Poor Sjogin; she needs a partial stemectomy. One of her less than stellar attributes is her galvanized iron backbone fastenings. Over the years the bolts have rusted, causing a condition known as iron sickness. The oak surrounding the bolts turned black and brittle; just what we have here.
Now it’s something on the “I’ll get to that next year” list that needs to be taken care of this year. Paul Smith is leading the repair, cutting back to sound wood, removing the old bolts and fitting white oak pieces to match the original profile.
When all this is finished the problem areas at the ends will be taken care of; then it’s time for the middle bits.
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When I went over the bottom, looking for loose paint and such, I noticed my earlier efforts at fixing the problem had failed. After cutting away a bit of the keel it became clear it was time for major surgery.
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The more I dug, the worse it got. The question was whether the planking would need to be opened to do the repair.
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It looks like Paul Smith will be able to scarf in two oak pieces to tie the stem together. He was able to loosen two of the rusted bolts so he’ll be able to reuse the holes. The new bolts will be galvanized as well, hopefully lasting until my heirs will have to worry about it.
Sjogin will go into the Wood Shop this week for the stem reconstruction.
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Here’s Paul pounding in a river of cotton in what I hope was a major source of Sjogin’s leaks.
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Freshly painted and good enough to pass a ten foot test. Photo taken before the stem issue discovered. The painting will continue in the shop.
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You may recall I had a problem with a split plank last winter. Post here. Well I discovered that the split had spread enough to warrant attention from the wet side. The split was cleaned out and filed with goop. It should take care of that leak.
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The rudder work continues; pics next time.
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