| To Part Two
Some while ago I promised to do the repairs on a 34 foot Norm Cross designed trimaran that had been damaged in Hurricane Ike. It took several years to track down the correct plans with the correct table of offsets. Finally got 'em. The techniques are the same as I used to build my 35 foot Cross tri, so I'm probably the only person around close who knows the technique. This boat is across the street and two doors down from our house (and my shop). One side of one ama was pretty much totally destroyed on the outer hull side. Interior was not badly damaged. Almost all of the frames were broken (11 out of 12) On Saturday we started work. Here's our progress as of yesterday evening
Day one- make test frame from thin scrap ply to insure we really DID have the correct measurements. Clean out hull interior, make real frame and glue it in.
Day 2- lay out, cut out and fit more frames
Day 3-The hull and stringers amidships had been severely damaged, so we had to lay in sister stringers. The damaged area:
And the new stringers sistered in. Note that they span several frame spaces. What doesn't show is the wires run through the hull skin and twisted to hold the stringers tight against the planking til the epoxy cured.
Today we repaired the break in the keelson, by fitting a new section in and gluing a new strip over the top. We also cut away more damaged hull aft and cut one new frame. Moving a little slower now because we are having to take out twist in the hull aft before we can go further in framing. We also couldn't put in the one frame gap til the hull planking and keelson were repaired.
Yesterday I repaired the break in the keelson, by graving in a missing section, then screwing an additional layer over the whole thing. We also added some sister stringers back aft. Here's the break in the keelson before repairs:
And here's the new wood, before fairing down:
and after:
As I said yesterday, we had to shore up the inner side of the hull to force it back into alignment - it's been sagging for a long time. Here's some of the shoring:
Today we laid out, cut out and installed all but one of the remaining frames. That one is just forward of the transom and there is further keelson damage there we'll have to deal with. Here's what it looks like now:
And this pic, just for fun:
Tomorrow I'll be cutting and scarfing stringers. I hope to be installing the stringers by Saturday. And Laura will be out sailing.
Day 9 - I had planned to be installing stringers by Saturday (day 8) but when we removed the hull skin aft we found keelson damage where they picked the boat up after Ike. So it took an extra day to repair that and install the remaining frames. Also, epoxy coated all the exposed wood, since we expected some light showers. We also made the stringers - Here's some 35 foot long stringers, almost ready to install.
And today we began installing them. Here's the sheer stringer and the wing deck stringer in place. Had a few showers today, which slowed us somewhat.
Should finish installing the stringers tomorrow, then off to Houston to purchase a quantity of 3mm Okume for the diagonal planking. Hope to have it all done in another 10 days or so. Then we'll make it back to Tehani.
Getting tired of these yet? Starting to get tired of the project, but... As of day 14 (yesterday) we started planking:
And today we finished the first layer. Two to go, then glassing. Not to shabby for a 65 year old recovering from cancer surgery (the owner) and a 70 year old (me) if I do say so myself.
That layer is 5 sheets of 3mm Okume plywood. Each strip is about 8 inches wide. The strips laying in front are all epoxy coated, ready to go on tomorrow.
To Be Continued...
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