Fishing boat catches fire at Chebilang, Thailand

Esper Refit 33 – boat catches fire; redrilling deck fittings;

This week has probably been the most eventful to date, and I’m not just talking about Esper’s progress. On Wednesday half of Chebilang turned out to watch a fishing boat burn right down to its hull, whilst a ferry bottoms out when being jacked up on a cradle. Other breakages include feet and motorbikes

Weekly Video Round-Up

Best video update so far, IMHO. Mainly because I managed to capture some fantastic footage of the boat going up in flames.

Deck Fittings

Biggest job this week was sorting out the deck fittings. Some were redrilled after epoxying the old holes and we’ve pretty much located most of the fittings. Meanwhile Tui set to and made new grab handles and teak beds for the cleats.

Tui and one of the completed hand rails
Tui and one of the completed hand rails

Ton, meanwhile, successfully installed the startboard shroud fittings in the port side, which meant he forced a couple into holes they were never designed for. We had to send one U-bolt to the workshop to get straightened, only to find it needed to be angled in order to get into the correct hole. You just can’t win!

Laying out the deck fittings
Laying out the deck fittings
Ton cleans up some of the bolts whilst Moo pulls a funny face
Ton cleans up some of the bolts whilst Moo pulls a funny face

Preparing the transom

With the swimming platform going through the transom we had to make some preparations, not least cutting the holes correctly. We tasked Pong with that job since he has the steadiest hand and an eye for detail.

Swimming platform goes through the transom
Swimming platform goes through the transom
The hole is cut slightly smaller and then sanded to the correct size
The hole is cut slightly smaller and then sanded to the correct size

Moo, meanwhile, epoxy’s backing plates on both the transom and the lazarette box.

The transom is reinforced with a teak backling plate that is fibre-glassed into place
The transom is reinforced with a teak backling plate that is fibre-glassed into place

Fishing boat catches fire

Fishing boat catches fire

The biggest news this week came from the yard next door. An over-zealous welder started a fire on a freshly painted fishing boat and it was gutted within the hour.

View of the fire

More Photos

I’m continuing with my yard photography project. Here’s a few more from the collection:

Photographs by Jamie Furlong

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

What’s Next?

The deck fittings have almost been placed into their positions, but we’ve yet to bed them down. That’ll take pretty much all of next week.

If you like our content and would like to support us, we will give you ad-free access to our videos before they go live to the public, discounts in our shop, access to Jamie’s iconic full-res photographs, and supporter-only blog posts. Click our ugly mugs for more info!

2 thoughts on “Esper Refit 33 – boat catches fire; redrilling deck fittings;”

Leave a Reply to Clubtray Sailing Cancel Reply

Scroll to Top