Hamish McKenzie has a vision. He sees this huge, rotting, rusting hulk as an art gallery.

For the next two years Hamish, along with any volunteers and experts willing to give a hand to refurbishing this former ferry, will work all available hours to transform the boat.

Hamish, 45, the artist in residence at Northbrook College, Worthing, is a determined man who is expert at refurbishing boats.

This is the biggest refurbishment challenge he has taken on so far.

Hamish, known as Crocodile Dundee by some of his friends, after he was featured in the Argus a year ago, when he found a dead alligator on the Ropetackle site at Shoreham, says he is determined to succeed.

Working alone, he has shovelled between 15 and 20 tonnes of mud and silt from the hull of the boat, sometimes with his bare hands.

He has to work when the tide is out as the hull is still full of holes. Once he has sealed the hull and cleaned it out, he will be able to set about transforming the interior.

The artist, who loves spiral designs and even has his hair in black and blond spirals, is happiest refurbishing boats.

But even the most dedicated boat expert is amazed at the task Hamish, who lives on a houseboat he previously refurbished, has set himself.

The vessel is the 65ft long Verda, the former Portsmouth-Gosport ferry, currently at Shoreham. It was built in 1902 and carried thousands across Portsmouth harbour, dodging the larger passenger boats and the cream of the Royal Navy.

When it gave up ferrying, the vessel came to Newhaven, where it was a familiar site before ending up at Shoreham. The then-owner was told to move it upstream from its berth the other side of the pedestrian bridge.

That voyage to the quay next to the Riverside Business Centre caused quite a furore nine years ago. The Verda had little steerage at the time and crashed into the pedestrian bridge to Shoreham Beach, making the bridge unsafe and prompting its closure.

There it lay rotting and rusting. Mariners were so angry at crashing into the hulk that they took the railings off the vessel to lessen any collision damage.

The Verda was then moved round the corner into Surry Hard. It was due to be gradually dismantled by a local scrap merchant when Hamish stepped in and bought the vessel for £150 early this summer.

Surry Hard forms a dry dock when the tide is out allowing Hamish to carry out his refurbishment.

His next job is to get the three-tonne engine out of the vessel. He is asking local firms with lifting equipment to help and keep the engine for scrap.

A member of the Adur Arts Forum, he says the vessel is a work of art which one day will house exhibitions or be an exhibit in itself for the Shoreham Arts Festival.

He said: "I regard all boats as works of art. When I heard it was going to be smashed up, I wanted to save it. It is a huge task, but I have given myself a two-year deadline."

As he scurries up and down ladders inside the rusting hull and shovels out tonnes of mud on to the harbour bed, it is clear Hamish has a mission to provide Shoreham with an unusual home for works of art.