Fixing Belle

Hope is restored! We're diging deep into the problems with Belle.  Everything looks worse when you don't investigate.  What we see is fairly reasuring.  The foam at the forward end of the keel is totally saturated with sea water.  Here we are digging it out.  On closer inspection there are no leaks from below, and the wetness is limited to the forward 1/4th of the slot.  We will dry it all out and pour floatation foam up to level.  Then we will glass over the top.  Question is, where did the water come from?  It now looks like the center board trunk is at fault.  With the extra 1000 lbs in the boat, the centerboard leaks out the hole in its top like a sieve.  I have the perfect cure.  I will raise the centerboard turning block up about 2 inches and place three rubber baffles in a row completely sealing out the water from below.  Then before reinstalling anything I will take it out with everything bare and sail it.  I will rebuild the trunk cabinet higher to cover the added height.  The full documentation of this will be posted. 
The hardest part of this job was getting Belle off her trailer.  Here are some pictures. Remember, only a 3 ton floor jack was used to raise her high enough for the trailer to clear.

Well there she is for the winter.  We'll give her a bottom job and repair the centerboard.  Stay tuned for these improvements.

Karen all dressed up, sanding the centerboard

We'll continue our efforts through the winter whenever weather permits.  Today was huge for us.  The shop was completely cleaned and reorganized. 1 and 1/2 acres of leaves were ground up and put to compost.  The board is completely sanded and filled.  Next we'll put 2 coats of epoxy primer and then the antifouling on the large centerboard. 

We decided to restore the Boston Whaler Nauset, 1970 vintage.  So there are no shortage of boat projects in the boat yard!