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Out of the water at the Canoe Cove Marina, Sidney, British Columbia
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Masts are being pulled out by the crew from Blackline Marine
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The construction of Taj Mahal begins
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and ends
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Scraping the hull below the waterline was a hard part, but the topsides went much easier
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Some of the spars were in a bit of a rough shape, but stripping and sanding got them ready for the paint job
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The main salon gutted and ready for the shipwrights
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With generous help form Craig Johnsen of Schooner Magic, the keel ballast had been designed and shaped using the blue insulation foam.
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The concrete molds are ready for lead
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My neighbour John uses his many skills to build a melting pot out of a piece of a 12” pipe
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the lead slugs go in the pot, and we are ready for casting
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With help from my other neighbour George, pouring lead is easy
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and there you have it, with a bit of sanding the ballast is ready to be attached to the bottom of the keel |

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The two halves fit around the keel perfectly, drilled all the way through and ready to be bolted. |

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Boards of sapele are laminated into new floor boards |

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Keelson has been notched and new floor timbers fitted |

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The floor timbers are laminated in place and rebuilding of the interior begins |
Four new holes have been drilled on an angle into the lead keel to accommodate additional keel bolts (I have not drilled them myself, just showing off) |

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Four new keel bolts installed |
Floor boards and new bunk fronts installed |

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hull-keel transition filled and faired to accommodate glassing |

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The interior has been rebuilt and restored |

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The hull has been sealed with epoxy, washed and sanded |

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9 ounce fiberglass cloth has been cut at 40 ft length for the topsides, glued on with West Systems 105+206 epoxy and then painted with 105/206 mixed with 407 fairing filler |

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Followed by the same procedure below the waterline. |

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Rudder post fiberglass tube installed |

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Booms are sprayed with awlgrip paint |
New through hull fittings sealed in place with sikaflex 291 |

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First coat of primer goes on the topsides |

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First coat of Interprotect paint goes on the bottom |
Rudder and propeller are installed |
Bow sprit installed |

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Bottom paint and the boot strip are done
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Patrick and Derek from Canoe Cove Marina taking the boat out of Taj Mahal |

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And there she is, in all it’s glory, after 23 months of work, ready to go back to the water
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Copernicus is loaded on the truck and goes for a road trip to nearby Westport Marina |

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She is picked up by a travelift (Byron Burns who build her shows up for the occasion) |

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After 23 months to a day she is back in the water |
After a short trip around we are back at Canoe Cove to have the masts stepped in by the crew from Blackline Marine |
The Final Chapter
Jumping ahead to 2015, new rudder has been designed and built by Eric Jespersen of Jespersen Boat Builders at the Canoe Cove Marina in Sidney, British Columbia.

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2.3/4 inch stock supports plywood sandwiched between Douglas Fir planks |
All glued with epoxy and clamped |
Eric gives it a streamlined shape |

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The new rudder is glassed |
The trailing edge shaped |
Rudder installed |

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After a coat of Inter Protect and antifouling paint, Copernicus is heading back to the ocean.
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