An odd silence engulfed the shop once we had her resting on her dollies and back in her work station. For the first time in over a year, we, and especially John, were viewing down into her bilge from above, rather than up into it while lying on our backs beneath her. John finally exclaimed, “I can see the results of all my framing work right side up for the first time!”
While we’ve had some comments that all that bracing was at best overkill and probably not necessary, remember that the hull arrived with a huge hog and what I call corkscrewed. We took no chances once we had the hull true again.
That bracing ensured that she would not get twisted again. So now comes the Circa 1859 Heavy Bodied Paint and Varnish Remove, Sandvik scrapers, stainless steel scrubbing sponges, and reefing hooks with which we will remove all remaining varnish on the decks, covering boards, dash, etc., and what we suppose is Sikaflex from the deck seams. Varnish cannot be that far away …. Can it?