Wednesday, 25 November 2009

Rip Her To Shreds.

Well, deconstruction has begun in earnest - though the days are getting pretty hot now and it's best to work early in the morning and late in the evening. 29ºC yesterday and no shade to work in.

Most of the deck has been removed, exposing some pretty horrific wood below:


These pieces of mostly rotten plywood are what's left of the deck:


It's pretty obvious to me that this is not the original deck, and the repair work to the frames below it are rudimentary at best. None of the wood, even that which may be original, has been sealed or protected from water intrusion at all. A second, or maybe third repair job involved filling the volume under the deck with foam, which though it may keep the boat afloat if swamped, has also served to trap water in every below-deck compartment. At a guess, I'd say there was easily half a tonne of water in there, and I still haven't seen what's in the aft compartment. I think I will find out later today.

Ah, well, at least it's not my boat, but it will be a better boat when finished. And I'm not paying for it!

Also, it's an interesting insight into the quality of a "professionally" built production boat. I think I'll stick to building my own.

:)