First Splash

First Splash

Thursday 18 January 2018

One Plank, Two Plank, Blue Plank... No Plank

January 13th-14th


Removing the Forward plank with the help of the indomitable Jamie Blunden!  


There was a plan when we began this project. The plan was one step at a time, making sure we did not get too far ahead, so if we got stuck we would have plenty of time to solve the the issue before the summer. But, like rules, plans are meant to be broken! 

On Saturday, we stuck to the plan. We drove down to the South Shore with the boat's new best friend! Ted's friend, Patrick Knee, who is a carpenter and bravely joined us to see what the racket was all about. Leaving at the crisp hour of 10am we set out for a day of boat work. It should be noted that it was rather windy that morning. As we got closer to the boat shop someone said, 'I wonder if the power might be out'. 

In winter there normally isn't anyone around on the weekend at the shop doing work on their boats and for this reason the power is turned off at two different fuse boxes. We have been shown the ropes and know to turn them on and off every time. But when we arrived we could not get the lights to turn on. Dread. Did we actually just drive 40 minutes to try and work on a boat in the dark without any power? What are we going to do? We can't just waste the day like this... it was a warm weekend and we wanted to get work done before we met the frozen weekends. 

For some reason my sister was messaging me using a WIFI system. And I was answering her telling her that there was no power and that it was unlikely that we were going to get work done and we probably should all just meet at the pub and workout our livers. But then I thought, if the power is out why is the WIFI working...? Then I went into the heated section of the shop and the furnace was turing on. Slowly the wheels starting turning in my head. I went to the fuse boxes and started flicking some of the switches with labels. And sure enough lights started coming on. Now at this point I had a devil on one shoulder and an angle grinder on the other. Do I tell the guys that the power is on (they were looking at the boat with flashlights, or do I not and go to the pub?). 

Maybe the mirrors at the shop are more truthful then I originally believed. We appreciate the spelling!

Anyone reading this knows me and they know that I am a horrible liar and my conscience would eat me alive! I would make a horrible spy. Of course I turned on all the lights, I did feel a bit like a god. 



Patrick Knee! The man, the myth, the legend!

After the lights came back on, we figured we needed to make a template for the new plank. My dad, again the wise counsel, advised that we make a 'dummy plank'. He had some pine that he wasn't planing on using anytime soon and gave it to us to see if we could make it fit before we attempted the real plank. Restless is planked with African Mahogany and we don't want to destroy a potential new plank! 

We had to clean out the area where the new plank would go. Earlier I had grinded off old bolts and screw ends from ribs that we screwed from the inside as well as out. I don't think fastening frames that way that is common practice...

Trying out the fit! 

Nearly the perfect fit. The water you can see on the hull is from rain. Remember when I said it was windy? Well it was so windy that a fine spray was making it through the building! All I can say is that at least the planks are not drying out! In the background you can see the bow of the IOD La Diva

Until we are able to cut out the Mahogany we are at a stand still. So as we were nearly at the end of our day, we decided to start cutting out the other plank! PLAN RUINED. Now we are not allowed to have any issues. 




So far I am the only one brave enough to cut into the boat, with Roger the router. My second time using the router went a lot better than the first!


Our reward. There is a piece of seaweed on it because we needed to cool the beers down, we got a bucket of icy sea water and sat them in there for awhile.  


Day 2

What else were we suppose to do but finish what we started; out with the second plank! On Sunday we had Jamie with us and we were able to remove the second plank. This time in one piece. We learnt a lot from the first plank; mainly, if it is stuck, there is a screw that we have missed. 




Ted and Jamie counting screws


Instead of sanding down the paint to find the plugs we use a paint stripper. This is me slathering it on and scraping it off. I loathe sanding bottoms, I'm pretty sure you would be hard pressed to find someone that actually enjoys it! The stripper also means that we do not make a mess on the boats that surround us by creating dust from the sanding. 

The inspection. Leonard the light comes in very handy when we are looking for those hard to find plugs. 

The hardest working team member: Leonard in the background doing his thing. Shine on you crazy diamond!


Jamie looks a little bit too happy to be pulling out the cotton caulking! I should also note that this boat seems to attract tall dark bearded men. She must have a type! 


Removing the cotton caulking is a slow process. We try to be very careful not to break it. First you have to dig out the seam compound and slowly start to pull at the cotton. If it breaks you have to start again and dig out the compound. I am always there gently whispering behind them as they dig with chisels, 'be careful not to damage the other planks!'. If I see one of them getting a bit frustrated, I am there reminding them to be gentle. Sometimes there are murmurs that I can't hear but I am sure they are only positive, thoughtful words directed at me.


Where once there was a plank, now there is not! Are we a little ahead of ourselves? Yes. Is there a foreboding doom that fills the air when we look at what we have done? Yes. Does a certain three letter phrase ring in our ears, WTF? Yes. We know that if we get lazy, overwhelmed, or make a catastrophic mistake we will not be sailing  Restless this summer. But our other options were slowly watch the boat rot to death or pay a professional to do this work. We love this boat to much to let it die and we need to save our money for regattas!

My father gave me some wise words once as he was working on my mothers wooden folkboat Rondo, nicknamed Rotto. His advice was never own a wooden boat if you cannot do the work on it yourself. He also told me that if you think it's stupid, it's stupid. Well, you can take from that what you will, I myself am slightly confused! 


Jamie and I left him up there. We couldn't let him take out another plank! 



The Dark Harbor 17.5

When I am not slaving away in a cold shed on Restless  I am helping build beautiful custom wooden boats. Last winters project was a Dark Ha...