Idéal : The  Restoration

Idéal is now in the carpenter’s workshop in the BERNADOU shipyard in CANET-PLAGE.

Pictures taken on November 2002:

 

 

The shield has been ripped off. Templates are drawn to rebuild the framework.

 

 

 

 

Another view of the deck. From the outside, the damages don’t look that important.

 

 

 

From the inside, one can see clearly the fire damages: the mast has burnt, but the gasoline tank is undamaged, proof that it is not responsible for the fire.

 

 

 

 

Another view of the inside. The shell is burnt . Up to 90% of the ship has to be restored.

 

 

 

Last winter a preliminary work has been done for wood supply.

With Yves Bernadou (picture), we ran across the Vallespir in order to choose the oaks with the correct bend. They were timbered according to the right moon, and sawn down to 8 cm thick planks, throughout the mobile hacksaw of Sébastien Frérot, then brought to the solar dryer in Saillagouse, held by the local chamber of trade. 

(picture taken in February 2002)

 

On November the 15th. We were visited by S. VILLEVIEILLE, in charge , through the D.R.A.C and the Conseil General of drawing up an inventory of the maritime heritage of Catalogne. We consider it proudly as a mark of interest. ( Picture, from left to right: S. Villevieille and Y. Bernadou.)

 

 

   

 

We pay a visit to the maritime museum of Barcelona

On November the 25th, 2002, we have been invited at the Museum by Enric, one of  the curators and by the museum carpenter. We planned  to see the “Jean et Marie”, a “sardinal” built by Bonafos in Banyuls in 1906, two years before IDÉAL.

It appears that they are the two only remainders of the ships produced through this shipyard, so we expect a lot of this visit. Enric grants us with all the necessary authorizations and introduces us to the museum staff, and off we go.

The Carpenter tells me the true story of the boat. It is by mere chance that she was saved by Clovis Aloujes, from Collioure, in the mid 7O’s. He called the Museum to offer them the boat , that was in perfect shape, rather it was burnt. The vision of the Jean et Marie, standing in  the middle of the huge hall, is overwhelming. We stand respectfully silent, like in a cathedral...

 

 

Studying the details:

We take close look to many details that are  likely to help us, and take measurements. The Jean et Marie is a little smaller  than Ideal. She was restored  alike she was at the year of construction (1906). At that time, boats were not motorized. They were pulled ashore on the beach  by hand.

We have to make a crucial decision. What year is to be chosen as reference point for restoration? Ideal was modified in 1930, 1948, and then  again in 1975 and 1995, at  least! Should we do without the engine? Come back to 1908 and make the ship a real sailboat? I have a dream...

 

            

 

Shape of the stern:

But Bernadou wakes me up. In most of the harbors nowadays , it is prohibited to maneuver without an engine. We will be dealing with peoples’ security, and not only with the ship. He is right and we decide to settle for 1930. At that time, the engines are becoming reliable, the boats are modified accordingly: the prow is of a sailboat, the stern is somewhat rounded off for the  shaft of the propeller.

 

 

 

 

THE SANTA ESPINA:

On our way out, we stop by the model of the Santa Espina. The real ship was property of Clovis Aloujes. Without him, there would not be any Sardinal remaining today. In the seventies, when they were burned , he was the only one to fight for their preservation. He succeeded in keeping the tradition of latin sails, which was about to be forgotten along with the death of the last of the old time sailors.  We owe  him a lot.

 

        

 

 

restoration p. 2

restoration p. 3

restoration p. 4

 

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The catalan maritime patrimony

Idéal, the story...