About Vigilance

THE RESTORATION - a work in progress

Before dawn one morning in October 2022 Vigilance slipped her moorings from Brixham Heritage Pontoon and set out for Plymouth.

It was an emotional day for the crew. After a nail-biting few months awaiting confirmation that the Heritage Memorial Fund would fund her restoration, it was time to deliver her to her new temporary home. She motored along the coast, already stripped of her masts and rigging, towards her new berth at Stirling and Son's Yard, Plymouth Number One Slip - the world's oldest active covered slipway and the birthplace of Nelson's flagship Foudrayant.

Because none of the original drawings for Vigilance had survived, the first task, before any timbers could be removed, was to take details of every dimension both internal and external. It quickly became apparent how much of a toll the years had taken on her original lines.

After a period of physical preparations and contractual discussions with the HLMF and Stirlings, in January 2023 the work began in earnest.....

THE STRIPPING-OUT BEGINS

More of the structure removed, and the first new parts take shape

One of the first jobs was cutting away the stern post. This part of the original keel is being preserved - with plans to display it back in Brixham when we've found a suitable location.

All the ballast was removed from the bilge and weighed. In total there was just over 10,000 kilos - mostly lead and iron including old pieces of railway line and parts of old engines! The largest chunk was 300 kilos.

The rotten state of some of the old timbers was alarming. As we had long suspected, many pieces of wood bore clear evidence of having been 'recycled' from even older boats - a common practice in the Brixham boatyards.

MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE

It was discovered that over the decades Vigilance had suffered a two-inch droop all along her starboard flank, so the new boat framing has been patterned from the port side and 'butterflied' to restore symmetry.

Individual plywood templates were made of each frame to ensure accuracy in the final cut in the massive timbers. Gradually a new skeleton took shape; an oak rib-cage to which new planking could be fixed.

TRIGGER'S BROOM?

We're often being asked how much of the original Vigilance will survive the rebuild? And inevitably there are references to the broom that's had four new heads and three new handles.

The answer is we are saving as many parts as we can including the original stringers, which run almost the entire length of the boat. It was a tricky job slotting them into place - we were told that opening the yard's tea-room door allowed just enough space to manoeuvre them through the scaffolding round the hull!

Now the huge job of planking is underway: every third plank is known as a 'shutter' plank and has to be cut to fit with perfect precision.