Summer Season in Full Swing

...which for most boaters means days and nights of cocktails on the high seas. For me, humble, naive restorer of rare cabin cruisers, it means days and nights of dirt, grime, grit, sweat, cursing, weeping, and of course (wait for it!) gnashing of teeth.

But on the positive side: I have a new table saw, a General 350:
















More good news: mucho progress on the bottom and the cabin windows.


Helper Amanda works on trimming the excess 3M 4200 from around the reconstructed front windows. These windows are totally rebuilt, based on photographs and some fragements of badly rotted plywood.

More detail on the windows to follow in the fall Brass Bell.

Here are some photos of the bottom work. First, the big success born out of many hours of labour: we pulled a big section of bottom off.

















Helper Greg and I compare... waistlines. Behind us is the section of plywood bottom, with some planks still attached.
Again, the stated goal for this year is to have the port completely removed, inspected, repaired, epoxied and reattached. That includes dropping the mid-section of the keel for some much-needed repair of very, very ugly stuff.


This section of keel will have to be removed so I can replace the piece that sits between the keel and the bottom of the frames. It is badly rotted along about a 14 ft length. This have obviously spent a lot of time under water.

More ugliness in two of the frames. Both are badly cracked and will have to be replaced. (the previous owner had repaired them in place, none too well). The good news: the pieces fit together like a puzzle and will make excellent templates.



Now, to end on a high note. I have replaced a 10 ft section of chine milled to match the original as closely as possible. To tie it into the existing chines I used more silicon-bronze threaded rod and 3M 5200. The new chine is also tied into the existing frames with more rod and 5200.