Ongoing Progress

As you could tell I was very excited about the new wood being delivered. They are sheets of 4 X 8 okoume plywood. Last night I got to thinking - hmmmmm, I think the sponson runner is 8' 1.5" long - and unless you can take a board stretcher and pull another 1.5" of length, the one sheet of 9 mm wood is to short (all the others pieces for the deck and bottom are just fine). It is just the one sheet of 4 X 8, 9 mm okoume that I ordered incorrectly (another senor moment - are you keep track of them...LOL). I went out and measured it again this morning and it still measures 8' 1.5" long X 24" wide (third or fourth time I have measure the sponson length and the light bulb still was shinning dim).

 

There are several solutions for this opportunity, 1) splice 1.5" of wood on to the sponson runner - not my favorite solution, 2) cut the wood diagonally on the 4' X 8' sheet of plywood, which changes the direction of the grain of the wood - not a good solution or 3) exchange the 8' piece of plywood for a 10' piece of okoume. Number 3 is the most sensible solution.

 

I called Windsor Plywood this morning to see if they carry 10' okoume. Yes, but it is not in stock. So Monday he will tell when it will be in so I can exchange the 8' piece for the 10' piece. Windsor has been extremely co-operative. BTW, this also was Kathy's solution. she said if your not going to do it right - don't do it. Good idea. Don't do compromises, do it right. 

 

I measured our utility trailer to see if I can haul a 10' piece of plywood - the bed is 5' wide by 11' long. I just have to drive to Spokane with the trailer and pick up the correct solution to my 1.5" opportunity.... LOL

 

The enclosed pictures are of the right sponson interior repair to three frames and the pickle area. Also I routed out a crack on the pickle airtrap and filled it with West System Epoxy glue filled with micro fibers. I haven't sanded the interior yet, but it will completely sanded, then refinished with spar varnish - it should look like a $,$$$,$$$ and be sealed for water protection.

 

I didn't bleach this area of the wood because a 17' piece of okoume plywood will be overlaid onto both airtraps to cover up all bad wood with all new wood. It should make it stronger and look brand new (splicing wood together is required for this).

 

You may or may not understand what is going on - there are two choices a person can make with a restoration. 1) remove all the old wood and replace it with new or 2) overlay new wood over the old wood - usually the new wood would be thinner so that it acts like a veneer. In most cases I will be using what is called doorskin (the thinner material) and in some cases I will be overlaying thicker wood for strength. I will make full sized paper patterns first, then cut the okoume after fitting the pattern to what is being covered up. Similar to how I made the frame repairs.

 

The engine rails will be covered with new doorskin (about 12' on both sides), the airtraps will be overlaid with new wood (about 17' on both sides), the transom will be new wood and then a complete new deck.

Today the wood arrived from Windsor Plywood (ordered it yesterday). It is absolutely beautiful. It is stacked up against the MH until I use it in a short time.

 

7 sheets of 6 mm okoume, 1 sheet of 9 mm okoume, 1/4" marine shop plywood, 2 sheets of mahogany doorskin and one 16' piece of Alaska Sitka Spruce - KNOT FREE.

 

Enclosed are some pictures of the wood and it's grain. Takes my breath away it's so pretty.

 

Also today, I tested the special glue - West System. I glued in a re-enforcement piece into the inside of the right pickle. I will screw it also, then some of that 6 mm okoume will be covered over both airtraps.

The sixth month anniversary (can you believe it) of our boat coming home has occurred. What a wonderful six months it has been and with the help of many wonderful people from all around the country, our dream is evolving and marching forward.

 

Thank you to you all, your encouragement and contributions have been very much appreciated.

Today OUR new team race suits arrived. Here I am wearing our first team hat (My Rose, E 620) along with the new team race suit. The team shirt is under the suit....

 

Now for the real story. I ordered several sanding/paint suits to help protect me while for sanding the fiberglass that we will be putting down on the deck. The sanding requires about eight hours of work to get the fiberglass smooth enough for paint and if you know anything about fiberglass, you know you itch and itch and itch. So this seemed like a good idea. This and the respirator hopefully will continue to protect me.

After yesterday's marathon sanding, glue removal and fiberglass removal, I decided to take the day off from sanding that wonderful opportunity - well except for cleaning UP the whole shop - AGAIN. Still lots of sanding to go. You can see the color difference between removed and not removed finish.

 

Tomorrow back to sanding.... and making another mess. When this sanding is finally finished I will celebrate with a glass of Coeur d' Alene Cellar, Sara Lee Syrah.... MMMM can't wait. Speaking of CDA Cellars, we just finished this years harvest. It went VERY smooth this year. I don't have a final grapes count, but I think it was around 65,000 - 69,000 lbs of grapes we processed.

 

This isn't the BIG cleaning yet. The big clean will be washing the floor, cleaning the attic and all areas where dust can land. That will be done just before I start spar varnishing the bottom in the spring (approx).

 

Half of both airtraps are sanded down to bare wood. All the aluminum, glue and clear finish will be removed before NEW skin is glued and screwed into place. The sanding finally exposed the original crack from 25 yrs ago (photo 10-15-07 001a) and what has been the reason why I have been sanding and sanding and sanding removing aluminum, fiberglass and clear finish to get down to bare ocueme. I think I have come up with a fix for the cracked area - I will go inside and make a support brace, then re-skinning the whole airtrap - hopefully this will provide the strength needed for exhibition racing.

 

Photo 10-15-07 003 shows an area of dry rot. I haven't decide how I will fix it yet but will decide soon. That is an area about 2" x 2" is about the biggest one found so far. I more then likely will route out the area replace with a new piece of wood of the same size.

 

Another picture shows a crack in the sponson runner (photo 10-15-07 005). I think I have finally figured out how I'm going to fix that opportunity. I will cut that area down to the crack, add back a new batten and then re-skin the whole airtrap. That should fix the crack mentioned earlier and this area of concern.

 

A friend noted that the shop looked pretty messy in previous pictures, I clean the shop almost daily and will clean it AGAIN, as you can see it doesn't make a large impact, since I added another layer of dust to the freshly cleaned shop. Course if I hadn't cleaned it,  I would be standing waist deep in sawdust by now.