A Floating Disorder, or the Buoyancy Challenged Boat

The first major problem to overcome was an 4' long, 8" wide hole in the garboard. The boat had leaked along side the keel since she was launched, which had driven the original owner nuts. He wanted to be sure there was not rot here, so he removed this part of the planking to check. The wood was sound, possibly because the boat had always been kept in salt water. My first task was to plug this hole.

The project seemed so incredibly ovewhelming, and I hadn't a clue where to begin. My father is quite a talented woodworker, and so I had at least grown up being around the tools and practices woodworking. I had done some of this kind of thing myself, and had even built a small dingy some years before. But nothing I had done quite approached the magnitude of this task.

The big hole in the bottom seemed like a logical place to start. Roy, the surveyor and boatyard owner, had assured me that this was an easy fix. It probably was to him, but to me a mistake here meant that the boat would sink.

It took me forever to get started. Some of the original, unused plywood that had been bought during the original construction was still available, so I started by cutting a piece slightly larger than the hole that I was to fill.