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Looking beyond… Then seeing it through…
www.Tectona.org.uk
Welcome to the Tectona Trust website
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TECTONA off Bolt Head by Gordon Frickers (1978)
There was always going to be more to this than a simple condition report – we have to get Tectona re-coded under the MCA code of practice for use as a sail training vessel, and this requires a Surveyor to pass the vessel in terms of not just her equipment (often the most expensive items) but her structural soundness and stability – potentially even more bank-breaking. Typical was a need for re-caulking the few butt joints in her planking.
July 2008 -
Marine Surveyor’s inspection completed.
Going round the boat with David Cox the Surveyor, the MCA was never far from our thoughts and perhaps especially the disastrous outcomes for the Marques, Pride of Baltimore and other tall ships where arguably insufficient was known about their condition and stability. He had the advantage of seeing Tectona with most of the deck removed, and my early nervousness (a bit like having the car MoT’d) was soon allayed as he commented favourably on the soundness of vulnerable points like the end-grain of the frames under the now absent deck.
The first hurdle has been overcome and the relief was tangible when his report arrived, concluding in general terms that despite her age, Tectona is a very able seagoing craft, in very sound structural condition. He pointed out along the way that Tectona is mostly “planked though” – in other words nearly all her hull planks run from stem to stern without a join. When you consider the widest of these is a baulk of teak about 16 inches wide, 2 inches thick and nearly 70 feet long, the cost of building her today truly makes your head spin.
There are of course jobs to be done, but none of these is unreasonable and most of them were already known about. The main decisions are about what should be done now and what is best left for a future occasion. David Cox has been very helpful in giving us his very experienced advice about these issues.
An interesting event before we leave Toms yard is for Tectona to have an inclining experiment – a very careful and detailed survey of her stability using heavy weights and pendulums marked in degrees. This will be reported in due course.
