The boat safely made the journey from Cuba New York to our shop here in Kentucky.
We took the boat to the lake today to test the condition of the bottom. There seemed to be one problematic area on the starboard side of the bottom under the drivers seat. The video below to the left shows the leak we are referring to on the starboard side.
Update 03/15/18
Update 04/18/18
As you can see in the pictures at the top the lower bow light is one for another boat that just came in from the chrome shop and the the other light is obviously the one on your boat. In the picture it is honestly hard to see the difference. In the picture yours looks more dull and that's about it but if you look at the pictures at the bottom the left is a close up of the chrome on the bow of the boat and the picture to the right again is fresh chrome. Here you can see the pitting, scratches and generally how dull the metal is in the bow piece of your boat and how smooth and shiny the new chrome is. In my opinion if I were contemplating re freshening the chrome now would be the time to do it while we have the boat and have all of the hardware removed for varnish work. Plus once the boat has fresh varnish it will show the imperfections in the hardware that much more.
Update 04/19/18
The trailer is now ready for the road. We had four new tires installed and all new bearings.
As you can see in the first picture to the left the problem area was obviously after inspecting the bottom. It appears at some point there was a patch made in the bottom planks. We will have to replace the first ten feet of the garboard plank
Update 04/23/18
We now have the bottom plank removed and the frames, where rot was found, removed and we are ready to fabricate the new frames and bottom plank.
Update 04/24/18
We now have the new frames fabricated and dry fit to the boat.
Update 04/25/18
We now have the new frames permanently installed and painted. We also have the new bottom plank permanently installed. Now we will give the adhesive a day to set up a float the boat on Friday to check for any further problems.
Update 05/01/18
We have the varnish stripped from the boat. The next step will be sanding then bleach. After we bleach the wood we will then go over the whole boat with a light sanding then stain seal and varnish.
Here are a few graphic designs we came up with if you like these or have something different in mind just let us know so we can get the graphics cut.
We have the back portion of the bottom removed and ready to start fabricating new frames and planks to be installed.
Update 05/11/18
Update 05/18/18
As you can see we are making headway on the bottom work. We have almost all of the framework and gussets made for the bottom and dry fit to the boat. Once we have all of the frames built and dry fit we will then permanently install the frames and then start building the battens and planking the bottom.
I am currently working with the graphic artist on the name for the transom. He informed me that there wasn't a way of cleanly making the drop shadow vinyl but suggested that when we stain the transom that he could make a stencil and we could stain the stencil area darker to give it the shadow effect then after varnish he could apply the vinyl for the name. The font he used in the picture was the Annabel 1 font but it did not have the extra lines, not sure if that will be an issue if so maybe we could try one of the other fonts.
Update 05/21/18
Update 06/01/18
We now have all of the new frames and battons installed in the bottom of the boat and made repairs to the transom bow. We also have fabricated the new bottom transom plank and installed it onto the boat. We have started fabricating the new planks for the bottom and should start installing them onto the boat next week.
As you can see we have the varnish stripped from the sides and decks. We have been sanding this week fairing in the side planks and removing any excess varnish. Next we start the staining and varnish process which will go fast once we start as we will apply multiple coats of varnish daily. We also removed the old fuel tank and are in the process of fabricating the new aluminum tank for the boat.
Update 06/06/18
All of your hardware came in this week from the chrome plater. Everything turned out great and we can't wait to see it back on the boat.
Update 06/18/18
As you can see we have the varnish complete and the bottom closed up. We have all hands on deck trying to get the boat finished in time for you to pick up.
Update 06/22/18
The boat is really coming together. Here you can see the deck lines have been painted, the graphics have been applied and the chrome is going back on the boat.
All of the rub rail for the sides of the boat have been polished and are waiting to be installed. The problem we encountered here was that there should be strips of wood behind the stainless trim to keep the trim from collapsing when the trim gets bumped and there was no wood. So now we are making strips of mahogany to place behind the stainless trim.
A nice shot of the new fuel tank installed in the boat.
The trailer now has all new lights and wiring and the new bow stop is almost ready for installation.
Update 06/22/18
We have the engine detailed and painted and ready to go back in the boat.
Update 07/04/18
The engine is now reassembled and installed back into the boat.
Update 07/31/18
Update 08/06/18
Update 08/10/18
The video above shows that your propeller shaft is .03 out meaning it is bent thirty thousandths. In our professional opinion the shaft needs to be replaced because over time this shaft will overload the bearing in the transmission causing you even more problems.
