Neena at Clingstone

Neena at Clingstone

Friday, December 13, 2013

Now that it's getting really cold, I'm not getting much done out on the boat. I've been calling her Neena lately. However, earlier in the week I pulled up the floorboards/sole after removing the bunk fronts and trim. The supports are all wet and rotten and will need to be replaced. I've got some white pine that I've been hoarding for years. I'll mill it up with tongue and groove and lay it down with unbunged screws with several lift out sections so I can get to limber holes. I'll either oil it or paint it. The bunk fronts will require some 1/2 inch okume plywood, painted both sides. There are pieces of lead under the sole which will go back but somehow fastened down with either screws or goop or both so they don't slide around or worse. I'll have to buy some doug fir to use as sole bearers to replace the rotten ones. Since the bilges are so flat, I need to come up with a way for air to circulate everywhere down there, to keep things drier.
  I've known since the start that water had been coming in around the opening ports, either with the ports left open or with bedding problems. So I started removing the ports from the inside and sure enough, there's problems. Some, the plywood core is wet, some, the core isn't wet but was. I'm not sure how I'll deal with it yet.
  So now I've exposed the rotten plywood below and I have a better idea of what needs replacing, I need to start rebuilding. First will be the structural bulkheads in the middle of the cabin that support the transverse loads from the bilge board trunks. They're 1 inch ply and hopefully I can scarph new wood to old in place. Then on to sole supports and some kind of temporary sole along with cleaning and repainting as needed.
  Meanwhile, indoors, I can work on the sails. The nice new Soling main sails need reefs put in. I need to figure out where exactly the two reefs should go. Maybe I can come up with a percentage of areas or something. Then I will lay out the positions of the  tacks and clews followed by the reef points. Sailrite has the parts I need and I can do the rest on my mom's old Necchi machine. Judging from old photos, I want to raise the clew up some which will require cutting the foot of each of the sails. I'll cut a curve in them anyway so their loose footed. I also want to add slugs with shackles to the hoists so the sails remain attached to the masts when lowered. I'll also need sail covers, buy used or make?
  So plenty to do and lots of planning ahead.

No comments:

Post a Comment