When we finally got all the paint scraped off( a huge job I wasnt expecting to do as the book I read said you could fiberglass over it, but was later told no..if I tried that, the paint would turn to goo under the glass and ruin the seal), we found alot more rotten wood.Once that was removed,we discovered alot of the ribs were rotten as well. I am now faced with an expensive rebuild of the boat.If I am to do it right, I would have to somehow remove the concrete in the bottom of the boat, gut the interior in the process, replace all the bad ribs and replank the boat with 30 foot continous planks.NOT going to happen folks.
We have cut out rib sections to replace the rotten bits and painted them with red lead paint to protect them from rot. Even though the hull will be fiberglassed and technically waterproof, the interior of the boat still gets moisture in it from showers, cooking ect., so I'm trying to provide maximum protection for the exposed wood.Once they are installed, I will be attaching red cedar boards to them. One whole side of my boat will look like a giant wood puzzle,made up of many joined pieces. I am worried that this will severely affect the sea worthiness of the boat, even with a solid fiberglass shell. I have visions of the boards separating at the joins and bulging out through the glass.Im taking a huge chance doing it this way.
I orginally intended to remove the decking on the back deck and refinish it, but the screws were all rusted and not coming out. Some of the boards were looking worse for wear, so in the end they all got cut off with the saws-all.Another expense I wasn't counting on is the price of new boards to redo the deck.
David has been very busy with his own projects as of late and hasn't had much time to help me. This has slowed me down considerably and progress has been slow. I really needed to feel like I was accomplishing something, so yesterday I installed a new tongue and groove floor in the bedroom. Not exactly a priority project, but one that I had wanted to do and was capable of doing myself. The wood for the floor had been left on the boat by the previous owner. I had been storing it for the last year, so finally decided to pull it out and see what exactly I had. I am quite happy with the finished result, much better then the piece of plywood that was the floor.Now just have to sand it and one day stain and varnish all the floors. That will wait until the construction is pretty much done, too much dust everywhere right now to do a good job.
Every other day , I want to walk away from this project. Not because I dont think its worth it but because of the massiveness of it all. Its not just one thing that needs doing, its everything from one end to the other.The more I do,the more I find that needs doing.I feel like Im digging a hole to China.
The Good
The Bad
The Ugly ( a huge rotten hole in the back board of the transom, we stuffed it with wood shavings mixed with glue)
The back deck stripped of its wood
An interior shot showing some of the new ribs
The new bedroom floor ( whoohoo)
1 comment:
Oh my, have you been busy since I last checked in! What a project, lady-o. I will be watching with hope for you! Don't take that as discouragement; it is a BIG project, but you are tenacious!
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