Boat Refit and Bike Restoration – A Labour of Love

Hey everyone! It’s winter here in England, “YAY”. It’s 2019-2021, it’s dark, it’s cold, it’s wet, and it’s windy. COVID is here. I’m locked in, living and working in Maryport Marina. The marina has allocated us our very own personal shower block for quarantine, it’s awesome. Maryport is a small and very friendly coastal town, part of the outer Lake District, up on North England’s West coast.

A dream comes true!

I’ve become good friends with Mike Hawkins, who owns the engineering company based in the marina, and I’m occasionally employed to perform engineering work. I’ve been allowed to use one of the company’s spare workshops for FREE. A dream comes true. I have dry space, welding equipment, and engineering equipment to work on my boat bits and bikes. AWESOME!

Working on Ocean Strider, our sailboat, and 2 vintage bikes.

Mike is a fantastic and generous boss and friend, who knew how important it was for me to complete the refit of Ocean Strider, my home, and the sailboat I’ll be taking around the world. And the two bike restoration projects that I’ll need to complete and get to a museum. The bikes were two long-overdue projects, now finished and on show at Siloth Motorcycle Museum in the North of England. If you go, say hi to Jim for me. Free coffee last time I went. Also, a very friendly Northerner.

Using Google and Courier services.

Finding a renewed sense of focus and determination during the lockdown, alongside my business experience, proved useful in ways I never expected. Google to source everything and Van Curriers to deliver. It was a huge time saver (I rarely left the marina), and the help I needed to get everything moving at a fast and very productive pace. My project management background (building 3-4 boats at a time for 80-90 boats) helped ensure I received those items exactly when I needed them.

Here we GO! Boat refit and Motorcycle Restoration.

My winter was going to be very busy, with no time to fret about the cold, wet weather. Working on a boat refit and electric motor conversion for Ocean Strider, writing this blog, and diving into 2 long-awaited bike restorations. The motorbike projects – true classics, 1972: Kawasaki H1A and 1972 Honda CB750K2. It was good to escape to the beach and give myself time to think about my next move every day, taking in the wild west-coast weather.

Loving the wild weather, the bike restoration, and the work needed on Ocean Strider.

The H1A is an absolute beast and a core part of my current boat refit and bike restoration focus. I restored an older H1 in the 1990s (I’ll dig up some old photos for you soon), and I still believe it holds the record for the highest power-to-weight ratio ever. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong — either way, it’s a true icon.

A few restoration shots!

Recycling is better than scrapping.

I’ve already started on the restorations, though progress has been slow. As part of this larger boat refit and bike restoration effort, the H1A is proving to be a real challenge, but I’m loving every minute. I’ll be honest — the KAWASAKI HIA is one of the most environmentally “unfriendly” motorcycles ever built. But my philosophy is that recycling is better than scrapping, and preserving a classic like this is well worth it! Plus, let’s be real, it won’t be tearing up the roads too often, so the overall impact will be minimal.

The Projects Keep Rolling

Anyone who knows me knows I rarely sit still. I love big projects and have completed the 1972 Honda CB750K2 and Kawasaki H1A restorations. See the images below. They turned out beautifully, and I’ve got lots more photos if you’re curious. I might even break down the full process soon.

Ocean strider, after 40 years of antifouling, had been removed.

And, of course, there’s the biggest project of all, upgrading and restoring our sailboat, Ocean Strider. Refitting it with an electric drive. That’s a game-changer, and I will be documenting the entire process.

From Classic Bike and Sailboat Restoration to Global Adventure

Between restoring bikes, refitting a boat and blogging, I’ll do my best to get you all caught up. We set sail on our circumnavigation, hopefully by April 2021.  It’s going to be one hell of an adventure, and I promise there’ll be some incredible videos to share.  Now we just need the world to sort itself out so we can get going.

1 sailboat and 2 bikes, finished in 2 years. Let’s go sailing, coming next.

Stay tuned!

Les