There is a pattern to boat restoration best expressed by a graph that I have heard Boffin Derek down the yard call an exponential decay curve. The easiest bit, or anyway the most obvious, is the hull. That and the accommodation and the rig can be accomplished in big lumps.
These major works represent the early part of the graph curve as it roars down the paper like a surfer on a tsunami, the amount remaining to be done decreasing rapidly with every day that passes. A fierce euphoria seizes the bodger. Onward, he cries, hanging up the spokeshave and reaching for the varnish brush and the thinners. On goes the goop, coat after coat, until he can see his reflection in it, wearing a cheesy grin of foolish pride.…
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Practical Boat Owner (Digital) - 1 Issue, August 2020