Waikawa Yard
There's always lots going on at Franklin's of Waikawa
Traditional wooden boat repairs
Traditional wooden boatbuilding methods still have a place in today’s modern boat yard. The 40ft converted fishing boat Anne Marie needed a careful hand to re-work the kauri planking down both her sides. The custom metal workers on the Franklin team were able to tidy up the stainless steel rails on the cabin top and bulwarks, reconstruct the stainless steel self launching anchor fair lead, shape a new bronze bow cap, and replace 5 or 6 metres of stainless steel belting. On repairs jobs like this one Franklins is happy to repaint only the affected areas to save time and money by matching the existing paintwork, or help you take advantage of having your boat in the painting shed by doing a complete repaint.
Aparima gets a thorough going over 
This 60ft Salthouse launch was in immaculate condition when it reached Franklin’s yard, but to a discerning owner everything can be improved upon.
After at thorough inspection of the boat a list of about 20 small jobs from touching up the varnish work and tidying up the paint work to addressing loose fittings and chasing up small leaks was drawn up to be attended to before they became bigger problems. This type of maintenance saves boat owners money, and can be completed in the off season so that the boat is in top condition when it is time to be out enjoying it. Aparima also benefitted from a forward cabin conversion which saw two single berths seamlessly converted into one double without changing the original feel of the joinery or losing any precious space in the cabin. Our photo shows two of the Franklin guys testing out the elbow room in the new berth.
De-lamination problem found to be something else
There are many reasons why it is good to have a professional boat builder working on your pride and joy. What started out as a simple repair to sand back a few small areas of de-lamination turned out to be a large area of uncured bog. Although this is a rare find the guys at Franklins knew what they were dealing with and set to work to uncover all of the dodgy fill. After sanding the area back to the glass laminate they applied two layers of 400 gram double bias cloth to seal the area before fairing it with an epoxy micro balloon mix and covering it with another layer of double bias. The area will now be faired and painted.
Kaikoura Dolphin Watch boat in for a refit When it was time for the five year refit, the paint job for the Dolphin Encounter Kaikoura boat Delphinidae was trusted to the professional painting staff at Franklin’s yard. Here she is safely wrapped up in the painting shed. 
Changes afoot at the marina
There are lots of changes going on in the Waikawa Marina as it prepares to be reborn as the Waikawa Marine Centre.
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