Construction on the Hull

As mentioned, the hull as we purchased it was less than perfect.
However, the rot went further than we thought.

At first, we were unsure of what needed to be redone. The hull sat inside for almost a year to dry it out. Meanwhile, Phin had plenty of time to begin the design work.

The Hull was the first stage of construction.

The fresh water ruined all of the wooden floor frames. Mahogany plywood was turned to dust. The alaska yellow cedar was remarkably rot resistant. We removed all of the floors and cut out the frames.	Looking aft at the horn timber the Port side has been repaired and we are working on the Starboard side. We put a small sump to allow the bilge pump to get the "Last Drop"
Sounding the outer cold molding in the stern we kept finding small compromised pockets of wood. The builder had used soft metal staples when doing the cold molding and the fungus followed the rusting staple through the four layers of cedar. - So we slowly removed all of the bad wood.	More rot in the bow. Where the mahogany floors rotted to powder against the Alaska yellow cedar the fungus could only form a small pocket in the Cedar.
We were impressed at the rot resistance. The fresh water penetrated the strip planking from the inside.and caused local weakening in the Western Red Cedar cold molding. We slowly "investigated" the removal of the entire port bilge where the water sat.
We finally removed all the floors the frames past the tuck and the strip planking and cold molding a foot and a half of the portside above the keel.	Working on the keel was easier from outside because it was too narrow to kneel. (Note hands through hull).
When we were satisfied that we had everything we started to replace the strip planking. Here you can see several strips back in and the top of the lead ballast.	The strip planking back in and faired, ready for the cold molding.

[top]Reglassing the Hull

Here we see the strip planking has been replaced. All the wood is unfinished and exposed.	Next comes a layer of epoxy to seal the wood from the elements.
Here are a few guys vacuum bagging. About halfway done.	Finished! Those bolts in the keel look pretty dangerous! Don't want to fall on them!

[top]Replace the Ribs

After sealing the hull, we needed to replace the rib sections we had taken out.	Here the band saw is set up with a jig to rip the boards into strips that make up the rib.
Wide angle shots like these show how empty the hull felt at this point. Notice how much extra rib we had removed so that we could scarf them back together.

[top]Epoxy Shell

Now on to the outer hull.	The strip planking is protected from the outside by a few more layers.
Plywood planks are easily bent to mold to the shape of the hull.	Each piece was cut beforehand so that they could all be mounted at the same time.
After the plywood layer, the outer layer of cold molding is added to complete the seal.	Meanwhile, after the ribs were finished, the interior of the hull was completely epoxied and vacuum-bagged as an extra percaution against rot.

With the interior sealed, we could begin work on the floor frames, mast steps, and engine mounts. Rib has a strap that adds strength and creates a mounting location for the structure above it.
Perspective of all of the floor frame templates in place. The mounts in the foreground are for the engine. Between them is the mainmast step template that is laying across 5 frames to spread out the stress. Further up, we see the foremast template in place.	Wooden Patterns for floor frame #18. Note the limberholes.

Floor Frames
Floor frames completed.	Lining them up.
Limber holes.

Building and Installing the Foremast Step
Foremast step - welding jig.	DONE!
Foremast step going in.

Main Cabin, Kitchen, and Forward Head.
Shows the detail of the epoxy covered Nida Core in the bilge. In order to make sure that theere is as little area as possible to trap water and dirt there is a block glued in between the frames. The stainless floors are held out of the bilge by an epe block. The black water tank mock up obscures the forward mast step weldment	We are putting epoxy and glass cloth over the scrim surface on the Nida Core.the peel ply allows us to save time in the next process which is going to be an additional two coats of epoxy mixed with white acrylic. The resulting smooth surface will be easy to wash down and does not have crevices to trap dirt.
Nida Core in place between the frames just below the foremast chain plates. The gray smudge is conduit for the Lightning ground that will attach to the Chain plate. The next step is to glue the ceiling to the Scrim surface of the Nidacore and nail it to the wedges placed on the frames.	Detail showing how Nida Core is cut out to give the stove gimboling room.
Rich Shew coping out the Nida core so that there is enough room to fit the four 8-d batteries under the main cabin settee.	Installing a sheet of Nida core in a frame bay.
Stainless floor frames going in with 3 1/2 inch #24 monel fastenings.	Rich Straightening out the Nida Core cabin sole cut-out where we needed to increase the width of the cabin sole in the Forward head.

Here in the chain locker is the cleanest place to watch the innermost layer of the hull being laid.
Nida Core has already been placed.	Matt installs the first ceiling over the Nida Core in the chain locker. Working out problems.
Ceiling going into the anchor locker.	Irene in the chain locker painting on the undercoating.