Refitting a ‘60s classic for chilly sailing
Rebuilding a yacht from scratch, even a small one, requires at least 2,000 hours of work. That’s a lot. To put it in perspective, that’s a 40-hour week, for 50 weeks, or a whole year’s work for one person, give or take.
The secret of a successful rebuild is to realise and accept how much work it is, and make the time or the money available, or some combination of both. We chose to work with a small yard, J-Star Marine Services, who have been truly great, with the aim of the them doing half the work and us the other half.
With that in mind my partner, Alice, and I went to Essex for several weeks last summer. With help from visiting friends and family (a huge thank you to all of them!) we made a 400-hour dent in the slog. To make the adventure more affordable, given that we live a long way from the yard, we camped for the duration of our stay, which was more attractive than one might expect. The Essex/Suffolk border is Constable country and has some lovely corners for a tent.
‘The Morgan Giles 30 was generally sold as a bare hull for home finishing, so we’re only doing what was intended for
