Boat Restoration Part I: The Gut Wrenching Realization (aka "Before")

For the past two months I have spent every spare minute restoring our little sailboat. This all came about when I decided to reinforce the centerboard trunk and replace the floorboards in anticipation of a 'pirate sailing adventure' we are hosting as part of an auction at my older boy's school. I pulled up the floorboards and side panels to discover--compost. Every stringer and bulkhead was completely rotten, as well as the aft centerboard cap (at least about 1/3 of the way up). Suddenly, what was *supposed* to be a 4 hour afternoon project turned into a multi-week odyssey into the world of carpentry, chemistry, and engineering. I learned how to do things I had never even heard of prior to realizing my boat was in a very dangerous state of decay.

Fortunately, my friend and neighbor Chris is a long-time sailor and boat builder, and his current project was at a stage where he could easily move everything over to the side of his boat shop. He very generously offered the use of his shop to me for two months, including the use of all of his tools. He lives right across the street, and given the helaciously wet and cold spring we experienced, I was extremely grateful to have access to his shop.

Rotten stringers and bulkheads near the aft end of the centerboard trunk.

Apparently our boat was filled with compost in places (hard to believe this mess used to be wood!)

The base of the cap at the aft end of the centerboard trunk was so rotten I could jam a screwdriver about 1" deep.

More rotten stringers.

After using the sawzall on some of the structural members, I had a much better (and far more horrifying view) of just how rotten the wooden insides were of this fiberglass boat.