A few pics of the past efforts

I thought that people might like to see a few photos of some of the work that has been done before the boat made it's pilgrimage to Fayette. My Dad and I did an amazing amount of work to it before I took on the task of "finishing up".

The Man in the cockpit is Franklin Thatcher Lord, my grandfather and the man responsible for saving Spree(then Gremlin) from a chainsaw and a landfill.



This is Spree being loaded onto a hauler as we were being evicted from the yard where the work started. We found a much cheaper and closer place to store her while we worked on our little project. Remember - it was still a "little" project at this point.

Here is the bastard soft spot that started it all, and then the progression that went to a complete deck removal.

This is after we had peeled off the deck glass, and were still hoping to find "good wood".


As you can see we clearly gave up on finding anything resembling "good wood" and just went to town ripping out the old decks.


I've stuffed myself into the aft locker in an attemt to remove all the fastenings that held the toe rail and portion of the deck into place.. If I had a nickel for every time I stuffed my 6'2" frame into a compartment meant for lifejackets and sails

Canned beer does wonders for easing the tensions on a hot summer afternoon. It also helps wash down the fiberglass dust.

New back deck installed and first section of the P & S decks in place. Placing these pieces of deck got us over a huge hurdle and towards a feeling that making forward progress was possible.




We also had to dismantle the galley in order to get at the underside of the rotten spot from where the fire had melted all the fiberglass. This eventually led to an almost complete dismantling of the entire cabin of the boat.

More deck panels ready for installation. Each deck panel has a top and bottom layer of 24 oz fiberglass that has been put in place with Epoxy resin. Panels are then epoxy fastened as well as mechanically fastened to the hull. The panels are also epoxied to the cabin sides and squeezed together with SS screws. The screws are later ground flush from inside the cabin.
Once the panels are all in place the entire deck will receive another layer of 24 0z. fiberglass. This layer will ideally act to create a uniform structural surface and will give the deck it's final structural integrity.