First Splash

First Splash

Friday 19 April 2019

The Plight of the Planks



Before I begin, I know what you are going to say... I lied to you! I promised a new blog a week or so ago and then nothing! But don't blame me - blame the taskmaster forcing me to make ribs in the evenings. 


As of the last blog, we had started replanking and the stem was installed but there were still some gaping holes in the side of the boat, not quite ready for the racing season, but parts were being installed rather than removed. Things have begun to become a bit more routine and for the most part we have not found any more nasty surprises to date; maybe I shouldn't have said that! However, before I dive into the progress an introduction is needed...

                 

May I introduce the hardest working tube of 5200 I have ever seen! This tube is from last year and the nozzle had dried up. The only way we could access the 5200 was to slice the tube and the extract it by stepping on it. GLAMOROUS! But then how to keep it from drying up? Wrapping it in plastic and for the last two months it has worked. Ted keeps trying to throw it away on me but its still good! Actually it is just about empty but I continue to use it like a tube of toothpaste. 

We have been using the 5200 on the tips of the planks that go against the stem. We are determined not to leak this year! 



Happiness is a warm room and a paint brush. The last years I have been painting the interior of the boat white. One reason is to try and protect the wood in the cockpit from the sun and the other is to lighten up the boat down below. Going below on Restless was like entering the deepest ring of hell. Now she is quite cheery down below for the people that have to stay below deck on light air days. It is a lot easier painting the planks before they are installed than climbing into the tiny bow to paint!



It is getting darker in the bow compared to the last post. And harder to pass tools through. I guess that is a good thing?


Another plank in! 



























When we are not working on Restless we are coming up with new ways to amuse ourselves. This was a self proclaimed snow day. It was too slippery in the morning to drive so we had to challenge ourselves in other ways. 

So after being snowed in the next weekend we were planked in! 

We made "friends" with a squirrel but he was too shy to have his photo taken properly 



The Starboard side is ready to go! Just need to put in all the butt blocks and fasten the one green plank between the new ones. After that I will fair the planks down. The planks on this boat used to be 3/4" and in most places they still are but over the years of sanding they are slightly thinner but not uniformly so. Once the cut-water and the butt blocks are in, I will fair the planks down and pay the cotton. 



We made large piles of expensive chicken coup shavings. 


That is about half of the rotten parts we have removed this year. Ted refuses to let me throw them away. But I think they would make perfect wood for a sock burning party! 

**Sock Burning party is when deck shoe season has begun and you no longer need to wear socks


Being able to put clamps in to hold the plank makes life a bit easier when we are fastening the new planks. We also use bracing to bend the plank ends to match the hull curve before we fasten when a clamp will not fit or is not enough. We set the bracing up by using a piece of lead that has been cut off an old keel, we are able to drag it across the floor together. We then use a long piece of wood as a brace and wedge the plank into place (you can see it next to Ted in the picture). The screws are not strong enough on their own to pull the plank in. 

The plank that Ted is putting in here was the first plank we removed back in December 2018.



The Port side is looking pretty good here! That small hole had Ted and I debating for an entire weekend. He wanted to cut the plank back farther because the short plank is just over one foot long. But there was no rot in the little plank. The plank behind is a bit suspect but it can last another year at least. And seeing as were are getting closer to sailing season we decided to keep it for now. There is also another reason we decided not to do it....


We moved to the back of the boat and took out 3 more planks. They were leaking during the summer and suspect in the ends sitting against the horn timber. We do not want to have to replace the horn timber in a few years. Fortunately, when we took the planks off the horn timber looked great! Unlike that pesky bow stem.   




We were able to finish the stern fairly quickly... Leaving time for....


Removing more planks at the front! We decided to keep the short plank above. But there were two further down that were just begging to be replaced. After taking them out we realized that they may have been the worst ones on the port side. But honestly, it is hard to keep track!


But not to worry, we finished those pretty quickly. Ted and I had decided that all the planking needed to be finished by the end of March. Even with all the extra planks we removed we were able to meet that deadline. I may still have to stop Ted from removing more planks reminding him there is always next year! I believe in the saying 'My Aim is Perfection, My Goal is Completion' 


This was certainly not what we had planned to do this year. We did not realize that we were opening a can of worms when we removed the first two planks at the bow in December. But I think we are both happy that we did and more than that we are impressed Restless was able to survive the harsh sailing we have put her through now knowing the condition she was in!



What did you think I was done? Remember the reason for the late blog?  Eight sister ribs freshly made ready to install. The goal is have the ribs done by the end of April. We have 11 to do and eight are already in the boat. We might be able to do it... but I have been proven wrong before... so... knock on wood. I made the last 3 last night. They will be ready to go in the boat on Sunday. 


We purposely did not completely install the old planks that are going back in the boat so putting in some of the ribs would be easier. 



Time to think about the cut-water



Facebook reminded me that this time two  years ago I was at Antigua Classics. That is past Dayna knowing what future Dayna was going to be doing. I don't need your pity past Dayna! 

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...