Problems
External wood and roof
State of hull
Access to the hold
This blown head gasket on the 1.8 BMC was difficult to diagnose. The engine would start but then die out. The symptoms pointed to fuel starvation. However, local enginner Ed Bowden came to the rescue.
Engine and hydraulic drive
For many years we had tried to keep the roof from leaking with a variety of sealants, resins etc. Obviously drastic measures were called for. The rotten layers of wood were removed.
The back end of Hampton was paper thin in parts. There had been a hole below the waterline which was patched up by Jem Bates, but the full extent of the problem was not revealed until the major reconstruction work in 2017-17.
Getting down into the hold was cumbersome and involved clambering down or using a set of moveable steps. The cover of the engine was part of the elm bottom but it had warped and was a bit rickety.
Final attempt to fix the back cabin
Although the roof looked fine from the outside, the back cabin revealed serious problems. As the wood dried out, it began to crumble and the outside of the fibre-glassed roof was beginning to crack.
