Sabrina 3 Hull Renovation - Eastwood Whelpton

Sabrina 3

The boatbuilding team here at EW are passionate about their craft and always up for an interesting challenge. Every job is different and requires a specific skill set to meet the customers’ expectations.

The Brief:

Bea and Jacob were keen to incorporate modern methods and materials with traditional craftmanship on this project. Sabrina 3 is a traditional Norfolk River cruiser class yacht, built in the 1930s. She had been in the water for 3 full years (including 3 Winters) and the customer’s brief was to; rout out and repair the seams; repair the decking; and repair, sand and re-paint the hull.

The first task:

Remove the toe rails and rubbing strakes and then rout out the old caulking from the seams. After discussions with Sabrina’s owner, we decided to use a combination of epoxy and filler to replace the old caulking as we have done on our own River Cruiser Bootlegger in the Hire Fleet. The advantage being that this more modern approach is effective in making the seals water-tight and avoids the otherwise inevitable movement and cracking, leading to further maintenance in the near future on the paintwork. Longer term, this avoids rot setting in and for the owner, this means that his investment should last a decade, rather than needing further repairs & repaint in a couple of years as has been the case with the existing paint.

Next:

It was time for repairs to the fibre glass laminate deck, where needed. Then, it was time to sand the hull flush, plug any holes and begin the art of sanding and painting the hull. Using Epoxy shell paint means a waterproof result complementing the work done on the seams that again lasts longer, meaning less ongoing maintenance & cost. It is, however, a labour intensive process, the sanding and preparation being critical to the overall finished result.

And Finally:

With the water-line re-instated, the deck-re-gritted and the toe rails and rubbing strakes varnished and back on, it was time for Sabrina 3 to be returned to her owner. It is always wonderful to get positive feedback from our customers and Sabrina’s owner was no exception – “The attention to detail and thoroughness of this restoration is outstanding with no cutting of corners for a quick fix. I appreciate the time you have taken to preserve and restore where this has been possible.”