The Restoration Handbook/Руководство по восстановлению

Издание на английском языке
It was, I believe, Sir Francis Chichester who said that one should never buy a yacht unless it was a case of love at first sight. And this is exactly what happened to me the fi rst time I set eyes on Samba, moored at Bayona on a grey winter’s morning, after having arranged to take her for a short trial run. I had no doubt that her previous owner must have felt the same way about this marvellous Angus Primrose design, with her low freeboard and raked stem, an ample beam promising firm stability and her fine narrow stern, culminating in a classical triangular transom, long since replaced by today’s designers to allow for more extensive bathing platforms.
I realised what I could do with this boat as soon as I opened the door to her stern locker, containing the canvas, cordage, tools, waterproofs, her outboard… there were even a couple of long oars. This was a boat that had sailed a lot and done it well, and her owner had evidently treated her with the affection that only seafaring people can truly feel for their boats.
Sailing her off Bayona, on a rolling sea, I soon discovered the qualities of that design of which, if my memory serves me well, Samba was only the second to be built in Spain. Later, during a first voyage to Sardinia with an inexperienced crew - and this was over twenty years ago - battered by a ferocious mistral that had forced me to use the storm jib and put a third reef into the mainsail, Samba made it more than clear that I could trust her fully, in any seas. That was the first thing she taught me and something that I never afterwards doubted. Ram?n Massachs, who first showed me how to tack, warned me as he handed her over in Almeria, after bringing her through the straights in the face of a fierce easterly, «This boat will always be more capable than you». And so she was for all the years that I sailed her.
Perhaps that was why, when I eventually sold her, I was filled with an enormous sense of emptiness. It was neither because I was disappointed in her nor to replace her with a more spacious or modern boat. I felt absurdly guilty, as if I had turned my back on an old friend, for no good reason, I could not justify it even to myself. But life is full of surprises and you never know what the future will bring.

Contents
Foreword
Preface
1. Jobs to be done: In search of a new youth
2. On dry land: High and dry, stripped out and inventory
3. Stripping out interiors: The good news and the bad
4. Osmosis: An inevitable problem
5. Electrical installation (1 of 3): Planning the new installation
6. Repairing the deck (1 of 3): Preparing the ground
7. Repairing the deck (2 of 3): Filling holes
8. Electrical installation (2 of 3): Fitting
9. Replacing Perspex side-windows: A breath of fresh air
10. Anchor locker (1 of 2): A support for the windlass
11. Repairing the deck (3 of 3): Hatches and thru-hulls
12. Mast (1 of 3): Turning the old into new
13. Cleaning the winches: Pulling power
14. Painting the interiors: A touch of colour
15. Engine (1 of 2): Time for a change
16. Bow pulpit: A touch of haute couture
17. Refitting the head: A complete rethink
18. Bottom: A new epoxy skin
19. Painting topsides: Beauty treatment
20. Painting the deck: The icing on the cake
21. Deck hardware (1 of 4): Putting her back together
22. Interior carpentry (1 of 7): Design and planning
23. Deck hardware (2 of 4): Winches, deck organisers and rope clutches
24. Interior carpentry (2 of 7): The value of experience
25. Interior carpentry (3 of 7): Setting the scene
26. Installing the electronics: Here’s to modernity
27. Renewing upholstery and foam fi llings: A question of comfort
28. Installing the refrigerator: On-board cold
29. Plumbing (1 of 2): Pressurised freshwater system
30. Plumbing (2 of 2): Bilge systems
31. Deck hardware (3 of 4): Advancing on various fronts
32. Mast (2 of 3): Ready to raise the mast
33. Mast (3 of 3): Installing a furler
34. Interior carpentry (4 of 7): Soles, table and sides
35. Engine (2 of 2): Engine replacement
36. Lining ceilings and walls: Plenty of craftsmanship
37. Anchor locker (2 of 2): Readying the bow
38. Deck hardware (4 of 4): Objective accomplished
39. Interior carpentry (5 of 7): Galley: from start to finish
40. Electrical installation (3 of 3): Finishes and testing
41. Sails: Updating the canvas
42. Interior carpentry (6 of 7): Never-ending finishes
43. Interior carpentry (7 of 7): Attention to detail
44. Final tally: Done!
45. Appendix I: Waste management: A more ecological toilet
46. Appendix II: Steering system: Appearances can be misleading