Part Deux, Continuing Restoration

Well, I've got the boat completely stripped down to just a hull.   I've inlaid Paduk (an African red wood) in the Gun-whale (top piece of wood running along the top edge of the boat that you grab to get in). Found some rotten spots that blew out so I dumped wood hardener in the holes, let it dry, filled with epoxy and wood filler and reinforced those areas. Then sand, sand, sand.

 I've taken the transom off (the part where the motor attaches at the back of the boat.) That's a lot of work! It was rotten.  I've taken 2 pieces of 1/2 inch marine grade plywood and laminated them together with a polyurethane based glue and put tons of screws in them to pull them together to make a 1 inch transom to fit inside the boat.  Then I'll take another  transom piece a little larger that fits on the back of the first one, laminate it to the other and we should have a new fresh solid transom. The transoms will then all be covered with fiberglass cloth and epoxy to create a water tight seal.

While the transom is drying (I've still got to cut it out) I am continuing to work on the little things like removing a little more old fiberglass, working on the front stem (very front part of the boat that runs down the middle and bottom of the outside of the boat, the part that hits the rocks first.)

I almost have the port side (left) of the gun-whale finished. I will be working on the starboard (right) side next to inlay the Paduk. I take hand tools to scrape and sand the old paint (3 layers) off down to the natural wood, then inlay down the middle of the gun-whale. The biggest issue I face now is to get the transom to fit in the boat and the outer transom piece cut to fit.

OK...I cut out the transom and fit it in the back and put about a million screws into it.  Now I have to cut out the outer transom after I laminate 2 more pieces together for that.

I've put an oak stringer across the transom for support as you can see in the pictures.  It's looking cool.  Stay tuned.
Remember just because you can see the flaws in your boat, doesn't mean it's ugly.

Boatin' Dan