This post is about the restoration of the sailing boat 'Muendo'. She is a steel 40 foot (12.2 m) long, cutter rigged classic longkeel sailing boat. If somebody asks what type of boat it is, I never know what to say, as it is an unknown design. I found her in the Netherlands and she was in a state of neglect.
This is how I found her, photo: own
I had been looking around for a boat but never found what I was looking for, but when I saw the lines of Muendo, I knew I had to buy her. Obviously restoring her would be a long process with a lot of graft and money, but luckily I had quite a bit of time, and decided to go for it.
After stripping out the interior fully out, as nothing was worth keeping, I decided to have her completely sandblasted. As the steel was quite bent around the frames, a bit of expoxy fairing ensured that she looked smooth again.
after sandblasting and expoxy fairing
Then followed the best part of this process, the painting. The professional painters did a really good job, and soon she looked all shiny again.
Now it was time for the interior. By that time I realized that, although I could do everything myself, it would be much quicker for me to start working in my own profession and then pay for a professional carpenter to finish the interior. So I shipped the boat to Makkum in the Netherlands, where I found a carpenter ready to work on her interior.
In the end the interior was a lot of work and took a long time, but I think he did an excellent job. Especially the gunwale was hard to get right.
After the interior was more or less finished, it was time to get her back in the water, a big moment!
The next step was putting the mast back on, buying new sails, and install all the equipment. Then the biggest moment of all, raising the sails for the first time!
I will leave you with this picture of Muendo in one of the French Canals, on our way from the Netherlands to Italy. In my next post, I will tell you about that trip, that took a lot longer than expected....
@Ultrabiker
images are my own
Travel
Road less Travelled: Eritrea -- Somalia -- North korea -- Papua New Guinea (1) -- PNG (2)
Cycling
Global Cycling Network - Review
The toughest MTB races on earth Freedom Challenge -- Iditarod Trail Invitational
MTB back garden ride