Two Years of Restoring an Old SAILING SHIP!

Hi, my name is Gijs and this is my dad and this is schooner Tiger Eye. We've been in the process of rebuilding this boat for two years now, but let's start at the beginning. The ship was built in 1944 as a World War II landing tugboat in Canada and shipped to Europe. She did tug services on the French and Dutch rivers until 1975 when she was laid up with a wrecked engine. At the time my dad and grandpa, like many others, were looking for a suitable ship to convert into a sailing ship and sail around the world. The ship had to be welded steel and have a suitable hull shape. They found that in this old tugboat named Tiger Eye or Tiger Shark. They started the conversion in good spirits, initially thinking it would take around two years. 13 years and some setbacks later the ship was ready to set sail. In 1990 the Tiger Eye set sail on a trip that would take four years around the world. After arriving back home me and my sisters were born and the ship did not see the sea for more than 25 years. Two years ago me and my dad decided that we were going to change that, to get her updated to modern standards and set sail once again. Starting off with a new wheelhouse. The old one, made out of riveted aluminum, came off of an old fishing cutter and was starting to get a bit holey. So we kicked off by removing the interior and insulation. The windows were still usable, so we decided to take them out carefully to be able to reuse them. Without windows there was a high probability of getting water inside, so we installed some drains that could take any incoming water overboard. Shortly after the world trip dad had saved some money and already had a new aluminum wheelhouse partly made, which had been waiting for things to come for all those years. To get it ready for installation we had it moved right next to the ship, where we could start by giving it a good wash. There weren't any windows cut out yet, but now that we knew we were going to reuse the old ones we could cut out the shapes of the window frames. To remove the old wheelhouse the main mast had to be removed first, so we took the mainsail boom and started cutting everything keeping the mast and wheelhouse to the ship. Then we hired a crane to take them both off. The new wheelhouse is a lot bigger than the old one, so we needed to create more floor space in the forward of the old wheelhouse floor. With the wheelhouse lifted in place we could start getting rid of a lot of old steelwork that remained inside. After removing a lot we had to add a little to attach the wheelhouse to the ship. In the middle of the floor we reinstalled the engine room escape hatch. Then we removed some more to create a passage for a forward door in the wheelhouse. We noticed the engine exhaust pipes were blocking our navigational lights, so they had to be moved. Inside there were still some remainders from when there was no wheelhouse on the boat at all. These old mooring chocks could be removed and welded shut. The new wheelhouse came with built-in ventilation ducts, we only had to connect them to the engine room. We found a nice new location for the cooling water expansion tank tucked away behind the future interior. All that steelwork has to be followed up with lots of paint. The main mast used to sit on an A-frame to clear the massive tugboat engine that has long been removed. We wanted the mast sitting on the keel, so we took out the A-frame and added six meters to the bottom of the mast. To prepare for reinstalling the mast we had to modify the hole in the aluminum roof and inside cut a new hole in the floor. Then came another day of craning to reinstall the main mast. We removed the bumpkins from the stern to make space for David to store the dinghy. Since the back stays were attached to the bumpkins we had to install heavier railing posts with a new attaching point, after which they could also be used for the Davids. The Davids came in handy straight away to close off the remainder of the bumpkins. Now we had Davids but nothing of substance to hoist up, so we took a little sidetrack and built a new aluminum dinghy. We created a front doorway in the wheelhouse but we didn't have a door, so we had to make one from scrap aluminum, an old window and some new hardware. Inside we made a mock-up of the desired interior and started building. For the hatch down to the forward cabins we used a good piece of the roof of the old wheelhouse. With most of the steelwork inside done the windows could be installed. Since it was summer and the weather was good we decided to leave the wheelhouse interior for later and focused on outside work. To become a bit less dependent on diesel generators we made a solo roof for the aft deck. We didn't think three panels was enough so we installed two more on the roof of the wheelhouse. Now the main sail boom could be installed back. We reinstalled the traveler for the schooner sail boom but this time on top of the new wheelhouse. We had a good search in the shed for every old winch that we could find to see what was still usable for halyards, boom lifts and hoisting gear and gave it all a good touch-up to install it on the boat. We will be using a wishbone schooner sail because dad could get one second hand for a small price. For that we did need a wishbone which he got for free. With summertime over again we continued with the interior of the wheelhouse. Starting with some steelwork that we forgot before. Fresh air supply to the forward cabins. We have decided to install floor heating in the wheelhouse and to prevent all the heat from radiating down to the engine room the floor had to be insulated. For the rest every bit of bare steel had to be covered in insulation. With the insulation in place we got started on the navigational console and on all the electrics that came with it. We modified the old chart cabinet to fit in the wheelhouse with a fridge next to it and a bottle cabinet on top. All three of equal importance. For the heated floors we routed a channel for the tubes into cement particle board and smashed it all in place. The whole thing was covered with pvc floorboards. We insulated and paneled the ceiling and the rest of winter I went off to work on a sailing ship for three months in South America and then it was spring again. Good weather to install the old ship's horn on the roof. For practical reasons we installed a martingale or dolphin striker below the bowsprit. After losing one the ship has been sailing around for a long time with two different types of anchors. But we found two anchors similar to the original so we set out to exchange them. Before connecting the anchor to the chain we replaced the anchor hose pipes for stainless steel ones. On the aft deck the old capstan had a burned electric motor so we took it off and replaced it for a smaller one with a reduction gear and a little seat on top. Dry dock was closing in fast now so we had to make sure that the ship was able to move on its own. We created a small navigation station for the helm on the aft deck and gave the steering pump a good inspection and a fresh coat of paint. The compass binnacle needed some of that too. The steering wheel itself was damaged so we repaired it with the help of a good friend who happens to be a ship's carpenter. In the wheelhouse the whole steering pump still had to be installed. We did not really have a three-phase AC switchboard so I got to work on creating one. During dry dock we planned to install a bow thruster so we picked one up and to prepare for installation started chipping out concrete ballast to make space for the tube. Then it was time for the docking. After five years of not moving at all it was good to know that she still could. In dry dock we had the bow thruster installed and did all the regular dry dock jobs. Hull and safety inspection, replacing some bad parts of the hull, fresh paint and much more. Back home work inside the wheelhouse continued. We made a pantry and finally installed a door in the aft entrance. To prepare for trips to cold areas we installed double paint additional windows. For the rest trim work, trim work and more trim work. To summarize we started with the replacement of the wheelhouse two years ago and it's still not finished. It is coming together nicely though. I have a feeling that the whole project will not be finished by the summer of 2025. Especially since I've let myself get talked into another sailing adventure. This time around Cape Horn so I'm getting on a plane to New Zealand later today. I'll be back by the end of February but in the meantime that will continue with the rebuild. For now I want to wish everybody happy holidays and a creative 2025. Thank you for watching and I'll see you in two months.