Assembly Again, 9 Feb. 2007, #7 of 11

Because the original keel was broken, the new keel had to be drilled for the propeller shaft and the rudder shaft.



This was a really stressful operation. I had to measure it perfectly so the prop shaft would line up with the engine flange. There is no universal joint. A straight line from the engine to the end of the shaft. And I wouldn’t find out if it was perfect or way off until September of 2008. That was when I installed the engine and lined every thing up.


A narrow strip of wood is cut to cover the chine and rubbered into place.

I then installed the first topside plank onto the topside frames.

Above, you can see the new batten being clamped into place. These are under each topside plank running longitudely with the seam. They support the planks between the frames, and provide the proper water proof sealing.

After the new bottomside planks are sanded and faired smooth, they are CEPS’ed, and the screw head holes are filled with FamWood putty. I have also painted some of the inside of the boat, it’s called the bilge, with the proper color of paint. I had to find wood that had not been exposed to the sun so I could match it. I needed this boat to be as original as possible.


You see here the pitot tube, the engine water pickup screen and the drain plug fittings installed.






The pitot tube is arranged forward facing, and the water is pressurized in the hole, and that makes the speedometer increase or decrease with the speed of the boat.

Reinforcing knees and gussets are placed in the corners of the boat.



The bottom of the hull is then painted with 5 coats of alternating colors of a special water barrier coat paint.

Here is the scary old boat guy. Should have had that for Halloween.

After the barrier coats are dry, each coat takes a day, I applied two coats of copper bronze bottom paint. The bottom part of the hull is now complete.





It is now 21 April 2007.

I have been a little over a year getting to this point. I have kept a log and diary of what I did each day and the time I worked on it. From the start on 15 April to 31 Dec 2006, I worked 475 hours. Now a lot of that time I was sitting in my chair and planning the next move. Envisioning in my mind how I would do the next step. Also there were trials and errors that had to be redone. And experiments tried that didn’t work. Such as, my first attempt at steaming was in boiling water. I cut the side out of an old hot water heater and it took way too much electricity and never did get to a boil. That took 2 days and a cel phone. You guessed it, I dropped it in the salt water.

The next thing that needed to be done was flip the boat right-side-up. This was done on cables and pulleys, hanging the boat from two chain hoists. Then I put the padding where it needed to be and got some help from my neighbor Randy. More promises. By the time I get this done, I will be all summer filling my obligations.

Work went on by installing the top transom bow.

Next I took off the rest of her clothing. The bottom planks would now hold her in shape.

Here is a photo of the inside of the hull, the bilge. You can see the new bottom side frames, the auxiliary frames, the plywood floor, and those long boards are the bilge stringers or keelson. The engine mounts are attached to these and they along with the keel, chines and shear hold this boat together.



The next chapter I will be installing the topside planks. I'm sure you are so excited and can hardly wait.