A £688,000 Heritage Lottery funded conservation and restoration project to secure the future of the RRS Discovery in Dundee has begun.

The ship has been dry-docked and will remain so until November – allowing the hull to dry out should kill any worms that may be lurking in the timbers.

The first major conservation task is to power wash the hull, a job that will take two months. The powerful industrial washer will remove any encrustations like barnacles, clean off all the hull coatings and clean up the steelwork. This will effectively prepare the hull for the restoration works and for re-caulking and re-coating.

The advantage of the purpose-built dry dock at Discovery Point is that the ship doesn’t need to be moved and can remain open to the public while the work is going on. The project will also provide visitors with additional interesting things to see.

The main contractors for the project are Mackay Boat Builders of Arbroath, a long established boat builder and one of only a couple of yards left in Scotland with extensive knowledge and skills in building, restoring and maintaining wooden ships.

The size of the contract is giving Mackays the opportunity to employ and train a new apprentice. Gill Poulter, heritage & exhibitions director of Dundee Heritage Trust, said: “This is a significant additional spin-off that will help to keep traditional boatbuilding skills alive and which will benefit other historic ships in the future.”

While the restoration work is being carried out, Dundee Heritage Trust is running a series of events to let people learn about the conservation issues involved in caring for such an historic ship.

These will include evening lectures and special tours allowing people down into the dry dock, providing a rare and spectacular opportunity to see RRS Discovery from underneath. Details of these free events can be found on the website www.rrsdiscovery.com