Oakley, the restoration

Another interesting blog I found while browsing this evening.. I am also enjoying the BBC Children in Need while doing so.. great it is.

Anyway, I think this is a wonderful blog, tis of the working narrowboat Oakley, and the restoration project associated with it.

Steve bought Oakley from a farmer..

Oakley was found in a farmyard at Welford in Northamptonshire, she has been out of the water for roughly three years. As you can see from the photos below, the hull is in pretty bad shape. Bottom and footings have to be redone, new cabin will have to be fabricated. The engine, a Lister HA2 is in good condition, but does need a good clean and a coat of paint. In 1963 British Waterways shortened the boat to 60' and replaced the original steel back cabin and engine room with a couple of horrible cabins bow and stern, the rear one housing the engine.

It looks like there is going to be some good pics and plenty of information.  Steve works for Roger Fuller of Stone, so in between working.. Last week Steve wrote..

This week I have managed to get the big dents out of the hull side using a hydraulic ram and a fabricated claw to hook over the excisting angle. Once these dents were pushed out I welded plates to the inside to hold the shape. I then pulled in and braced the sides to a width of 6' 10". Having done this and been happy with the straightness i tacked a strip of 45mm by 8mm down the length of the boat on both sides, this is to build the height of the hull sides upto 4' 9" . On the inside edge of this i have tacked 110mm by 10mm flat, these steel gunwhales will replace the original wooden gunwhales.

It’s a good job there are some pics.. hey hey, way over my head Steve!!

I am gonna follow this one, I guess a lot of others will too.  

Children in Need at 11.40pm has 14 million.. brilliant!!