Planked

The weather is turning and so is the calendar. What better way to celebrate the arrival of spring than to put Christeen’s planks back on her frames. The Red Oak frames have, for the most part, held their shape and are going back on as easily as could be expected. With few surprises expected from here on out everything is on target for the April 30^th launch. Shipwright Josh Herman expects all the planks to be back on the boat by the end of this week! Next week the deconstruction of the cradle, which supported Christeen during her keel replacement, begins. Once the cradle has been dismantled four additional Red Oak planks, all of which are below the water line, are going to be removed. Once they are removed the frames will be faired and the planks will be re-bedded and refastened to give us the best fit possible to prepare for Christeen’s re-launch.

 

The work being done on the planks to refasten them to Christeen’s frames is fairly strait forward but time consuming. All planks being reused need to have the previous fastening holes bunged or plugged. Some of the planks experienced some cupping while they were stored during the winter so they need to be planed in order to create a solid contact point with the frames. Once they have been painted and the frames have been tarred the planks are clamped and fitted back into place. The fit is the most critical piece of the puzzle, as long as the fit is acceptable, the planks are refastened with screws to hold them in place. We are using screws as opposed to iron nails in hopes of having an easier time during Christeen’s ten year US Coast Guard inspection which requires the removal of several underwater and above water fastenings.