First Garboard Plank Removed

Got the first garboard plank off, and the first look at the keel.   There was a lot of resin, combined with cotton, and probably old Dolphinite, and some oakam; it's like a history lesson in sealants!  the good news is I don't see any rot in the keel, even though its checked in the bows.

Had to grind off a lot of screws to get this plank off, probably 15-20 of them.  But that is getting easier.  Still a lot harder than just getting them to back out with a brace.   some of the ground off screws still didn't want to move even with vice grips, and just broke off.  Those will be drilled and plugged.

One thing I'm realizing with this boat is that there were a lot of screws that missed their target.  No wonder there were leaks in the garboard seam, found two screws, right next to each other, that went into the gap between the keel and the ribs.  no support to hold the plank firm the cotton that was hammered in, so I'm sure they split open and let the water rush in. Hopefully we can fix that.

In news on the water. Out fleet captain just announced that SCIRA will hold a "classics nationals" next year.  Hope I can be ready for that, but I'm seriously doubting it.

can you believe, it, a beetle stuck in what looks like glazer's putty, from 1936.  That's one old dead bug.