Long Time No See

I have been remiss in my postings, but the progress has been tremendous.

To address some questions we've received about the cockpit sole, I'd like to say that we knew we needed to do it because about one third of the sole was squishy and produced a sound like water been squeezed in a sponge when pressure was applied. Water was seeping up through the rudder post shaft also. There was about one quarter inch of very alarming flex back there. It was really really apparent. When Matt cut the first hole in it at the very stern, about a gallon of black putrid water gushed out.  Again, it was really really apparent. If you're in doubt, I'm sure you're fine.

As to why we are pouring so much energy into this boat, we think about it this way -- we paid 500 dollars for a customizable hull and are now customizing it to be what we want. Also, we are having a crash course in yacht repair, cabinetry, and just about everything else.

In my last post the cockpit sole had just been opened up.  We lifted and scraped all of the wood out until there was just a one layer skin of fiberglass in the bottom. We could no longer stand in the cockpit but had to stand inside the lazarette openings on the inside of the hull.

Matt laid a series of squares of plywood down in a bed of thickened expoxy, so each one is isolated to reduce the chance of the entire sole rotting away again.

Meanwhile at home we are working on the bulkheads and the split rudder.

I don't have step by step pictures of the rudder, but I taped up over the split, clamped the two sides tight and poured straight epoxy down into the crack. I did this probably ten times before the crack was completely filled. I sanded it back to its original shape. Now she needs to be covered in Barrier Kote and repainted with bottom paint.

More later, I need to upload additional pictures.