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Early September 2000 -------------------- Pulled boat out of storage and into garage for the winter. Drained a good 20 gallons of water out of it! Floor is absolutely saturated.
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* YEAR 2001 *
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April 13-15 -------------- Made a rig from an old block-and-tackle to hoist boat off of trailer and lowered boat to garage floor. Removed rub rail, seat mounts, old gas line, etc. Started cutting deck away from hull with a Sawzall.
April 17 -------- Finished separating deck from hull. I can now start on removing the floor and transom wood.
April 21-22 ----------- Removed the 1/4" plywood flooring. Much of it tore out by hand, otherwise a prybar and a circular saw did the rest. It was all rotted, and wet in spots, especially the transom and the stringers.
April 28-29 ----------- Removed the bulk of the stringers; some sections are still fiberglassed to the hull, and will need to be chiseled out. Removed the 1" plywood transom, leaving the outer hull intact. All of it was still very wet, even after being inside six months. It came out in pieces, layer by layer, then finally in one big chunk. Built a simple dolly from 2x4s and four casters so that I can wheel the hull in and out of the garage with relative ease.
May 5 ----- Finished chiseling out the wood stringers. Ground down high points in the fiberglass around the transom. Bought the 3/4" and 3/8" exterior grade AC yellow pine plywood from Seigle's for the transom and floor.
May 6 ----- Made a cardboard template, then cut out the transom from 3/4" plywood. Shaped it to fit snuggly, then fiberglassed it into place against outer hull with a layer of mat for extra oopmh. (Will add a layer of 3/8" plywood to bring it up to thickness.)
May 8 ----- Bought the white oak for the stringers from Owl Hardwood, $60: 3/4" x 6" x 14' 3/4" x 11" x 10'
May 9 ----- Bought more resin, mat, filler, paint. Made a fillet mix with resin, and filled the small gaps between the 3/4" plywood edge and the hull. Cut out final layer of transom from 3/8" plywood, then used resin without mat to attach to the existing ply. Had to use clamps and lots of screws from inside and outside to attach it solidly.
May 16 ------ Cut out the first white oak stringer. Used a scroll saw, and it's slow work! Used the power plane to smooth and shape it, then had to contour the bottom of it for the sideways curvature in the hull. Traced out second stringer based on finished first one.
May 17 ------ Bedded the starboard stringer in a thickened resin and filler mix into the stringer channel. Weighted it down with three bags of potting soil overnight.
May 18-20 --------- Cut out port and center stringers, and shaped to fit. Lots of grinding and user of power planer involved, which means lots of dust and wood shavings. Bedded the remaining stringers in thickened resin and weighted down. Filled the inside transom holes with thickened resin mix. Put a layer of mat on the inside of the transom, and a layer of mat over the center stringer. Hull already feels stiffer even without any lateral support.
May 26-28 --------- Finished applying fiberglass over the stringers. Found my old respirator which is much better than a dust mask as there is LOTS of dust created when using the grinder or sander with a 36 grit disk. I'm hoping to start laying in the floor Tues. night. Happy Birthday to Tami & myself this last week.
May 29 ------ Bid and won on eBay a kill switch for the outboard. $5.25 shipping & handling.
June 2-3 -------- Cut out and laid the floor using 3/8" plywood. Used #8 1-1/4" stainless steel sheet metal screws, and found out they have to be predrilled, and are brittle, as heads snap off easily. Ground the sides of the hull to get ready for the fiberglass mat which will protect the floor.
June 7 ------ Started laying fiberglass strips around the floor perimeter.
June 9 ------ Attended Fiberglassics 2001 Nationals! Very good gathering!
June 17 ------- Finished laying fiberglass strips around perimeter of floor, and reinforced a couple of areas where the span was large. Cut a hole for the bilge pump through hull fitting.
June 18 ------- Sanded the perimeter of where the floor is fiberglassed to the hull so the final piece of fiberglass will adhere.
June 19 ------- Got Jon involved by having him sand the top of the hull where the deck will attach.
June 23 ------- Fiberglassed the floor in fully. Used almost 2 gallons of resin. So much uncured resin that you should be outside WITH a big fan to keep a clear head because of the fumes! Starting to look more like a boat!
July-August ----------- Chicago was hit by a heat wave all summer, just too hot to work in an enclosed garage. Had to suspend restoration work. Additionally, resin tended to set very quickly if you weren't careful, and was very difficult with which to work!
August ------ Placed top back onto hull loosely. Purchased trailer tongue wheel - makes life easier.
October 20 ---------- Raised boat off dolly and onto trailer. This time I had the pulley and a new ratcheting come-along. It worked out well with no problems. I also replaced the bunks with new carpeted 2x4s and hardware. Adjusted bunks and rollers to fit the hull better.
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Updated December 17, 2001 Copyright Dan Kruitz