A LOVE OF THE SEA AND WOOD COMBINE

18 July marked one year since the MV SIGNA was lifted out of the water of Kiama Harbour to begin its mammoth restoration on dry land. Six months have passed since the last update and progress has been outstanding.

The original working team of seven have turned up rain, hail or shine and have worked tirelessly to complete the many tasks involved in restoring the beautiful timber boat.

The main deck, side deck and the cabin roof have been totally rebuilt and fibre-glassed and are now ready for the synthetic teak finish. Many of the timber bearers in the cabin roof and deck had to be replaced due to rot in the timbers. The Oregon timber was kindly donated by Roger Wison and originated from the Summer

Hill flour mill in Sydney. The close grain of timber gives the beams incredible strength.

Once the old motors were removed it was apparent they were beyond repair so two new 1056 Caterpillar motors were sourced and ordered. Major replacement of the main timber bearers for the new motors was necessary because of their condition.

The search to find large suitable seasoned hardwood then began. At the time, a seventies timber home in Minnamurra was being demolished. The builder agreed to donate the large turpentine hardwood beams along with other timbers that have been used.

The SIGNA had to be completely rewired from scratch. This involved both 240 and 12 volt twin systems throughout, a huge task in anyone’s language. Don, our resident electrician, took this daunting task in his stride along with the restoration of the original large brass anchor capstan which he converted from hydraulic power to electric whilst maintaining authenticity.

All the glass windows have been replaced. The main front windows sills were made of teak and were beyond repair, again due to rot. As these sections were being removed, they found that the windows were integrated into the main boat structure. Laurie, our resident cabinet maker removed them and then replaced them with new teak. A magnificent job.

The forward cabin, master’s cabin and bathroom have all been renovated. This involved removal of the old, rotted lining and replacing with new linings. This was led by carpenter Graham, assisted by Rex and others. Rex has restored and revarnished