The reason for the delay between posts is because only recently can you really see progress of what we have done and I forgot my phone and couldn't take pictures for one weekend. I may have also had been so cold one weekend that I refused to take my gloves off and couldn't open my phone. We can't take photo's on Ted's phone because he doesn't have any space. So if you want to blame someone for the lack of posting blame Ted and his addiction to apps!
So, when I posted last we had discovered that part of our bow stem was rotten - not good! We have removed the rotten section, we were lucky that the stem was made out of several layers of wood. The rot only ruined two of the layers and we were able to salvage the top two layers. Trust me we made sure that the wood we left was in perfect condition because this is not a job I want to do again on Restless! We are hopeful that this repair will fix the river of water that has been coming in when we sail. When we first started exploring the bow we thought we had to replace some of the planking because there was epoxy in the seams which caused the planks to rot at the front. As we removed more and more planks we discovered more and more rot! As much as we wanted to ignore the fact that the boat was once again out to ruin our lives we decided to do the right thing and remove the rot. I can't remember how many planks we took off the front but I think it is about 5 per side...maybe more? We are hoping that we will be able to close the bow in in the next two weeks and then move on to other rotten planks that we want to replace! We have our eyes on at least 6 more this season.
Ted with the saws-all to start the scarf to repair the stem. Pretty sure I was ready to unplug him if things started to go sideways!
For strength you need to do these angled cuts (scarfs) in the wood. There would be no strength just butting the joints together. If you think about the strength needed in this part of the boat for when Ted cranks on the backstay then we need all the strength we can get as this is where the forestay is attached. After advice from my father we ended up bulking up the section we replaced.
Working on the scarf to go in
Action shot! Being the clever person I am I set myself up in the heated section of the shop to do this. Well Ted was freezing in the other room I felt like I was on a tropical island. All that was missing was a beer and a sunburn. We used to drink beer when we worked but last year we decided that the more technical the work and the more power tools we were using, the chance of making a mistake was greater. We also found that when we are not looking for our beer we work a lot faster!
While I was in the heated room Ted was getting in touch with his artsy side. This is an up-shot of the stem. I think he was working on getting the scarf on the boat started.
First Scarf fitted! I like Ted creeping in the background
Sometime we get elves to come and help us! Anna and Jamie spent some time removing the epoxy from the seams in hopes that we can save the other planks. I should note that epoxy doesn't make wood rot. What happens is that each year the planks swell when the boat goes in the water and shrink when the boat comes out for the winter. Epoxy is hard and glues to the wood and when the planks swell it can crush the wood and over time the damaged wood begins to rot. I am learning to build boats as my fathers apprentice and I use the methods that he teaches me, which at the moment is composite construction. For this repair we do use epoxy but we use it to our advantage not in a way that can damage the boat.
Scarf number two complete and ready to be installed. Ted is in the boat drilling the holes for the bolts before we laminate the stem (laminating glues the wood together - effectively making different pieces of wood one piece - this is the same way we make our ribs.)
I would be lying if I said that Ted and I did not get covered in epoxy when were doing this. Gluing upside down and making sure the bolt holes are lined up was hell. We dry fitted everything and drilled the holes because we didn't want to be fiddling with lining everything up perfectly and being dripped on. I think it was the right way to do it because we have a great fit.
So that plank you can see hanging out the side... I used it as a block so we didn't dent the new stem.
A little break from the bow! Laminating ribs. We use thin strips of white oak and bend them into shape. Laminating ribs like this is said to be stronger then steam bent ribs. This is more time consuming and expensive. We have to buy special epoxy that can withstand the acidity of the white oak. If you use the epoxy that we used on the bow stem (which is made from mahogany) the acid in the oak would basically eat the epoxy.
One morning was very cold and I refused to leave for the boat and made Ted play Scrabble. And yes, that X landed on the triple word score.
Finally dried after a week of mild temperatures
Rabbet (the grove that the front of the planks fit into) is complete and the planks are ready to be fitted and put in. I think we were able to save two planks. The others were either rotten or way to short.
First plank almost ready!
Ta-daa! Just needs some fancy bronze jewelry.
This is the before shot from last weekend. We had the luxury of being in the heated section of the shop. It was pure bliss! And the lighting was far superior.
Just so you understand how nice it is to be in a heated shop. Will be a few months before it is warm enough to launch!
Getting started on more planks. It is really nice having the space to be able to clamp the plank down and have a look at what needs to be planed down.
It is a bit daunting sitting at the front of the boat. I always worry that I am going to slip out.
Ted was impressed at my idea to use the trailer as a prop for painting the floor that we had taken out. We took this floor out because the bolt that was through it to the bow stem was broken. It was also not fitting so one of the elves (Jamie) spent some time making it fit.
Leaving the boat Saturday night. I gave her a hair cut and a colour. We had the cotton caulking hanging out at long lengths. She looked a little rough and I was using a router to cut back some of the planks and I didn't want to get tangled in the cotton. We took the heated room opportunity to paint everything at the front as well.
We had the paparazzi down on Sunday to take some stellar shots of me and Ted. The first plank is going in - I don't know what we are looking at. But I know that there is a photo of me as a child with the exact same face.
The paparazzi paparazzing themselves! Take note, these are also the elves.
The power of plaid! Ted and I some how both have plaid working jackets (totally on purpose). My head is inside the boat as I fit a butt block and Ted is preparing to fasten the second plank. He got worried when I was doing this and he started using the drill.
Last summer I noticed that the chain plates were leaving the hull. This year I have decided to remove the current bolts and re-bolt them and I sent Jamie to start finding the right plugs. This meant that he had to figure out which were plugs for the frames and which were plugs for the chain plates.
Ted looks like he had a tough day. We have three planks in now and the 4th, 5th, and 6th should be going in this coming weekend! Don't worry, I took him out for a beer after this.
Back in the unheated shed for the week and slightly more whole!
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