A community member dinged us for apparently abandoning keeping all of you updated on the ’46 Gar Wood Ensign since we last presented her in February 2014. Well, the fact is that there was nothing to update. Yes, we replaced many topside fasteners and filled a myriad of bung holes before we faired, primed and applied the first coat of Interlux Premium Yacht Enamel – semi-gloss whit, #202. At that, and having exhausted his preservation fund, her owner asked us to put her in storage until now.
We’ve applied three more coats of the Interlux Premium to the topsides and finished laying out the boot stripe.
Now comes the deck planking and covering boards. RJ and I worked and worked to release the planking without harming it so we could clean, seal and then install it again with new silicon fasteners. (We also had to release the planking to get at the broken framing at the four corners of the cockpit.)
Try as we may, even the slightest pressure revealed through-and-through cracks and splitting in all but four planks. Gluing them together, save for the covering boards, which will remain on the boat, proved impossible, as applying the slightest amount of clamp pressure produced new cracks. The mahogany has simply lost its integrity, so, with heavy hearts, we are replanking all but the covering boards, the center plank on the aft deck, and possibly the king plank.