Go and Get Planked!

I don't think I'm in Canada any more!

As many of you might know I have left Ted to his own devices.  I am travelling until April and Ted has been left under strict instructions not to remove any more planks! The plan always was that we would do the two planks in question before I left for my trip. We knew what we were up against after putting the first one in and we were down to the wire! 

This plank had the most annoying curve to shape. Ted liked to leave it wedged in like this and walk away. I was not a big fan of this practice. 

The weather cooperated really nicely for us and we were able to open the bay doors. Being able to see what you are doing made life a lot easier. You can see how shinny the paint it!

I did all the planning on the second plank. Ted's shoulders were sore from the other one. The life of a lawyer! 

The warmer weather and the light made for less stressful weekend. 

This plank had a bit of curve to it. We had to set up braces to wedge the plank in place. We were also a bit smarter about cutting the end. 

There's that winning fit! The mahogany was such a rich brown, it's a shame we will be painting it!

There is Ted carefully finding my pencil line. I stood over him threatening his life if he messed it up. I dislike using chop-saws. Whenever I can I make someone else do it. 

We were able to find a chunk of lead to help us. We had to move it together it was so heavy. 

So, if you think that plank looks familiar you would be right! That is plank we first put in. I wasn't happy with the fit and forced Ted to take it out and glue some more wood on and refit it. 

We broke our hammer making our braces. 

The first of the fastenings going in!

In the background you can see our three braces. We got clever for one. We found a jack stand and it worked perfectly. 

Family photo. As you can see it is a very tight fit with the boat next to us!

We also broke the driver bit

And the tapered drill bit and a regular drill bit. It was an expensive weekend!

The final result.  Told Ted that I wanted to have both planks in before I left and we did.

I am now receiving cryptic photos from Ted about what he just did on the weekend. Its seems him and Jamie are drilling holes into the boat! I would say I'm worried but the beer and the sun make that hard!


** authors note. The quality of this blog may have been impaired by beer.

What Are You Sinking About?

On a stormy day while working on Restless, the trailer loses its footing and starts to roll down the slight incline towards the sea. She breaks through the boat shops plywood doors, splintering them as she gains speed. Once outside in the open she heads towards the end of the dock. Ted and I try everything to stop the boat. When she gets to the end of the wharf, the trailer abruptly stops but Restless is catapulted into the water. She bucks slightly in the rough water as she enters deeper water before quickly sinking, due to the missing planks. Then I wake up.

This was an actual dream I had. I woke up thinking "oh god, something else we have to figure out." Thankfully, it was only a dream and when we went to the boat she was still safely inside on her trailer. There are several aspects of that dream that would make it unlikely for that scenario to unfold. Mainly that she sits on a level floor and I don't thing she could bust through the doors. The sinking on the other hand, that is something she does every spring when she is taking up!

The last few weeks have been very hard on me because there has not been a lot of visible progress. When I am working on a project and I set out to complete something in a day, or a few I usually get it done. I think it is because I am very stubborn and I work a lot alone. I have come to realize, no offence to Ted, that I prefer to work alone because I get to complete what I want when I want! Ted works on a completely different rationale. So things happen slower then I would like. But I guess as long as it gets done in the end it will be fine!

The visible progress. If I am painting it it means it is ready to go in soon! 

This is another point where we disagree. I wanted to complete one plank at a time, but Ted started working on the second plank before we even had the first plank painted!

One of the things I decided to do to make our lives easier was to draw out a little road map. Below the empty hole I drew the ribs, showing where the old screw holes were and where there were screws/bolts that I had to grind off. You can't reuse the old screw holes. Also, next to the wooden frames are metal frames and in those metal frames are bolt holes. We needed to find those. That was a lot of me upside down in the bilge with a pencil while Ted held the new plank in place. 

We could not just leave empty holes in the ribs. We were advised to fill them and the easiest way was with tooth picks!

We had an issue with the end of the new plank. Seems that it had somehow shrunk and that it was suddenly not connecting with the remaining bit of plank. So I glued a little piece of wood on the end and while it was drying I made a template that would tell us the shape and the length it needed to be. The bolt holes came in handy, I was able to use the hole in the frame which corresponded to the hole in the plank. It's the small things! 

LOOK! There is no hole! Try and figure out which one is the new one. Hint: It is on the starboard side. 

We needed a little extra help getting the end in and Ted came up with this brilliant idea. The only reason we were able to do this is because we removed the rudder this season. South Shore Marine is making us a new fiberglass one. We had patched the old one so much with epoxy last year we were surprised it held together. We are excited to see what it is like not to have a soggy rotten rudder trailing behind us. 

What a pretty bottom. 

Its in, its in, its in!!! There are beautiful bronze screws holding this brand new piece of Mahogany in place. We are still on the hunt for bronze bolts. We have a mish-mass of stainless bolts in place for now while we hunt for the real deal. We needed to put the bolts in to help pull the plank in, we could not rely on the screws alone. 

The next step is the caulking cotton and deciding on a a seam compound. Someone told us we could use roofing tar... 'Does the trick and it is cheap!' I quickly vetoed that plan. So while I am away in Europe I will be researching seam compound.

Time and Tide Wait for No Man

January 27-28 & February 3-4

At the moment there are two planks missing from Restless. The light that shines through the gaps is eerily beautiful, in a haunting sort of way. It is like looking into the light at the end of the long tunnel. But we don't want to go into that light. We want to board it up and paint it blue.

I studied philosophy for one year in University so I like to think that I have read some interesting ways of thinking. In that time, I don't remember any philosopher, poet, disciples, or rappers ever saying that February is the most productive month, and I can now confirm that little of consequence happens in the shortest - and worst? - month.  If T.S Eliot thinks that April is the cruelest month I declare February the most dastardly month.

This is not to say that we have been sitting around the last two weekends thinking of new ways of avoiding the boat and the outdoors. We did go to the boat the first weekend in February and we did the rough cut out of the second plank! But we have yet to fit the first plank. We had various obstacles, like not having the fasteners, not having the first plank fitting perfectly against the ribs to drill holes, and Ted and me arguing about the next step.

Using Sarah, the circular saw, I cut out the second plank. After watching my dad do the first one for us I worked up the courage. I am still not as good as him, but it was not awful! 

After we did that we decided to start working the curve of the hull into the first plank. We cannot put the plank straight onto the ribs because they are curved so to ensure we have a tight fit we have to plane the plank down on the edges to make it slightly curved. 

Mahogany dust is one of the worst wood dusts to breath in. When I started working with my dad and we were planning down planks he made sure we were wearing masks. After breathing it in for years you can develop an allergy to it. Apparently, it can get so bad that you cannot not even be on a mahogany planked boat! Seeing as Restless is planked with mahogany and so is my Folkboat, this would be bad! 

Eye see you!

We fit the first plank against the ribs, it just needs a little more fiddling. We think that we will be screwing it in this weekend. Fingers crossed! We would have done it last weekend but I had a cold. On Saturday, we decided that we would be miserable working in -11 degrees Celsius and seeing as was sick it seemed like a good excuse to take a day off and go full on on Sunday. However, after waking on Sunday I felt even more sick! As I said to my mom, "I feel like a slug with growing pains!" I felt terrible, not just because I was ill but because we were not able to make any progress. All in all I felt very guilty about the weekend because of my lack of ability to complete anything! 

So far February has not been our best month, but we still have two more weekends before it is over and three weekends before I leave Ted up to his own devices. It's thoughts like that leave me lying awake at night, it's either that or the cat that seems to only likes to sleep on my neck. 

I don't know if I'm Arthur or Martha?

January 20-21 

The issue with taking something out is that we have to replace it. The easy part was taking the planks out now the real stress test begins. When Ted and I put ourselves in these situations we show our true colours. Ted's mind is the optimist's mind. Everything is going to work out in the fullness of time. My mind, the pessimist, sets out to tell me every possible detail that could go wrong and I make plans for everything to go wrong and eventually come up with a plan to fix it, or break down and sit for hours staring at the boat. I like to think that the two of us make up the perfect realist and thats why we are able to complete the task at hand. Ted and I are also much different in the way we set out to work. Ted thinks about it and makes lists and I need action. Ted's aim is perfection and my goal is completion! 

The plan for the weekend was to start to fit the new plank, but before we could do that Ted needed to find the perfect plank! On Saturday morning (okay maybe it was closer to noon) we spent some time digging through the boards at our local specialty wood supplier. We were armed with a piece of sand paper looking for quarter-sawn mahogany. We got some strange looks as we were sanding of the paint on the end of the planks, but it was worth it in the end! 

I think we spent about 20 minutes at the boat on Saturday. We spent what was left of the afternoon at my father's work shop agonizing over cutting the first plank. 

The one problem with having different minds is that it can take forever to talk the other into going along with one's scheme. We are normally saying the same thing but the other is so caught up with trying to prove their own point that it can be challenging to get anything done! 

Ted, being the lawyer, thinks he can talk me into his idea, but I was a high school debater! That is not a nice smile on my face. That is the smile of I will win this one! 

As you can see from the photo we were not lying about the rot! We didn't realize just how bad it was until we took it out. Where it tapers to a point is the worst of it. We actually didn't think it was rotten at the tip. It was hard to get at from the inside so we didn't know how bad it was. We had just agreed to take it all the way out and thankfully it was a good call. 

We only cut out one of the new planks on Saturday and it wasn't either of us that did it. I am not normally one to shy away from using a power tool but I was a chicken that day! My father went through the process of cutting it out, but I guess he saw the terror on my face and took pity and cut the plank out for us. That was enough excitement for the two of us. Sometimes it is good that we don't spend all our time at the boat. I should also point out that we just got a kitten! Aptly named Slocum, she is our excuse to have short days of boat work. 

She requires all our attention when we are home

Day Two 

To make up for our laziness on Saturday we were determined to make visible progress on Sunday. The second plank that we took out was very damaged where the plank began to taper and we knew that we would be fools to try and use it as a template. As Ted was doing something else I made a spiling template. It doesn't look like much, but it is like a treasure map and gives us a detailed reproduction of the plank. 

I then checked my template and cut out a dummy plank

This was the something else that Ted was doing. He was planning down the board in various places so that it would fit perfectly. 

Slowly slowly... Careful careful! 

Almost

By the end of the day we managed to get it to fit properly. We still need to round the inside and plane  the caulking bevel. But it is nearly ready.

This is the photo I sent my mother

And this is what she sent back 

Support can come in many different forms! 

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!