Back in the water

After over eight months on the slip, Plain Kate finally returned to the water today. This morning she was winched down the slip, ready to be lifted by the high afternoon tide. Here she is looking splenidid after all the loving care spent on her by professionals and volunteers. Plain Kate will return to her customary berth alongside Trinity this weekend. Some staff are already back in their cabins; next week, summer volunteers will join them. We are so grateful to everyone who has made this refurbishment possible.

Launching on 14 July!

We have a date for getting PK back in the water: Wednesday 14 July! The date's determined largely by having a good high tide to lift her off – and the ones in the middle of this week are the highest for some time. High tide is expected at around 3pm on the 14th. Here she is, ready to go...

Tarring the bottom planks

The traditional way to preserve a wooden boat's bottom planks is to apply Stockholm tar. It's a tricky, sticky, hot job: the tar has to be heated enough so that it will seep into the pine planks when applied, but not too hot as it could go up in flames in the tar pot. And most of the work's done 'upwards'! Here, the experts – Cakey Drake, Dan Sculley and Doug Bradley – get down to it. [Pics courtesy Yvonne Leguit]

Putting on the coats

After all the excitement of completing the structural work comes the long slog of surface preparation and applying layers and layers of paint and varnish. [Pics courtesy Yvonne Leguit]