Page updated: 6 December 2009
While in Norfolk, in 2003, Bantam's Drift underwent a Cabin Refit. She was then sold and taken to Tewkesbury where further work was undertaken. Since then she has been sold again.
If the dates on the original photograph files can be assumed to reflect the period when the work was undertaken, this picture shows Bantam's Drift just after work commenced in May 2003. The aft guard rails have already been removed. The grass around the boat indicates that it has only recently been moved to this location.
The presence of navigation lights suggest that this boat has been used at sea rather than on inland waters. This is reinforced by other pictures which indicate a tabernacle has not been fitted.
From the stern it can be seen that not only have the guard rails been removed from around the cockpit, but also an outboard mount, jib cleats from each side of the cabin door and rubbing strip from around the gunwales. A rudder pintle is also missing.
Inside the cockpit, the locker mouldings are removed. Inside is the bulkhead at the foot of the quarter berth.
Note that hardened sealant remains around the locker opening. Sealing this area when re-fitting the locker is important. Those who sometimes find the bilge fin depressions under the berths filling with water often find that inadequate sealing here is the cause. Water can collect on the surface above the locker and then, with only slight movement of the boat it spills down the vertical surface and through the gap into the boat. Once inside it runs forward into the depression under the berth, soaking anything stored there.
Now, a couple of days later, the windows and all fittings have been removed. Imperfections in the surface of the top moulding have been filled and rubbed down. The hull too has had similar treatment. Below the waterline, the anti-fouling has been scrapped off.
You probably wouldn't know from this picture, but it is a Labrador taking advantage of the shade under the bows. Fenders and the pulpit are stored under the stern. The lockers are there too, used as storage bins.
After the initial preparation, the various apertures are masked off and a first base coat is sprayed on. One of the supplied files showing this work completed is named "etched". Is that the technical term? [Use the Forum to tell us]
The pulpit has been moved away and the grass is already beginning to show some damage by this stage.
It's a few more days on and now the newspaper, used for masking, has been removed. The superstructure has its gleaming top coat. The two parts of the cabin door and fore hatch sit on tressels having been given the same treatment.
A few days later and the boat has been prepared for finishing the hull. The entire superstructure is cloaked in polythene before the hull is sprayed with its final coat - and a shine to die for!
With all spraying completed, the fittings begin to go back on the boat. The windows are yet to be fitted, but the pulpit, fairleads, navigation lights, shroud anchorages, cockpit guard rails and even the cockpit tent hooks are in place.
The cabin door also shows its new weather strip on the join between the two halves.
Almost all the work seems to have been completed by the end of October 2003. However, the pictures of the boat ready for sale are dated April 2004. After having the boat on it for almost a year the lawn is wrecked!
The boat displays a new tabernacle supporting the mast. The windows are in with new surrounds. The hull sports the boat's new name and, below the waterline, anti-fouling has been applied. It's difficult to see in this picture, but even the trailer has been given a spruce-up!
The window frames are not the standard type that were removed from the boat when the repaint started. Instead, they are of a single-piece design, apparently fitted with screws rather than the conventional rivets.
The tabernacle is also non-standard. Compared with the standard fitting, it looks exceptionally light-weight and the pivot point is unusually high, though this may have the benefit of allowing the cockpit tent to be fitted over the lowered boom as well as over the boom when the mast is raised.
