Things have been progressing well on Shoal Waters since we bought her last June and the repairs have been going well with no major problems.
That ended today.
The rotary tool saw blades arrived late yesterday so first thing this morning I went down to the boat and used the smallest to cut into the area of the aft centerplate case block that could not be reached any other way without dismantling the cockpit.
This is what it looks like when attached to the extension and cordless drill.
And it worked quite well, although you do need to hold the tool very carefully since it can easily run away from the workpiece despite its small size.
Having cut “along the dotted line” so to speak, it did not take long to remove the old plywood and that is when I noticed the problem.
Here. This bit is soft and has no structural integrity. There is no way that I can install the new case sides with the aft block in this state and this has to be repaired or replaced.
The options are limited.
- Cut out the soft section leaving as much of the good wood as possible and fill in any gaps with a graving pieces.
- Cut off the top of block below the soft part and make a new top section.
- Remove the entire block and make a new one.
Option 1 is going to be difficult since the soft parts are not contiguous and that means cutting out several sections and replacing them.
Option 2 seems to be the best option if I can find out where the soft section ends.
Option 3 is the most drastic but has the issue that getting out the section that is recessed into the keel is not going to be at all easy.
I’ll leave this part for the moment and continue on with removing the remainder of the case side whilst I ponder on this some more. Hopefully the forward block will not suffer then same affliction.
My immediate thought is to make a template of the entire block above the keel and then cut the block just below where I know the soft section ends. If that is the end of the soft area then I can make a new top section and fit it to the old base part. If the soft area extends down further then I’ll cut off more and more until I reach good wood and make a new top section. If the soft wood extends below the level of the top of the keel then the whole thing will need to be removed and a new block made and fitted.
I really hope that the latter is not the case since it is possibly as much as a month of work to carry out. Still, if it needs to be done, then it needs to be done.
During my lunch break I took a sharpish pokey thing into Shoal Waters and prodded the aft block.
The soft section that I can easily detect is quite high up on the block, so it may be that the repair will not be quite so drastic as I first thought. Still, I’ll find out more once the top of the block has been removed.
Now, some people might say that the wood sounds soft all the way down as it is giving a muffled return all the way down. To which I would say that you need to remember that the top of the block is unsupported and that allows the whole thing to vibrate like a tuning fork and for that reason I would expect the return to be a bit muffled. However, the soft section certainly gives a much clearer soft return.
I have also been chopping away at the bottom of the block with a chisel and that showed that the bottom of the block is still quite solid.
So, the way forward from here is to cut off the top section below where the soft returns are being heard and see what the wood looks like inside.
Time for a cup of tea.