking from the starboard side rudder shaft. Not being brave enough to undertake major surgery on my pride-and-joy  Doc Peter Farrell kindly stepped in with his Dremel and ground away the lug under the shaft, cleaned it and then put fibreglass resin around before smoothing it off. After about fifteen minutes we  launched her back on the pond and it was a success.

The Lifeboat's fitted with twin rudders which are difficult to access and make a permanent  repair so Pete offered even more surgery.  

We came back to the club one Sunday morning to cut out a large section of the fibreglass deck. The weather was horrendous with heavy rain and gales and it was very dark but we bit the bullet and went for it. The deck panel once removed decided it would go completely out of shape which meant we weren’t happy with it so Pete made a new panel to fit the opening.  I’ll refit this new panel and fix it onto the top cover which will go over the joint line and provide a watertight seal.  Maybe then I’ll be home and dry!

July 2024

I bought this boat back in 2010 with a view tidying it up.  When I took it out of my garage  14 years later it’d been transformed into a shipwreck : a major restoration project!

So, about 4 months ago, I set about dismantling it.  I removed all of the deck and sanded the hull down using 1200 wet and dry paper.  Then the big job of masking everything off before spraying it with Simoniz Acrylic Red Oxide Primer.  I gave it three  coats, rubbing down between each with 1200 paper.

I then painted the deck in Dark Sea Grey not  realising that it was about to rain.  When I went back to it the rain had ruined my lovely paintwork so I had to rub it all down again and repaint it.  Another lesson learned!

For the stanchions I cut 4mm dia brass tubing into 24mm lengths and embedded them into the deck 12mm deep.

The running gear seemed fine but 

the wiring was a bit of a mess.  With a a little help from Paul White (actually he he did all the electrics) she was rewired and shipshape.

I’ve now completed most of the superstructure and looking forward to seeing her on the pond soon.

I'm really grateful to Paul and other other members for giving me tips and support throughout this project.  I don't think I’d have managed this at all without help from Club members.