This was our first sight of Cassie. Looking a little bit sorry for herself. Half a windscreen, dirty and unloved!

The cockpit as it was when we bought her. Notice the lovely crackle glaze effect! The rather fetching 1970s boy-racer rev counter, the groovy beige vinyl dashboard, improvised throttle lever and 'Captain Pugwash' type wheel!

The woodwork had seen better days, although it was all salvagable. Gelcoat has scrubbed up well though. We replaced the horrid plastic vent for a new stainless steel one. Note the searchlight reflector has lost all its silvering.

Upholstery is showing a tendency to sag (a bit like us!). Note the mould on the cabin ceiling, woodwork in reasonable condition though.

The heads contain what we think is the original Simpson Lawrence sea toilet. It still works, but the on/off valve is very, very stiff. We hope to be able to overhaul this as it's such a quality piece. The horn was disconnected when we bought her. We discovered why when we reconnected it... Every time the light in the heads is switched on, she gives a little toot! Announce it, why don't you! It shares a fuse with the horn but we'll change it when we do the dashboard wiring.

No going back now! Another 5 gallons of Nitromors should do it... Lovely dashboard - NOT!

Centre console removed for refurbishment. Notice the colour and quality of the original finish. It's amazing how the sun can bleach the woodwork. The broken dashboard is deliberate and it gave us great pleasure! All the original wiring seems to be fine, it's the later additions that need to be replaced, as they seem to have used any old bits of wire that they could lay their hands on, many of which aren't really man enough for the job.

Hull has been cleaned with Kitchen Power and a nylon scouring pad! Worked a treat. This was followed by a quick going over with Starbrite Hull Cleaner. Lower rubbing strakes have had 5 coats of varnish, three more to go! A fair amount of epoxying was required underneath before we could antifoul her. At some point in the future, her bottom will need some serious cosmetic surgery, but for now, she'll do. Painting the bootline red finishes her off a treat, don't you think?

Another view of her bootilicious boot line. We're going to Poliglow her soon - can't wait, watch this space...

After a lot of stripping (by the more patient half) and much sanding to remove black marks, a coat of Colron mahogany stain was applied to bring her back to original colour (the boat, not the other half). Here I am applying the first of many coats of Le Tonkinois Vernis No1 (How poncé is that?). Seriously though, it probably is one of the world's best varnishes. Considering the makori veneer is only paper thin, not to mention 40 years old, it's not looking too bad!

First coat of Tonk (Le Tonkinoise varnish - see links for supplier details) applied (not the seat bases, we'll do these later in the season). It's nice to see her woodwork the right colour, so many people just varnish over the sun bleached timber, which is a shame. All the bits that can be easily removed have been taken home to varnish, and the house now looks like a boat jumble!

If you thought the dashboard was less than attractive, you should have seen this! It was covered in the same brown vinyl as the dashboard. It took the more patient half ages to scrape off all the glue (she gets all the good jobs!). The GRP in this area is very crazed and stained, so we might paint this area later in the season. The windscreen provides a natural break so it shouldn't look too bad. Shame though as the rest of her is in the original gel coat. Excuse the blue tinge but she's still had her winter cover on at this point.

The fruits of the more patient half's labours. You can just about make out the stained areas, but it still looks 100 times better than faded brown vinyl! (Note: the brown staining has now completely disappeared of its own accord, presumably bleached in the sun.)

Beginning to strip the centre console, having removed it and taken it home. Notice the cut-out, it looks like it was cut with a bread knife. Its a fantastic bit of timber though.

The centre console and steering gear cover after staining and 3 coats of 'Tonk'. The wonderful grain pattern is really starting to show now.