Schooner Ernestina is hauled out at
Kelley's. We have pulled off a forward plank to
get a look at fastenings, the general structural
integrity of the ship, etc. We find plank
fastenings in good condition (it takes a
significant effort by the shipwrights to pull the
plank) and no signs of rot or other problems. We now have access to some of the keel
bolts nuts and are trying to pull the bolts. You
can see some examples of the bolt nuts visible
above the top of the keelson and the 30 ton
hydraulic puller being used to pull the bolts.
One bolt has largely come out
but we were unable so far to budge the
remainder of the keelbolt downward with a
drift and sledge hammer. We can see that
7/8" bolts were used and that there is
corrosion at the joint between keelson, keel and
false keel, the three primary layers othat make
up the 'backbone ' of the ship.
Our conclusion is that the best
solution is to run 15 to 18 new galvanized bolts
down through new holes along the length of the
keel.
This afternooon we have rented
a 40 lb electric jack hammer and will start
pulling the cement in the fishold tomorrow am.
Carl Moberg USCG came to ship
this afternoon. He looked at all exposed
keel bolt heads througout the ship, observed the
keel bolt we removed, saw where the plank had
been removed and looked at the fastenings, looked
at the garboard and scarfs on the keel and
false keel and inspected the zincs in the
seachest. He thinks that adding keelbolts
is a reasonable plan but would like us to
get at more information. He would like to expose
the top of the keel and futtocks in at
least one frame bay, preferably one in both
the fishhold and the fo'c's'le to
determine the condition of the futtocks
underneath the keelson and how it is all fastened
together.
Our plan is to start in on the
fishold tomorrow am where we think we can remove
enough concrete and lead to expose below the
keelson to the keel. We are hoping that we
can find similar/enough information in the
fo'c's'le working from the outside and not yet
jackhammering away from the inside.
Captains: Sophie Morse and Amanda Madeira
Schooner Ernestina on the ways at Kelley
Shipyard.
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Amanda Madeira and Sophie Morse
discussing the strategy for the haulout.
Shipwrights pull fastenings as the plank is
removed.
Keel bolt nuts exposed in the fo'c's'le. It is
a standard practice to fill bays between the
frames with concrete to facilitate water flow in
the bilge to the bilge suctions.
30 ton hydraulic jack used to pull shafts, in
this case a keel bolt.
The crew at lunch.
The bilge pumps are coming out for a full
inspection.
The fish hold table and fresh water tank is
removed to expose the top of the cement. We will
hammer a swath out down the middle of the cabin
to expose the top of the keelson.
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